Anhinga~~

It was only my first day here and I'd already arrived late. The sun was lowering behind the horizon, two moons slowly gliding upwards  to take its place.  I quickly rushed into the school. There was a teacher, an elderly looking SilkWing with mustard yellow scales, who was standing by the door, looking half asleep.

"Who are you?' They asked. "All students should have arrived by noon today."

"Sorry I'm late," I said, though I wasn't really all that sorry. "I'm Anhinga. Where's my dorm?"

"No need to be rude," The SilkWing murmured. "You're in the Amethyst winglet. You'll be bunking with Opal."

"We have to share rooms?" I didn't bother hiding my dismay.

"Yes. They're down that hallway." The SilkWing gestured towards the hall behind them. I walked past them, looking at the rooms. There were plaques on the wall stating which rooms belonged to who.

I finally reached the Amethyst dorms. The others in my winglet were a RainWing, two NightWings and one NightWing/IceWing hybrid, a HiveWing, a SilkWing and finally my roommate, a SeaWing/IceWing hybrid. Hopefully none of them would be too intolerable.

~~ 

Sorry this is so short! I'll try to post from Flamingo and Kakapo's perspectives soon. 

|| Swallowtail||

I notice it’s raining. I wonder where Anthophora is. Ender is back, and it’s night. Where could he be?

Talonsteps thwap in the corridor. Anthophora comes in, looking exhausted.

“Where have you been?!” I shoot to my feet. “I’ve been worried sick!”

He sighs. “I got blown halfway across the island and fell into a scavenger nest, where they tried to stab me with sharp little sticks. It took me half the day to get back, because I hurt my wing.”

“WHAT?!” Sure enough, one of his wings is twisted at an awkward angle. “Why aren’t you at the healer’s?”

“Tired,” he mutters.

“You can sleep there! C’mon, c’mon! This way.” I quickly lead him down the hallway, consulting my map.  The healers are all the way on the other side of the school.

“Calm down, Swallowtail,” he says tiredly. “It’s just a twisted wing. We don’t have to rush!”

Huffing out a breath, I slow down. As we clack past a room in the topaz dorms, I trip over a vine of morning glories. Those things are everywhere!

Finally we reach the RainWing healers, who are none to happy to be disturbed at close to midnight. But upon seeing Anthophora’s wing, they rush him inside and I hover around outside, waiting patiently.

Finally the pale lilac one sticks her head out. “He’ll be okay, but we have to keep him here tonight. You’d better head back to your sleeping cave, little dragonet.”

I bristle at being called a dragonet, since I’m six, but her advice is good. I trudge down the hallway, eyes half-closed, trying to remember the way back to the cave. But eventually, I realize that I’m lost—after half an hour of wandering.

My heart gives a little stab of fear. I know it’s supposed to be safe here at night, but what if I’m caught and kicked out?

I release a small curl of flamesilk to light my way. The tunnel is long and thinner than most, but at last I spot a doorway and duck inside.

To my shock, there’s a dragon inside.

“Uh-uh hello,” I stammer. “I’m sorry, I’m lost…”

The dragon doesn’t answer.

I hold up my flamesilk and feel a little slice of shock.

It’s a NightWing—a female—and she’s staring right t me, not moving at all. She’s completely frozen, in fact. I sigh with relief. She’s just a statue.

And that’s when she blinks.

|||||||||

Well, we all seem to have lots of things we don’t know where we’re going with! Same here.

I’ll be back on Tuesday. Later!

—Shining Star

Ebony~

I lie in the darkness for what feels like hours until I can hear Starless and Flamingo lightly snoring.  I leap out of bed, exitement fluttering in my chest.  My talons make no sound as I leave the cave.  The globes of light that illuminate the hallway have dulled and I have no trouble blending into the shadows.  A lost-looking Silkwing startles me as she wanders down the corridor, but she doesn't look my way and continues on.  I breathe a sigh of relief but I can feel my heart pounding.  That was too close, and I can't be caught like this.  I can't afford to make another enemy.

