Wings of Fire; The Creed

Chapter 13

Starburst awoke in a sudden burst of energy. The sun hadn't even risen yet, but the light of dawn was starting to break the horizon. She felt something brush against her side, making her freeze. She looked over to see Artemis soundly asleep.

Starburst let out a small, quiet sigh of relief. She slowly crept out of the hut, and in the early morning light. She quickly stretched, trying to ignore the irritating soreness that covered her body.

I have to find out where that meeting is happening, she thought as she tiredly looked around the still-sleeping village, But I have nothing to go off of.

She grunted a little as she attempted to take off. Finally lifting off the ground, she made her way to a small tree that she always went to when she was younger. The tree was not large and was fairly concealed from the rest of the village, and always had papaya growing from it. She landed near the tree and picked off one of the papayas from it. She took a large bite, savoring the familiar taste.

After she finished stuffing her face with papaya, she went toward the village, hoping that she could get some sort of clue. She flew up to the treetops, and looked down on the waking village, waiting and watching for anything out of the ordinary.

It was hard to tell who was acting suspicious and who was just groggy from just waking up. A few dragons piqued her interest, but none really did anything much. Most of them just made their way around the village, starting their jobs for the day, either collecting more fruit, tending to animals, blah blah blah...

I don't care about any of this! Where is that meeting happening!?

"Acting mighty suspicious, aren't we?" a nasty voice said from behind said to Starburst. "You wretched worm."

She whirled around, finding herself face-to-face with Bloom. Starburst flared her ruff, and bared her fangs at Bloom, but none of it seemed to phase her, in fact, she seemed amused by this. Starburst was taken aback by the lack of reaction by Bloom, but quickly gained her composure back.

"What do you want? Come to be a camel turd again?" Starburst shot at Bloom.

"Oh, what colorful language. I see you have taken a likeness to that SandWing friend of yours."

Starburst glared at Bloom, "He isn't my friend."

Bloom chuckled, glaring back at Starburst, "That's right. I forgot; you don't have any friends. No one cares about you, and no one will."

Starburst knew she should just brush off the insult, but once again, she never did. It was like a punch in the gut. Venom shot right into an open wound from many, many years ago.

Bloom, walked right through Starburst, knocking her aside, "Stay out of my way, and let me do my thing. Go back to that dark hole in the ground where you belong, and cry to your 'friends.' Stay away, or else."

With that, Bloom jumped off the tree, and flew off into the village. Starburst sat there, trying to fight back her emotions that threatened to spill over and make her look weak.

She isn't weak. She is strong. She is tough. She doesn't need anyone for anything. She wasn't going to cry.

Don't Cry.

Crying is for weaklings.

Starburst was still shaking, feeling empty inside, but no longer being threatened by her emotions. She took a few deep breaths, to gain further control over her emotions, and leaped off the top of the tree.

She decided to go in the same direction that she remembered Bloom going in. Maybe she could get a lead that Bloom may already have.

The sun was finally peaking over the horizon, rays of light blazing through the gaps between the leaves and reflecting off some mist that naturally rose from the damp ground, giving the entire village a sort of ethereal glow.