Nebula rolled off of the ledge, stretching, and noticed that Sponge hadn't been in the cave when he woke up. He cast a glance at Tarragon's hammock, which was empty too, but that was normal. Wandering out into the halls, he realized that almost none of the other dragonets had woken up yet. Nebula's brow furrowed as his worry increased. Sponge had been disappearing more and more frequently. "Where the hell is he?" He mumbled, checking the main cave. There were 3 other dragons, all looking at the schedule. He realized one of them was the huge MudWing in his winglet. "Duckweed!" He whispered, grabbing her by the arm.
She let out a startled yelp, and the two other dragons, who were both blindingly colorful RainWings, quickly shuffled away. "Have you seen Sponge? I can't find him anywhere." Duckweed stared at him for a moment, and after a while it seemed that something clicked in her head. "Oh, that green SeaWing? He went to the library I think, but there was a dragon following him. He looked like the assistant principal." Urgency spiked through his veins. "SHIT! I've got to go- please get Keanu and Tarragon." The brown dragon hurried away, and he sprinted toward the library, a very startled looking SkyWing the color of a cardinal flapping out of his way frantically.
Nebula burst into the library, the librarian sitting at her desk jumping in surprise. "Woah, slow down! What's wrong?" Nebula blinked at the white, gray and black RainWing, "One of the dragons in my winglet went missing and someone said come here. His name is Sponge, he's a green SeaWing-" The RainWing shushed him before he could finish. "Yes, I know Sponge, he was here a while ago. There was a creepy looking SandWing that was following him, I think it was the assistant principal..?" Something dropped in his stomach like a stone. His brain started connecting the dots…
The strange noises when he left the cave, the strange way that Mamba kept looking at Sponge, the frightened look on his eyes when he came back… "WHAT?" NebulaChaser roared, and the librarian stumbled back with a startled look in her eyes. "I've got to go, thanks for the information- '' He stammered to the rainwing, which if he remembered correctly, was named Cujo. Nebula almost ran into Duckweed, Keanu, and Tarragon as he raced through the hallway. "Okay, we're all here, so why are you freaking out?" Tarragon demanded, blocking his way with his wings. "Sponge is missing, and there's a dragon following him, it's the assistant principal, Mamba." He explained breathlessly. Keanu looked up with a concerned gaze. "You mean that super weird SandWing…?" Nebula nodded. Now they all looked fairly worried, especially Tarragon. "Let's split up. I'll check the underwater lake, Tarragon, you check the cafeteria, and Duckweed and Keanu, go check the classrooms. If you don't find anything, just meet me at the underground cave." Nebula felt tears welling in his eyes as he stormed through the halls, feeling like a porcupine in a herd of sheep.
Nebula finally reached the wide, yawning entrance of the cavern. The scenery seemed unfairly alluring. The dim light reflected softly off of the lake, illuminating the two dragons that were in the cave. There stood Sponge, who was sitting uncomfortably close to the menacing looking SandWing, who had their tails twined forcefully around each other. "Mamba." NebulaChaser hissed slowly, advancing on the two dragons. Sponge swung his head around, and Nebula immediately saw the redness that hardened around his eyes, and the dark circles that surrounded his dull eyes. Sponge had been crying. And hard. Before he could even think, words ripped out of his throat and he was suddenly leaping forward. "FUCK YOU!" The NightWing roared, barreling into the assistant principal. Mamba reciprocated by rearing a fist and hurling it straight at his face. Nebula let out a snort of fire, stumbling back. Something went crack. "STOP!" Sponge shouted, fear contorting his reddened face.. Nebula could feel the blood that poured out of his nose, but he didn't care. "What…?" He mumbled faintly, stumbling to his feet. Mamba gave him a crooked smile, his obsidean eyes venomously sizing him up as if daring the NightWing to attack him again. "Don't hurt each other, please." Sponge pleaded, clasping his talons around Mamba's forearm. "He's actually really nice, trust me. Can you please just- not fight?" Sponge sniffled, his eyes blurry with tears. His head spun, partly from the punch, but mostly from the way that the two dragons were standing. Mamba had his tail firmly twined around Sponge's, and he leaned into the SeaWing, while Sponge leaned away from him, staring at the ground. "I'm going to fucking kill you, SandWing. I don't know what you did, but I'm going to… kill you…" Nebula stumbled forward, the headache that thundered in his skull finally overcoming him. Blood splattered across the floor when he pushed himself up again, and as he looked at Sponge, the SeaWing had tried to help him. Mamba held him back. "I have a shield, idiot NightWing. And it goes far deeper than just physical protection, my dear Nebula. You don't know half of the shit I plan to do with your winglet." Mamba whispered, before yanking Sponge out of the room. Nebula laid in a puddle of his blood, crimson against midnight purple. Is this really what it's come to? Me practically drowning in my own blood, Sponge now being Mamba's prisoner, and whatever else that sly SandWing is planning? Was one of Mamba's last fleeting thoughts before he blacked out.
