Where Smoke Bleeds Gold

Chapter Five - Submerge

I jumped up as cold talons wrapped around my chest. The air from my lungs bubbled away as I looked around quickly. Avalanche held fiercely onto my chest as she pulled me just away from the surface of the water. I kicked myself up just to get a gasp of air. Avalanche quickly pulled me back to the salty water.
"Stop!" I said, but it just came out as bubbles.
"No, we're not yet there," Avalanche said, her voice coming out crystal clear under the water. She gripped me tight, dragging me further. She was so much bigger than me, so much stronger than me. I shook my head, but she didn't stop. I threw my talons in her face, shocked to see my arms fly straight through her chin. I sucked in water as I tried to stifle a gasp. Her talons gripped onto my wrists tightly. She stared at me for a moment, as if I was alien to her.
"I thought you trusted me," She said, her face looking slightly contorted. I nodded my head, pointing up to the surface.
"And you said you liked the cold," She said, tugging me along. The cold water had put out my Firehorn, forcing the excess fire to go in my throat. It itched, keeping it hidden. I shook my head. This was getting too cold. My wings felt numb, my talons felt stuck in an odd position.
"Oh, well it's just a little further," She said. I looked behind her, noticing a drop off through the murky water. I shook my head, trying to push her warped talons away from mine.
"Do I need to sing you a lullaby?" She asked. I stared at her for a moment. Her distorted mouth smiled, baring wicked teeth. I shook my head, trying to swing my wings, but the fast current just pushed me forward. Avalanche opened her mouth as if to begin singing, but I cracked open my mouth just as she did. The pent of heat in my throat pushed through the water, but only made Avalanche look surprised. With a shimmer of light, Avalanche bent and folded mere claw lengths away. I tried to break away from her, disgust rising in my stomach. It's face had burns across it, but it didn't seem to mind them. It's odd arms wrapped around mine as it pulled me deeper. I struggled for a moment, only for the creature to draw closer.
"Ungrateful little-'' It began, cutting off just as my tail jammed into its side. Suddenly it's slick arms let go of mine. I watched the thing for a moment, uncertain of what to do. A flash of light shot into my eyes. I stumbled back, the salt water beginning to burn my eyes. I looked up squinting. Something big was swimming toward me, blocking out Moon. I fell back, feeling the blackness draw in closer and closer as the new thing neared, until everything went dark. I felt so tired, unable to push the water away anymore.
I could feel dragons around me. Hear a soft crackling fire. A warm wing wrapped around me. My eyes felt glued shut, but curiosity had me listening to the muffled conversations. I kicked my foot, wanting to stand up and fight the monster, but too tired to even think about it.
"What are we going to do?" I heard Avalanche ask quietly. Shivers ran up my spine, unable to know if it was really her.
"Tie- foon," I heard Quake say, a ways away. I opened my eyes slowly, feeling the goop stick to my eyes. I glanced around. Was the sun coming up already? I turned on my other side, my eyes sliding close again.
"Are you awake?" Starshine asked. He seemed really close. I opened my eyes again, expecting Avalanche to be beside me. Starshine instead looked down at me, with one of his small wings draped around me. Oh. I thought, embarrassed to even think it might've been Avalanche when I had been praising how cold she was.
Not that I was praising her.
"Yeah," I said, as I pushed myself up, shaking as I tried to walk closer to the fire.
"What happened?" I asked, my throat feeling swollen. Looking up from the hungry flames something caught my eye. On the shoreline, Quake sat near the water next to someone else.
"It was a siren," Starshine said nonchalantly. "It was going to eat you," I stared at him for a moment, unable to tell if he was joking or not. He didn't seem like the kind to joke around much.
"What a way to put it," Avalanche said, resting her unimpressed gaze on Starshine. I was watching Quake, not really paying attention to the rest of their conversation.
"Who's that next to Quake?" I asked them, just before they began arguing.
"Who? Oh," Avalanche said, looking over to the shore. "That's Typhoon, she dragged you onto shore and woke us up,"
"Oh," I said, watching Quake and Typhoon for a moment. Typhoon seemed to have long wavy spines or something branching behind her head. Quake was blocking the rest of her, so that was all I could see. I wanted to ask what they were doing, or if I should thank her, but it felt like that's all I've been doing since I woke up.
"How are you guys doing?" I turned to them. Wait, that's another question, isn't it?
"Fine," Avalanche barked, almost as if answering for the both of them. Starshine seemed to ignore the question, resting his head in his arms. That seemed like the end of asking questions, even if I had more to ask. My mom got like that sometimes. Where she would snarl like that, just before she got mad and began screaming at us or she would simply leave us alone in the house.
She left the house a lot. She would leave for one of her two jobs, which she never did tell us about. Then Flicker would leave for school because she was "Somewhat normal". I would be alone for so long in the day, with nothing but my ink and pad.
One day, I heard someone outside on the roof. On the windows were a fabric stretched thin to keep the sand out of the house, and on it a shadow was cast.
