Chapter 1: Bumblebee

Bumblebee looked up excitedly at the ceiling of the cave far overhead. She couldn't believe how big Jade Academy was. It was MASSIVE. She could barely contain her excitement. She tried to charge forward, but Cricket grabbed her tail and pulled her back.

"Bumblebee, stop, calm down. I know you're excited, but please behave!" she sighed.

"But we're finally here! Let's go, go, go!" Bumblebee squealed, "Come on! Have you ever met Fatespeaker? Or Clay? Everyone says he's dreamy!"

Bumblebee sighed. Cricket snickered at her. The two of them walked over to a large desk at the back of the room where several dragons were gathering. Bumblebee assumed this was where they checked in, but the crowd was overwhelming. Cricket and Bumblebee pushed their way through the crowd and eventually ended up at the front of the line. Sitting at the desk were a few dragons. A NightWing, most likely Fatespeaker, a strange looking golden SandWing, and a blue SeaWing. Cricket smiled at them all.

"Well, well, long time no see!" she chuckled.

The SandWing smiled.

"You came! I was worried you wouldn't," she said, "I'm so excited. This will be the first time a Pantalan dragon will attend."

Bumblebee tugged on Cricket's arm.

"Who is this?" she asked.

"Oh right, introductions! Duh!" Cricket pointed at the SandWing, "This is Sunny, you remember, I told you about her."

Cricket did in fact vaguely remember Cricket going over all the people Bumblebee would meet. Sunny wasn't someone she remembered, but apparently when she was really young she had met her.

"And that is Tsunami and Fatespeaker," Cricket pointed to the other two receptionists, "I know I told you about them."

Bumblebee thought back to the stories about how Tsunami had swam from Pyrrhia to Pantala and guided the refugees back. Many Pantalans saw Tsunami as an ally because of what she had done for them against the breath of evil. As for Fatespeaker, she had always been nice to people and had grown a big reputation in both continents. Bumblebee was excited to meet Fatespeaker because she had always been fascinated by NightWings since they were her ancestors. Bumblebee immediately turned her attention to her.

"Wow! You're Fatespeaker! No way! I'm Bumblebee. Tell me, can you read minds and see the future? How many talons am I holding behind my back? Ooh your silver scales are so pretty! Is that a bracelet or scales? Do you know who Clearsight is?"

Cricket had to practically tackle her to shut her up. Fatespeaker, who was almost a little overwhelmed by the questions, recovered quickly and laughed.

"Hello, Bumblebee. Nice to meet you. I'm flattered that you've heard of me," Fatespeaker giggled.

"Sorry about her, she can get…excited sometimes," Cricket sighed.

"Hey! That's how you introduce me?" Bumblebee huffed.

"Oh fine," Cricket turned to the three Pyrrhians, "It's good to see you three again. Of course you know me, Cricket. This is Bumblebee, I guess you could say I'm her guardian."

"Nice to meet you properly Bumblebee," Tsunami nodded, "I'm Tsunami, the Head of Jade Mountain Academy. This is Sunny, the disciplinarian, and Fatespeaker, our receptionist and Librarian EA."

Bumblebee stuck out her talons and shook hands with Tsunami.

"Now, let me explain how this school works," Tsunami started, "First of all, we have several little groups or classes that we call winglets. It's not a full wing of dragons, only a few dragonets per winglet and each winglet is made up of several dragons from different tribes who you will learn alongside. You will even share caves with a few of these dragons who are to be your clawmates."

"Winglets? Clawmates? I'm so excited! I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait!" Bumblebee felt her wings buzz uncontrollably.

"Now as for your schedule, you will have three classes per day with a lunch break in between your second and third classes," Tsunami continued, "Then you get free time until you have to go to bed. Use this time to get to know people and to do your homework, and I do mean do your homework. Seriously, what's with students and not doing what they're supposed to?"

Cricket shook her head.

"I wish I knew," she sighed.

Cricket had stopped listening by now and was fantasizing about new friends and her clawmates. She could barely contain her excitement. She was so excited to start school. Fatespeaker brought her attention back.

"Alright Bumblebee, you'll be in cave 2-C, just over there," she pointed to the second cave to the right from the entrance of the school. There aren't any classes today, but they start first thing tomorrow."

