"Shore!" a familiar voice called. An all too familiar voice. Shore held back a wince as he turned around, only to see Juniper prancing up to him. Orange stepped closer to him, her arms crossed. She growled protectively, seething at the idea of Juniper getting any closer. "I heard about Apple."
"So?" Orange asked accusingly. Juniper glared at her.
"Was I talking to you?"
"I don't know. Can you remember that far back?"
"There's no need to be a priss, Orange. I simply came to say that I'm sorry."
"You're sorry for all the horrible things you said to him? If so, that's a bit overdue. But, by all means, apologize away."
"Of course not." Juniper turned her attention to Shore. "I'm just sorry that they didn't do your family a favor and take Meander instead. At least Apple was the slightest bit ordinary." Shore shut his eyes, trying to keep his emotions in check. Orange, on the other hand, didn't care about that. She glared at Juniper with a deadly look.
"What?" Juniper teased. "You gonna hit me again?"
"I would slap you," Orange insisted. "But I don't want your face to look any better." Juniper snorted.
"Oh my gosh. You failed at a comeback so bad you actually complimented me!" Orange stared at her.
"The fact that you saw that as a compliment just makes you look like even more of an idiot." Shore bit back a smile as Juniper struggled for a response.
"Well...You're ugly!"
"I guess that means my impression of you is getting pretty good." Juniper's jaw dropped.
"Come on Orange, I think she's been burned enough for one day." Shore insisted, grinning.
"Indeed she has." Orange agreed, taking Shore's arm and leading him down the hallway.
*~*~*~*~*
"So, mission 'sneak out of school to save Apple' is a go, right?" Permafrost asked. "I need to know for reasons."
"Yep, it's a go!" Ember confirmed. "Who's coming?"
"Me and Orange, obviously." Shore announced.
"You'd get lost without us." Orange agreed.
"I'm going." Haze said firmly as she quietly sharpened her claws. "It's been a while since I've dismembered something."
"Well, as long as you don't dismember the sloths, we'll be okay. Deal?" Shore asked, as if this was a normal topic of discussion. The rest of the group stared. ".....What?" There was a pause and Shore looked at them incredulously. "Have none of you met my family?"
"None of you will have the pleasure of meeting my lone family member." Haze deadpanned. "My father doesn't talk much to other dragons. Not after Mother." Boysen stared at Haze curiously, his eyes hungry to learn more. Dusk raised an eyebrow and patted Boysen on the shoulder.
"Good luck." he whispered.
"I'm not going." Cypress explained. "My siblings will notice immediately if I'm gone."
"And you don't want to leave Anaconda." Orange added. "We get it." Cypress blushed.
"He has nothing to do with this!"
"Suuuuuure." Permafrost sang. "I can smell love in the air."
"No, that's asbestos." Haze countered.
"Uh, okay then."
"I'm not coming either." Permafrost said sadly. "Icewings students have caused enough problems in this school."
"And so by staying here..."
"I will cause even more!"
"Um, Cypress? Here's a job for you." Ember insisted. "Take care of Permafrost while we're gone."
"I'll try my best." she offered, eyeing the Icewing. ".....No promises."
*~*~*~*~*
That night, Shore, Orange, Ember, Boysen, and Dusk stood near the entrance of the school, waiting for Haze.
"Where is she?" Boysen asked. As if on cue, Haze swaggered into the hall, dumping a sack on the ground with a thud.
"What took you so long?" Ember questioned, eager to start the journey to the rainforest.
"I figured we could use some weapons." Haze insisted. "But it turns out this school has a really pathetic selection." She opened the sack, revealing a few knives, some sharpened spears, and a sword.
".....You weren't joking." Shore agreed.
"The spears were from me. The only other thing they had was a big stick."
"Why am I not surprised that a school partially run by my grandfather resorts to a stick as a logical weapon?" Ember asked. Haze shrugged.
"I know florists with more weapons than this. But whatever, we have places to be."
"Exactly." Dusk insisted. "Let's go."