Thankfully I don't lose my way this time.  The library is completely dark, the librarian nowhere to be seen.  Everything is blanketed in the shroud of night.  I exhale an ember of flame, which dimly reveals the room and casts long, strange shadows over the floor. "Now where would they keep the restricted books?" I mutter, thinking out loud.  I search for a bit to no avail.  But then I see it- a small gold key tucked under a scroll on the librarian's desk.  Picking it up in my talons, I examine its gold sheen.  Something else in the room suddenly sparkles the same color and I look up to see a door, hidden behind racks of scrolls, with a simple golden lock.  This is it.  I aproach the door and, just as I predicted, unlock it with a satisfying click. "You made this too easy," I scoff.

Inside is a small cave with a low, domed cieling.  I almost bump my head on it as I enter.  It's filled with shelves of scrolls and a few very peculiar objects including a red crystal and- I can't help but shudder- a severed talon.  Those aren't what I'm here for, though.  I easily locate a shelf marked Nightwing Prophecies and take one of the scrolls.  I unfurl it, my stomach tightening.  What if this tells me something, I wonder?  What if something's connected to the dreams I keep having?

Taking a deep breath, I begin to read.  It's nothing out of the ordinary- predictions of crops and tribal matters and something about scavengers that sounds interesting but means nothing to me.  I toss it to the side and pick up another.  More of the same.  I groan, louder than I probably should for a student who has snuck out at night and broken into a staff-only room.  But thankfully I don't hear anyone coming.  That is, until a familiar voice right behind me whispers, "What do you think you're doing?"

---

I agree with Shining Star that we all have different things going on and we don't really know where we're going (unless someone does, in which case that's great) but I was thinking it would be interesting if we had a prophecy sort of thing happen?  The WoF series itself kind of builds around them and Ebony's a prophecy dragon so that could work.  Just an idea, if anyone else has others feel free to share!

Ash is taking over the planet with his morning glories. Seriously boi. I know they're your stress mechanism but you've gotta stop. 

Flamingo~~

I open my eyes to see that Ebony has left the room. Starless is finally back, and sleeping in corner, nearly indistinguishable from the rocky wall in this darkness. It's not really my problem to know what Ebony is doing this late, so I try to fall back asleep--but I'm not able to and decide to just get up.

There's not really much to do this late at night, but I realize I haven't been to the library yet and decide to check it out. It's not like I'd be bothering anyone if I just decided to read some scrolls, right?

I can hear voices up ahead and slow down. Something about a twisted wing--sounds unfortunate, but the voices soon fade and I can hear footsteps as the dragons walk away. I continue to walk forwards, heading towards where I think the library is. Maybe I should have brought my map.

A few wrong turns later and I finally make it. The library is silent, and seems empty. I head towards a rack of scrolls and suddenly hear rustling and a faint murmur. I pause, looking around the room.

I notice a gate with a golden lock that's wide open. I can hear more shuffling--it seems to be coming from within. I step closer, peering into the darkness. This seems like an off-limits section of the library. The only dragon who I could think of being back here is the librarian, but why would they be up so late?

Curious, I change my scales' colors to blend in with the walls. It's fairly easy considering everything is just shades of grey right now. I walk further into the hall behind the gate, occasionally glancing at the scrolls and... things lining the shelves.  The room seems to be a cave, and a fairly small one at that. So, not a hallway. 

There's more shuffling just up ahead. I can make out the shape of a dragon in front of me--way too small to be an adult. Definitely another student. Something about them seems vaguely familiar. I realize it's Ebony who's in here--I take a step closer. Looks like he's reading... prophecies?

