Robin and The Case of The Kidnappers

Chapter 5

Illusion's POV

The meeting in the main hall turned out to be, in a way, fascinating. Illusion did not expect that the teachers would have taken the time to invite scavengers aka humans (as they had called themselves) to Jade Mountain for their studies, especially not the leaders of those scavengers.

But up on the stage they were, five or six of them humans, half-talking half-squeaking in accented dragon. "Today we welcome you to your first lesson on a peaceful dragon and human coexistence," The first human, seemingly a male, announced in a deep rumbling yet squeaky voice.

Illusion felt a surge of curiosity mixed with apprehension. He had never seen a human up close before, only heard stories about how they had caused the war of sandwing succession. He glanced around at the hall, noting the reactions of his fellow students. Some, he noticed, looked bored, while some seemed intrigued, wanting to learn more about these scavengers. Others either had an air of guarded wariness, or came across to be downright hostile. Havoc, who was next to Illusion, appeared to be partly intrigued, but bored at the same time.

The human continued his speech, first introducing himself as Dan, then explained the history and culture of his species, and how they had learned to communicate with dragons. He also introduced his companions, who were apparently the leaders of different human organisations, for example The Indestructible City. Illusion was surprised to learn that humans had different skin colours (which they explained to be the same as dragon scales), hair styles (whatever that was), and that they used various tools and weapons to survive.

He knew that there was a lot of mistrust and resentment between the two species, but he also believed that there was a possibility for peace and friendship. Illusion hoped that this meeting would be the first step towards that goal.

Dan blabbed on about truces and so on until it neared the end of the meeting. "To conclude your first lesson on scavengers, we would like to thank our friends, Wren and Sky, for forging the first human and dragon friendship in centuries, perhaps millennials, and for bringing this peaceful time into reality," He finished his sentence and gestured to the figures emerging out of the shadows at the side of the stage. A female human came into view first, followed by a pale orange skywing. The scavenger appeared to be slightly younger than the leaders, with dark brown, curling hair and a pair of bark coloured eyes. Illusion guessed her to be Wren, the human who Dan had told them about.

The hall erupted in gasps, then whispers of rumors as the students recognized the pair. Illusion had heard stories of them, but never thought he would see them in real life.

As the excitement died down along with the meeting's end, everyone spread out to pursue their hobbies in groups. Illusion caught sight of Havoc talking to a couple of other sandwings, and, trying not to feel a little disappointed that he didn't bother to go to Illusion first, swept his gaze around. Among the students, he saw a friendly looking green seawing standing by himself. Feeling courageous, Illusion went over to him, hoping that they could become friends.

Then, awkwardly and not knowing how else to do it, he tapped the seawing's shoulder. The seawing turned around to face him, and Illusion noticed the silkwing antennae atop his snout.

"Um. Hi," Illusion dipped his head, awkward. Maybe he shouldn't have done this, but since he was here already..."I'm Illusion."

The seawing smiled, and Illusion felt just a tiny bit more relieved. "Hello, I'm Cascade," Cascade said. "Your name sounds creative."

"Thanks. What winglet are you in?"

"Gold. You?"

"I'm in Jade,"