Chapter 2: Late Morning

Downstairs in the kitchen Whirlwinds Mother was preparing Lunch. The kitchen consisted of a single worktop built in directly to the wall opposite the stairs, with some conveniently placed cupboards positioned directly above and below the surface. The area itself was quite small and quality wise, quite shabby. But considering that only Whirlwind and her Mother lived there, the overall space was manageable. The kitchens open plan 'design' if it were to be called that, gave a direct view into the main living area. The whole of the downstairs was just a single moderately sized, slightly rectangular room, While the living area was just filled by a couple of small cabinets along the wall, as well as a large wooden sofa facing the opposite wall to the kitchen, about 10 feet back. The floor as well was mainly wooden, with a new gleam to it. Whirlwinds Mother had only recently been able to afford to have had it done, as it was originally just stony brickwork leaving the floor with a sharp, uneven surface. This in itself was a nightmare as the furniture would always rock about when sat or leant on, which Whirlwind herself didn't really care for as she was upstairs for most of the time, but was one of her Mothers pet hates.

Whirlwinds Mother was a dark blue Dragon whose life mainly consisted on delivering goods to some of the various stock markets around Skylands, that and looking after an unmotivated Teenage Whirlwind. As like most Dragons, she had large folding wings mounted to her back, as well as large claws on both her front and back legs. Her teeth were generally quite small compared to the male Dragons of her species, but that was because it was the males who did most of the hunting. But because her husband wasn't a killer Unicorn and she herself didn't hunt, she just made the most of her kitchen.

She had a bowl grasped between her front left foot, with the claws gently curving around the edges to give it support, while it was also pressed against the inside of her leg, as you would do with a mixing bowl. She was mixing the substances together with a wooden spoon, held in her front right foot. As her species of Dragon are not really capable of standing on their two back legs alone, she supported herself by leaning her leg on top of the work surface, while continuing to mix her ingredients. There was also had a cheap cookery book leant up against the wall of the kitchen, which Whirlwinds Mother would glance at every now and then for reference.

The mornings peace was disturbed by a half second shriek of terror, followed by a continuous array of bangs and crashes, as the dopey morning Dragon had somehow tripped up on herself and was now rolling wing over heels down the stairs, before finishing with a final THUD as she lay as a heap on the glossy wooden floor at the bottom of the stairs. Her Mother did not have time to react, as by the time she had fully turned to face the calamity, Whirlwind had already made it down the stairs. After a brief pause the only noise that could be heard was the crackly sound of what sounded like a Wolf that had given up on life, trying to howl, which originated from Whirlwind as she lay almost motionless on the floor.

"My gosh girl, one day you're going to hurt yourself!" Her Mother couldn't exactly rush over due to her larger size, but eventually made her way over in her own pace. Whirlwind did not reply but could be heard making grumbling sounds under her breath, making insults to the stairs, though luckily not in her Mothers current hearing range. She slowly picked herself up and positioned her back two legs, which were currently resting on the first and second steps of the staircase at the time, onto the ground floor and began to lift herself into her normal posture, using her two front legs to do most of the work. Considering the severity of the incident, Whirlwinds injuries seemed minimal. Although her Mother was looking around her, lifting up wings, checking paws, generally being considerate for Whirlwinds health, but basically just adding insult to injury. "Are you bruised? Did you chip a claw? Did you hit your head? ...Did you damage your horn?" "OW! MUM!" All Whirlwinds Mother did was gently rest the back of her foot against her daughters horn, but the pain that Whirlwind felt was the equivalent to being punched in the teeth after have only been wearing braces for a few days.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Tch, Whirlwind you really need to be more careful, if you damage your horn too much it won't grow back."

Whirlwinds Mother backed off a little bit as Whirlwind paced over to the sofa and plonked herself down on it, lying completely across its entire length span. Though, when she spoke her words sounded irritated and stroppy.

"Well if I didn't have this horn then we wouldn't have had that problem and I'd probably be living a better life."

Whirlwinds Mother who was originally turning back around to return to the kitchen had instantly frozen on the spot; insulted by the reply she received she confronted Whirlwind without hesitation. She didn't know why she took so much offense to her comment, but in replying had 'accidentally set off fireworks'.

"WHIRLWIND!"

Whirlwind snapped back.

"WHAT?! IT'S TRUE! IF I DIDN'T HAVE THIS STUPID THING THEN I PROBABLY WOULDN'T BE BULLIED AT SCHOOL, I MIGHT ACTUALLY HAVE SOME FRIENDS AND I WOULDN'T BE SUFFERING LIKE I DO!"

"OH REALLY?! SO YOUR SUFFERING?!"

The way her Mother replied wasn't intentional, but in the heat of the moment, it wouldn't have been easy to have admitted herself wrong.

"YEAH, ACTUALLY! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO NOT FIT IN ANYWHERE BECAUSE NOBODY WANTS TO KNOW YOU AND IN RETURN GET THE MICK TAKEN OUT OF YOU EVERY SECOND OF THE DAY!

"IF THAT'S THE CASE, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ANYONE THAT YOUR GETTING THE MICK TAKEN OUT OF YOU?!"

Whirlwinds volume began to intensify.

"I'VE TRIED TALKING TO THE TEACHERS, AND THE ASSISTANT TEACHERS, AND THE HEAD TEACHER, AND ALL THEY DO IS SAY (On purposely making a bad impression) "I'm sorry, but there's no evidence that these other students have done anything too you" THEY JUST DON'T CARE! AND FOR YOU! I TELL YOU EVERY DAY I COME HOME WHAT THE OTHER STUDENTS HAD DONE OR SAID AND YOU JUST STAND THERE AND...AND...and...you know that I get bullied..."

The argument had now stopped, as quickly as it had started. Whirlwinds Mother was now slightly out of breath, with the last few disheartened words from Whirlwind remained circling in her head, continuously picking at all of her remaining regret. She wanted to apologize, but questioned whether it was the right time, considering that the argument was still raw. She was also aware that her daughter was a teenager and needed the space, but it was still hard as a Mother to let her go. She took a few seconds to accept this and unwillingly returned to the kitchen. As she did this, Whirlwind was still laying on the sofa, her two front legs crossed over each other with her head half buried between them. Also deep in thought about regret...