Tempest's Confession

Ermine's Surprise Party

Tempest was practically bubbling with excitement. Today's Ermine's birthday! She turned to the other dragonets with a bright smile on her face. "You guys ready? Everything's in position?" she asked and they all nodded.

Tempest grinned and looked in satisfaction at their handy work. "Ermine's never been one for liking big parties... but this time... I'm going all out!" she cheered happily.

"Hey Tempest? I have a question. Is Ermine part of the circles?" Nightowl asked, tilting her head to the side with a curious look on her face.

The SeaWing dragonet thought for a moment before she answered, her question. "Yes, Nightwave. Ermine is from the circles. But we'll talk about that later." She responded, wanting to stay focused on the task at hand - we - talon.

"Anyways... we're getting off topic. Let's start the plan. Alright guys! Are ready?" she asked them all as they nodded their heads in response.

The SeaWing dragonet was grinning widely to herself as she guided her friend to the middle of the rainforest. "Uh, hey, Tempest? What are you doing?" Ermine asked sounding a bit confused about where she was being led to.

Tempest laughed quietly in response and told her friend to open her eyes. "Three moons! You guys did all of this for me?" the IceWing dragonet asked while looking around with wide eyes.

The light blue SeaWing dragonet laughed quietly and nodded her head rapidly in response.

"Moon! You're here too?" Ermine looked over in surprise to see the older NightWing dragonet standing beside Tempest.

"Of course I am silly!" the NightWing replied with a small laugh and a kind smile in Ermine's direction.

Moon laughed quietly at the shy IceWing dragonet. One thing that she had learned today was that Ermine is a huge bookworm, just Moon herself. And so is Tempest, no surprise there.

Speaking of Ermine: Moon turned her head to see that the IceWing dragonet was sitting next to Tempest, who was sitting right beside her with her own scroll.

"You two are a lot like me: I love reading scrolls too." As she was speaking, Moon walked over and sat next to the two younger dragons and pearled curiously over Ermine's shoulder as she read.

"Hey Tempest, Ermine, Moon! Isn't it time to go to sleep?" Moon turned her head to see Clearfrost staring at them with amusement shining in her eyes.

Moon laughed quietly and curled up to sleep. She didn't bother the SeaWing and IceWing still sitting across from her as she did so. Moon knew that they would sleep when they were ready. So with that thought sticking in her mind, she let herself relax and she soon drifted off to sleep.

"Hey Tempest? Yesterday you told us that Ermine's in the circles, but you didn't elaborate much about the subject." Night owl spoke up out of the blue for the first time. "So do you think you could explain it to us now?" she asked the SeaWing dragonet, who was sitting across from her beside Ermine.

Upon hearing the question, Tempest nodded and explained what the circles were and how they work.

"Ermine is from the circles, though she's much more... open in her opinions about it... most of the time she's pretty quiet and she tends to keep to herself when I'm not there." Tempest explained, answering for Ermine. "At the meetings that the older IceWings have every few months... let's just say she's caused some IceWing spikes to rattle." Tempest added, clearly poking fun at her friend good-naturedly.

Ermine rolled her eyes at Tempest. "Haha, IceWing puns. Hilarious and original! What's next, coming up with the cool and cold jokes?" asked the IceWing with a mix of betrayal and a pout on her face. But Ermine was clearly being sarcastic. There was no mean spite in her tone when talking to Tempest.

"Oh... I get the joke! But what are the circles?" Moonstrike questioned blinking owlishly up at Tempest and Ermine and tilting her head in confusion.

It was at that very moment that Ermine looked up from her scroll briefly and added her own response to the conversation.

"The IceWings have rankings and they go up depending on how high up in the circles you are. Most of the IceWings are really... and let's just say that they are all pretty cold to others. They also are very strict in their traditions." Ermine quietly explained. "IceWing royals are instantly placed at the highest ranking in the circles. As for myself, I'm from the circles as well. I'm pretty high-up in the rankings but I don't really agree with the IceWing aristocracy." Ermine quietly explained, though the IceWing's expression changed slightly at the mention of the circles.