The Silver Scales

The Silver Scales Chapter 8

A Visitor from An Unknown Tribe

“Hey, Spirit!” Mindreader shouted, dumping her friend out of her hammock as the second to last gong rang. “WAKE UP YOUR GONNA BE LATE!!” She shouts, shaking Spirit who groggily stands up, quickly running with Mindreader to make it just in time for the last gong to ring. Just in time for them to get to Tsunami’s class. “You ok? You look terrible.” Alligator asked, gently nudging the hybrid to attempt to wake her up again. 

“Huh? Oh year… im fin….” She mumbled, her eyes drooping closed again as she spoke, prompting Alligator to step on her tail lightly. “Hey!” Spirit hissed, yanking her tail out from under his foot. “Sorry,” He chuckled. “But I gotta keep you awake somehow.” He noticed Tsunami wasn’t in quite yet, so he asked. “Have you been getting enough sleep? Nightwings don’t always sleep well at night because they are more nocturnal…” 

Spirit shakes her head, “Just been having some nightmares…. Keep waking up and then not being able to fall back asleep.” She said with a shrug. The rest of the class went by in a haze, luckily it was the only class she had today, so she went back to bed. 

Alligator sighed slightly, watching Spirit leave the room while still half asleep. He knew why, it was her visions. According to the scroll Spirit’s mother, Moonwatcher, wrote, the nightmares are of potential visions of the future. However, visions given during their waking hours are statistically more likely to occur than nightmares. Alligator heads to the library, tapping on Starflight’s desk to ensure he didn’t scare the blind librarian. “Oh hello, this is?” Starlight asked, looking in the direction of the tapping. 

“It’s Alligator, I was wondering if you had any scrolls on herbal teas?” He asked If anyone looking at the large mudwing with a scar on his chest and a scar over his left eye which left it a milky white, but still was able to see out of it… well needless to say they wouldn’t think he was into tea drinking. “Oh, I am sure we have a few, why? If you don’t mind me asking.” Starflight asked as he made his way further into the library, using a system to Braille, to find the right spot where it should be. “Ah here we are,” he said after touching a few Braille tags. “A Guide on Herbal and Healing Teas,” Starflight said, handing it to the large mudwing. “Thank you, Starflight, I’d like to check it out.”

Starflight nodded and quickly checked it out for the student. “To be honest I didn’t think you would be interested in tea, mudwings are more about the food, or at least Clay is.” Starflight chuckled, handing the scroll to him once more. “It’s not for me, Spirit has been having some difficulties staying asleep with nightmares.” Alligator explained, only to earn a grin from Srtarlfight. “That’s sweet of you, a friend is she?” He asked with a slight growth to his grin. 

Alligator’s cheeks get red slightly. “Yes, she is a friend.” He said, but something deeper was there, even if he wouldn’t admit it outright just yet. But he wasn’t doing it just for her to like him, he wanted to help her. He felt his blush getting warmer as Starflight gave him a look that could only be described as “Suuuure” 

“Well, uh anyway, thank you for your help,” Alligator said with a smile, quickly leaving before any more comments could be made. “She is a friend, that's all.” He said, trying to convince himself he wasn’t, he COULDN’T be. He was just her friend, that’s all… Alligator heads out of the mountain to a nearby forest, once there he opens the scroll and begins to read it. ‘Ginger, lavender, honey, and… Night fade? What is night fade? He reads a little more and Night Fade is a plant that looks nearly identical to Nightshade, which was a deadly poison, except that Night Fade has a yellow line down the center of each petal. “Mmmmm. Seems risky, but I guess it wouldn’t be in this if it was deadly.”