"Ack! Sorry!" the stranger exclaimed, flapping their wings back. Brightfly was a scale away from touching her, but jumped back quickly. He'd met Peril before, so he recognised firescales when he saw them. On the other talon, this was definitely not Peril. The stranger seemed a lot younger than her, and they had brown and amber scales across their tail and legs. Their wings had touches of brown as well.
"Who are you?" Brightfly asked.
"I'm Moccasin. Who are you?"
"I'm Brightfly. Nice to meet you."
After their very awkward greeting, Brightfly edged his way around her and headed towards the exit. Suddenly, Pyramid jumped in his way.
"Bright, where do you think you're going?"
"I'm… uh…" Brightfly stumbled over his words. How had he not thought of an excuse?
"What's in that sack?"
"It's… um… food! I'm bringing it to the Library, Starflight wanted food."
"He couldn't get it himself?"
"Yes, but he's very busy at the moment. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way."
Pyramid stepped to the side, flicking his barbed tail to the side. Brightfly walked forward, his heart beating at the speed of a shooting star. Pyramid grabbed his arm. Brightfly looked into his eyes, and Pyramid sent a clear message. They were I know that you're up to something, and if you leave me out of something cool, I will pluck off all your scales one by one eyes. Okay, Brightfly knew Pyramid would never do that, but that was the general message.
Bright took a deep breath, then headed out the exit after checking Pyramid was gone roughly ten million times. Sun beat on his scales, filling him up with energy. Casting a longing glance at Jade Mountain, he leaped into the sky, towards his uncertain future.