Hello readers, I am sorry for not getting another chapter done soon enough. I will try to get new chapters done as soon as possible for your enjoyment. Now let's start the chapter.

(Galactic's POV)

"Thanks for the ride, Freakwave," I thanked him, getting out of the car. It was a nice sunny day in the desert region of Pyrrhia, and I wish everyday could be like it. The warmth of the sun gave me the motivation to do anything. It was a good day for that, because I had way too many errands to run before the dance.

"No problem," he responded, then in a matter of seconds, he was gone, leaving me at the building I needed to get to. I turned around to see the automobile garage, where my Trion was getting rebuilt. A day after we got back from the weekend at SeaWing mansion, I got a phone call that my car was ready to be picked up. I was busy for the next couple of days, so I had to wait until the day of the Christmas dance to get it.

I walked to the building, and opened the door. Walking inside to the front desk, I was greeted by MudWing I always thought as a really good friend. It was Clay, the biggest dragon in my high school. He was the best dragon to be friends with; one being that he would never tease or make fun of other dragons. Another thing was that he was protective of his friends. I was thankful when he was able to scatter the bullies whenever he saw me getting picked on.

Clay was an orphaned dragon from his hatching, separated from his siblings. He didn't know how it happened, but he wasn't able to find his sibs until a couple years later. He and I were best friends in sophomore year at high school, but then he got a job at the auto repair shop and had to drop out of school. We still talked to each other; whenever I needed my car fixed up.

"Hey Clay," I said happily, holding out a claw for him. He grinned at me from across the main desk and took the claw into his and shook it. He squeezed a little bit too much, and I thought my metal claw was going to crumple under the pressure.

"It's nice to see you again, Galactic," he responded, and walked out of where the main desk entrance was. He gestured me to follow him to the garage, and I complied without question. He led the way through the door from the office to the garage, which was more like a warehouse. Cars of all sorts were around the garage, either being taken apart so the different parts could be resold to those who needed it, or just getting repaired from minor car crashes.

"How bad of shape was my car in?" I asked him as we walked to the other side of the garage. Slowing his pace, he sighed and looked at me.

"We thought it was going to be irrepairable," he explained to me. "One door was completely torn off, and the other was barely hanging on the frame. It took a little bit, but the car made it. I even got a surprise for you." He then started to walk faster again, and I scrambled after him.

What kind of surprise? I thought, as I looked around. As we got to the end of the garage, there was an item the shape of my car, but was underneath a gray covering. Clay walked to the car, and put his talons on the cloth, ready to pull it off. I was kind of excited to see what the surprise was.

"I had enough spare time to give your car a custom paint job. It took the help of some of my fellow workers, but we got it done," he told me, and pulled off the covering. My jaw dropped when I saw the design.

Neon green paint covered the top of the car from front to back. There were also stripes of the same color on the side, making the car have a neon green and black color. The best part was the emblem. There was a picture of a NightWing in mid-attack. It's claws were outstretched, as if it was ready for the kill. It's mouth was spread open, showing the white gleaming, sharp teeth. A flame was also coming within in the mouth of the dragon. The dragon was surrounded by a neon circle and the word "Galactic" painted above the circle in neon, too.

"This is so cool!" I said in disbelief. I looked at Clay, who was enjoying the moment of me gawking at his design. I leaned my head forward to get a better view at the design. After I inspected the paint job, I gave Clay and big bear hug. "You know you didn't have to do this for me. It must of took a long time to finish."

"Oh, it did. Besides, making that kind of decal makes you very hungry," he said, rubbing his stomach. We both chuckled as I let go of him. He both knew about Clay's frequent food craving. He ate about every thirty minutes, making school an utter hell for him, since he couldn't eat during class. "Oh, how has Starflight been doing?"

"He's well, and misses you a little," I responded, and he nodded.

"I wish I could see him again, but I have my hands busy right now," he told me, gesturing to all the broken vehicles. I saw one missing the front axel, and another had no back bumper. "Maybe I can visit in the summer."

"That sounds good," I told him, but then looked at the car. "You got the keys to it?" He grinned, opening his right claw that I didn't noticed that was balled up into a fist. He held his talons up to reveal the car keys. I took then without hesistation, and looked at him gratefully.

"Be careful," he told me as I unlocked the car. "Don't do anymore street racing. I don't want to see you, and more importantly, that car hurt." I chuckled as he looked at me sternly.

"Don't worry," I responded, still laughing. "I'm just grateful to have a car to take my date to the Christmas dance."

Clay looked at me, with an eyebrow raised. "Who's the lucky dragoness?"

"A SeaWing princess called Waterfall," I responded, getting into the driver seat. "She is the best thing that could ever happen to me."

"Royalty, eh?"

