Blaze

Blaze woke up the next morning with a strange feeling. She felt like something was wrong. She peered into the darkness of her room. Nothing but blurry shapes of random items. That was when she realized the quietness. Cactus Blossom usually snored very faintly, but everything was silent. Suddenly, something blinked out at her. A pair of eyes. They disappeared. Just before a dragon lunged for her, claws outstretched, coming with some undoubtedly wicked intent.

She heard her scream echo off the wall and resonate throughout the small room. Cactus Blossom was in her doorway before Blaze could even realize she had been dreaming. Cactus looked at her curiously.

"What happened?" Cactus said, eyes flicking from shadow to shadow. Blaze grimaced.

"I had a nightmare. A strange dragon leapt out of the shadows at me." Blaze replied. She swept her blanket aside. "Sorry I woke you up."

Cactus shrugged. "I was up already, actually. Hey, it's almost dawn. Why don't we get some fresh air? You look pale." she suggested. Blaze agreed and leapt up. She could practically feel her scales begging for sunlight. They sat on the desert sands just outside the school, spreading their wings. The early sun cast faint reflections of gold off their jewelry. The dawn was just blooming, a weak mess of pastel purple and orange in the sky. The warmth soaked into Blaze's bones and she rested her head on the sands. The tiny grains blended into dots of colour before her. A couple minutes later, they flew back inside the entrance hall. Alighting on the sand-covered tiles, they walked into the food room.

"Class, by next week I want you to know this entire list by memory. That means no writing it on your tail, Singe and Sub-zero." Heatstroke said sternly. He passed out pieces of yellowish paper. Blaze scanned it with a groan. It was a list of every known queen in the history of the SandWings, IceWings and SeaWings. She tried to figure out how to remember even a little, but the only queens she ever remembered were the current ones. Queens Oasis, Ptarmigan and Cove. Not very many.

"Well, maybe if I can't write it on my tail, I'll write it on my talon. Or hey! Maybe your tail would be sufficient!" Singe told Heatstroke. Heatstroke yelped and snatched his tail. He glared at Singe, then at Sub-zero, who was laughing his head off.

"If you write it on anything, so help me I will fail you out of here! I'm tired of you!" Heatstroke hissed.

"Okay, one, if there's any fails you should be worrying about, it's how your face looks. Two, what you're probably really tired of is scorching your eyes when you look in a mirror." Singe back talked. The SeaWings in the back of the room who had been put in their Winglet were wide-eyed. Sub-zero gaped at him in amazement.

"GET WRECKED!" Sub-zero said unhelpfully. Singe smirked. Heatstroke opened and closed his mouth before shaking his head and giving up.

"Sit down. Study. Be quiet." Heatstroke said curtly, a glare still taking over his face. Sub-zero and Singe bumped tails and sat down. Blaze was just amazed. Cactus was too. What disrespectful behaviour. But it was a good burn.

Blister

Blister had tried really hard to write a story. She had planned it out, drawn characters, done everything, but when she tried to write, her idea sank like a stone. She couldn't think of anything good enough to write about. She sat alone in her dorm, Crypt having gone for a snack, thinking. After a minute she gave up and went to also find a snack. She trod lightly through the sand. Her talons sunk into it like it was water. She walked into the entrance hall and walked right into Crypt.

"Oh! Hi! I was looking for you! Want to eat out on the star watching plaza?" Blister said. The star watching plaza was a small patio on the top of the school that was used for well, star watching.

"Sure, sounds neat." They flew through the twilight to the top of the school. On the top of the school was a small observatory, with no roof but short silver guard rails. The floor was littered with pillows and star maps, and small candles for reading. Landing carefully, the two SandWings each found a pillow and a map. They were near each other to share the food. Crypt had brought a bowl of steak jerky and fruit. The two foods were separated by a divider, so they didn't get mixed up. Blister picked up a map and a candle.

"Hmm... I guess first I have to wait until it's darker out to see many stars. It's still early." Blister said.

"Yeah. We could watch the sunset." Crypt suggested. "It's kinda pretty." Blister turned her pillow to the west and gazed upon the magnificent spread of colours. The thick oranges, deep velvety violets, pale blues of the past day, all blended together. The wavering sun so far below, casting shadows. The sun shrank below the fine line of the horizon, and slowly but surely, the pallet of sky colours disappeared. They turned their eyes to the brilliant spread of indigo that covered the sky, and gasped.

"It's so beautiful!" exclaimed Crypt. She reached a talon up like she could clasp the stars in them.

"Yes. It's amazing." breathed Blister. "We have an observatory back home at the castle, but I haven't used it for a long time. I'm glad I'm here." They turned their view to the star maps. Blister grabbed a piece of pineapple.

"Let's find Dragon Major first. That will help us find all the other constellations." Crypt said. They found all the constellations, even before the royal party arrived with Burn.

Burn

Burn drifted through patchy holes of black. The occasional glimpses of outside kept her drifting, through mysterious tunnels of fading wisps, swirls of darkness, and memories. She kept seeing the smiling SeaWing. Didn't they know she was royal? She wondered what was going on. She saw her mother, fierce and commanding, yelling at her. Burn remembered all of the times she had gotten in trouble, and decided that she was happy with drifting.

Yay. A chapter! I really like writing this. PLEASE, IF YOU LIKE THIS STORY, CHECK OUT THE SANDICE ACADEMY FORUM! ROLEPLAY IN THE SAME SCHOOL AS THE ONE IN THIS STORY! Thanks,

Winter Kitty