Little Lights

Chapter 7: My first date

~>18 months later<~

I wake up one morning to a knock on the door to my hut. I got it for my 7th birthday, after begging my parents for months. It's a little smaller than my parents' & right next door.

I get up & open the door to see Sandstorm & his two younger siblings, the two-year-old twins, Lovebringer & Scorpion. I smile & hug my best friend & not-very-secret crush.

"Hi, Fly," he says nervously.

"Hi, Stormy!" I respond

"You wanna maybe go on a date or something?"

Unable to speak from the excitement, I just nod joyfully.

~*time has passed*~

I place a crown woven from lavender around my horns & darken my scales to make the pale purple flowers stand out.

My hatchling sister, Dawn somehow made it to my hut & bounds through the door. Her pale pink scales are a blur as she tackles me in a hug, squealing, "I can't wait till I get to go on my first date!"

"Yeah, right! I barely got Dad to let me go on mine!" I laugh, only half joking.

Dawn giggles, "Dusk & I know this'll go well."

As if summoned by her twin sister, (though I wouldn't be surprised, as the draginets were born under two full moons. Since they're only half NighWing, they have a psychic link & have not necessarily visions, but they can always tell if something's gonna be good or bad) Dusk walks into the hut, "for now," she whispers under her breath.

I turn towards her, "Did you say something, sis?"

The lavender colored dragonet quickly shakes her head, "Nothing important."

I shrug & grab a zip line that was installed so that I could get out of my hut without needing to be carried. I leap from branch to branch until I get to the tunnel to the desert, where Sandstorm sits awkwardly, waiting for me.

His cheeks turn pink when I leap off of my branch & land gracefully in front of him. He shakes his head with a chuckle, "I will never understand how you've always had such perfect balance."

I roll my empty right shoulder with a grimace, "Lying won't get you any extra points, Stormy. I was off balance for almost a year after I lost my wing."

"Ha! You were down for a week, tops!"

I roll my eyes & brush past my date, stopping at the entrance to the tunnel, "We going or not?"

Sandstorm laughs & follows me.

~*A little later*~

I gape up at the walls surrounding the desert city. I have seen the Scorpion Den in paintings & maps, but those do it no glory.

The walls are as tall as sequoia trees with beautiful paintings displaying dragons of all kinds acting as a perfect community.

Sandstorm grins broadly at me & leads me through a pair of huge mahogany doors.

There are houses packed together side-by-side & dragons milling about. The dragons are all different colors, even the pale blue scales of a few IceWings. They're trading & talking & buying things & selling things like they're no different at all.

"Wow..." is all I can force out if my mouth before I come to my senses, "Wait, why are we here? Isn't it dangerous?"

"Relax," the hybrid beside me declares confidently, "Dad's been taking me here since I was little. He showed me which streets are safe & which are controlled by my great-grandfather, so we'll be fine."

"If you say so..."

He wraps a wing around me & we walk between stalls selling jewelry & snacks.

Sandstorm buys me a ruby necklace using a few pieces of gold he brought along for just that. We buy some dried fruits & Sandstorm puts a cloth over my eyes & starts leading me through the streets.

After taking many turns & going up a few flights of stairs, the cloth is pulled away from my eyes. We're on top of the wall, with the sun setting just in front of us. I gasp & Sandstorm chuckles.

"It's beautiful..."

"You've never seen the sunset before?" the handsome dragon raises a brow.

"It's kinda hard to see it through the trees..."

"Well, there aren't any trees here," he laughs & spreads his wings, spinning in a circle to demonstrate the bareness of his kingdom.

I laugh at his antics.

After a few hours of staring at the stars, we walk back to the tunnel.

Just as I'm about to return home, Sandstorm hands me a rose & says, "Willyoubemygirlfriend?!?!"

"Fist of all, ow! Don't just shove a thorny rose at someone!" He shrinks back, his face turning the color of the rose in my talons, "Wait, I'm not done! Second of all, I thought you were just gonna keep beating around the bush for the rest of eternity! Of course I'll be your girlfriend!!"

He hugs me in a moment if pure, unbridled joy & I gladly hug my boyfriend back.

I have an unconstrained smile on my face as I make my way back to my hut.