𝐓𝐨 𝐁𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞

The Introduction of Color

As the sun chose to grace the land in the morning, the welcoming beams of light fell in Ember's room. The new addition of luminescence caused the young dragon to stir gently before waking up. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and took a deep breath. Today was the day. She was terrified, no doubt, but there was an unwelcome sense of ease about the whole thing. Why was she feeling so calm? This was supposed to be nerve-wracking...

In the corner of her room hung a simple white dress - an empty canvas with which to create her world upon. It was ceremonial to wear white for The Selection, as with most other ceremonies you might know of. The door to her room opened, and in stepped her mother with a flower crown in her hands, decorated in white lotus flowers and smiled.

"Good morning, my dear. Are you ready for today?" asked her mother, properly named Cyra, crossing the room to Ember's bed and set the flower crown on the blanket.

"I'm a bit nervous..." replied Ember, hugging her legs to her chest.

"Oh, my dearest Ember, there is no need to be nervous. Just... imagine it as a party. A party with all of your friends who are there to support you and who love you..." Cyra said softly, placing a comforting kiss on her daughter's forehead. "Now come along, Ember. Let's get you dressed."

Cyra held out a hand and helped Ember off of the bed and led her over to the dress, pointing out small details in the fabric. For example, there were small stitches of some of her favorite things along the bottom of the skirt in white thread, of course. Crystals, stars, flowers, paintbrushes... everything Ember loved sat embroidered in the cloth. On the back of the dress was a small train of an iridescent fabric that flowed from the shoulders. The stitching around the edges made it look like dragon wings. Two pieces of elastic sat on the ends of the sheer cloth that she could attach to her fingers.

"Oh, Mama, it's beautiful!" Ember gasped in awe as she ran her fingers over the embroidered artistry that adorned the dress. Ember was very, very excited for this dress alone.

Cyra smiled brightly at her daughter's awestruck look and pat the young girl on the shoulder. "Go take a shower, and then you can put it on, alright?"

Ember happily ran into the bathroom to take a shower, and once she was finished, she practically skipped out in a fuzzy robe, and Cyra continued talking. "Would you like my help putting the dress on, or would you like to do it yourself? I will respect your privacy if you want it."

"Can you help me...? I don't want to ruin it..." Ember admitted. Cyra nodded and carefully took the dress off the hanger. Ember took off the robe and quickly slipped into the dress. Her mother was careful not to touch anywhere that could be deemed inappropriate in order to respect Ember's boundaries. The zipper was soon zipped up, and the small pieces of elastic hung around Ember's fingers, making it look like the flowy material was actually her own pair of wings.

"I love it!" Ember exclaimed as Cyra began to style Ember's white hair into a simple yet elegant braid and finally placed the crown of lotus flowers onto her head.

Cyra smiled warmly. "There we go, Ember. You look beautiful."

Ember giggled and spun around before playfully bowing. "Thank you, Mama!"

"You're welcome, dear. Now, shall we go? Your father is already there since he had to help set up!"

"I'm ready!" Ember smiled herself and grabbed her mother's hand as they left their house.

The location of The Selection was a rather elegant location. It was hosted in a large arena that could hold hundreds, maybe even thousands of people. The empty area in the middle was where many events occurred, and currently, there were several tables set up, awaiting Ember's arrival. One might compare this arena to that of Earth's infamous Colosseum. At this time, the arena was already almost packed, and the chatter was deafening. Within moments, an announcer's voice sounded through a sound system, announcing Ember's arrival.

Taking a few deep breaths, Ember walked into the arena, and the crowd cheered loudly, which caused Ember to wince and cover her ears. Within moments, the people were silenced. A tall woman stood in the center of the area, in the middle of the circle of tables. Her hair was an ashy black, and her eyes a bright orange. She stood in a regal way with her head held high. Her features were sharp and gaze heavy from all that she had seen. This was Cigri, no doubt.

"Ember. You come before me to participate in The Selection, yes?" Cigri said, loud enough for everyone to hear. Her voice was smooth and calming in a way.

"Yes, I do." Ember replied, repeating exactly what she had been told. She glanced around at each and every table and saw that every one had something upon it, hidden under a fiery red cloth.

"Then I, Cigri of the Elders, invite you to find your clan." With a wave of Cigri's hand, the pieces of cloth on each table burned into ash, at which the crowd gasped. Ember looked around at the crowd and saw Rhaelrivera smiling down at her and nodding. Ember took another deep breath and looked at the tables. Each one had a dragon upon it - some a solid object, others simply manipulated into shape. For example, the earth dragon was simply carved from stone and covered in moss and small flowers, while the air dragon was simply a floating cloud in the shape of said dragon.

Ember walked around, looking at each of the tables. None of them spoke to her... in truth, she could pick any of them, but she would do well with the dragon that called to her. She looked at the fire dragon that hovered above the table. She debated choosing it to make her family proud, but... she didn't feel anything around it, so she continued. It wasn't until she got around to a figurine made of pure glass did she feel something... a sort of pull towards the small glass dragon, like a magnet. Her eyes fixated on it, and without thinking, she grabbed the figurine off the table.

A mere second later, a tingling sensation filled her body, which caused her to giggle. As she held up her hand, she noticed a white glow around her fingers. The crowd cheered as they watched Ember, yet - like before - the crowd was silenced when Cigri stepped forward.

"Ember has been selected to join the Glass Clan!" vocalized Cigri. As if on cue, every glass dragon in the audience cheered. Ember couldn't help but smile, realizing that she had found her place.

***

After the ceremony, a glass dragon named Agate led Ember to a back room that held a rather large mirror in it. Agate was a rather short, slightly curvy woman with a bright smile and a brighter personality. Her hair was a pale yellow, and her eyes lavender in color.

"Okie dokie, little Ember! This is the fun part!" Agate smiled and clapped her hands.

Ember looked at her, confused. "What's happening?"

"Oh, little dragon, here is where you get to pick how you look! We're some of the special ones. You see, glass can be stained to be any color in the universe, so thus, we as glass dragons can choose whatever color we want to use for ourselves! I change my hair nearly every week," Agate explained. She had a tendency to ramble, but Ember didn't mind.

"How does it work?" asked Ember.

Agate smiled again. "It's simple, really. Just think really, really hard about one of your features, and it will change!"

Ember turned to look in the mirror and focused on her eyes. She thought of a deep red, and soon, the iris of her eyes changed to red. She made a look of disgust and focused again. Blue? Maybe... Orange? No. Brown? No. Black looked too menacing for her... Ember was starting to lose courage when she perked up and focused one last time on her eyes. They changed to a vibrant green, and Ember smiled. That was perfect.

"Ooo, I'm digging the green!" Agate exclaimed as she watched. Ember smiled and turned back to the mirror. Now it was time for her hair... what color looks good with green? She thought for a moment before her hair changed to a pale blue. The color wasn't as vibrant as the sky but could be compared to the of a very light cornflower. Ember hopped up and down slightly and grinned. She loved how the bright green felt with the blue hair. She pushed her newly colored locks behind her pointed ears and squealed softly.

"How do I look?" Ember asked with bright, hopeful eyes.

Agate beamed and clapped. "I love that combination! You look so pretty!" Ember looked back at herself in the mirror, and for once, she genuinely liked who she was seeing...

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A/N: Hello, hi, howdy. I wrote this when I was supposed to be sleeping- enjoy-