"What do you mean my father?" Shamrock asked, "My father is dead."

"I never said he was," augured the orphanage caretaker, Ceja.

"Well I don't want a new name and my dad is dead!" She yelled.

"Do you want to believe that, Shamrock?" Ceja asked.

"Yes!" she said, "And my name is Dingo. NOT Shamrock."

"We gave you that name since we didn't know what your parents were going to call you. This is the name they wanted you to have. And are you sure you want to believe your father's dead? What if he's secretly kinder than everybody thinks?"

"Blah blah blah," she said, sticking her claws in her ears, "I don't care. And of course, I don't want to believe he's dead but he just is. If he was alive then I wouldn't be here! And he's a traitor anyway, I don't want a father who's a traitor."

"He was supposed to be but then he got reinstated. He got his job back and you have to go back to him," Ceja explained.

"But he doesn't even know I exist," Shamrock argued.

"I don't even get why you're fighting to stay here, I thought you hated the Orphanage."

"Fine I'll go away," she muttered.

Why didn't Ceja get it? She was an orphan and she could not be anything else. The orphanage caretaker must've lost her mind. Though… she was right about one thing, he was supposed to be a traitor. All her life she's been punished because of his mistakes. She was blamed for the cactus spines in the rattlesnake, even though 15 other dragonets had seen Gila do it. She was also blamed when Aardwolf (the dragonet she shared a room with) lost his school project. And everybody thought she was playing a prank on them when their best silverware went missing. And they still blamed her for it after they found out they had lost it because they put it in the wrong drawer.

The problem was that if her father was alive then she didn't want to know if she was anything like him. He was a traitor, and according to the other caretaker, Talon, had left when she was only an egg. If he hadn't even stayed long enough to see her hatch then he didn't want to see her now.

It sort of made sense, sort of. In some of the scrolls, she'd read there were orphans just like her. And somehow to parents who were traitors to their kingdoms. The difference was that most of those dragons had a long-lost sibling alive or a fabulous caretaker. Shamrock had neither. The only friend she ever had was the tiny gecko that lasted about two weeks before somebody ate it "by accident". (And though Aardwolf sorta counted at one, he was waaaaaaaaay younger than her and was more of a little brother that she had to take care of.)

Those dragonets went on fantastical adventures and had animus powers. They became heroes fighting evil or ended up as queens. She has long given up hope of being with somebody like those dragonets. She was never going to save the world or do anything special. She could hardly save herself from being bitten by a snake. The one time a snake tried to bite her she just ran away. This made the snake angrier and she got bitten anyway.

In school, she was nothing special, just the average dragonet. Lots of the kids at school teased her about being an orphan but she didn't mind. The only thing she was good at was geography. She knew every part of Pyrrhia by heart and could tell anyone who asked the fastest route to most parts of the continent. Her teacher frequently complimented her on her advanced geographical skills. But she knew that geography was no match to what the other dragonets were good at. Many were awesome fighters and everyone knew that they would one day serve in the army. Others were talented writers, while she could barely write a short story for class.

As she entered her room Aardwolf ducked behind the bookcase. Probably just thinks I'm Gila coming to hurt him because he told everyone about one of Gila's many, many secrets she thought.

"It's ok, Aardwolf, it's just me, Dingo," she reassured him. Aardwolf was one of the youngest dragonets in the orphanage at two years old. She'd shared a room with him for a year, ever since he came to the Orphanage a year ago. His parents had been soldiers too. "Though you're gonna have to get used to calling me Shamrock instead."

"Why?" Aardwolf asked, peeking out of his hiding place.

"Ceja and Talon said so. They also said once I'm gone you have to share a room with Peak."

"Ugh," Aardwolf groaned, "not her." Peak was the only dragonet in the orphanage who wasn't a Sandwing. She was a Skywing and a grumpy one at that. But, from what Shamrock knew about Skywings they were all like her, grumpy and irritable. Everyone, even some of the little dragonets, hated her. But they had to put up with it because she was their ally in the Great War. That meant that the Skywings and SandWings that supported Burn could "peacefully coexist" together.

Though peacefully coexisting wasn't exactly what the two tribes had in mind. She knew that in some small settlements on the border, both SandWings and Skywings were allowed. This often led to small scrimmages or fights breaking out not unlike those in the infamous Scorpion Den. These thoughts lead right back to her father.

It was a common belief that her father had fled to the Scorpion Den after deserting the army. There weren't many deserters in Burn's army, so when someone did desert it was a big deal. While she didn't know much about her father, besides that he was a traitor, she did know some stuff about her mother and siblings. She had hatched outside the orphanage but the day after she hatched her mother had been killed in a battle against the Icewings. So, she and the youngest of her brothers, Gecko, had been sent to the Orphanage while the older two went off by themselves. But it didn't take long for them to die in battle as well.

The worst of it all had come just after her second hatching day. Her brother had just turned ten and was living on his own, but had to apply for Burn's army. Every night after he applied, she had been haunted by the possibility that he was about to die somewhere out on the sands, then it happened. It had already been a horrible day, but then when the mail arrived there was a message for her. She had locked herself in a closet for the rest of the day crying and had read the note so many times she had practically memorized it. Shamrock still had the scroll, along with the ones that sealed her mother and older brother's fates.

"Hey, what's wrong?" asked Aardwolf. This was the thing she liked about him, he always liked to talk to the other dragonets about how they were feeling. All he asked in return was that they listen to how he was feeling.

"It's just, um, uh," she stuttered, "uh, so, Aardwolf."

"Yes?"

"Do you ever wonder about your parents?"

"Ya,"

"Well I was just thinking about mine and you know," she cut herself off.

"How they died,"Aardwolf finished for her.

"Ya, I guess I'm kinda nervous. Because my dad is back, and since he's my dad I have to go with him. But everyone says he's a traitor so, well I dunno what he's going to do with me and if he's even friendly," Shamrock said in a rush.

"I get it, but look on the bright side. At least you're getting out of here while dragons like Peak have to stay! Though, I wish I was going too," he answered then sighed.

A/N- If anyone was wondering if there was going to be romance, NO! I am horrible at writing romance, after all I'm only 11.

"I know. I wish you could come with me,"