Oh, moons, Dawn thought. Another royalty. How many secrets will we uncover this year?
She guessed that Cicada thought the same thing because she asked Allgazer, "What? Again?" And Allgazer shrugged like she didn't know what was going on, either.
"Sorry," Junix said as soon as Rottnest was gone. "She expects me to call her mother in front of other dragons."
Like all other royalty mothers would expect from their daughters, Dawn thought, blinking.
"First one," Cicada said. "We have Aspen. And then the second one is Junix?! WOW. HOW COME NO ONE TELLS ME THESE THINGS?!" She snarled, lashing her tail and letting her scales emerge from the darkness they all were in.
"Calm down," Bone hissed. "It's not that big of a deal."
Dawn blinked again. This is fine, she thought. Just another few dragons arguing. This is normal.
Well, slightly. Dawn had never really heard Cacti and Bone's arguments before. Bone would usually just tell her to hide in the other room and plug her ears until he came in there and tapped her on the shoulder.
Dawn always felt safe around her adopted parents when they weren't arguing. They kept her safe and fed her as a small dragonet and kept her entertained in the boring cavern. Sometimes, she would feel regret of leaving the cavern. But at the same time, she wouldn't have met Allgazer and Cicada and Aspen and Junix if she hadn't left. All of these adventures wouldn't have happened if she hadn't left.
But her barbed tail wouldn't have been ripped off by Sphinx if she hadn't left.
"Well, we have to go, or we'll be caught in the battle again," Junix mumbled. "I want you guys to go back to Pyrrhia safely."
"You know about Pyrrhia?" Cacti asked, blinking. Her barbed tail swayed across the floors.
"Yup," Junix said, smiling. "I was taught about it by my mother. She knows almost everything."
"Oh."
Dawn looked around as they talked. They all slightly moved forward, the green light of the trees flooding in through the glassless windows.
Junix started to run. Startled, everyone started to run after her.
"We need to hurry," Junix yelped in a panic. "The HiveWings are coming back down to get rid of the bodies!"
Cicada opened the door to the enterance to the tunnels, and they all scattered inside.
But Dawn stayed for a moment.
"Are you going to be okay?" She asked. "Will anyone hurt you?"
"No, I'll be okay. Mother has my back. Just go back home," Junix said, smiling. Her grin made Dawn feel a little better about just leaving her there.
And then Dawn ran into the tunnel with the others.