Wings of Fire: Knowledge Unfurling

Chapter 3

Kinkajou froze as Turtle kissed her. Feeling her tense up, he pulled away, hurriedly mumbling, "I'm so sorry, I don't know why I did that. I shouldn't have... I know you don't... Sorry."

She looked around at Sunny, Glory and Deathbringer watching them, and felt embarrassed pink  spread across her shocked green scales. "Turtle... you know I don't like you in that way. I'm... I'm sorry too."

She swallowed. An awkward silence oozed between them, and outside the pavilion, Kinkajou heard the first drops of rain fall. How fitting. Turtle was still watching her. She couldn't stay here. She took a step away, and, after a pause, she fled the pavilion.

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"Hi Kinkajou," Sunny approached her that night. Kinkajou was sitting outside Hatchery 3, her blue-gray wings wrapped around her like a protective shield. She was lost in thought, replaying the events of the day in her head. "Hi Sunny." She lifted her head to look at the older dragon. "Are you still worried about Turtle?" Sunny asked. 

"Yeah. I like him, but not in that way. It's a lot of pressure to know somebody thinks of you like that." Kinkajou replied.

"I get it. You know, before the volcano exploded, Starflight told me he liked me. He said he had to tell me, in case anything happened to one of us that day. He said if anything happened to me he didn't know how he'd be able to breathe or think or do anything ever again. It was very overwhelming. I'd always thought of him as a brother."

"Oh. I always assumed he liked Fatespeaker. She definitely has something for him, that's for sure." Kinkajou grinned, snorted and added,  "Maybe I can shove a pineapple up his snout until he realises." Sunny smiled, a bit alarmed. "Well, with that delightful image, why don't we head back to the village? I think I heard Orchid say she discovered a new type of guava and I really want to try it."

She perked up immediately, excitement blossoming on her scales. "Ooo, it's been ages since we've discovered a new type of fruit! Let's go, let's go, let's go!" They took off toward the RainWing village, laughing when Kinkajou fell short of a branch and swung herself into a mango tree, causing an annoyed monkey to throw a mango seed at her in retaliation.

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The next day, Kinkajou, Sunny, and the rest of the Jade Mountain students packed up and said their goodbyes before they were to fly to school. The air was filled with a mix of excitement and apprehension as the students prepared to leave the rainforest. Kinkajou looked around at the group of RainWings and NightWings, animatedly chatting together and laughing. Some of them were helping to carry supplies, while others were finalizing their packing for the journey ahead. As if the volcano had never happened. I should still be angry at them for what they did. But I'm not. I don't think we can hold grudges towards each other anymore. Besides, these dragonets weren't the ones who kidnapped us.

As she gazed around, her eye passed over Starseer and Quickblade, the two new NightWing students who had come to replace Bigtail and Mightyclaws, hovering at the edge of the group of dragons. 

Moon was talking to her mother, in the middle of a light argument. Kinkajou noticed her touch her temples and wince, and she felt a stab of pity, knowing that she didn't do well with crowds, and her mind-reading would be giving her best friend a headache.

Anemone and Tamarin were giggling together, their wings lightly brushing against each other as they stood side by side. She bounded over to them, shooting an 'I-don't-trust-you' look at Anemone, but keeping her voice light. "I'm so excited to go back to school now that everything is peaceful again!" She said happily.

"Oh, I hope it is all peaceful again." Tamarin worried. "It's starting to seem like this school attracts chaos." Anemone put one wing over the blind dragon. "It'll be fine! Mother said she'd let Auklet out of the harness more often, Icicle and Sora have left the school, and the group who flew to Pantala killed their big scary thing. We have nothing to worry about! Anyway, I'm  mainly interested to see what the weird dragons are like." 

Kinkajou was about to speak up and say that the Pantalan tribes were not  'weird', but she spotted Moon heading their way and waved her over. Anemone scowled at the NightWing, and Kinkajou turned her scales an aggressive red-and-black. "Leave her alone!"

"It's okay, Kinkajou." Moon assured her. "She didn't do anything." But Kinkajou could tell by the slight crease in her forehead that something Anemone thought had upset her. She grumbled at being told to stand down, but then a thought struck her.

"Anemone, didn't Turtle give you skyfire?" She asked.

"Uh, yes? Why?" Anemone replied suspiciously. "Did you lose yours?"

"No, I didn't!" Kinkajou replied, bristling defensively. "I was just wondering how Moon could read your mind if you have skyfire."

Moon and Tamarin stared at her curiously, and Anemone harrumphed. Moon said cautiously, "Kinkajou, how did you know that I was reading Anemone's mind?"

"Uh..." she felt put on the spot. "I... could just tell." She finished lamely. Anemone rolled her eyes. "Sure you could. Well, if you must know, I lent it to Tamarin." 

"Time to go, everyone!" Sunny called over the din of dragons. Everyone took off, and Kinkajou spotted Anemone's wing lightly touching Tamarin's midair to orient her.

"Let's go!" She called, launching herself into the air and twisting around to check that Moon was close behind. 

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After flying for a while, Moon caught an updraft so she could fly beside Kinkajou. "I know you weren't telling the whole truth earlier. When you said you could just tell that I was reading Anemone's mind."

She swallowed. Yes, I didn't tell the whole truth. But what was I supposed to say? I could tell because I know you, Moon. I know that when you're annoyed, your right wing twitches. I know when you deliver a prophecy, it scares you, more than you would ever admit. And I know when you're upset, your forehead crinkles. But I can't say that. 

I can't say that or you'll know I like you.

AN: yeah, I ship Moonjou. Sorry, Turtlejou, Moonbli or Winterwatcher shippers! Anyway, I hope you like the new chapter. (By the way, I promise this isn't a romance story)