Wings Of fire: Shadowstalker

Chapter 2: Growing Up

By the age of two, Shadowstalker had grown even larger, now almost half as big as his mother. He walked in with his mother, a normal sized Darkstalker, and Nighthawk who stood behind the king and Queen as a guard. No dragons ever bothered with Shadowstalker's family when Nighthawk was there, for any reason. The former soldier was respected and feared, sometimes more so than Shadow's father. The Nightwing school was a grand, tall structure that rivaled the height of the Nightwing palace. The prince's eyes lit up with wonder as he examined the school.

"I can't wait to go in! Daaad can we go into the school now!?" Shadow begged and hugged his arm. "I wanna meet more dragons and make some friends!" He chirped. He did have several friends already, Starhunter, Sharpclaws and Mindseeker. The four had become quite close, and they loved to play together. Darkstalker laughed a little, gently patting his son's head with his talon.

"Of course son, we're going in now. I already got you registered." He smiled. "If anyone gives you any trouble, let me know please." He said calmly.

"Of course dad! Are you coming to my classes with me?" Shadow chirped, bouncing up and down a little. "Please?" He pleaded and begged with his tongue sticking out slightly.

"Haha, you adorable little dragon. I can come for the first class, then I have royal business to attend to." Darkstalker picked him up and hugged him. "Wow, you're getting big." Shadow smiled and hugged back, just relaxing as his father hugged him.

"One day, I will be as big as you are when you're not small!" Shadow giggled. "And I can be king!" He chirped.

"Aw, maybe one day. When you're ready, perhaps. But I will never make you fight me for the throne, not like the other tribes. I'll test you, and when you are ready you can take over. But let's focus on your childhood for now, okay?" Darkstalker smiled. Shadow could see he was a little saddened however, and he wondered why. He shrugged it off for now, just hugging his father.

"Okay dad!" The prince squirmed down. "Momma when am I getting a sister?" He asked politely.

"In four months." Moonglow smiled softly. "You will have a baby sister."

"Yay! I can't wait." Shadow chirped and smiled at her. Darkstalker then led them inside. The beginning of the school room was vibrant and clean. Dragonets that were walking to their classes, and as they saw the king and queen they all bowed.

"Look! The king and Queen!" One chirped. Darkstalker chuckled and walked over.

"Hello children, yes it is I, your king! And My beautiful wonderful wife Moonglow." Darkstalker said calmly. "My son is going to be joining the school today. Say hi son."

"Hi.." Shadowstalker said shyly as he hid under his mother's wing, watching the other students. He was nervous, but excited too.

"Hiiii!" All the students said simultaneously. Shadow felt welcome, but still anxious. He was worried they would think he was weird or that they'd be scared because of his size. However it seemed everyone was more excited and intrigued. Moonglow nudged her son gently, gesturing for him to step forward and introduce himself. Taking a deep breath, the young prince presented himself before the crowd.

"Hello, my name is Shadowstalker, it's wonderful to meet you all." He said soflty. He wasn't the biggest dragonet there, but all the other dragons his age were much smaller than him. "I can't wait to share classes and make friends."

"I wanna be his friend!"

"I wanna do that as well!"

"Me toooo! Look at how tall he is, wow!"

Shadow watched the other dragonets get closer, feeling a little swarmed now. He sat and smiled a tiny bit before curling his tail around himself. One made its way over and held his talon up. "Oh- Hi." The prince shook his talon slowly

"I'm Starhunter!" The dragonet had black scales, deep blue eyes and a dark grey underbelly. "Nice to meet you! I think we have reading together."

"It's great to meet you too Starhunter." Shadow chirped and looked down at him. "We do? That's so awesome!"

"Yeah!" Starhunter smiled. He looked at Darkstalker and bowed. "Can I he friends with your son, your majesty?"

"Haha! Of course you can!" Darkstalker laughed. Shadow always liked his father's laugh, as it was so full of life and enjoyment. Despite all the bad rumors he'd heard about him, he knew his dad loved him more than anything.

The prince giggled. "Daaad you don't have to give permission!"

"But I did have to answer his question." Darkstalker pat his head. "Let's get you to your first class now, son." He smiled. The king and queen led their son down a hallway. Lining each wall were different paintings and drawings done by the children around the school. He was impressed and wanted to have one of his up there one day. His first class was close, so they didn't have to walk too far. Everyone in the room turned to the door when the royal family entered.

"K-King Darkstalker- my apologies! If I had known that you were coming I'd have had the room cleaned up- oh dear-" The teacher said nervously. Shadow watched her scramble to clean up her desk.

"Oh, it's quite alright" Darkstalker said with a shrug. "It happens to me all the time. Servant walks in, I got scrolls everywhere, rather embarrassing." He smiled. "My son is here for his first class, and I trust he will be in good talons?"

"Yes of course! Thank you, your majesty. It's such an honor to teach your son." She said soflty. "Hello." She looked at Shadowstalker

"Hi.." Shadow said nervously before hiding against his mother. 

"He's a little shy." Moonglow said. "But he's a very well behaved kid, you'll love having him in your class. Anyway we need to get going, have an important meeting soon."

"I'm sure the other students will too! But alright, have a good day."

"Are you leaving mom?" Shadow asked with a frown

"Yes, but we will see you after school." Moonglow hugged him gently. Shadow hugged back and smiled. Once he was set down he watched his parents wave and leave, leaving him to his new class and school. Always a new and exciting day for the prince, and he was ready to take on his newest challenge.