"Let's change the subject. How is Peril doing?"

That seemed like a sensitive topic to go to, but it was too late. Clay looked sadly at the ground before looking back at me. "The doctors are close to finding a cure for her, but right now she still can't go anywhere besides her own bedroom, which is all stone."

"I hope she gets cured of her fire scales," I told Clay, "and I'm sorry for bringing up the subject."

"No. No, it's alright. I needed someone to talk about that anyways," he responded, waving off my apology. He the formed a grin on his face. "Make sure you don't scare off your date."

"Ha ha ha," I laughed in a mock expression. "You're hilarious."

"I know I am. But still, have a good time."

I placed the key into the ignition and turned it. The engine hummed to life in an instant, and the garage door in front was being opened by Clay. After the door reached the top of the building, I eased on the gas petal, and I was off to get back to my dorm.

(A few hours later...)

I was standing in front of the SeaWing mansion, waiting for Waterfall to answer the door. As I waited, I was being watched by two suspicious guards who eyed from time to time. It wasn't the best feeling in the world. I had washed up for the dance half an hour ago, so I was ready.

I looked nervously at the guards as I waited in front of the two decorated doors. After about a few minutes, the door finally opened, revealing the SeaWing princess I was waiting for.

She was drop dead beautiful with her polished, deep blue scales that made the moonlight shine off her. Her emerald green eyes were looking into mine, and her smile was as great as ever.

"Your highness," I said dryly, holding out my metal claw to her. She rolled her eyes, still smiling, but accepted with no hesitation. We held each other's claw as I led her to the passenger side of the Trion. Opening the door, I ushered her inside the vehicle, and waiting until her body was inside. Closing the door, I made my way to the other side of the car and got into the vehicle as well.

"I see you got your car rebuilt... and repainted," she told me as I put the key into the ignition.

"You like the paint job?" I asked curiously, and she nodded slightly.

"It's good, but I would have preferred if it was a SeaWing painted on the side."

We both laughed softly before I started driving. I guided the car out of the mansion driveway, and we were off to the dance. As I drove the car, Waterfall looked out the window to see if she could see anything different.

"Waterfall?"

"Yeah, Galactic."

"I need to tell you something important," I started as she looked at me intently, not wanting to miss a word I say. "When I was still unconscious, I had a vision of Silt holding you hostage, with a knife to your throat. You looked awful in that vision, too. Your scales were dried up and you had a big wound to your head." I then eased off the gas as I approached a red light.

"Go on." I took a look at her, and she looked worried about what I was saying.

"He wanted to trade you for me, and I said no, knowing that he would just still keep you prisoner. So, he stabbed you."

She then blurted out: "What are you trying to say?" The light turned green and I pressed down on the gas, accelerating to thirty miles per hour in a moment.

"I'm saying that we aren't safe to let the authorities handle the situation," I told her as I took a right. "I have to hunt for him myself."

"No way," she interjected immediately. "I am not letting you go after the MudWing that wants you dead, I'll tell my Aunt about your vision, and she'll have the elite SeaWing force after him."

I nodded, but I still wasn't certain that I would be safe. "But what if-"

"Let's just enjoy the night," she interrupted me, not wanting for the moment to be ruined. She looked more serious since I told her about the vision.

"I'm sorry about bringing the topic up," I immediately apologize, but was responded by a hug and a small smile.

"You don't have to apologize, but let's not talk about the vision tonight." I nodded, reassuring her that I wouldn't speak of the topic until tomorrow.

"Alright, then. We arrived," I announced as I pulled into the parking lot at Jade Mountain. I pulled into my normal spot, making it to where we had to walk a little farther, but it was closer to our dorms. "Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," she responded with a grin as she got out of the car. I did the same thing and we went side by side as we walked to the basketball stadium, with my right wing covering her from the cold breeze of the night. We held claws and walked close to each as we made our way to our destination.

(Celsius's POV)

It was still six in the evening, so I decided to walk through the Pyrrhia mall. Since I didn't have a date to the dance, I chose not to go. My friends told me I was going to miss out on so much, but I ignored them. It was better to be at the mall, looking through the different stores than to be watching my friends dancing with their dates, making me depressed because I didn't have a date.

I am also still thinking about Owl, I thought to myself, walking into another section of the mall. As I walked, I found myself going to the gaming store without even thinking about it.

Gives me something to make time go faster. I shrugged to myself as I walked in. Immediately going to the games for Skybox, I browsed through the different titles. There was a sword fighting game, but I wasn't too good at melee. The game next to it was a apocalyptic survival game, which caught my interest. I took the game off the shelf and looked on the back. As I looked at it, someone bumped into me.

"Hey, watch..." I trailed off as I looked who ran into me. No way. It was the IceWing/SkyWing hybrid from the trial. She looked at me sheepishly with her yellow eyes. A million different emotions were going through me right now.