"What do you think you're doing?" I whisper. My scales shift back to their regular black and red. Ebony jumps and spins around, but calms down slightly when they see it's just me.

~~~

Sorry for not uh, actually continuing anything. But I think the prophecy idea sounds great! 

Yesss, prophecy!  That's a great idea.

I'll post something when I have timee  

Why did I make this. 

Maybe each of us could contribute one prophecy line?

My CAPTCHA says wynap. Why Nap? There's so much in life to do! 

Ooh that would make things really interesting, I like it!

||Swallowtail||

I step back, my entire body relaxing. It’s just Ender. How ridiculous of me! For a second, I’d thought it was a creepy statue come to life like in some old horror-scroll I’d read.

“Oh, hi,” I squeak. Ender, despite being around my age, is kinda terrifying. I get the feeling she’s hiding something. “Yeah, I’m lost. Are you?”

“NO,” says Ender frostily (she is part-IceWing). “I came down here for a bit of PEACE and QUIET. Obviously that is something no-one can get around HERE.”

Mortified, I back up and am prepared to flee when she huffs out a breath and stretches her wings. “Ahem. I shall escort you back to your dorm.”

"O-okay.” I’m still spooked but decide that the whole point of this school is to trust other tribes.

Ender gives a sort of strangled ha, then steps out of the cave and walks along ahead of me. I shiver, tuck in my wings, and try to appear unobtrusive as I slink after her. What could that little mirthless laugh have been about?

A thought strikes me. My talons freeze. Could she have actually heard my thoughts about trusting other tribes? I knew NightWings could have mindreading powers, but I didn’t think the same was true for hybrids.

Shaking my head as if to brush away the notion, I resume walking uneasily. I try to put a prickly barrier around my brain, but I doubt it would work. Besides, mindreading is so rare. What were the chances that I’d run into one, here in this school?

“Here,” Ender says, stopping by our dorm. It’s getting light out now, but I figure I can at least snatch a little sleep before school starts. My heart pounding, I settle down in my hammock and close my eyes.

|||||

||Anthophora||  

It’s dawn. I uncurl my tail from the stalactite I’d been reading against and stretch my wings, yawning. The healers had done a good job of fixing my wing, and I felt pretty much as good as new, although I wouldn’t be able to fly for a day or two. Putting down the scroll on RainWing medicine (it was all they had, and I’d needed something to do!), I head nonchalantly for the door.

The purple healer glances at me as I step past her. I offer her a quick thank you, to which her response is, “It’s what we do.”

I climb up the tunnel and find my way to the dorm. Swallowtail’s awake, peering over the edge of the hammock.

“Good morning!” she says cheerfully, but tiredly. She looks exhausted. I wonder briefly if she might have been up worrying about me, then brush off the notion. Why would she?

“Hi,” I manage.

“Are you okay?” She flows off her hammock and steps towards me. “How’s your wing?”

“F-fine.” We’re so close I can count the scales around her eyes. “I just won’t be able to fly for a while.”

Swallowtail sits down, wrapping her shimmery tail round her talons. “That won’t be a problem. We have school today.”

“Oh yeah!” I jump up and down nervously.

“Wake up!” Ender announces, as if we aren’t already. I’m instantly embarrassed of my rumpled condition. She looks as pristine as if she’s rolled in snow. “It’s time for breakfast.”

Swallowtail and I follow our graceful roommate down the hall. The prey center is noisy, but Swallowtail just grabs some fruit and flies outside to sit in a tree. I’m not really hungry, to be honest, so I walk out to sit with her.

“I wonder what our first class is,” I say, wishing I’d brought my schedule scroll. Swallowtail, being much smarter than me, has, and she flicks it open.

“History,” she says with a wrinkle of her nose. “With Topaz.”

“Great!” I don’t mind history. It’s fascinating.

||||

||Jasper||

