Guys, yes, I'm AWARE I posted the short story at the wrong time. Don't blame me - it was 11 oclock and I was tired. ANYWAYS I'm going to fix it, and also if you're reading this and you haven't read the short story, I haven't failed YOU at least. Well, have fun reading what I meant when I posted the last (soon to be next) chapter/short story.
Winter
He was so done with that know-it-all Sand. Winter should've been the one to carry that Night to the nurses' office. Even though he knew his Mother would have been in a towering rage, and Icicle would have snickered, he was inevitably drawn to that girl. He didn't know why, or how, but he was. And he just let a poor, filthy Sand carry her to the nurses' after she passed out. What was he; a Fifth Circle dragonette who let his peers boss him around? No, he was the Prince! He should've been the one to carry her to the nurses'.
Then, it struck him how stupid he was being. I've known her for what, ten minutes? Not even that, and I'm already mad that some guy carried her to the nurses' office because she passed out. What's wrong with me?
He took the steps three at a time, not even blowing back his bangs when they fell in front of his face. When he got to the side door that said Floor 5, Jade Dorm, he pushed it open and was suddenly in the floor five hallway. He shouldered the dorm door aside, and went straight to the bathroom. He turned the cold tap on, (not as cold as the water in the Ice District, but cold enough,) cupped his hands, put them under the faucet, and splashed the water on his face. Suddenly, Winter was aware of another dragon in the dorm.
He grabbed a towel, dried off his face, and went to look at who was here. It was a Sky, her red hoodie shadowing her face. She had one backpack slung across her shoulder, but other than that, it looked as if she had nothing. He was wrong. As soon as the Sky noticed him, she had a sword in her hand and was getting ready to throw it at him. Winter had been trained for this kind of situation, so he stood still, and slowly started to speak; barely moving his mouth.
"I'm Prince Winter, and I'm guessing you're the Sky assigned to the dorm. Please, before you throw that…" he glanced at the sword in her hand, "At me, please know that if you do hurt me, I can have a hundred men here in less than ten minutes, so think carefully." Suddenly, the Sky pushed back her hoodie and examined him. She had light, auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail, burning yellow eyes, and a small scar across her forehead. Suddenly, Moon and Kinkajou opened the door, and stood in shock of the scene before them. Winter with his hands up, looking nervous, and a Sky that was about to throw a sword at him.
Moon took a calming breath that didn't even help the look on her face, and started to stutter a sentence. "B-Before a-anyone dies on the f-first day, c-can I please get y-your name, and w-why you're going to kill W-W-Winter?" She tripped several times on his name, and he thought with a small burst of emotion that she was adorable when she stuttered. Her face grew red, and he wondered why.
"I'm Carnelian, and your little friend scared the shz outa me, so I thought I would take the liberty of killing him and saving myself a future problem that would end nastily." Carnelian didn't use a bragging voice, it was more of like a, it's-a-fact-yes-I-was-going-to-kill-him, voice.
"Oookay then," Moon said. Carnelian glared at her and sheathed her sword at her waist.
"Where's my room?" Moon wordlessly pointed to the girls' room, and Carnelian stormed over to it. She opened the door calmly, but when she went inside, she slammed it shut and the dragons could feel the dorm shake.
"Let's go to the l-library," Moon suggested. "We can f-find out who the S-Sea is." Winter nodded, taking a couple deep breaths. Kinkajou's hair was stark white, and she made no move to fix it. Her face was deathly pale, and her dress was also white. She looked sort-of like the angels that Winter had read about in books and movies. White dress robes, white or light blond hair, white halo, and always the palest skin. If Kinkajou wanted to play an angel in a play, right now, she would have gotten the part, no questions asked. Moon grabbed Kinkajou's hand, which seemed to snap her out of her trance-like state.
"Where are we going?" Her hair went from white to dirty blond, as if it wanted to go to brown, but was stuck with white, so it found something in between. Her dress went cream; which seemed to be it's favorite color.
