~4 years later~

Silvermoon twisted and tossed in her bed, her leaf blanket shifting with her. She couldn't sleep.

Ten minutes past midnight. The numbers on the clock was clear in her vision, despite the darkness of the large room. Silvermoon sat up on her bed, staring at the walls with a bored expression.

"Can't sleep?"

Silvermoon whipped her head around in surprise. Another Nightwing dragonet sat in one of the rows of beds behind hers, staring with his glowing eyes. Only one dragonet had glowing eyes.

"Yeah." Silvermoon replied, sighing. She sat up. "How come you're still awake?"

Nocturnal craned his neck at her. "I don't feel like sleeping, as usual. You would know that if you usually stay up." SIlvermoon sniffed as he continued, "I should ask you the same question. Aren't you going to the fancy school tomorrow? You'll need your energy to fly so far."

"I know!" Silvermoon said, flapping her wings slightly. Her voice changed from worried to glum. "But I can't."

"Too excited?"

"Definitely not!" She shook her head. "I'm just... worried."

Nocturnal leaned over his bed, inching closer. "How come? You should be excited. Jade Mountain Academy is the most famous school."

"Exactly!" Silvermoon crossed her arms. "Full of Princesses and important and special people."

The other NightWing dragonet wrinkled his snout. "You should be grateful, you know. The queen could have chose anyone else."

Silvermoon withdrew a snort and lay back onto her bed, putting a wing over her head. Grateful? Why should I be grateful? I like living in the orphanage.

Silvermoon shot back up to a sitting position. Three moons, I almost forgot! "Nocturnal?" She said in a shaky voice.

"Yes?"

"Are there scrolls at the Academy?"

"Why, you like to read?" He said teasingly.

Silvermoon felt herself flopping back onto the bed. "Noooo." She buried her head into her pillow. You need to read at Jade Mountain. Like all schools but the orphanage. Of course.

"Maybe they'll improve your literacy levels." Said Nocturnal's voice, half-muffled by the pillow. "I'm sure your reading-writing skills aren't that bad."

"They are." She muttered. No way I'm going to that school. Everyone's going to laugh at me! She could already imagine the scene where her teacher makes her read in front of her Winglet— How horrible it would be when she gets teased about her mispronunciations.

It was only now that she wished she worked harder on the subject. Too late. I'm doomed tomorrow.

The queen shouldn't have choose her to represent the NightWing tribe.

~~Morning~~

Silvermoon flew, flapping her wings to catch up with the NightWing in front of her. Jade Mountain Academy was visible from a distance.

My new school. She thought. Far, far, away from the dragons she knew.

I'll be fine. She told herself. I'll be fine. Silver repeated the words over and over again as Jade mountain grew larger in her gaze.

In front of her, the older Nightwing, Umbra, tilted of her wings, gestured for her to land.

Silver obeyed, gilding down towards the ground. They choose a spot covered by shadows, away from the other dragons landing.

Leveling her wings, she lowered herself onto the ground, careful to not kick dust up Umbra's nose. She folded her silver-streaked wings in.

"I'll leave you here." Umbra told her.

"Okay. I'll miss you." Silver responded. Umbra was one of the caretakers of the orphanage, and she was always nice to the dragonets.

"Have fun, okay?" The full-grown Nightwing spread her wings, ready to take off.

Silver nodded and went out of the shadows, although she didn't feel like it'll be very "fun". She walked towards Jade Mountain Academy's entrance. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Umbra fly away, her black figure disappearing in the distance.

She sighed and continued walking.

Dragons crowded the Academy's entrance, like groups of ants swarming next to a leftover ice cream cone. It made Silvermoon's feel a bit dizzy, her vision slightly unfocused. It took some time for her to figure out what was going on. She couldn't tell who's wings belongs to who, and there was too much pushing, yelling, and screaming.

Most of the dragons there looked older than her, even though there were some that seemed so small, they looked like they were going to get trampled by big feet.

She was still quite a distance from the yawning entrances. In order to get in, she'll have to go through that chaos. And who knows how much more dragons are on the other side.

Silvermoon took a deep breath—she probably wouldn't be able to breathe in that swarm— and tucked her wings in.

She thought about the crowd as if it was her enemy, and thought about her battle training. The orphanage didn't have proper language education, but it sure taught Silvermoon something when it came to fighting.

The crowd is an obstacle course, and I'll have to weave through. Got it.

Without thinking twice, Silvermoon ran towards the Academy. The noise got louder as she approached them, but she only focused on the dragons in her way.

Weaving and twirling through the dragons around her, Silvermoon darted towards the entrance. Yes!

Out of nowhere, someone held onto her wrist, pulling her back. Silvermoon hissed, spinning around to meet her attacker. She fell into a defensive stance, ready to strike. I am not getting bullied first day at school!

To her surprise, A multicolored RainWing appeared, beaming brightly. "Hello! Are you new? Nice to meet you, I'm Palette! You're Silvermoon right?"

