𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚜 [ꜱɪᴢᴢʟᴇ] | 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚏 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

|| Chapter 7 ||

Sizzle gazed upon the tunnel. "Oh my three moons, I can't believe I'm here," she whispered, her voice quivering with delight. Finally, now was the time to escape it all. To escape her family's deaths. To escape her musty home. To escape Lion. To escape every single one of those memories. Expect the memories with Sunbeam, of course.

The sand dragon tried her best not to waste another moment by groveling over the tunnel that will hopefully save her sanity as she dashed through, making sure that Lion wasn't hiding in any corners out to grab her.

The tunnel was extremely dark and Sizzle slowed down a bit so she wouldn't trip over any rocks or pebbles in her excitement. She saw sunlight coming through what seemed to be the end and she started to walked a bit faster.

Sizzle just was about to leap through the exit before her eyes adjusted and she yelped quietly. The tunnel seemed to drop off start to the ground and Sizzle had to fly out instead and flap her wings in place to hover and observe the tunnel.

The tunnel...was in a tree? There was a large hole in the birch she just emerged from. In fact, there were many trees next to hers in a straight line with the same gaping holes. There were signs above each tunnel that said, Kingdom of the Sea, or Rainforest Kingdom, or Ice Kingdom. Sizzle glanced up at the sign above her title and it read, Kingdom of Sand. 

Ooooh. Yep I get it. Clever labeling, Sizzle thought a little bit sarcastically but still laughed at herself all the same. 

Sizzle turned around again and her jaw dropped. She was gazing upon a magnificent looking wooden building. It reminded her of a giant treehouse but with many different parts. There was a giant wooden platform and the main building was large, gorgeous, and open. There were rope wood bridges that connected from the platform to five smaller tree houses with several different parts that were higher in the trees. From what Sizzle could read when she flew closer to smaller houses, it had the names of different winglets and she realized that those were the Winglet Houses.

Winglet Houses:

(Not my art)

"Wow," Sizzle breathed, as she landed on the wooden platform. "It is beautiful, isn't it?" a voice from the side of her. The SandWing jumped as she turned to face a small female MudWing who looked to be about 15 dragon years, despite her size. 

"Sorry about the scare! My name is Squish and I am the headmistress of this academy. I also check in all the students here on Shaded Island! I do believe you are a student, right?" Squish tilted her head.

Sizzle blinked a few times. "Oh, um, yes. I am a student here," she tried her best to speak up. 

"Ok, that's fantastic! Follow me. I just need to confirm that at my desk," the light brown MudWing with amber wings smiled and guided her to the center of the platform with a large desk and a sign hanging over it that said, Check In.

Squish walked behind the desk and ducked under it reaching for something. Sizzle heard her mumble, "Letter please." The SandWing hastily opened her pouch and put the rolled up scroll with her name on the desk.

The MudWing put another long scroll on the table and grabbed Sizzle's letter has she stood up and flexed her wings. "Oh hello there Sizzle! I have a list of Winglets, which will also be your explorer groups, right here. Come take a look!" Squish said kindly and pushed the larger scroll towards her.

Sizzle took the scroll and held it right in front of her. She then found her name and read her Winglet group to herself.

Wood Winglet

IceWing: Gentoo

MudWing: Snail

NightWing: Secretstalker

RainWing: Vine

SandWing: Sizzle

SeaWing: Coast

SkyWing: Blare

I'm going to meet all of the other tribes, I guess, Sizzle raised her eyebrows at the thought and tried not show that she was nervous. She's only ever seen a SandWing herself, but she knew what the other tribes looked like. Sunrise would teach her all about that.

"Hey, um, Squish? Is anyone else here yet?" she looked up from the paper and at the head of the school. 

Squish shook her head. "Not yet. They will all be coming this late afternoon and then I'll say an announcement once we have all the students. But since you're the only one here I might as well give you a tour! And this will allow you to meet all of the other teachers and get settled in at your Winglet House."

Sizzle barely had time to agreed before Squish took off through the school. The academy was huge and it was all in the trees. The designs were very beautiful and Sizzle had to admit she was in awe after seeing the library, prey center, hunting areas, and all the classrooms. After she introduced herself to her art and history teachers, Squish ushered Sizzle with all her supplies into the high up Wood Winglet House.

The sand dragon thanked her and walked inside the cavernous home. There was a small prey center, and everything! But Sizzle absolutely adored the sleeping area though. There was a high nest for a SkyWing and a hammock for a RainWing. Seaweed bed for the SeaWing. Grassy nest for the MudWing and NightWing. Freezing moss for the IceWing. The best part was the cotton bed with grains of sand that Sizzle just jumped into.

"I wondered why I didn't want to go here in the first place," Sizzle sighed with joy as she finally rested her tired wings, waiting for her Winglet to arrive.