Wings of Fire: Crazy Kids

Chapter Three

Glace would have left his winglet as soon as he could, had he known the directions to the prey centre. Instead he was forced to trail along at the back of the group, walking next to Dart. Fortunately, the SeaWing didn't seem to want to talk to him either.

These dragons were already the worst. They were horrible.  Copper, Dart, and Kiang—much too quiet.  Krait, Spark and Skeksi—way too loud.  They chatted obnoxiously near the front of the group, asking eachother questions and thinking about what they should do after lunch, while everyone else was silent.  After about five minutes of putting up with this irritating balance, the winglet finally arrived at the prey centre.

"Thank the moons," Glace hissed, lunging forward and killing a frantic goose with a quick claw swipe.  Dart flinched at the IceWing's swift movement.  Glace sat down, licking the fresh blood off of his claws and getting ready to eat. 

Much to his annoyance, the winglet formed a small circle around him, sitting down to eat with him.  "Ugh," he growled, glaring around at them.  He stood up, backed away, and turned to leave.

"Wait, Glace!" Kiang called.

"What?" Glace snapped, his tail lashing.

"Uh... don't you want to eat with us?" The RainWing asked anxiously. 

Glace snorted.  "No."  With that, he stalked away to eat on his own, far away from the other dragonets. 

Glace picked at his goose slowly, but he didn't feel so hungry anymore.  In fact, he just felt guilty, guilty about lots of things.  Guilty about hurting Caribou, and about hurting North and Cobalt and Pole before him.  Guilty about yelling at Eira, and even guilty about leaving his winglet behind. 

"Hi," said a voice above him. 

Glace looked up and hissed angrily.  "What do you want, RainWing?" He snarled, standing up again.

"It's just..." Kiang struggled.  "We're having a great time back there, and... I don't know, you're missing out.  We all really want to get to know you, so can you please come and sit with us?"  The RainWing's eyes went wide, making his face even cuter than before.  "Please?"

Glace sighed.  "Fine, what the heck.  I guess I can't avoid getting to know you suckers if I'm gonna be here for five months."  Might as well get this over with.  Maybe they'll actually be a bit of fun once they ease up.  And once I ease up. 

"Yay, he's here!" Krait said cheerily as Kiang lead Glace back to the group.  Spark pumped his fist with a triumphant "whoop".

Glace sat down, clawing the ground frustratedly.  Everything about this place sucked.

"So I was thinking, after we all finish eating we should go do something together! We can all bond and get to know each other, and then we'll be besties by tomorrow!" Krait cheered.

Glace made a fake retching noise at that idea, and was surprised when everyone laughed. It was meant to be mean... but oddly, a positive reaction somehow felt almost as gratifying as a negative one would have.

"Sorry if I'm holding you guys up, let me just finish this last bit," Copper said, tearing a leg off of the sheep under her talons.

Snapping bones. Tearing flesh. The sound of skin being ripped away from her skeleton.

Suddenly she was dead on the floor in front of him, dead all over again.

"Glace? Glace, are you okay?" Glace blinked several times. Kiang was shaking him by the shoulder.

"W-what?" He asked half-heartedly, glancing down at the RainWing, who had turned a worried pale teal colour.

"You just froze for a moment," Kiang explained.

"And your eyes totally clouded over," Skeksi added. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah I'm... I'm fine. Completely fine." He stood up, shaking the memory out if his head. "I've gotta go."

"Alright, see you later?" Spark asked hopefully.

Glace didn't answer, whisking out the door before anyone could protest. He practically ran back to the cave and threw himself onto his bed. Breathe. Breathe. That was a long time ago. Just stop thinking about it. He pressed both talons against his eyes and let out a shaky sigh.

I have to distract myself, he thought firmly. I'll unpack. Even though I only brought, like, three things. Glace opened his pouch and dumped out the contents in front of him. A flask of whiskey (alcohol wasn't allowed here, which was one of the biggest reasons why he'd brought it), a miniature painting of his mother and sister, and a snowflake shaped brooch all sat in front of him.

Glace sighed again, flicking his tail back and forth, and took a quick gulp from the flask before setting the painting and the brooch onto separate shelves carved into the rock wall. He hid the flask back in his pouch and flopped down onto his back, glaring at the ceiling.

After about 20 minutes, Glace's breathing went back to normal and he rolled off of his bed. Guess I should explore. See what there is to do around here. And if I happen to run into the others... he tried to squash that hope down as he tramped back out into the hall. He walked straight until he found another tunnel, and decided to see where that would take him. It got cooler as he suspected he was going deeper into the mountain. Soon he heard the sounds of splashing and laughter echoing off of the tunnel walls.

Glace hesitated. He didn't want to go if there were strangers down there. I mean, I can go wherever the heck I want. But what's the point if I'd just be watching a bunch of dragonets have a splash war?

He as about to turn around when he heard a somewhat familiar voice cry, "quit it, Krait!", followed by a long peel of laughter. It was his winglet down there.

Well. I guess I'll go say hello then. Glace continued his way down the tunnel.

"Everyone, shh, do you here that?" Skeksi's voice sounded from ahead.

"No, wha—" Spark was cut off with a loud splashing sound.

"SHH," the NightWing hissed again, "somebody's coming."

Glace emerged into the faint, rippling glow of sunlight reflecting off of water. "Wow," he breathed, gazing around him. It was a huge cavern, the walls rigid with stalactites and glistening with the shadows of rippling water. A huge, crystal clear lake sat in the centre, and a large gap above revealed the bright afternoon sky. Imagine how this place looks at night.

"Glace!" Kiang cried happily, leaping out of the lake and hitting the IceWing with a scattering of water droplets. "You found us! You should get in; it's really great!"

Glace sighed at the thought of doing as he was told, but slipped into the cool water. It was certainly colder than the air, which was a relief. He plunked his head under the water and resurfaced a moment later.

"Come on, guys! Splash war!" Spark cheered suddenly. Instantly the whole cave erupted into delightful, childish, very very wet chaos. Glace even found himself laughing as he used his wings to pelt his new (...friends?) with water.

This is almost really fun, Glace thought, ducking under the water to avoid a huge wave from Dart's tail. Just the distraction I need.