Wings of Fire; The Creed

Chapter 24

Starburst opened her eyes. She was back in the RainWing Village. The sun was shining joyfully, and the birds were all singing. She was standing on the wooden floor of one of the platforms.

Starburst took a deep breath and soaked in the sun for a moment. A smile crossed her face, and she opened her eyes again.

"It's lovely here, isn't it?" a voice asked from behind her.

Starburst looked behind her to see a strangely familiar RainWing. Starburst has no recollection of ever meeting them. They were much older than Starburst, but their scales shined as if they were a newborn dragonet. They were splattered with all sorts of pinks, yellows, and purples.

Starburst nodded, "It is."

The RainWing smiled at her, and then closed her eyes, and looked up at the shining sun. The light looked as though it were radiating from her.

The RainWing looked back down at Starburst, a huge grin on their face, "Do you know where you are?"

Starburst thought that was a dumb question, "The RainWing Village?"

The RainWing laughed, "Kind of. Do you know who I am?"

Starburst thought for a moment and shook her head. The strange RainWing came and sat down next to her, placing her tail on top of Starburst's. Normally she would smack them, or at least flinch away from physical contact, but something about them made Starburst trust them. She felt the urge to snuggle up inside her wing.

They sat there for a moment, just soaking in the sunlight and listening to the chatter of monkeys, and the singing of birds. There were a few other RainWings out and about in the village.

"I've missed you, Starburst," the strange RainWing said softly.

Starburst looked over at her eyes, which were shiny with mist. How did they know her? She has never met any grown RainWings, let alone ones that actually like her.

"Who are you?" Starburst asked softly.

"Someone who loves you dearly," they responded, which just confused Starburst more. No one loved her THAT much. "My, oh my, how much you have grown! You have your father's eyes, too."

The strange dragon smiled at her and placed her chin on top of Starburst's head. Starburst sat there in shock, not completely understanding what was going on.

"I wish you could stay here, with me, but... it's not your time, my dewdrop," the strange RainWing said, looking out into the village. "You have places to be, dragons to see, and a princess to save."

"H-How did you know? Why did you call me dewdrop?"

The strange RainWing wrapped their wing around her and held her close. "It's not your time yet. I am going to miss you, but I've waited this long to see you again, I think I can wait longer."

Everything started to fade from around her into white.

"Wait!" Starburst called out, "Who are you? Why do you seem so familiar if I have never met you!?"

Starburst closed her eyes, blinded by the white light. The sounds of the RainWing village became more distant by the second, the last thing she heard was the voice of the strange RainWing, "Remember, I will always love you, even though I am not there for you."

<O>

Starburst's eyes shot open, everything was dark around her, but her eyes quickly adjusted. She was struggling to breathe again. She felt the weight of a large dragon on top of her.

"Starburst," she heard someone call. She looked in the direction, to see her friends all looking concerned. She looked over, and saw Firefly again, still shallowly breathing.