Wings Of fire: Shadowstalker

Chapter 8: The Date

After the competition, the four had partied for a while after the celebration with the other students. It lasted several hours and ended as the sun began to rose. Shadow had made his way home with the trophy, so Darkstalker put it somewhere the whole palace could see. An elegant wooden trophy case that displayed many awards of the students around the kingdom. It was always an honorable gesture to have one's achievement displayed in the palace.

By the next evening, Shadow had woken up and nearly rolled out of bed. Freshening up, eating breakfast and taking a quick walk through the forest was his morning routine. Once the walk was finished he'd spent nearly his entire night working with Nighthawk on his cabin. The air was temperate, nice and warm. It had been a long night full of hard work and labor, but thanks to his size everything was much easier than it could've been.

"Nice work tonight lad, really. It's looking better every day." Nighthawk said while patting his shoulder gently. "Thanks for helping me with this, I really appreciate it." He smiled.

"Of course Nighthawk! Why wouldn't I? You're my friend, and I love building things." Shadow smiled back. He loved helping others as it made him happy. He stretched his arms and wings before yawning. "Hah..moons.."

"What's up? Nervous about your date? Could give you some pointers, if you're interested."

"Well I know how good you are with females.." Shadow said with a small grin.

"You boys behaving yourselves?" A voice asked from behind.

"Yes love, the prince is keeping me in check." Nighthawk joked. The cloaked dragon stood and walked to Sulu. Her blue scales were vibrant and unique. Shadow had never realized such a fantastic color could exist. She looked up at Nighthawk, the two exchanging a few gestures of affection to each other.

"Good, because I brought you two some cold tea. The cabin is looking great." Sulu smiled. "Thank you for helping, your majesty." She said with a smile before passing Nighthawk a glass, and a large pitcher for Shadow.

"It's no problem." Shadow picked up the pitcher and lifted it to his jaws. Then the prince dumped it into his mouth and drank quickly. "That's refreshing.. Thank you." He licked his snout and lowered his head to her.

"Of course, you two worked hard." Sulu gave his snout a gentle pat. "Your date is soon, so you should come inside and wash up."

"Oh- right yeah!" Shadow smiled. "See you later Nighthawk?"

"Of course mate. Good luck tonight, go get her." Nighthawk winked. Shadow and Sulu got ready before heading to the restaurant. As they flew, he saw Sulu turn to him.

"I just wanted to let you know that I've got a bad feeling about her. She might not love you for the right reasons." Sulu called to him. This was a little confusing.

"What-?" Shadow tilted his head.

"She might just be after your status is all. I seen it happen to a few dragons, and it's not pretty. I could be wrong though, but just be careful. You're a good dragon who deserves to be happy."

"Alright then.." Shadow sighed. The two landed and she went ahead before him while he waited for Mindwatcher. Thankfully, it didn't take long for her to arrive.

"I knew you'd come!" She chirped. "Oh you big handsome sweet dragon.. you got me flowers!"

"Yes of course.." Shadow smiled as he handed her a bundle of roses, all red and vibrant. "All for you."

"You are so.. hm..heh.. wow these are amazing!" Mindwatcher smiled before kissing his cheek gently. The prince paused and blushed while his heart rate picked up.

"Let's- let's get seated..I got us a beautiful table outside." Shadow smiled nervously. The restaurant was built when Sulu and Nighthawk moved to the night kingdom. It was constructed on the waterfront with an ocean theme. Almost every item on the menu was some sort of seafood. The building itself had been made of bricks, wood and finely masoned stones. A mural of the sea kingdom had been painted on the outside wall. It was beautiful and elegant.

The two sat at a large table overlooking the sea, and Shadow was quite nervous. "I uh..so- how are you doing tonight? You look beautiful-"

"Thank you.. I'm doing wonderful. You look so handsome." Mindwatcher snickered and put a talon on his. "Thank you for taking me here, this place is wonderful."

"Yeah- Sulu is a family friend, and her restaurant is spectacular." Tapping his claws on the table, he looked around frantically. "What ah..here, menu!" The giant carefully pushed a menu to her, lashing his tail slightly.

"Oh- Alright then. You look so nervous."

"I'm not-!"

"It's okay Shadow. I'm nervous too, but you don't have to worry about me or what I think. Just have a good time, enjoy this with me." She smiled soflty.

"Okay.." Shadow mumbled. He already knew what he wanted for dinner, so he was waiting. "Do anything fun today.?"

"Well aside from this wonderful date we are having, I went into the market and this necklace!" She then proceeded to lift a sapphire and ruby necklace up slightly to show him. Intrigued, he lowered his head down and admired it.

"Oh that's beautiful, and it looks great on you." Shadow smiled softly. "Heh-"

"How sweet.."

"I uh, I try-" His tail swayed slowly, humming a little. Sulu walked to them carrying a small black book.

"Good evening! What can I get you two lucky dragons tonight?" Sulu asked. She was mostly adorned in pearls with a pair of orca earrings on either ear.

"You first." Shadow insisted. Mindwatcher smiled and tapped her chin slowly while reading through. The prince could feel his heart rate picking up slightly while he admired her slender and stunning beauty.

"I'll have the baked salmon dish please. It's an honor to dine here."

"Perfect! And what shall you have, your majesty?"

"Just uh-.. the usual please."

"Got it, steak it is then." Sulu said with a smile and closed up the book. "I'll have that ready shortly."

"Thank you, Sulu." Shadow smiled. He turned to Mindwatcher who was just smiling up at him. So far everything was going well. The two talked, ate and had a nice dinner together. Once everything was concluded and done, he walked her home to keep her safe. The date was successful and he had fun. This one night was the start of something beautiful.