Bumblebee jumped up and down in excitement, no longer trying to hold it all in. Cricket thanked the trio of teachers and led Bumblebee away. Once they were far enough away, Cricket hugged her.

"I'm so happy for you, Bumblebee. Everyone is. Sundew, Blue, Luna, Swordtail…" Cricket broke off.

She wiped her eyes a bit. Bumblebee was starting to realize that she won't be able to see her friends all day every day anymore.

"No, stop, don't cry, you'll make me cry!" Bumblebee hugged her.

"I know, I'm sorry…I'll just miss you so much. We've never been apart for this long. It might be years before I see you again!" Cricket sniffled, "Promise me you'll write. And promise that you'll always tell me anything new?"

"Of course! I wouldn't dream of ignoring you! I'm so grateful for everything you've done for me Cricket," Bumblebee reassured, "I'll miss you and the others so much."

Cricket hugged her tighter before pulling back.

"Alright, I guess it's time to go…" Cricket sighed, "Don't forget to keep yourself clean. And remember to eat!"

"I will! I promise!" Cricket backed away toward the tunnel behind her.

"And remember you promised to write!" Cricket called to her.

"I won't forget!" Bumblebee waved to her.

"I'll miss you, be safe!"

"I will! Bye, Cricket!"

Bumblebee turned and set off down the tunnel, feeling the weight of her memories of her friends. She would miss Blue and Luna and their awkward nervousness. She would miss Swordtail's explosive personality. She would especially miss Sundew, but she had to look forward to a new future on Pyrrhia. She took a deep breath and quickened her pace down the hall crowded with students chatting away. She eventually reached her new cave. A metal plaque was drilled into the rock next to a cave. The plaque said "Room 2-C", which confirmed she was in the right place. She stepped inside of the room, but no one was there yet. The only things in the room were a few small bookshelves by the door and two hammocks. Bumblebee didn't recognize the design, but it reminded her of the silk ones that hung in the SilkWing villages. She nervously crept up to the yellowish one. It reminded her of home, but she couldn't be sure that one was made for her. She was too busy examining the hammocks to notice another dragon was watching her from the entrance. The dragonet cleared her throat. Bumblebee whirled around to find a dark purple dragonet giving her a pompous look. She had beautiful glossy scales and the underside of her wings had scatterings of shiny bright colors like stars. Her tail curled into a loop behind her and her scales looked like they were shifting shades. The dragonet sniffed importantly as if she was waiting for something.

"Uhh, hi?" Bumblebee tried, "I'm Bumblebee…you are?"

The dragonet huffed.

"Is that any way to greet a Princess?" she hissed, "No, it isn't!"

"Wait, a princess? You? But you're hardly a few years younger than me."

The dragonet gave her a dumbfounded look.

"What does age have to do with royal status?" the dragonet asked incredulously.

Bumblebee shrugged.

"I don't know. I've never really met a queen or a princess before, so I wouldn't know."

The dragonet paused and looked her up and down.

"Wait a minute, I don't recognize your tribe. Are you possibly from Pantala?" she asked.

Bumblebee nodded enthusiastically.

"Yep! I'm the first Pantalan to attend Jade Mountain Academy! I'm a HiveWing, nice to meet you!"

The dragonet tossed her head importantly.

"Well. I am Princess Firefly, firstborn of Queen Glory of the RainWings," Firefly said, "I'm also half NightWing."

"Wait, no way, really?" Bumblebee was ecstatic,"Yay! I'm also part NightWing. All HiveWings are!"

"I know," Firefly said haughtily, "But what does that have to do with anything, and besides, if you are part NightWing, you'll bow to your princess."

"Um, sorry, but you, kind of aren't my princess…" Bumblebee shrugged, "Even if I have NightWing blood, I am still a HiveWing, meaning you aren't in charge of me. Sorry."

Firefly glared at her, furious, but she didn't say anything else and just flopped onto the other hammock in the room. Bumblebee didn't know what she had done wrong, but she shrugged it off. She was wiped out from the flight to the Academy and she was practically falling asleep on her feet. She climbed into the yellow hammock, which was surprisingly comfortable considering she was used to SilkWing hammocks. Within a few moments, she was asleep.