Chapter 6: Tarragon
Tarragon paced through the now abandoned halls, his wings tucked closely into his sides. Duckweed scrambled after him, with Keanu trailing behind her. "Nebula said to go to the underground lake… where the hell even is that? Thanks for the instructions, geez." He huffed to no one in particular, poking his head into a yawning cave entrance at the end of the hallway. A vast, dimly glowing lake stretched out in front of him. Keanu screamed, darting forward. "NEBULA!" She yelled, crouching beside the NightWing's unmoving, splayed out form. "Three moons-" Tarragon gasped, hesitantly walking forward to examine. NebulaChaser had a bad nosebleed that puddled in front of his head, with an ugly bruise that covered the front of his snout.
"What on earth happened? Duckweed yelped, her face wrinkling in distress. "We have to get him to a nurse!" Keanu added, circling the large dragon with a worried expression. "There's no way we can carry him. This is exactly what we need, something ELSE to worry about!" Tarragon snarled, flinging his talons up dramatically into the air, his venomous tail rattling against the stone floor. Hesitantly, Duckweed bumped her wing against his, a half felt smile appearing on her face. "Look, we'll deal with Nebula, and then we'll find Sponge. I know you're rightfully worried about him, but he's probably fine and just catching up on some homework." Tarragon stared at the MudWing, nodding gratefully. That was kind, Tarragon thought. At least someone's trying to understand.
Tarragon sprinted into the nurse's office, breathing so heavily it felt like his ribcage was rattling. A SeaWing with pale blue and tan scales was organizing a variety of bandages when he burst into the office. She whipped her head around, blinking at him. "Tarragon? What do you need?" She asked in a quiet voice. "There's a NightWing passed out in the underground cave, follow me-" He explained breathlessly, leaning on the side of the cave entrance. "Oh three moons, hurry then!" The SeaWing ordered, grabbing a leather bag that sat on the far side of the room. Tarragon raced back to the lake, weaving through students who were switching classes.
He shoved the nurse in front of him, poking his head into the cave. Duckweed and Keanu were propping up Nebula, who was now standing shakily, blood smeared across his chest. "All of that from a nosebleed? Moons above, you dragons are always getting into some kind of fight." The nurse said sternly, gently steering Nebula to a large rock that he could lay down on. The SeaWing examined Nebula's now crooked nose, a frown creasing her forehead. "You've got a broken nose." She announced finally, reaching into her bag.
"I've got to wrap it so that it'll adjust back into place. So stand still," She added as Nebula wriggled away from her talons, which clasped his cheeks. The light blue dragon carefully wrapped a bandage around his snout, and Nebula looked like he was trying not to bite her, his white freckled snout wrinkled with discomfort. Tarragon climbed onto the rock next to him, his tail carefully wrapping around Nebula's. The nurse eventually stepped back, examining the NightWing's face one last time. "There, that should do. You're going to have some trouble eating, so ask someone for help. Take it easy, big guy." She patted him on the shoulder, then disappeared through the entrance.
NebulaChaser leaned into Tarragon, touching his nose faintly. After a moment of silence, Duckweed and Keanu came to sit at the foot of the boulder. "So… You wanna tell us what happened?" Keanu asked, her light red wings tucked tightly into her sides. Nebula ducked his head, glaring down at his talons. "The assistant principal happened." He muttered. "Mamba did this to you…? Why on earth would he have needed to punch you?" Duckweed asked in alarm, exchanging a glance with Keanu that Tarragon wished he could decipher. "I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT." NebulaChaser snarled, storming out of the cavern. "I'll go make sure he's alright," Tarragon promised, and without waiting for an answer he plunged out of the dimly-lit cave.