My roommate is pretty quiet; that’s fine with me. I’m busy obsessing over the rule Abilities will be monitored carefully. If I’m an animus, what does that mean? How would they even know?

A thought strikes me: maybe they have an animus and he or she made a spell to let them know all the different powers of the students. Panic spikes through me.

They might know.

            I look around for something to enchant. First thing I notice is the rules scroll. How ironic. I grab it.

I enchant this scroll to make it so that no-one can find out about my animus magic unless I tell them. There. I also enchant it to erase all memory of my animus magic from the minds of those who’ve found out about it. I glance down at my ring, but it isn’t flashing red, just glowing faintly: a warning to make sure I go no further with that spell. Relieved, I let the scroll fall to the floor. My NightWing-RainWing roommate is looking at me curiously.

I feel a flash of anxiety. “Class, today, huh?” I hastily say.

“You’re an animus?” She claps her talons to her mouth, as if she hadn’t meant that to slip out.

I leap back. My eyes are drawn instantly to her silver teardrop scales by her eyes. My heart begins to pound, but I can’t lie to a mindreader.

“Please don’t tell anyone.”

She sits up and stares at me, apparently fascinated.

“Please!” I beg. “I don’t—they might—” I don’t want to share my fears that I could be used for evil purposes against my will.

“It’s alright,” she says softly. “I won’t tell anyone.”

Relieved, I pick up the dropped scroll and tuck it back into the rack. “We need to get to class.”

Without waiting for a response, I step out into the corridor. The paper lanterns bob in the wind. I follow my map down to the classroom, Astraea’s talonsteps echoing behind me. I flick my tail anxiously, wondering what else she’s seen in my mind. I hope it’s nothing bad.

We enter the classroom, where the rest of the winglet is gathered already: Swallowtail, from before; a HiveWing she’s sitting next to; two IceWing-NightWing hybrids;

I settle down in one corner, close to Swallowtail since she’s the only one I know. Astraea’s looking at her oddly, and when Swallowtail’s eyes land on me, the NightWing-RainWing starts giggling. I wonder if it has anything to do with the look on my SilkWing friend’s face.

||||||

||Swallowtail||

Oh no, not Jasper, I groan inwardly. That dragon is the biggest bumblebee I have ever met. He’s probably going to do a stand-up performance in the middle of the lesson.

            “HI SWALLOWTAIL!” he cheers.

“Hello, Jasper.” What is that NightWing-RainWing giggling about?

“AHEM,” coughs the SandWing teacher. “This is History class. Please settle down.”

I sigh and curl my talons around my pouch of daily objects. Then I study the dragons in the room.

A RainWing, black and red and orange so that he looks a little like a SkyWing-NightWing hybrid—except for the telltale curl of his tail. He looks bored and a little miffed to even be here. Another RainWing, probably his sister, is sitting next to him, looking much more happy to be here. Her scales are white with swirls of neon colors. She looks more like an IceWing-Rainwing hybrid, but still quite RainWing-y.

Next is a bored-looking NightWing, very big and strong. Sitting near him, looking like she’s practically bursting with excitement, is a little LeafWing-Seawing hybrid. Another NightWing , quiet-looking, with a gentle smile. A SeaWing-LeafWing who’s hard to read. A MudWing-SkyWing who seems annoyed about something. Then my thoughts are broken as a black-scaled HiveWing with an orange belly hurries over to us.

“Anthophora! I was so worried! You weren’t in my winglet and I didn’t see you all day!”

“Oh, hey, Polybia,” he says sheepishly. “Swallowtail, meet Polybia.”

“Hi,” I say.

Her gaze breezes over me as she gives a half-cordial nod. “Swallowtail?”

“That’s me.”

“I saw your name on the Amethyst door-plaques.”

I simply nod. The SandWing teacher has begun droning on.

“Ahem. The Scorching…”

||||

Take it from here, everybody! Ender, your post fit fine; I likes it a lot. LibraryCat-as-Astraea, hope you don’t mind rooming with annoying Jasper—though he might be less annoying now that you know his secret.

Later!

—Shining Star