"Sorry," she said in a soft tone. "I was in a hurry to get a game for a friend."

"It's fine," I replied as we looked at each other. We stood silent for a couple seconds before I decided to end it. "This is awkward."

She giggled at the statement, and I smiled gleefully. "Yes it is, but I think we need to introduce ourselves properly."

"Okay, my name is Celsius, the IceWing that defended Galactic in the trial," I stated as she continued to look at me. "What's your name?"

"I am Owl," she told me. "I am an IceWing/SkyWing hybrid, but you probably know that already."

"Owl. That's a nice name," I complimented, holding out my claw. She took the claw in her grasp and shook it. "Nice to meet you."

"You, too."

Then a thought appeared in my head. There was a chance that I could get to know her more. "So... are you in a rush somewhere, or just passing time."

"I'm passing time right now, mainly because I need to get away from the Ice Kingdom," she responded. "Why did you ask?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out for a little bit," I answered.

"I would like to do that." She then started to ask me questions from the trial, and we walked out of the store to the food court. One of the questions was how I knew that the scales were painted. Another was why I decided to defend Galactic. I explained to her our past, meeting up the one day in high school, and doing many different things after that.

"I thought it wasn't possible for IceWings and NightWings to be friends," she said, frowning at me. I shrugged in response and kept on walking to the food court.

"You hungry?" I asked her, and she nodded.

"I haven't eaten anything since this morning," she responded. "I could eat a polar bear right now."

"Same."

We went to the fast food restaurant that had a variety of different foods. Owl got a hawk to eat and I got a seal. Going to the cash register, she took out her wallet in a bag around her neck.

"No, I'll pay for it, Owl," I told her, getting mine out. She then gazed up at me with an eyebrow raised, probably wondering why I said that all of a sudden.

"It's alright, I can pay for my own," she responded as she took out her some money, but I was already paying for the food. She looked up and gave me a frown. "Why are you paying for me?"

"Because it's a nice thing to do," I responded. And I also love you. She went silent as she murmured "okay" and took her food to a table. I followed her with my meal and we sat down. We ate in silence as the surrounding sounds of chattering and laughing took place around us. After a few minutes, we finished our meals and started off into the mall again.

As we walked, we talked to each other about different things that happened in our lives. We exchanged and laughed at each other's jokes. I was having a great time, but then I was blindsided by a question that came out of nowhere.

"Cel, I need to ask you something?" She looked at the ground nervously, making circles with her talons on the floor. Immediately, a feeling of worry shot through my body as I responded.

"What is it?"

"Do you like me?"

"Of course, as a friend. You seem like a very nice dragon to hang out with. Why do you ask?"

She looked the looked at the ground as she closed her eyes, and she held back what seemed like a sob. "Well, I kind of have a rough life. The dragonesses at my high school call me a weirdo and a abomination, saying that I will never get a friend. Then all the male dragons don't leave me alone with their flirting, then they just call me rude things when I say no to them."

"Why haven't you told the teachers about that?"

"That's the thing, since the orders IceWings have a bad relationship with NightWings, they don't listen and give me more work than the others to do. Sometimes I get sent to the principal for no reason, then he forces me to leave the school for the day."

"That's awful! But what do NightWings have to do with them hating you."

She looked at me with her yellow eyes as tears fell from them. "Haven't you seen the underside of my wings?"

"No, mainly because you always fold them under your body," I answered, and she unfurled her wings, revealing the night sky. I gasped a little, not realizing that she was also part NightWing. I put the pieces of the puzzle together, and thought of the horrible reason why they hated her. "They hate you because your part NightWing."

She nodded, before breaking down into tears and sobbing. As if my body was on autopilot, I put a wing around her, trying to comfort the best I could. She leaned into my shoulder, shocking me for a moment.

"It's going to be okay," I reassured her, and the tears slowly stopped and the sobbing receded. "How did you make it through those horrible times?"

"I have a friend named Snowdrop," she responded, tears still coming down, but not as much. I took my left claw and wiped one off her cheek, and she looked at me, smiling. "She help me get through them, mainly because of her mother."

"Wait, your friend is a-"

"Daughter of Queen Glacier, yes," she responded and she leaned in closer. "But let's change the subject. I need to tell you the real reason everyone hates me except my friends."

"I thought it was because of being part NightWing."

"No," she looked at me fearfully, as if I was going to be horrible like all the other dragons. "It's not because I am part NightWing."

"It's because I have the powers of one."

Chapter 20 done, thankfully. I hope you guys were able to wait about a week for a new chapter. Please tell me if anything is getting confusing, and I will explain to you. I hope you enjoy this new chapter and I will see you in the next one.