"Kinkajou," Moon said patiently, "We're going to go to the library and find out who's our S-Sea dorm-mate." Kinkajou nodded, and Moon lead her out of the room. Before they left though, Moon looked over her shoulder at Winter.
"We're going to a cafe after… Kinkajou, Qibli, and me. If you want to come…."
Winter replied with a carefully flat voice. He didn't want to let her know that he was semi-excited to go. "Sure. Where is it?"
"Well, you could just come with us…?" Winter felt stupid. That would be so much easier, and he knew it. He nodded, trying to put an absent, uncaring look on his face.
"Oh, yeah, ok, I'll come." He hated himself. That was absolutely the most lame thing he had ever said in front of a girl before - in front of two girls. He made sure he recorded the record. Day one in college, I already have a Night crush, and I just made myself look a fool in front of her and her friend. Also one of my friends has a crush on her too. He was a bit taken aback by the last sentence. Since when was Qibli his friend? But, Winter knew he always forgot names of people who didn't matter, so obviously Qibli was already his friend.
Ugh, and I'm friends with a raggedy, poor Sand. Mother would be so proud. He smirked silently at his own comment, although luckily, no one saw. Moon had started walking out of the dorm, and Winter rushed to follow. They all got into the elevator with an awkward silence, and Kinkajou had been the one to press the button to the second floor, which was conveniently where the library was located. The whole college had one,and since the Jade Dorm was the main dorm, it was in their section of the building.
After several moments of silence, the doors dinged, and they all walked out into the library. Starflight had convinced the school board to use the whole second floor for a library, and also insisted that they have every book that was ever made. Of course, the second request wasn't completely fulfilled - how could you own every book ever made? But he still got most of it, as any books published were usually ordered as soon as possible, and stocked on an increasing number of shelves. The trio walked over to the counter, where they found Starflight busy reading a catalog of new books. Actually, he was having Fatespeaker read it to him, but every time she read a book, he would say,
"Yes Fate, add it too," or, "Hmm… we'll wait, and if we get any requests, make sure to order it." It was never a definite no, which wasn't surprising, since this was Starflight.
Winter got stuck at the front of the group, and he groaned inwardly. "Hey, do we need to come back at a different time?" Starflight and Fatespeaker whipped their heads around, not knowing that the college students had entered.
"No no," Starflight said quickly, before Fatespeaker could start whatever sentence she was forming. Starflight paused, and then took a tentative guess. "Winter… and who else?" Moon started to speak, but Kinkajou was too fast.
"Hi! I'm Kinkajou and this is my friend, Moon!" Starflight nodded, and turned towards Moon.
"Hello Moonwatcher. Did you want that new book on hold for you? Let's see, if I remember right, the whole Twilight series again, by Shepard, the SandWing?" Moon looked down and shuffled her feet. When she spoke, she had a calm voice Winter had never heard her use before. She was usually nervous and stutter-y.
"Oh, not right now Starflight. Actually, me and my friends were wondering who else was in our dorm; I can't remember who it said." Starflight nodded thoughtfully, and held up his fingers, counting down from seven.
"Jade Dorm… Night - Moonwatcher, Sky - Carnelian, Mud - Umber, Ice - Winter, Rain - Kinkajou, Sand - Qibli, and Sea - Turtle. Does that answer your question?" He smiled, knowing it had, and Moon nodded, then seemed to remember that Starflight was… blind, and suddenly she had a sheepish look on her face as she talked.
"Yes, thanks Starflight. I'll come by tomorrow and pick up that book. I owe you one." She nodded at Fatespeaker, and headed out. Winter could hear Starflight chuckle, and then ask Fatespeaker to continue reading the catalog. As soon as they were in the elevator, Winter visibly saw Moon change. She went from being confident and relaxed to nervous. She quickly pressed the first floor button, then pulled out her phone. She read something on her phone, and then started to explain. "Qibli is going to stop by his friend's house, so he'll be a little late. What do you guys want me to tell him?"