Something told Silvermoon that this RainWing was as chaotic as the crowd she've just been through. Maybe it was the dizzying colours, or how fast she blabbed out her words.

The RainWing's grin grew so wide it looked like her mouth was going to rip open. I like how you have silver streaks on your wing! Do you live in the rainforest? Have you seen my sister? Her name is..."

Palette continued talking nonstop, while Silvermoon just got more confused. "... Oh, and I've been to the Pantala hives before! They're just so pretty! Have you been there? Silkwings are SO COOL!... That's exactly why I wanted to help out in the academy!"

Silvermoon debated whether she should back up. Palette was obviously talking to herself.

"Ooo, look! That Silkwing looks translucent! So cool! I think I'm going to check him out!" She thrust a scroll into Silvermoon's arm. "Have a good day! bye!"

To Silvermoon's relief, Palette dashed away, her colourful tail swinging behind her. Heading into the mountain, she let out a breath that had been held for a long time.

That was definitely a mistake.

She tried to suck in another breath, but that was impossible. There were so many dragons in the great hall. The crowd outside looks like nothing compared to the inside. No wonder why most dragons were out there.

Trying not to gag at the humid space, Silvermoon looked back at the entrance. More students were pouring in, like water flooding through the gates. No way out.

Panicking, Silvermoon looked down at her scroll for instructions. She flipped through the pages. Writing. Writing. More Writing. No pictures.

Volcano spit. I'm stuck here.

Just then, she felt someone's wing slap her, pushing her backwards. Her scroll almost fell out of her hands, but she caught it.

Her leg landed on someone's feet. "Hey!" She felt someone from above snarling at her.

"Sorry—" Silvermoon started. She felt someone push her from the back, making her ram into someone else.

Before she knew it, she was in midair, trying to balance herself out by spreading her wings. It did not work very well, her wing quickly collided with someone else's. A faint "whoops" and she was knocked back onto the ground.

Getting up from the dragon she just squished, she quickly weaved her way to an empty corridor.

It was way more peaceful there, with no dragons crowding around her. Silvermoon took deep breaths, relieved that she can breathe.

She could still see the chaos of the chatting dragons from her place, but they seemed less blurry now that she was out of it, Without everyone pushing and bumping into her, she could observe the other students more carefully.

Most of the dragons had bags on their back or slung under their wings. Some only had pouches on their necks, while some carried suitcases around.

Silvermoon brought nothing, not even a pouch. There was nothing she owned back at the orphanage.

Silvermoon looked even closer, hoping that she'll spot someone more like her. Most of the dragons in her sight have either strange and flashy scales, or some kind of jewellery.

There was this one SeaWing who looked normal, but from the way he held his chin and positioned his wings, Silvermoon guessed that he's not a commoner.

Slowly, the SeaWing head turned to her direction.

Silvermoon quickly looked away, pressing her dark scales into the shadow of the wall. She kept her eye averted to the other end, trying to look as unsuspicious as possible.

She could see the wall of the other end, where there was an intersection left and right. A lantern hung in the middle, turning the bricks around it orange-hued. The strangeness and quietness about it seemed to draw Silvermoon in.

Silvermoon shook her head. It was just a lantern. Nothing special.

Yet she found herself slipping towards the glowing glass, an inch close to touching the transparent surface...

"What are you doing here?" Silvermoon felt an icy gaze landing on her. It felt cold, so cold, she didn't dare look up. She touched the scales her cheek. Normal temperature. Then why is it so cold?

She lifted her gaze slightly, making sure to not make eye contact with the other dragon. He had light blue scales and a navy cloak draped onto his shoulders. IceWing.

"Stop freaking her out." Another voice hooted. The voice was the opposite of IceWing's. Warmer. It made Silvermoon's shivering body relax. "I'm sure she just went to the wrong place."

So I'm not allowed to be here.

Idiot. Why was I so curious about the lantern? As Umbra said, curiously kills the mouse.

Suddenly alarmed again, Silvermoon swivelled her body around, searching for her way back to the Great Hall. I don't care how crowded is the large cave. I have to get out of here.

Another voice chuckled as she almost tripped onto the IceWing "She is definitely freaking out."

More chuckles. No, they were laughing.

Silvermoon clenched her teeth. She had to find her way back. Going into a sprint, she ducked past the IceWing and hoped she was going the right way.

Light yawned from the large cave, and Silvermoon could see the swarm of dragons standing around, just as cramped as before.

The chaotic space didn't bother her anymore. It was better than the dragons laughing at her back at the other corridor, and better than that creepy, navy-hooded IceWing.

She continued to run as she entered the Great Hall. The cold feeling made her think that he's still on her tail.

Silvermoon tried to halt into a stop, but she wasn't quick enough. She rammed into the other dragon, pain flashing into her ankles.

"Ow! My neck!"

Great.

More accidents. More mistakes. More chaos in this school she didn't apply to attend.

The first ten minutes haven't passed yet, but Silvermoon was already sick of it.