Just a little Glorybringer for ya

Jade Mountain?

A/N: Warning, time skip.

"You're sure they're ready?" Deathbringer questioned, for about the hundredth time. Glory fought the urge to roll her eyes. 

"I'm positive." she insisted. Deathbringer quickly hid the disappointment in his face, but not fast enough. Glory spotted it. "We can't keep them here forever." she told him, her voice gentler. "Rainkeeper is almost six already, he should've started two years ago. We've put this off long enough." 

"They're still our dragonets," he retorted. "We can put it off a bit longer." Glory paused. 

"I don't want them to leave any more than you do, but we have to let them go." she admitted. Reluctantly, Deathbringer agreed. 

"Jade Mountain?" Rainkeeper said in shock. 

"School?" Joy agreed, equally surprised. They'd never been outside the rainforest in their entire lives, and now they were being told that they would be leaving in just a matter of days, to go to some school where they wouldn't be home for months? It was insane. 

"It's about time you started your education." Glory explained. 

"But we have an education." Joy protested. "We can read and write, we know about history and all the tribes and how to fight. I know what I need to know to be Queen one day. What more is there?" 

"JMA will teach you those things again, but it will also teach you to ignore the stereotypes of other tribes and help you to get along with them." Glory replied. 

"I don't suppose we're getting a choice in this?" Rainkeeper asked. 

"No. You aren't." Glory agreed.

*****

"Why are you punching a tree?" Nightflyer asked. Joy stopped and glanced at him. 

"My stupid parents are making me go to school." she explained. 

"That's not so bad."

"You don't get it." she insisted. "I have to go Jade Mountain. Which means that for the rest of the year I'll be in a cave learning things I already know instead of here." she paused. "I don't want to leave the Rainforest. I love it here. But my mother doesn't care about that. And I just know that everyone at that school will smother me because I'm a princess and I can to anything they want."  

"It won't be that awful." Nightflyer promised. "You'll have Rainkeeper. And me. Plus, if you don't tell anyone that you're a princess, then maybe they won't know and you'll make real friends instead." he suggested. Joy looked at him. 

"You know, that's a great idea." she realized. He held out his talons. 

"That's what I'm here for." 

*****

"What's wrong?" a soothing voice asked. Rainkeeper glanced up from the branch he was sitting on. Pear was studying him. 

"Nothing's wrong." he insisted. 

"You can't lie to me Rainy." she replied. "Your eyes have storm clouds in them." 

Rainkeeper looked at her. How could he be expected to leave Pear all by herself? As far as he knew, she didn't even have any family. And if she did, she never talked about them. What if she fell when she was climbing and got hurt? That had happened loads of times. Rainkeeper would show up and she'd be covered in scratches, insisting that she'd just fallen again. He always wondered why she never caught herself and flew when she was falling. A million bad things could happen to her while he was gone. 

"I'm leaving." Rainkeeper admitted. 

"What?" Pear said in surprise. "Where? Why?"

 "I'm going to a school. Jade Mountain Academy. It's half a continent away, and I won't be back for months. And I don't get a choice."  he explained. A sad blue color seeped into Pear's scales. 

"I'm gonna miss you." she said sadly. An idea sparked in Rainkeeper's head. 

"Maybe you could come to school with me!" he suggested. Pear's face fell. 

"No." she confirmed, shaking her head. "No. I can't. I'm sorry Rainy, but my parents - they'd.....they'd never let me go." She itched one of the fresher scratches on her neck. 

"Why not?" Rainkeeper asked. She shook her head again. 

"My father.....he doesn't like it when I'm not nearby. He gets angry." she explained. Rainkeeper frowned. Something was off here, but he didn't know what, and Pear wasn't going to tell him. 

"Alright." he agreed with a sigh. "But I'm going to write you every day, you hear? And I better get some letters back." he announced. Pear smiled at him. 

"Of course Rainy. Did you really think that I'd let you leave for months without a word? Oh I know. I'm gonna send you jokes." she replied. 

"Jokes." Rainkeeper repeated. 

"Yep! I'm going to send you random jokes and you're going to open them at random times and burst out laughing and everybody'll think you're crazy. It's perfect!" she declared. Sad as he was, Rainkeeper couldn't help but laugh. "RACE YOU TO THE TALLEST BRANCHES!"  Pear yelled. 

"Oh you're on!" he exclaimed, climbing up the tree. 

*****

Maybe....the two dragonets thought as they flew to Jade Mountain. Maybe this won't be so bad after all. But little did they know about what was in store for them. 

Friends? 

Yes. 

Enemies? 

Oh yeah.

 Adventure? 

You have no idea. 

Love? 

.....Maybe.