Wings of Fire as Humans: Jade Preparatory Academy

Chapter Sixteen: Blue Glimmer

Yay! 1K reads!!!! Thank you guys so much! I really appreciate it. (I'm kind of mentally freaking out right now. Or I was. I kind of expected it because yesterday it was at 987. But still! Yay!!!!!)

"Be careful," Burnet Glimmer reminded Blue and Luna as they stepped out of their car and onto the sidewalk ten blocks from Jade Preparatory Academy.

"You and Swordtail will be the only Reshams there," Silverspot added, pulling two suitcases out of the back of the car and rolling them toward Blue and Luna. "You'll have enough eyes on you. You don't want to attract more."

Luna rolled her eyes. "We know, Mom. We won't break any rules." She took her suitcase and pulled it onto the sidewalk, motioning for Blue to follow her.

"Besides, we have Cricket," Blue told Silverspot and Burnet. "And a lot of Noctus and Glacees in our Winglet. We'll be fine. Plus, I'm not going to break any rules." He gave Luna a significant look, hoping his sister would agree that she wouldn't either. She didn't. Instead, she rolled her eyes, put her backpack on her suitcase, and headed off huffily down the street.

"Luna, wait!" Burnet called, glancing around nervously. Most of the people on the street were of a higher status than them, and quite a few were Kypselis, Glacees, or Noctus. Blue was a little nervous too.

Luna sighed exasperatedly, making a passing Kypseli stare. "It's fine, Mama. I know the way."

"That's not what I was worried about," Burnet whispered as soon as she, Blue, and Silverspot had caught up to Luna. She glanced around nervously. "We need to stay together."

They'd walked a few blocks when a Kypseli stopped them in the street. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked, his voice gruff.

Luna opened her mouth, and Blue kicked her. His sister's response wouldn't make anything better. And in all honesty, it would probably make the situation worse.

"We're taking our kids to school," Silverspot answered, her voice hushed.

The Kypseli's eyes narrowed. "School?" He laughed. "There isn't a school for your kind anywhere near here!" He laughed again, a cackling sound that made Blue wince. "Or anywhere in Wasp City!"

"We go to Jade Preparatory Academy," Luna interjected loudly, right as Burnet opened her mouth. Blue almost groaned. The only Kypseli it was safe to be this . . . rude around was Cricket. And Katydid. But otherwise . . . it was dangerous.

The Kypseli laughed again and raised an eyebrow. "You? Reshams? At Jade Preparatory Academy?" He actually doubled over laughing.

Burnet and Silverspot exchanged a worried look. Luna stared at the Kypseli with her head held eye, eyes blazing. She reached for her hairclip, and Blue flinched. Luna's weapon allowed her to shoot fire from her fingers, as did Blue's, but Blue didn't want to think of the trouble they would be in if they used their weapons on a Kypseli. He kept his head down, avoiding everyone's gaze. It was safer that way.

"Hey!" a familiar voice yelled. "What do you think you're doing?"

Blue turned around to find a pale-skinned, dark-haired Noctu with a sword at his hip. Blue exhaled in relief. Deathbringer.

"They're with us," Deathbringer said, coming up and taking Blue's arm in a firm grip. "We're going to Jade, and they're our servants," he said smoothly.

Unfortunately, this was more believable than two Reshams going to Jade on their own. "Just roll with it," Deathbringer hissed to Luna, who was already glaring at him. "You can thank me later."

The Kypseli laughed, less cackly this time. "Oh, that makes waaaay more sense. I'll let you get on with your business, then. Good luck at school."

"Thank you," Deathbringer said, leading Blue away and motioning for Luna, Silverspot, and Burnet to follow. They waited for the Kypseli to wander out of earshot before speaking.

Luna immediately spun on Deathbringer. "Why'd you do that? We were fine on our own!"

"No, you weren't," he told her, letting go of Blue's arm. "If you said any more, he was going to call the authorities."

"It's true," another familiar voice said, and Thorn Roadrunner stepped in front of them, followed by Qibli, Sunny, and Fatespeaker. Onyx Sizzle, Sunny and Qibli's sister, and Smolder Sizzle, their stepfather, were also there. "Sorry, Luna, but someone needed to do something," Thorn said. "We figured it should be us."

"Thank you," Burnet said to Thorn. "Ms. . . ." She trailed off, and Blue remembered that his moms hadn't met any of his friends or their families.

"Please, call me Thorn. My last name is Roadrunner, but that doesn't matter. I'm the person whose house your kids always disappear to." Thorn grinned.

Burnet appeared startled. She turned to Blue and Luna. "I knew you were at a friend's house, but . . ."

"You thought it was someone of our status," Luna finished grumpily. "Well, we're already friends of all of our Winglet - in our years, anyway."

"That's Qibli, that's Sunny, that's Fatespeaker, and that's Deathbringer," Blue added, pointing to the corresponding people. Then he thought to add, "And Smolder and Onyx."

Silverspot dipped her head. "It's very nice to meet you. Thank you for saving us back there."

"It's really no problem," Thorn said, then suggested they resume heading toward the school.

Thorn, Smolder, Burnet, and Silverspot got to know each other, and Deathbringer, Fatespeaker, Sunny, Qibli, Blue, and Luna talked about random things. Onyx, however, stayed at the back, glum and brooding.

Blue didn't know this group as well as he knew some of their friend group, but it was still nice having someone other than Luna to talk to for the walk. No one else bothered them, as they were with two Noctus - Deathbringer and Fatespeaker - and everyone assumed the rest were their servants.

When they reached Jade Preparatory Academy, the group parted. Deathbringer and Fatespeaker were entitled to head up to the front of the line, and Sunny, Qibli, and Thorn were able to skip a significant portion.

Luna, Blue, Burnet, and Silverspot, however, had to stay at the back.

Blue didn't mind very much. This was, after all, how things had always been. But Luna obviously did mind.

Blue sighed. His sister was going to get arrested eventually if she kept this up.