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

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚃𝚠𝚘

Shadows.

A wisp here, a curl there. 

Everywhere.

Encapsulating, all encompassing.

{ Caribou }

Caribou couldn't describe how unbelievably impatient he was. Like, go away, tall, towering vines that are covering the entrance! Show him the splendour behind. He was pretty sure Sleet was off to find every single flaw and disappointment this school had, and report them all to Father. Sleet was always trying to be a perfectionist and helper, which usually ended up with Father sighing loudly and trying to figure out how to stop their mad love of worrying. Suddenly, he heard a rustle. Caribou raised his head, his nictitating eyelids immediately activated to slightly shield his eyes from the sun. Back at the Ice Kingdom, he would never have to face the glare of the sun. Sadly over here, it wasn't the case. 

It was only then when he had realised that he had been so deep in thought, he didn't notice most of the other dragons had averted their gaze to the vines. Caribou found that it had been finally lifted, and flying out of the entrance was seven dragons. The moment he focused on the dragons, he realised who they were. The descendants of the founders! 

There was Spiritpath, flying side by side with Archipelago, both holding a banner that was weaved from the finest silk and taken with great care. Caribou was filled with thrill. He had finally gotten to see the great opening banner himself! No amount of visualising the details gotten from the scrolls or studying the murals could compare to the actual sight. It was intricately crafted, made by the best SilkWings, and threaded with dried flowers on behalf of the RainWings. It was sprinkled with a powder that glittered like jewels, which was rumoured to be from the SandWings, and the IceWings! It represented all tribes, and if one looked closely, they could see the handy work of scavengers too. 

Spiritpath and Archipelago stopped, and hovered, stretching out the masterpiece so all could see it. The other five dragons, descended, and the big blue one stepped forward, catching everyone's attention. Caribou watched intently. 

"Good morning dragons and fellow students! It is a pleasure to find that you all have accepted our offer to come here, the most prestigious academy in all of Pyrrhia! But of course, if any of you, anytime, feel uncomfortable and has an urge to leave, just notify Archipelago-" the flying hybrid waved before reaching for the banner again, "-and we will be more than happy to arrange an escort to bring you back home!" Caribou didn't have the slightest urge to go home, but he was worried about Sleet. They were always twitching, and this amount of other dragons might send them off the clock. Suddenly he realised that he had missed the second part of the welcoming speech. For a moment Caribou was filled with self loathing- just because he missed something this unimportant!- but then the darkness faded away. I remember the words off by heart anyway, added the positive side of his brain. 

Deep breath in. Deep breath out. It's going to be alright. Don't be downcast. Despite having repeated it several times, Caribou still sensed doubt blooming near the edges of his mind, but he pushed them all into an igloo titled; Completely Forget About Until It Actually Becomes Important, then imagined big stompy feet squashing the igloo, then a strong blizzard burying it and then a tidal wave washing it to the deepest trench and-

He shook his head to get rid of the weird destruction-thoughts. Only just then had Caribou realised that he needed to find Sleet! He caught the familiar glint of blue out of the corner of his eye, and bounded towards that direction. The two siblings nearly slammed into each other, which would have been terribly embarrassing, but Sleet managed to dodge out of the way.