Five Years Later
Starling hopped from tree branch to tree branch, his massive Skywing wings hitting the leaves as he hopped. Starling wasn't like other Skywings, flying through the open air and scorching cows for dinner. Instead Starling was hopping through the rainforest with a wicker basket full of freshly picked bananas and mangoes.
Starling had lived in the rainforest his entire life. He'd only ever seen other Skywings when Queen Ruby came to visit Queen Glory years ago. Starling looked so different from other Skywings. The dragons in Ruby's guard were bright reds and oranges like nectarines; while Starling's scales were a deep ochre brown like the rainforest mud where he'd hatched all alone those five years ago.
Starling swung up to the tree canopy where he could finally spread his wings in the warm afternoon sun. He flapped up above the trees and glided over the canopy. Starling loved flying above the trees. It was the one place in the rainforest he could really spread his wings; like a real Skywing. A normal Skywing.
Starling spotted the Rainwing village and dove back down into the trees, scaring away a few brightly colored birds as he landed on a tree branch. He hopped across the branches then leaped into the air to land on a platform of the Rainwing village suspended from the trees. The platform swayed a little as Starling touched down, startling a few Rainwings walking by.
"Starling!" a familiar voice called.
His friend Mango. Mango ran up to him, her scales rippling yellow with joy.
"Oh hey, Mango," Starling smiled.
Starling realized he'd landed in the halls Okapi Academy. A series of large platforms going in between four trees, with buildings attached to the trees going up and down the tree trunks in levels, with a courtyard in the grass below. Queen Glory had set up this school years ago to give young Rainwings the education they needed from the comforts of the rainforest. Since many Rainwings didn't want to fly all the way out to Jade Mountain for their education. Starling went to school here too. But he always felt like the odd dragon out. A Skywing in a world of Rainwings. But thankfully Mango didn't seem to mind.
Mango brought her attention to the basket of fruit Starling was carrying.
"Oh fruit yum!" Mango picked up one of the mangoes from the basket, her colors rippling through greens and oranges to fit the fruit's colors, "would it be cannibalism if I ate this?"
Starling snorted.
"Maybe?" Starling laughed.
"Who cares," Mango chuckled, yellow rippling across her scales, "I'll eat it anyway. I've seen my friend Banana eat so many bananas at this point I'm pretty sure I'm safe."
Mango threw the mango in her mouth and ate it, getting mango juice all over her snout.
"Yum!" she smiled, "though I'm already pretty full from all the other fruit I just had for lunch. I was just about to head up for suntime. You wanna come? The sun's nice and warm today."
"Isn't it always warm?" Starling questioned.
"Well sometimes there's a bit of cloud cover and it messes it all up!" Mango protested, "but today looks perfect! But you're a Skywing so I wouldn't expect you to understand all the technicalities of a perfect suntime experience."
Starling laughed awkwardly. Sure, he could tell Mango was trying to be lighthearted and funny. But Starling couldn't help but feel a little jab of shame at how different he was from all the dragons around him.
"So," Mango went on, "ya' coming?"
"No.." Starling sighed, "I think I'll skip this one. Have a good time.. napping.. though."
"Alright," Mango snickered, "gosh you Skywings are so weird. How do you survive without suntime?"
Mango hopped up and away towards the treetops.
"Yeah.." Starling sighed, "weird.."
YOU ARE READING
Wings of Fire: Starling's Sky
Fanfiction(WoF OC Story) Starling isn't a normal Skywing. He was raised in the rainforest. The Rainwings gave him a peaceful comfortable life, but now Starling must leave the comfort of home to learn the truth of his family in the Skywing Kingdom.
