darkstalker's daughter

7

Asteria woke early, and as she opened her eyes, she could still see the stars against the lightening sky.

Ugh, too early, she thought, but nonetheless, she stood and stretched out her stiff wings. Glancing at the sleeping MudWing beside her, she sighed and exited the sleeping cave.

The walk through the hallways was dark and silent, extremely similar to the night before. But, this time, if Asteria stretched out her consciousness, she could hear the mental voices of other early risers in the prey centre nearby.

Mm, juicy chickens, yum yum yum! All for me!

Ugh, that MudWing is disgusting. If I ever ate like that at home, I'd surely be booted to the bottom of the seventh circle! I should've just stayed in my sleeping cave.

I wonder if they'll find my story interesting. Who am I kidding, I bumped into a NightWing outcast last night, of coursethey'll find her interesting. I wonder where she's been all this time?

Asteria stopped in the doorway of the prey centre at that thought. Ah, Deathflight. I never knew they were so interested in me, she thought, glancing around the room.

Over by the corner, there was a group of NightWings deep in conversation. Asteria frowned, confused. Aren't NightWings supposed to be sleeping still?

She almost considered turning back to her winglet, but then she saw a familiar flash of blue scales in the centre of the crowd. Suddenly, her plans to turn back were erased from her mind.

Deathflight fascinated her, and she wished to get to know him better. His personality was unique, not like anything else she'd encountered before. What was it that made him so? The question burned in her mind, and Asteria decided to answer it.

Taking a deep breath, Asta walked toward the group. Oh, how I hope I'm not making a big mistake, she thought worriedly.

"...and then I heroically reached out a talon to help her up!" Deathflight cried. Asteria smothered a laugh.

"Actually, I got up quite well on my own," she laughed, and suddenly, all eyes turned to her.

"Hello, you," Deathflight said, titling his head and giving her a crooked smile. "We were just talking about last night!"

Asteria flushed. She knew it was silly, but the thought of this NightWing talking about her made her brain go funny. Noticing this feeling, she quickly scolded herself. No, no, no. You silly, silly, dragon, this is NOT happening. What would Shadow think?

Suddenly she realised that she had zoned out again. Deathflight's talon was on her shoulder and he was looking at her with a worried glint in his eyes.

"Hey? You still there?" he was saying, with the voice that Asta's brain could already recognise. His smooth, dreamy voice... Oh shush! That. Is. Not. Happening. You don't feel anything, so you'd better keep quiet.

Blinking, Asteria shook her head, shooing away those unreasonable thoughts. "I'm fine, sorry. J-just zoned out a little. Nothing to worry about!" she said quickly. She grinned sheepishly, and glanced over to her shoulder. Deathflight slowly removed his talon, looking unconvinced.

"So, uh, what are you guys talking about? I mean, might as well get to know some fellow NightWings, hey?" Asta asked, to fill the silence that was beginning to become slightly awkward.

"We were just talking about you, actually. Nobody knows who you are, and that's not something that usually happens with us NightWings! Are you like Moonwatcher? Raised in the RainWing kingdom?" Deathflight asked, suddenly curious.

Well, I could say that. It is true, but... they'll likely pry for more information. And these dragons are most likely to freak about about my dad. I'll just say that I lived in the outskirts of the rainforest with my brother, it's the truth anyways.

"Yeah, I lived with my brother along the edge of the rainforest. We didn't really talk to other dragons much," she responded, hoping that they didn't question her further.

But of course, that was never going to happen. Asteria could hear in their minds that they were intrigued.

Why live so close to your tribe, but never with them? Is there something wrong with her?

Asteria flinched. That thought hit a little too close to home, and she desperately wanted to prevent anyone from truly believing that.

"Ah, I see," Deathflight replied. "Sounds interesting! You'll have to tell me about your home sometime, I'd love to know." He gave her a crooked smile.

Suddenly, a loud gong sounded nearby, signalling the start of classes.

"Well, I have to go now. Perhaps I'll see you again later?" Deathflight grinned.

"Perhaps so," Asteria giggled.

Giving Deathflight a quick wave, she turned and hurried out of the prey centre, in order to make it to her first class on time.

Asteria stood in the entrance of the art cave. Her clawmate, Fenn, was already inside. He waved her her and she smiled and waved back, walking over.

"Heya, Fenn! How was your morning?" she asked, sitting down next to him to wait for her classmates to arrive.

"Smokeberry's snoring woke us all up," Fenn said with a laugh, causing Asta to giggle.

"Oh no," she said, in between her laughter.

A loud scream suddenly pierced Asteria's ears, and the mental screaming harasssed her mind. She could see it, a SkyWing was badly injured outside the classroom. Someone had attacked them.

💗