Wings of Fire - The Third Continent

Chapter 2

"This is ridiculous!" Venus complained under their breath.  "What is this supposed to accomplish?"

"Beats me," Dia said.  "Like they think these rocks are going to make us switch pronouns if we carry them enough."

Venus glanced at Beetle.  The SilkWing seemed to be juggling the rocks between his talons.

"You doing good?" they asked.

"No," Beetle responded.  "My silk glands are getting a little itchy."

"What about your wing buds?" Venus asked.

"Aching," Beetle said.  "I can't wait until we finish.  I'm just going to collapse onto my bed once we get back."

"You think your metamorphosis is coming soon?" Sandspirit asked.

"It's supposed to happen once SilkWings reach six years of age," Beetle said.  "Blue didn't tell me much about it.  Neither did Luna."

Once the dragonets got escorted back to their cave, Beetle fell onto his bed as silk came out his wrists.

"Huh?" he said aloud, slightly panicked.  "I thought it was my sixth birthday that this happened."

"Are you okay, Bee-" Venus turned around, but only saw a cocoon with a slight glow to it.  They turned to the others. "O-okay...Is there anything we can do?"

"I'm not a SilkWing," Sandspirit said.  "You're the only one from Pantala here."

"I'm not SilkWing, though," Venus said.  "It doesn't quite look like flamesilk, but not like regular silk either."

"I'd be so jealous of him if we were at Jade Mountain," Sandspirit said.  "He gets to miss days of classes."

"We're not at Jade Mountain!" Venus snapped.  "If any of the dragons spot him like this, who knows what they're going to do?"

"Nothing," Dia said.  "There was another dragon like him here, and they only made her do more once her wings grew in.  The doors are blocked by hot silk."

"If Beetle actually is a flamesilk, he could move through that silk," Venus said.  "We'll just have to wait it out."

They turned to Dia.  "How long have you been here?"

"A while," Dia said.  "I've always been insistent about dragons using my correct pronouns.  Got me in trouble more than once."

"Yeah," Auran said. "I've known her for my whole life and she got in trouble practically every day."

"Why are they so worried about this?" Venus asked.  "Both my parents are female, and I use they/them."

"How were you born then?" Dia asked.

Sandspirit opened his mouth to explain, but Venus cut him off.  "Some NightWing stuff."

"Maybe they can-no, that would be ridiculous," Dia said under her breath.

"You never know," Sandspirit said.  "Maybe they can."

"You really think so?" Dia asked.

"Don't underestimate the NightWings," Sandspirit responded.  "And if that fails, we have a backup plan."

"Don't get her hopes up," Auran said.  "We've been looking for a way for as long we can remember."

"You have NightWing ancestry, Sandspirit," Venus said.  "You think you could be an animus?"

"I'm not related to Sunny," Sandspirit said.

"Try," Venus prompted.

"Pass me a scroll or a book," Sandspirit responded, and Venus did.  "I enchant this book to fly up to the ceiling and come down onto Venus' head."