Kinkajou, looking a little deflated, said quickly, "He's fine. If he wants to hang out with someone for a while, I'm cool with it," she said bravely, but her suddenly darkening hair said otherwise. Winter concealed a laugh of happiness.
"Fine by me," he said, but let a smile sink into his lips, and a light of happiness into his eyes. Moon texted back quickly, and then the doors dinged.
She walked into the main welcoming room, and headed for the welcoming stand. Tsunami was helping someone, Sunny was greeting people around the room, and Glory was leaning idly against the counter, texting someone. The trio made their way over to Glory, who looked up as they walked over. She quickly dropped her phone in her pocket, and folded her hands.
"What can I do for you?" She asked in a bored voice. Sounds like Winter wasn't the only one not-thrilled to be here among the hustle and bustle.
"Can you t-tell us if there's been a S-Sea who dropped by with a name of Turtle?" Glory nodded, and pointed to a guy looking extremely anxious, talking to a girl who held herself like a princess. Wait, no, on second inspection, Winter could tell that was a princess - Princess Anemone. Well, he thought, At least me and Icicle won't be the only royalty. He started walking towards them, and Kinkajou and Moon quickly fell behind. The Princess saw them coming, and brightened up.
"Finally!" she said triumphantly. "Turtle, I want you to take careful notes on how these dragons are going to talk to me, and I want you to make improvements on your conversing skills." Winter knew what that felt like. He had tons of "friends" that only "talked" to him so they could make money for their families. A lot of times, he gave them a fifty dollar bill and sent them on their way, because honestly, he didn't need fake friends.
"Hello," Anemone said pleasantly, glancing at Turtle to make sure he was listening. When she turned back to Winter and the girls, Winter watched Turtle roll his eyes. He caught Winter looking, and turned his head down. Serves him right, Winter thought. If he's gonna be fake, he should endure consequences. Winter looked back at girls and found he had no need to; they had pulled up beside him. Moon was biting her bottom lip and gazing at Turtle with a confused expression. Winter wondered what she was staring at.
He was a normal Sea, dark brown hair, sea-green eyes, slightly tanned skin, strong arms and legs for swimming. He had a little jewelry; a small cloth pouch hanging around his neck, and a gold armband with small black rocks in it. Compared to Anemone though, he had nothing. She had streaks of gold in her hair, bright blue nail-polish, two gold armbands on one arm, a green bandana on the same arm, diamond earrings, a jade necklace, a gold necklace with a silver pendent, and a leather necklace with a copper heart on the end. She also had a ring shaped like a miniature crown on her left hand, middle finger. Turtle also lacked the intricate clothing she had. He was wearing a normal black t-shirt, and she was wearing a coral pink top that had a back that looked like the laces on a shoe. It had see-through long sleeves, and a see-through bottom fringe lace. He was wearing old jeans, and she was wearing faded jean shorts with frayed ends and a loose, tightly braided leather belt.
"H-" Kinkajou started to say, but Moon stepped on her foot softly. Kinkajou looked at her in surprise, but seemed to get the hint, and shut her mouth.
"Hello Princess," Moon said, leaning forward a fraction of an inch. Anemone smirked, and she did nothing to stop Moon from bowing ever so slightly. "Hello Turtle," she said again, and only nodded her head at him. He looked startled, as if he hadn't known anybody would know him.
Winter cut in. "Are you two related?" He had been getting more suspicious of this as he watched them together. Turtle didn't have the right posture for a servant, and wasn't acting like he was getting paid to be friends with Anemone. So, Winter had taken a guess. He really didn't keep up on other tribe's royal family's, unless they were major, like Anemone, Auklet, and Tsunami. They were the most commonly talked about royalty, since every other female child Queen Coral had was killed by a magic bed in the Royal Hospital. As soon as they were put into the bed designed for female royal dragons, they died as soon as they were left alone for even a minute second.
