Jade Mountain High

Chapter 8: The Dance(Part 2)

POV: MOONWATCHER SOLACE

"The train will arrive at Atlanta in about 5 minutes." Moon sat upright just as the conductor's words finished. She was so excited, and had her entire stay planned out. The first day, she would stay at her mother's house and catch up with her mother. Then, she would sleep over at Alicia's house, and the next day, she'd go with her four friends to the mall to shop.

Moon jumped up before the train had fully stopped. "Please exit carefully," she heard the conductor say. She ran out, breathing in the scent of the platform, aka gasoline. She choked immediately, earning a few stares. "Are you okay?" a passing boy asked her. "Yes," she responded, unaware of the fact that the boy looked almost identical to herself. "Hey, you look similar to me," said the boy with a laugh. "We do," said Moon with surprise. "My name's Mightyclaws, Mightyclaws Solace," said the boy. "Really, you're a Solace?" cried Moon. "My name's Moonwatcher Solace."

"Are we related?" asked Mightyclaws. "I've never seen you at family meetings," said Moon, confused. "May I ask, why are you here?" he asked. "I'm here to visit my mother, Secretkeeper, and my friends," replied Moon. "Secretkeeper? She's my aunt!" cried Mightyclaws. "Our family lives down the street, three blocks from her house. Your house," he amended.

"That's certainly surprising," said Moon. "Well then, see you later!" With that, she ran out of the station. She was supposed to head towards her mother's house, but she found her footsteps heading towards the library. She entered the library and grabbed a random book from a random shelf, she sat down on a beanbag. She took out her phone and texted Qibldi.

MOON: How's it going?

SAND-SNORTER: Not great. Sunny's partner didn't come. You?

MOON: Okay, except for the fact that I met a cousin that I didn't know about.

SAND-SNORTER: Whoosh.

MOON: 🙂 Gotta go

SAND-SNORTER: okay

Moon felt refreshed after talking to Qibli, but she didn't know why. She headed towards her mother's house, and was greeted with a warm hug. "It's good to see you again," started Moon. "Were the people there good to you? Was the facilities okay? Did you miss anything? Did the people like you?" fretted Secretkeeper. 'I hope you are,my weird little diamond,' went through her brain. Moon decided to keep her mouth shut about it.

After Moon had told Secretkeeper all about school, she decided to ask if she knew about why she had these strange hallucination-like things. Or lucky guesses. "Mom, I actually wanted to ask you something," began Moon. "Anything," said Secretkeeper. "Has there been... any... strange people within the family?" asked Moon. "What do you mean?" frowned Secretkeeper. "Has there been any people with... mind-reading, or something like that?" burst Moon. "Why? Have you been having things like them?" asked Secretkeeper. "Yes," admitted Moon. "Oh, what should we do-" sighed her mother. "Follow me, my dear," she continued, leading her into the dining room.

Once inside, Secretkeeper tugged on the light, then turned it around a few times. The table split in half, and the floor opened to reveal a chamber filled with portraits. "Wh... What is this place?" asked Moon in awe. "This is the place of your ancestors," said Secretkeeper. "You said that you've been reading minds? They did too."

"In school, there are cliques, aren't there?" asked Secretkeeper. "Yes," said Moon, surprised. Why did this matter? "They all end with the word '-wings'. They consist of people with similar appearances and skills," continued Secretkeeper. Moon nodded. "That's because they share the same ancestors. The secret is told to all the seniors at graduation."

"Really? But there are people who are dating in the same clique," said Moon. "There are lots of ancestors," said Secretkeeper, rolling her eyes. "Catch up, Moon. Don't tell anyone," warned her mother, who now seemed like a complete stranger. Moon stared at the portraits lined up along the walls. The people depicted seemed to be so similar to her. She was looking at a portrait when the next portrait was that of a person who seemed more dragon than human. The last portrait was that of a dragon.