Dragonet Drabbles

Chapter 6

They scrambled into the vacant office, making sure to be absolutely silent as they slid the door opened and closed. Umber didn't know how much time Jet would give them, but they couldn't waste a single second of it.

Zephyr's office was an amply lit space with large windows that overlooked the gardens. Some clouds had passed over the sun, casting the space in a washed out grey light that did not compliment the orange-toned furniture. Zephyr's room was bigger than Starfish's, Umber noted, and the SkyWing Healer had filled every extra inch with file cabinets and scroll racks. A few large cabinets were placed on either side of her desk, though the majority were lined up along the opposite wall.

Flame was the first to venture deeper into the room. The deep red dragon made for the window and began to pull back the half-loose curtain.

"No!" Umber whispered fiercely. He rushed forward, stumbling over both of the floor pillows that rested before the desk. He swatted Flame's talon away. "Don't touch anything! We have to leave everything like we found it."

To prove his point, Umber made a show of fixing the pillows he had kicked asunder, and silently hoped they looked the same as before. Umber took another look around, his ribcage shaking with every pound of his heart. Focus. No time to hesitate. Umber tried to sooth himself by remembering the plan. Step one: Locate the letter. Jet mentioned a few places to look, I hope she's right.

According to Jet, the form could be filed under 'L' for Legal, or 'R' for Request, or even under 'O' for Official Legal Request. That would have been manageable – except she also said that if they couldn't find it under those letters it could also be under 'F' subsection 'L'.

Or was it 'L' subsection 'F'?

"I'll take the A to M cabinet," Umber continued to whisper. He wasn't sure how well their voices would carry but he didn't want to risk it. "You take the other one."

Umber went to the cabinet on the right side of the desk and was already pulling it opened when he heard a loud thwump at his back. This was followed by a string of vibrant cursing and the sound of claws scraping on furniture. Umber whipped around in time to see Flame grab onto the filing cabinet for dear life in an attempt to stop his fall.

"Are you OK?" Umber rushed over to help Flame stabilize. The SkyWing merely growled and shot an accusatory glare towards the floor where Umber could see Flame's claws tangled in the fibers of a carpet. Umber gave Flame a teasing grin. "Some superhero you'd make; getting foiled by a mere rug." He flicked Flame's snout with his tail tip. "Remind me to fill my evil liar with them."

"Yeah, well, Starfish doesn't have a carpet in his office," he hissed, as if having a rug was a character flaw and morally deplorable and would, indeed, be part of a villain's choice of décor.

Umber nodded reassuringly. "Yes, that rug should be ashamed of itself, but we need to hurry. Start looking." Before returning to his cabinet Umber straightened the carpet as best he could. So far they weren't doing so great with the whole 'leave no evidence' thing.

With nervously clumsy talons Umber managed to pull open the top drawer of the two-leveled cabinet. He flipped through the list of letters until he found the 'F' folder, and wow was it big. The papers were wedged so tightly in that he couldn't even sneakily browse. He tried to grab ahold of the smooth paper but it was like pulling on wet ice; he couldn't get a good hold. Desperate, he grabbed the thick folder with both talons, his claws piercing the paper, and yanked with all his strength.

It flew out of its administrative prison in an elegant arc and landed a short distance away, the file folder splayed open on the floor like a bird that had dive-bombed into the ground. Umber's jaw hung open as he watched the paper leaflets flutter to the ground like ash from a forest fire.