Shadow Falling

Searching

Shadowwing didn't find Passion for several days. He was unwilling to go too close to the Rainwing village. Nightwings weren't quite welcome since they had kidnapped so many for Mastermind. So, he stuck to wandering just outside of the village limits, trying to catch another glimpse of her.

It was an accident when he found her again. Out on his own, as usual, he had climbed to the top of a high tree to reach a branch heavy with ripe mangoes. It had quickly become his favorite since coming to the Rainforest Kingdom.

As he shimmied up the branch, Passion had appeared on a branch only a few feet away from him. With a yelp, Shadowwing had nearly fallen off.

"You know," she said in a bored voice, "most dragons aren't afraid of falling. We have wings, after all."

Shadowwing had his eyes shut tight. "The trees are too close. I can't fly well here."

"That's only because you don't practice enough."

Without another word of explanation, she leaned off the side of her branch.

Gasping, Shadowwing peered over the side to see where she went. His eyes widened in surprise.

There she was, gliding through the branches as though they were water. She looked otherworldly, a creature of magic.

"Whatcha waitin' for, Shade? Come learn how to fly in the rainforest!" She called, diving through a cluster of branches.

Heart pounding, he looked out over the sea of leaves.

"My name is Shadowwing!" He cried. "And I can't go out there. I can't fly here!"

The lithe purple and blue form of Passion slithered back out of the shadows of the forest. Her startling gold eyes gleamed in the light; half lidded as though she were tired. But her tense muscles displayed anything but fatigue.

"You really know nothing about the rainforest, do you, Shade?"

"I'm not Shade. I've told you my name."

"And it's a mouthful, I'm not saying that." She said with a sly grin. "I don't call many dragons by their real name. Besides, what's so special about the name Shadowwing. A family name?"

"My mother chose it."

"Then she uses it often."

"She's..."

"I know. A lot of Nightwings didn't make it. Was it during the eruption, or before?" She said, coiling up on a branch thicker than her body.

"I don't want to talk about it." He mumbled.

She narrowed her eyes, and he noticed with interest that the tips of her frill turned a shade of dark green. He's heard that Rainwings changed their scales and that it occasionally showed their mood. What did that shade of green mean?

"Well, have fun not being able to fly here right. I guess you'll be stuck."

"I'll learn... Just at my own speed." He protested.

"Right," she said, giving him a yeah right look. "Have fun with that."

She threw herself off the branch, scales changing so that it looked like she dived into the colors of the rainforest. Shadowwing strained his eyes to make her out, but there was nothing to see. Passion was gone.