Wings of Fire: Crazy Kids

Chapter Two

Glace's talons scraped aggressively against the stone floor as he followed Kiang closely.  The RainWing cold feel his clawmate's cold breath on his tail.  Kiang hoped he hadn't ruined their possible friendship forever with his dumb questions.  He hadn't meant to be anything but kindly curious, but he should have stopped to think before he said anything. 

Kiang glanced back at Glace, who met his gaze with the beginnings of a snarl pulling at his mouth.  Kiang's talons missed a step and he stumbled, earning a snort from his companion.  Glace's eyes were red—blood red.  That was probably the most amazing thing Kiang had ever seen.

Even glaring, Glace was unbelievably handsome, and Kiang couldn't bring himself to look away until the IceWing snapped, "keep your stare ahead of you before you run into someone."

"S-sorry," Kiang agreed, quickly doing as instructed. "I just noticed your eyes for the first time."

"What's wrong with them?" Glace growled coldly.

"Nothing, quite the opposite. I thought they were really... I don't know, unique? And brilliant. Yeah, that's why I was staring. Sorry." Kiang hung his head and they walked the rest of the way in silence.

"Uh—here it is," Kiang finally said awkwardly, stopping in front of a large, round cave.  He peeked in.  "Looks like everyone else is already in there for the sharing circle."

Beside Kiang, Glace cringed again at the "dopey" name.  "I'm not sharing anything," he growled, his tail lashing.

"Don't worry, I think this morning is just to meet our winglet," Kiang reassured the IceWing. 

Glace hissed and prowled into the room ahead of Kiang, earning himself a steady hush as everyone inside stopped murmuring to stare at him.  Kiang followed quickly and wilted, realizing there were only two seats left—right next to eachother.  It wasn't that he didn't like Glace.  It was just... perhaps he's seen enough of me for this morning.

Regretfully, Kiang trudged over to sit next to Glace, who kept his chin up and didn't look at anyone.  Kiang gave a friendly nod to each dragon around the circle.

"Great, everyone's here!" A lanky black dragon chirped, melting out of the shadows to stand in front of the circle of dragonets. Kiang bit back a flinch. He hadn't even noticed the NightWing there. "Good morning, Titanium Winglet. I am Abracadabra, your guidance teacher."

Glace scoffed and the Ruby red SkyWing snickered.

"Please pay no mind to my silly name," Abracadabra went on dubiously. "In fact, I'd prefer if you just called me Abra. Anyway, I'm basically here to lead you in both group and solo sessions, where you'll be able to explore your feelings and come to terms with your issues. Just know that you are safe and supported here, and we will be making this journey together."

"Sappiest thing I've ever heard," Glace muttered to nobody in particular, but Abra ignored him.

"Now, I know you're all here because you've experienced some sort of trauma in the past, and your parents are hoping that this new winglet can help you recover. We'll definitely get into that as the week progresses, but today, let's just try to get to know each other and our surroundings. We're going to go around the circle and introduce ourselves by name, and then say a little fact about ourselves. I'll go first." Abra paused, flicking her tail thoughtfully. "My name is Abra, and I like singing and dancing. Alright... Copper, do you mind going next?"

"Not at all," said the MudWing confidently, even though her claws were twitching nervously. "Uh... hi, my name's Copper. I really like animals and reading... and I'm really excited to get to know you guys."

"Me next?" Asked the SandWing excitedly as gazes turned to her. "Alright, I'm Krait, and I grew up in the Scorpion Den. I like drumming and dancing—like you, Miss Abra—and I also love doing artsy stuff, although I'm not all that good." She spread her sandy tan wings and stretched her neck to display the dark snakelike patterns that ran down her back. "And of course I also can't wait to become friends with all of you."

"Great. Now, Dartfish?" Abra asked.

"My name's Dartfish, but uh... you can call me Dart, if you want," the dark blue SeaWing said softly, wringing his talons together. "I... uh... I like quiet things. And quiet places."

Kiang felt a pang of oddly comforting pity. These dragons seemed just as nervous as he was—excepting Krait's sunshine-bright personality. It made him feel a bit more... normal.

"I'm Spark," the SkyWing announced next, flaring his scarlet wings and nearly knocking Dart over.  "I'm here because I apparently get excited way too easily but I have NO IDEA what mother and father meant by that!  I'm just so psyched to be here because, wow, it's so freaking lonely back home.  I love people and friends and I'm honestly really glad to be here because OH MY MOONS SO MANY NEW DRAGONS TO BEFRIEND!!!" 

"I can already tell you're buckets of fun," Krait commented with a smile.  Spark grinned at her.  Glace winced at the yelling, and Dart was holding his talons in front of him, as if he was debating on whether it would be rude to cover his ears.

Abra chuckled.  "Great, Spark.  I'm glad you're happy to be here, but remember what Dartfish just said about the loud noises."

"Oh, fourth moons," Spark hissed, clapping his talons over his mouth and turning to Dart.  "I'm so sorry, I forgot!  I'll try to be quieter from now on."

"Thanks," Dart breathed, lowering his talons.

"Guess I'm next," piped up a muscular NightWing with icy blue eyes, shifting her wings uncomfortably.  "So, hi there.  I'm Skeksi.  I still really don't think I need to be here, but I guess it could be fun getting to know you all.  I like getting up and being active, and I've been told I can be pretty... I dunno, bossy?  Just as a disclaimer."

"Great.  This is going so smoothly," Abra praised.  "Kiang, you'd be next."

Kiang stiffened, hoping his scales would hold their colour.  It felt like a pit was yawning open in his chest as he struggled to gather up his courage.  "Hey," he started, fidgeting with his tail, "I'm Kiang.  I, uh..." I accidentally killed my brother?  No, that's definitely the wrong way to introduce myself.  "I like reading."

Everyone's heads turned to Glace and he bared his teeth.  "I'm Glace," he said.  "I have no idea why I'm here, I already hate you all, and... I like fighting."

"Alright, thank you, Glace," Abra said anxiously.  "Is there anything else you enjoy?  Other than... that?"

"Not really," Glace growled.  "But there's loads of things it hate.  I could list those instead, if you need an answer."

"No, that's not necessary," Abra said, and turned back to the rest of the group.  "Well, I think we had a good session overall.  Of course I can't force you to, but I think it would be beneficial if the lot of you stayed together.  Get to know eachother for the first few days.  There'll be plenty of time for making other friends." 

Everyone nodded, except for Glace, who just glowered at his talons.

"Great.  Kiang, will you show the others to the prey centre?  And after you're done eating, you're free until tomorrow morning," Abra said.

"Sure," Kiang replied, stand8ng up and flicking his tail to beckon his winglet.  The seven dragonets set off toward the prey centre.