This chapter will be kind of romance-y. Deal with it. Also, if you ship Scorch and Eclipse, BE WARNED.

     We walk into the main meeting cave, and I start playing checkers with Silverscale. I beat her over and over again, getting bored by the time the RainWing from last night walks in.

     I realize that she is not, in fact, a RainWing, but a hybrid between a SeaWing and a RainWing. She introduces herself as Droplet, then starts playing checkers with me. She, unlike some dragons I know, is actually a worthy opponent.

     Suddenly a brisk IceWing waltzes into the cave. "Hello. I am Mrs. Walrus, I believe you have me as an educator for Art and Music?" she says briskly. Without waiting for an answer, she continues. "I am here to give you your Winglet pouches. Each Winglet will have a pouch the color of their Winglet, so other students can identify which Winglet you are in and also so you can easily store your library stamps and other small items. See, you are the Emerald Winglet, so your's are emerald green." She holds a small pile of pouches out.

"They each have your names stitched into them in silver." She says. "When I call out your name, come forward and grab your pouch. Silverscale. Droplet. Eclipse. And then the boys, whom I see are not yet present?" She asks. "Yes." I reply. "Well, then, I expect you to give them their pouches." she states as she hands me (me!) the pouches. "Okay." I say.

She starts to walk out the door, but I stop her. "Wait! What are we supposed to do in our Winglet talks? Like, go around in a circle and introduce ourselves or something?" I ask. "Yes, that would do." she says and then walks out the door before I can say anything else.

"Okaaaaaaaaay..........so, I guess we just..wait for the boys now?" I say awkwardly. Silverscale just shrugs, and Droplet bounces up and down and says "I mostly look forward to the writing classes". 

Just as she finishes that thought, I hear some laughing coming from the tunnel leading to the boy's room, and not seconds later do four male dragons come out.

One looks like a SkyWing, but as I look closer, I see that his eyes are changing color. Odd. He is laughing along with the others. The next is a very yellow and pink RainWing, but he is missing a wing. Nonetheless, he laughs along with everyone else. Another one is a SkyWing/IceWIng hybrid with red upper scales, pale red under-scales, orange wing membranes, and IceWing horns. The last is an unusual SandWing, grinning proudly, probably the one that told the joke. He has warm, sandy-yellow scales, a handsome face, and his left wing has a little rip on the edge. But the unusual thing about him is that he has miniature dots of black speckling his scales, making him look almost like he is made out of sand.

But......no.....it can't be...... "Cactus?" I whisper, my voice cracking. He looks up at the sound of his name, and when his eyes meet mine I can see years of memories sweeping through them. "Eclipse?" he asks, his voice filled with wonder at the sight of me.

He finally processes me and then exclaims "Eclipse! It's really you!" He runs forward and envelops me in his warm wings. I hug him back, burying my head in his shoulder.

By now our whole Winglet is staring, but I hardly care. It's really him! He finally pulls back, and my scales tingle where he touched me.

Cactus was my first real friend, and I met him when I was hunting for myself one night and accidentally wandered past the NightWing border and into the SandWing territory. Ever since then, we had been meeting on the edge of the border and playing, hunting, battling, and talking for years. I even started to develop feelings for him.

Until one day he stopped coming. I waited for hours at our spot, but he never showed up. I thought maybe he had something else going on, so I came to the spot every day for another year, waiting for him, until finally my dad stopped me from going.

My face hardens at the thought, and he notices. His face falls and he asks "What's wrong?" I just shake my head and look away.

"Well, anyways, boys, since you were late, here are your pouches. When I call your name, come forward. Astroid" the SkyWing comes and takes his pouch. "Pancake" the RainWing comes forward. "Icefall" the IceWing/SkyWing hybrid huffed and snatched his pouch away. "And, last but not least, Cactus." I say as he retrieves his pouch. His talons brush against mine while he grabs his pouch, and his claws linger there just long enough for me to notice but not the others.

I pull back before he does, and I can see a frown flicker across his face before he pulls up his smile. It kind of scares me, how he can mask his emotions so easily and successfully.

"Okay, so, let's all sit down in a circle and then we will go around in the circle and say our name and tribe." I state confidently. "Wait, who made you in charge?" Icefall sneers defiantly. "I-uh-well.......Just do it!"

Several Dragons shift uncomfortably in their seats, but none of them object. "I'll go first." Droplet says. "My name is Droplet, and I am a SeaWing/RainWing."

Silverscale is up next. "Hi, my name is Silverscale, I am a  NightWing/IceWing hybrid." she says quietly.

Icefall goes. "Hello, my name is Icefall, I'm a SkyWing/IceWing hybrid."

Then Astroid goes. "My name is Astroid, and I am quad-tribe. I am part SkyWing, part RainWing, part MudWing, and part NightWing."

Then it is Pancake's turn. "Hi, I'm Pancake, I am a RainWing"

It is finally down to me and Cactus. "I volunteer as tribute!" he jokes before starting off. "Well.........My name is Cactus, and I am a SandWing, and I have a crush on my best friend." he says.

I frown. Who is his best friend? Do I still count? Or has he met some other girl in the kingdom of sand? Or was I never his best friend in the first place?

I realize everyone is staring at me, and with a surge of embarrassment, I start. "Hi, my name is Eclipse, and I'm a NightWing/SeaWing hybrid."

 "Well, we had better be getting to our other classes." Droplet says.

"Yeah." I agree, and we all start heading off to math.

We walk down the hallway, and Icefall immediately takes the lead.

Cactus and I fall behind, and he extends a wing over my back as we walk. I shift away from his touch, but he pulls me closer and whispers in my ear, "Seriously, Eclipse, you can't possibly expect me to believe that nothing is wrong. Why are you so distant all of a sudden? Is is something I said?" he asks.

Even though I am mad at him, I lean into his warmth. I sigh, inhaling to respond. He smells like the desert, and spices. I open my mouth, but before I can respond, we walk into the main cave to enter the classroom hallway, and I spot Scorch.

I snap my mouth shut and mumble to Cactus, "Not now." He follows my gaze to Scorch and frowns. "Who is that?" he asks, but I just shake my head.

There. I have successfully published the next chapter. Happy?