Spirit of War (Bk 2 of Mudwings of JMA)

Chapter 3: Secrets

Cattail was walking down the hall to meet Prim and Mirage after going to the library when she noticed Dreamspeaker walking alone down the deserted hall. She didn't know what came over but suddenly she narrowed her eyes, dropped her scrolls, and darted over to him. She grabbed him by the horns, yanked him into a side cave, and growled "YOU! I need to talk to you!" He cried out in surprise. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, OW! You're going to snap my horns off!" "I don't care; you deserve it for hiding something from us!" She gave one last tug for good measure. "OW! Geez, your mean when you want to be, you know that!?" "I know," she snapped. "I have six siblings. Now tell me everything. Right now!" He rubbed his sore horns nervously. She hardened her eyes and glared. "Is there something you want to tell me?" She was hardly ever like this. She hated it, it wasn't her. But, it did get her what she needed. She had developed it after years of being a Bigwings, she used it whenever she wanted one of her siblings to fess up on misbehaving. "Not really-" he was caught off when he looked up and saw her glare. "I mean, yes. I uh- I'm uh-" She whacked him hard with one wing. "OW! Okay! Fine! I can read minds!" "Was that so hard?" She snapped. Then her brain caught up with his sentence. "YOU CAN WHAT!?"She roared. He covered his wings with his head. "Ahh! Don't hit me or grab my horns again!" He cried. "YOU'RE LUCKY IF I DON'T STRANGLE YOU!" She started beating him with her wings. "Don't. You. Ever. Keep. A. Secret. Like. That. From. Me. AGAIN!" When she finally stopped hitting him with her wings and sat there glaring he uncovered his head. "You could have told us! We're you friends!" He hung his head. "I'm sorry." "You're really going to be now, because you have to tell our whole group tomorrow." "WHAT! YOU'RE CRAZY!" He cried, panicked. "That is incredibly likely but you're doing it anyway!" He sighed, defeated. "Is that why you suspected Prim?" Cattails thoughts started clicking together. "Yes and no. It's not so much what I heard, but what I didn't hear. I can't read her mind. It's not like some I've encountered where it's like their brain is fuzz and static. It like..." He searched for the words. "It's like her mind is a palace and she's defending it." Cattail gave him a confused look and he sighed. He thought for a moment then said "It's like she's built a wall around her mind. There's a fortress around her palace. It feels like if I could find a crack, or a weak spot I could break through. I've searched all over it, but there's nothing. It's too well built. I've seen this to a degree before, some dragons have natural barriers around their minds that come up when they near a sensitive subject, but that's nowhere near this level, and its unintentional. This is purposeful and a whole new level. It's weird. I mean, I don't need to read her mind, she speaks every thought she has and every emotion she gets is written across her scales. I thought maybe it was hybrid thing, but I can read Delta's mind." He shrugged. "I just thought it was weird. I was so focused on her that I never noticed the guilt in Poinsettia's mind." He shook his head. "I failed the one time I could help." Cattail brushed her wings against his. "Hey, it's all right. You did your best. I've got nothing to hide, and I'm sure you can learn to block it out if you want to. I have faith in you." He looked up at her, staring into her eyes. "Thank you. But can I wait a few days to tell the others, so I can work harder on blocking thoughts out? Just so I can give them that assurance?" He asked. "Sure." She said. She then left, picking up her scrolls she had dropped in the hall and headed back to her cave.

"You're late." Prim scolded. Orange annoyance traced around her horns and claws. Cattail made her second rash decision of the day. "Prim, I need to talk to you." Confusion bubbled across her scales briefly, along with a few pale green patches. When they were out of earshot of anyone Cattail said "It's about Dreamspeaker." Prim's face became serious. "He can read minds, can't he?" She asked, tilting her head down so her face became shadowed. Cattail was shocked. "Yeah, how did you-" "Know? He followed Poinsettia too easily, he knew. He always looks like he's listening to something, or mentions something no dragon actually said. He was too good at guessing and gave me weird looks for no good reason. I noticed, he didn't think I did, but I did. I tried not to let it feel personal, but it still hurt. I wonder if he knew. I'm not a bad dragon; I'm a hybrid with thoughts that move at a different speed." She shrugged, looking at the ground. Cattail suddenly wished she'd given him a few extra whacks. "He couldn't read your mind." Cattail told her. "What? Why?" Prim asked, her head shot up and confusion bubbled erratically across her scales. "I don't know. He just can't." "So he just doesn't trust me?" She cried. Her scales had turned a miserable gray, stormy, blue. She looked like she might cry. "Oh, no, no, no, no! That's not what I meant. You just seemed scarier because he couldn't read you. He doesn't know how to react to dragons he doesn't know how to handle." She wrapped Prim in her wings like she would do for one of her siblings. Prim was like a little sister to her. Prim melted into her wings, allowing herself to be comforted. She seemed more like and innocent, trusting Rainwing that needed protection now more than Cattail had ever seen her. She felt a fierce sense of protection for the little Rainwing. You're my official sister now, and I'll protect you like one from now on. Cattail swore silently.