"Hello?" I called out. The shadow wasn't very big. Maybe my size. After a clatter of broken tiles and a yelp, I had gotten a reply.
"I thought this house was empty," He said. I tried to peer around the fabric by pulling the side up, but it was nailed on tight.
"No, I'm just a little quiet," I said, staring at the shadow of the dragon. "What're you doing?" I asked the shadow.
"Oh, I was just running around the alley, my dad doesn't let me go too far, says he doesn't want me lost," He said. "I'm Kindling, by the way," I could've sworn I could hear his smile.
"I'm Flare, nice to meet you!" I said. "My mom doesn't like me leaving the house either. She says I'm too ugly," I laughed, making it off as a joke. I kept trying to peel back the window on the other side as he continued.
"You don't sound ugly," Kindling said.
"It's okay, I am," I said, pulling the screen up a little bit, able to just see his pale yellow chest. "Don't you go to school?" I asked him, trying to pull up more of the screen.
"My dad doesn't care if I go or not, so I'm hanging out back here today," He said, bringing his face down to the opening. He had bright brown eyes that seemed to actually see mine.
"You don't look ugly," He said, cocking his head. Immediately I grabbed my tail, even if all he could see was my nose, I still felt like he could sense my broken tail.
"Kindle!" Someone far off said.
"That's my dad, I gotta go. See you tomorrow?" He asked, pushing his pale red talon through the hole.
"Maybe not tomorrow, my mom doesn't have work and she'll kill me. The next day?" I asked.
"Sure!" Kindling said. I hi-fived his giant talon and before I knew it, I was alone again. With nothing but a pad of paper and ink until Flicker came home from school. With nothing but an empty house alone with my terrible thoughts. With nothing but a locked door and a ripped screen.
"Hey!" Typhoon yelled. Her voice sounded odd. Like I had water in my ears when she spoke. Everyone looked away from the dying fire and toward her. Quake stepped back a bit to reveal the rest of her. Her face was round, and it didn't seem like she had a defined nose. The spines on her back actually seemed to be two large fins where her horns would've been. Her scales were a pale cyan in Sun's first lights. But after that, it was a mystery. I tried to stifle a gasp as I noticed her legs seemed to be severed off. In place she had two fins and a large whale-like tail.
No one else seemed too surprised by it. Maybe they were already used to seeing her like that. Or maybe she was a normal dragon and I just didn't recognise her. Or maybe I was just too stupid to think that maybe there were other dragons.
"Typhoon," She said without any further explanation. She was jerking her wings up and down like it was a tick. Suddenly she stopped and looked to Quake.
"Nice job!" Avalanche said, smiling.
"That's insane," Starshine murmured under his breath. I looked to him. Was there something I wasn't seeing?
"What?" I quietly asked Starshine.
"She hasn't spoken a word since she saved you, only a few paces ago," Starshine said. He slowly shut his eyes, as if he was exhausted.
"I think we need to leave, Sun's beginning to fly..." Avalanche said, standing up. She kicked up some sand over the fire but didn't do anything else for it.
"But..." Quake began. As I looked over to her her face immediately changed from whatever it was before to a scowl.
"Kay, bye," She said, standing up out of the water and leaving Typhoon in disbelief.
"But we can stay for a little longer," Avalanche quickly said, looking away from Quake. Quake hesitated a step, but didn't turn around to Typhoon.
"Let's go," Quake growled, heaving the crate into her arms.
"Typhoon?" Typhoon said. I looked over to her for a moment. She was sitting halfway out of the water, her tail slapping the water and her wings fluttering up and down.
"Bye," Quake said, not seeming to care.
"Do you think Typhoon can swim down the beach alongside us?" I asked Avalanche, Quake seemed a bit too aggravated to talk to.
"That sounds like a great idea, right Quake?" Avalanche said, turning to her. Quake huffed, her raspy throat making it sound like a growl. Avalanche stared at her, her brow furrowed with Quake throwing a fit.
No, she wasn't throwing a fit. She was just a bit upset. I got upset a lot, and I cried. But Quake wasn't throwing a fit. She was just... mad? Sad? I couldn't tell but she wasn't throwing a fit. Only dragglings threw fits. Would that make me a draggling? Of course I'm a draggling, I'm a stupid baby that can't last a day by themselves. So freaking stupid.
"Typhoon, do you want to come with us?" Avalanche said, snapping me out of my fit. I took my talons away from my horns. Smoke was billowing out of my nose, too. What was I doing? Quake was upset. Typhoon was sad. I shouldn't be making this my deal. I needed to stop. At least act like I'm as grown up as these dragons.
Quake made another hiss but didn't say anything as Avalanche explained a little slower to Typhoon. She gave a little nod and she splashed back into the water.
"See?" Avalanche said to Quake. I didn't remember hearing them talking, but maybe I was so self absorbed I wasn't even paying attention.
"Yeah, sure, can we go now?" Quake said, disinterested.
"Sure,"