New Flames

Chapter 3

"So, hi," Ardor said, as she walked around to him, with a smile that went from one side of her snout to the other. Even her smile was perfect. "My name is Ardor! But you probably heard that already since my dad literally just said it. Off to a great start!" She said, trying to make some irony, which came across as forced and fake.

"Oh. She's that kind of dragon. Great."

Flame grunted as a response. He looked at her, trying to stare her down, but she didn't falter or flinch when she saw his scar. Not even a single twitch. He was silently impressed with that.

"Or maybe she's too caught up with her small talk act to notice"

"Hmm, so, your name?" She asked looking at him with an even bigger smile if that was possible.

"Flame."

"Nice to meet you, Flame! What brings you here? If I can ask, of course. Don't want to be too nosy, that would extremely rude. Just curious!" She asked, tilting her head and not dropping his gaze.

With that sentence, Ardor had inquired for information in a genuinely curious way, but also in an almost "you'd better share what it is" way, too. And it made Flame highly uncomfortable.

"I was brought here by Queen Ruby this morning. I-," he couldn't finish his sentence before she cut in again.

"Oh RIGHT! You're the one from Jade Mountain! The one who is staying here until his trial for nearly murdering someone! My dad told me all about it! How could I forget? That's so interesting," she said, spreading her wings all at once and almost jumping from the excitement.

"I did not murder anyone," Flame stated flatly, as his mind darkly echoed "yet".

"Oh well, details details. Come! I want to hear all about it as we go to lunch!" She started heading towards the exit of the tunnel, "if we're lucky they'll have boar pie, that's the absolute best."

Flame growled internally. He was already tired of this dragonet and her petty, incessant chatter. She was almost like Fatespeaker, but instead of visions, Ardor spewed small talk nonsense.

"No, actually. I was going to stay here and rest for a bit-," he started, but once again she didn't let him finish.

"Oh come on! My father said to take care of you, and lunch is the best way to do that. Plus we don't really get many interesting dragons here. And don't worry, I'll let you rest in the afternoon, I promise." She ended that sentence with a cross on her heart, which he internally scoffed at before resigning with a nod.

"Great!" And with that, she grabbed a white sash from her cave, similar to her father's but with a blue leaf stitched on it instead of a golden one. He followed her as she bounded off.

As they walked, Flame took the time to concentrate his attention on the spiral of thoughts that were tangled inside his dark mind.

~

Pike and Bigtail weren't exactly ideal clawmates. The SeaWing was too loud and the NightWing always corrected whatever he said. They argued a lot and Flame sometimes argued with them, too.

In the short time he'd known Bigtail, he hadn't particularly liked him. Especially since he was a NightWing, and a member of the tribe who'd been responsible for all the lies regarding the prophecy, his injury, Viper's death... and even Darkstalker.

However, he hadn't hated Pike.

Not exactly, anyway.

He focused on one memory.

He remembered one night, right after the accident involving the history cave exploding, they had talked. Roommates-talk, under the cover of darkness.

And for the first time in years, he had finally felt understood.

Pike was an attention seeker for sure, Flame couldn't deny that, but he also felt like the world outside him couldn't see him. He felt like they only saw the bad aspects of him, no matter what he tried. He felt like his mother had forgotten how to love him. And Flame could relate all too well to that.

"I want to leave this place," Pike had said quietly, talking about Jade Mountain Academy.

"Can't believe Bigtail actually managed to do that," Flame said, as they both sneered at that tasteless joke.

But after a few moments of silence, he added, "Where would you go? If you left here, I mean."

Pike thought about it for a second and then answered, "I'd want to find an island, far away from here, and just, disappear. But by choice, this time. I'd want to forget everything, everyone, and just be."

Flame couldn't help but wonder if he would be able to just escape from all the demons in his head. He could help but wonder if he could ever be that strong.

But in the end, he knew the answer.

"Yeah. I'd actually like that too."

~
By the time he finished going through that memory, they had reached the dining hall. If Ardor had said anything to him while they walked, he hadn't heard it.

The dining hall was a busy place even this early. It was bustling with dragons, Flame counted fifteen of them, gathered at small wooden tables, quietly eating or chatting. Most of them were SkyWings, but Flame could swear he had seen a hint of pink and purple scales among them, too. RainWings, he guessed.

There was an open wall at the end of the room, where dragon hunters landed, handing the cooks meat to be prepared for the meals. Flame also saw two stone staircases that connected the dining hall to an upper deck that looked down upon it. He guessed it contained more tables, for when the place got really busy.

He walked away from Ardor, and towards the food counter. Since he hadn't had breakfast, he was quite hungry and got two roasted turkeys to try to quench that hunger.

As he sat down with Ardor, he quickly noticed that she didn't have the boar pie she wanted. Instead, she was carrying a stew that smelled of deer and carrots.

"Oh good, you got the turkeys, that's quite a good choice. Too bad they didn't have boar pie, that's the best dish here," she chirped, taking a bite from her stew.

Flame ate his turkeys quickly and silently, and then waited for her to finish before they got up to leave. He had to admit, those had been some of the best roasted turkeys he had ever eaten.

"I'll give you a tip. Always have lunch and dinner early. That's when you'll find the best food and best seating. If you're actually punctual, this place will be swarming with patients and doctors. Just thought I'd share that with you," she said, with a smile.

"That's... actually helpful. That's a first from her."

"Hmm, thank you," he said, but he wasn't sure she heard, as no chirpy response came from the SkyWing.

When they left the dining hall, he actually began listening to what Ardor was saying. And most of it was, surprisingly, helpful. Avoid this room, stay clear of this corridor, go to this hall for quiet, and more.

But as he listened and looked, he forgot to concentrate on where he was walking.

And he walked straight into another dragon who had just dashed by from one of the corridors which met with theirs.

He fell over, and the dragon that had hit him quickly got up and mumbled words of excuse.

"Come on Plac! Why do you have to be such a clumsy mess?" He heard Ardor squeal before he realized something.

As he shook his head, trying to regain focus, he noticed that the dragon that had nearly trampled over him didn't have red or orange scales.

He was blue.

This dragon was a SeaWing.