Two Sides of the Academy || A Wings of Fire Fanfiction

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙾𝚗𝚎

The Stars never lie,

Secrets are being spied.

Look up at the night sky,

That's where your future is decided.

{ Sleet }

The sun. Sleet just hated  it. The way the heat crept up their scales, how it crammed uncomfortably into every nook and cranny. And literally added on top of that, they had to carry a big sack of supplies. Meanwhile, their little brother, Caribou,  was the pure opposite. The strap of the bag was the only thing keeping it connected to him, with the rest half dangling in the sky. He was doing loop-the-loops and zigzags while still managing to break fifty other rules. Sleet, for once, was glad that Father wasn't much of a rule-follower, or they would've been summoned straight home for all they knew. They rolled their eyes as the sack finally managed to wriggle off the wingtip, and went plummeting down. As usual, Caribou dive-bombed after it, still doing cartwheels and somersaults all the way through. They glided in a tight circle above the spot, impatiently waiting for the pink scaled Icewing to come back up. 

So much for promising Father that we won't lose anything and waste time. I bet he's still going to kill us when we explain about it. Oh, that's right. We  won't tell him. Sleet felt uncomfortable about keeping secrets, but that wasn't exactly the same as lying, right? At last, a pink blur dashed up, nearly knocking into them, and it ended with a few more twists and turns for the finale. It was a wonder how the theatre dragons never thought about hiring Caribou, he certainly knew how to make an entrance! And both of them were nearly  seven years old! It was only like, in two more years. As they waited for Caribou to calm down, their mind went through a million things in a millisecond. Some of the things were; Father, Caribou, their mysterious Mother, friends, Father, school, secrets, Father, seals, new friends, and again, Father. It wasn't like he was a bad thing. Sleet just thought that sometimes, they wished they would get a little more caring and devotion from him like a stereotypical parent was. 

His brother also got most of the attention, being the youngest and most precious. So there were times when Sleet had to just go by themselves to the Gift of Subsistence and pull out a seal once in a while. Oh yes, did I mention that I come from the village of We-Remember-and-Venerate-Caribou? In short, Sleet had way too much alone time, while Caribou had too less. And Father was always busy scribbling down notes for writing ideas or had his snout stuck in a bookshelf. Sleet especially remembered once, when they were little, they stood behind Father for ages, trying to get his attention and help them 'go'. They felt something saying their name. Sleet? Sleet? Sle-

"-eet? Sleet? Are you there? I've been calling for ages, we need to get going!" Caribou yelled right into their ear. Sleet winced. All of their trains of thought had simultaneously broken down. 

"Okay, okay! You know you don't have to scream in my ear," Sleet replied annoyingly. Caribou batted his eyelids. Sleet furrowed their eye ridges. He stuck out his tongue. They narrowed their eyes. And for a few minutes, they continued this expression workout whilst flying, until Caribou managed to lose his sack again, when it was safely tucked under his wing and without any tricks. Sleet called out to him to hurry up, they didn't want to lose anymore time, Caribou just had to catch up. They might've heard a yell of annoyance from him as he struggled to chase after Sleet. Just for a moment, as they glided through the sky with occasional flaps, they took in everything. 

The day that the letter had been delivered to their doorstep by the kingdom's best mailperson. Sleet screaming in joy, and Caribou joining them after his letter arrived. Father smiling at them, his tired eyes now crinkling. Sleet rereading it over and over again and packing up for the day. And now, them flying, actually flying to the academy, rather than going to the other schools that had opened up over the past years. Sleet grimaced at the memory of the place Caribou and them had gone to. Inspiration Hall. The name now seemed so simple and strange, compared to the grandness of Jade Mountain Academy. They took in the scenery. Mountains were finally showing up, with Jade Mountain's twin peak rising above. They had now begun to get used to the sun, even the weight of the bag. Sleet looked back, to find that Caribou was still quite a few wing flaps behind.