Anemone and Turtle interrupted his train of thought. "Yes," Anemone said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and Turtle said quietly, "Yeah."
Nice, Winter thought. Day one - I have royal siblings in the school besides me and Icicle. Looks like I won't be the hottest royal after all. He saw Moon, out of the corner of his eyes, try to conceal a smile. He furrowed his eyebrows, thoroughly confused. Was it because he had asked about them being siblings? Or was it something else? Whatever it was, the smile quickly died as she put that look on her face like she realized something. Winter thought he knew what it was. How were they ever going to get Turtle to join them? Moon nodded ever so slightly, glancing at him, and then hurriedly away again.
What now? That girl was brimming with secrets, and Winter felt it. He had no idea what they were, but somehow, he would have to try and figure them out. If they were ever going to be even friends, then she would need to spill them. Kinkajou spoke up since Moon was distracted.
"Well, we were just going to a cafe on campus, and we wanted to invite all the dragon's from our dorm, so we went and asked Starflight, and apparently Turtle is out dorm-mate! So, Turtle, would you like to come?" She asked the question pleadingly, her eyes growing large. Turtle glanced at Anemone, who grinned and shrugged.
"Go on big brother! Make some friends, meet some people! Don't stay to yourself forever!" Turtle looked like he was going to shrivel up and die, but he nodded glumly.
"Ok, if you want me too," he said, way to quietly. Anemone didn't hear him, and she gave him a good, hearty shove towards them. He almost toppled into Winter, earning a laugh from Anemone, and a glare from Winter to Turtle. Turtle hurriedly backed up, and stood by Kinkajou nervously. Moon glanced at him again, then lead the way out of the welcoming room. They all walked across campus, following Kinkajou's directions. Everyone talked: Everyone, that is, but Winter. He had pulled out his phone, and was walking a few feet from the group. When he looked up from his screen, he was shocked to find Moon next to him, who had also drifted from where Kinkajou was talking idly to Turtle, who had lost some of his nervousness.
"Hi Winter," Moon said quietly when she caught him looking.
"H-Hey," he said, and powered off his phone, slipping it into his pocket. They walked in silence for a few more paces, and slowly moved back towards the group. Winter abruptly started talking.
"Did Qibli say why he was stopping by his friend's house?" Yes, it was a prying question. No, he didn't care; much. And yes, he was trying to chat with Moon despite the efforts of trying to be left alone. She looked up at him. He was only about two inches taller than her, so she didn't have to look very far.
"No," she said, a tinge of curiosity in her voice. Winter nodded, looking around, trying to find something else to talk about. He was saved though, when Kinkajou hopped over to Moon and pulled her towards a small shop. True to Kinkajou's word, a tall green cup was on top, and a neon green sign said in cursive, Lime Cafe. Kinkajou hurried everyone inside, and they all sat down at a table with six chairs. The other dragons in the cafe looked at the four students, wondering why they had sat at a table with six chairs, when clearly there were only four of them. Kinkajou, Turtle, and Moon talked about the menus, and Winter just pulled out his phone. His sister, Icicle, was going to drive him nuts.
Winter, I messed up my hair! Do you know anyone on hand that could do my special double braided bun with a flower?
Winter, I CHIPPED. A. NAIL. What do I do?!
Winter, my dress is so stupid! Do you know my stupid servent put my bag that held all of my dresses?
Ugh. Icicle needed servants to even survive a day. Groaning inwardly, Winter started to reply.
ICICLE. I'm at a cafe right now, with most of my dorm-mates. No, I don't know who could do your hair, or even what style that is. No, I have no idea what you do when you chip a nail. No, I do not know where Glaze set your stuff. He probably got distracted and left it in the limo. Call Mother - don't bother me!
Good enough. He glanced up at the menu. Now, what would he have…