Wings Of Fire: Spotlight

Chapter One - Sunrise

Mako was practically bouncing into the sun, and that same light filled her to the brim with cheer. She had a grin as wide as a canyon plastered on her face, and her wings were threatening to explode open. She was convinced she had enough energy to run nonstop across the continent six times.

Other dragons, however, weren't as pleased to be here.

She gazed around, seeing if anyone matched her energy, but didn't see many. Then again, not many had even arrived this early. There was a SandWing who looked... utterly furious about being there; a LeafWing who looked quite nervous; and a MudWing who kept falling asleep on themselves.

Don't mind them, Mako thought, half-sympathetically. This is your first day! You have your classes picked, and everything is going to be amazing here!

Or at least better than home.

"Oh shut up!" She growled at herself.

"Oi, what did you say?"

She glanced over her shoulder to see the SandWing from earlier marching up to her, their pale gold scales and dusty scarlet freckles glistening in the sunrise light. She seemed enraged about... Uh oh.

"Uh- sorry..." Mako apologized. "I was thinking out loud. I tend to do that."

"About what?"

"Hm?"

"What were you thinking about?" The SandWing pressed. "It better not have been me."

"What?" Mako arched a brow. "No! My brain was just being annoying again."

"Tch." And with that, the SandWing stalked away.

Wow, who spilt her breakfast? Mako thought. Eh, no matter. It's only sunrise. She'll lighten up eventually.

She gazed up at the sky, which was splashed with gold and swirled with violet watercolors. The sun was nearly white and blinding, and Mako had to squint just to see it.

But what wasn't usual were the black dots that were in the sky, and they were getting larger.

And more colorful.

The other dragons are here!

Mako squealed and bounced on her talons, and halted when she heard the wingbeats cease and dragons land.

Immediately, she thundered up to two, an odd looking MudWing. Or was that a LeafWing? She couldn't tell. The other was very clearly a RainWing.

"HELLO." She smiled. "I'M MAKO AND I'M SOOOO EXCITED? ARE YOU?"

"You... definitely are that..." the RainWing arched a brow, an amused look on her face.

"Uh, hello." The strange dragoness greeted.

"Soooo, what brings you here?" Mako sat. "My sister sent me here because she thinks it'll be fun. Do you know if it's fun? Have you been here before?"

The two shook their heads. The RainWing stretched her wings before continuing. "I'm mainly here for the new theater elective. Pumpkin Spice," she waved a talon at the odd dragoness, "is here to meet hybrids of different tribes, like her."

"Hybrids?" Mako pondered. She'd once asked her mother about those, and she merely gasped and told her never to speak of them, since they are just "dirt tainting the bloodlines of the pure". She didn't see Pumpkin Spice as dirt. She was actually very pretty, with her autumn orange scales and flecks of cinnamon brown, and her deep brown eyes encircled by bronze glasses. She looked like a MudWing made of leaves.

"You know, dragons of two different tribes got together and- well, uh- magically had an egg and it was both tribes." The RainWing grinned, her gold and violet scales shimmering with gold and red towards the middle of the sentence. "They're pretty common nowadays, how did you not know them?"

"Let's just say my mother is... strict," Mako chuckled nervously. "She always had a bad view on them and never talked about them or even let me see one. She said you were "dirt", but I don't think so. You're really pretty!"

Pumpkin Spice lit up, pushing up her glasses. "Thanks." She fiddled with the grass under her talons. "Even with the new world, some dragons are still against hybrids, so I'm not surprised about your mother. But you don't seem like her."

"Anywayyy, let's maybe not linger on parent's views and hybrid prejudice," the RainWing said. "I'm Ivy. Who are you? And what electives did you choose?"

Why?- "Well," Mako started. "I'm Mako, and I chose theater and home economics."

"Ooh!" She lit up. "Theater for Elective One or Two?"

"One."

Ivy squealed in excitement. "That means we'll be in the same class! Me and Pumpkin Spice share art, and she shares choir with her cousin Pine."

Mako grinned. The energy she had felt earlier faded into subtle happiness, but she was still bouncing internally. "That's really cool!"

Ivy stuck her snout closer and dropped her voice to a whisper. "Y'know... I heard from my dad Coconut has a younger brother who still goes here, Mandrill, and he said that if you audition and are one of the best of the best, you get to have a competition against other schools. You compete to put on the best play! Isn't that awesome! I'm sooo gonna try that!"

Mako was excited to the brim again. "ME TOO!"

Ivy tilted her head. "You know theater?"

Mako nodded vigorously. "I was always yelled at because more I was focused on my antics then excelling in my studies... but it was worth it when my mother went to sleep and me and my sister would sneak out and act things out on the beach..." She trailed off, reminiscing.

She remember when her sister had convinced her angry mother to allow Mako to go to Jade Mountain, and the look on her face when Mako was accepted, and the tears, the hug... the goodbye...

"Pyrrhia to Mako."

Mako snapped out of her trance by a waving sunset colored talon by her eyes and saw Ivy, her indigo eyes confused. "Me confuzzled. Explain."

"Just me and my sister were close," Mako explained. "I wonder how she's doing, is all."

But before anyone could say futher...

BONG!

The gong was struck, and the dragons all eagerly flooded inside. Mako was nearly trampled by the stampede. "Ivy! Pumpkin Spice! Where are you?" She crouched and covered her head, scrunched her eyes shut.

The storm of talons stopped and she felt someone lift her to her feet. An abrupt laugh sounded, and she opened her eyes to reveal Ivy and Pumpkin Spice.

Mako smiled and gave a thumbs up. "I'm okay!"

"I can tell," Ivy giggled. She lightly grabbed Pumpkin Spice's and Mako's wrist and began dragging them towards a hallway.

The hallway was large and had many dents in the walls, covered with stone doors that could lock and unlock. Lockers! Now I get it!

The three had lockers next to each others, so they quickly unscrambled the code and swung open the door.

Huh? Mako gazed inside in confusion. Inside lay a green bracelet with

Mako - Jade

carved on it.

She slipped in on, and stared at the others for further explanation. They looked confused as Mako was, but they had matching bracelets that were copper.

"Maybe this our Winglet?" Pumpkin Spice offered. "Yours is Jade and ours are copper, and both of those are Winglets."

The gong sounded again with a loud crash and an echo that shuddered through the wide hallway.

Ivy nodded. "Guess there's only one way to find out."