Listen, And The Stars Shall Speak

Shorange Or Shuniper?

After meeting with their winglet, Shore and Orange headed for the Prey Center.

"So, what do you think of the Winglet?" Shore asked.

"I'm not sure. Ember seems nice, and Permafrost is definitely one of the nicer Icewings from the looks of it." Orange replied. Shore nodded.

"Haze seems a bit....mysterious, yet interesting."

"She reminds me of Ander a little bit."

"How so?" Orange shrugged.

"They're both quiet, and not like everybody else. I think they'll get along great next year."

"I'd be nice if Ander actually made a friend that was a physical dragon instead of a spirtual being of sorts." 

"A spiritual being?"

"Ander doesn't befriend dragons- she befriends the stars. The sky- day stars, which are the little spots you get in your eyes from staring at the sun too long. The list goes on. Rin wrote me and said she had animals chanting in Latin a few days ago while she burned reeds and traced symbols in smoke." 

"...Well that's not demonic at all." Shore smirked.

"Maybe she's trying to conjure some monkey demon." Orange laughed.

"Or raise Darkstalker from the dead!" They laughed and flew over to the fruit pile of the Prey Center. 

Shore raised an orange tauntingly and held it near Orange's face.

"I'm not eating that, for an orange smile or otherwise." She declared. Shore studied her face intently.

"Nope." he proclaimed finally, setting the fruit down. "I see no resemblance." Orange quickly changed her scales to the same shade as the fruit.

"How about now?" she questioned. Shore frowned.

"Not even close. But maybe they taste the same..." he wondered. Orange raised an eyebrow.

"If you try to lick me I'm going to slam a pineapple over your head and throw you in the river." Shore crinkled his snout.

"Ew. Why would I lick you? That's just gross. I was just gonna try and kiss you." Orange paused, fighting to keep her scales from turning pink. 

"What, all those times you lost when we wrestled not enough?" she teased.

"We haven't wrestled in forever!" he protested. "I'm starting to forget how long your definition of a short kiss is." Orange rolled her eyes.

"Fine. You've convinced me." She pulled him close and kissed him. Shore smiled as they broke apart and popped an orange slice in his mouth, pondering the flavor.

"Nah," he admitted. "You're much sweeter than the fruit version." 

"Thanks, I think."  

After they had eaten, Orange ran off; something about writing her parents and not having paper, Shore thought as he wandered to the Music cave. He was still working on the same piece, much to his dismay. It just wasn't right. Every time he got one part to sound right, everything else sounded awful with it. It was an endless war, music. But the thing that made it worse was the dragon that was waiting for him as he walked into the room.

"Hi Shore," Juniper greeted him. He ignored her and headed for the piano. She blocked his path. "You can't ignore me forever." she protested.

"I can try." Shore said, smiling at the prospect of never seeing her again.

"Can you just tell me what I did wrong?" 

"You called my sister-" Shore froze. He couldn't- could never bring himself to say that word about Ander. "You called her something that I can't forgive you for." 

"What? Crazy? Well she was acting like it! What was she even saying? It didn't make any sense."

"She speaks in Latin half the time."

"See? Even you have to admit that's weird."

"It's not weird, it makes her more interesting than anyone else."

"No, it makes her crazy." Shore fumed and some of his scales burned red, bringing out the Rainwing in him.

"See, this. This is why I broke up with you. Because you insist that my sister is something that she's not, and I hate hearing it! I hate it more than anything in the world, and if you were a boy, I would've punched you in the face by now! I don't associate with dragons that call my sister names." Juniper crossed her arms defiantly.

"Well, did I know this? No! I hadn't even met your sister and she starts threatening me in Latin or whatever the heck she was saying-"

"She said that she hopes your soul is ripped apart by vicious wolves and that she will dance on your grave with pleasure, so yes, I would consider that a bit threatening." 

"Great. But I didn't know! So don't I at least deserve a second chance? I promise I will stop saying things about her that you don't like." Shore stared at her, pondering her words. 

"Maybe."

"Maybe what?" He shrugged and crossed his arms, glaring at her.

"Maybe I'll give you a second chance, and maybe I won't. Your behavior determines the outcome."

"Fine." She snarled. "I don't even know why I bothered coming here. your sister is just like mother and both of them are the same thing." She stepped forward threateningly. "Freaks." 

Shore grabbed her arm, his eyes glittering dangerously.

"Don't you ever say that word to me again." He growled, his voice low in fury.

"Sure thing." she agreed blankly. "Now let go of me- freak."