A Light in the Darkness ~ A Wings of Fire Fanfiction

Chapter One

All her life, Firefly had only wanted to go to school.

School, she talked about every day. School, she day-dreamed about. School, she dreamed about. Her father had almost renamed her "School".

In all her almost four years of living, she had had a desire for learning. The rainforest had few scrolls, even though Uncle Starflight requested a library. Mostly because the RainWings didn't know how to read and the NightWings liked fiction scrolls. 

Firefly had read them multiple times over, and pleaded to her mother to buy new scrolls. Her mother had replied that no one really read those books other than her, she was planning to donate them. She frequently went to Jade Mountain Academy(JMA), and during her time there just read in the library. 

She had begged her mother and father to let her attend JMA, the school with endless learning. The school had certainly grown from the six years since it had opened, now it had history, writing and reading, science, math, hunting, fighting, and flying. Firefly had yearned to do all of them. Since she was born on two full moons, she had the power of mind reading and prophecy and was quite good at hiding it. Recently she had gotten multiple visions about the school, and her mother had decided(in her mind) that Firefly would attend JMA when she turned four.

Her hatching day was coming, and coming quick. In fact, it would be tomorrow. Firefly had been assigned to a winglet, the Quartz Winglet with the dragonets of the dragons of destiny to, "get to know each other like their parents did". So far she knew the SeaWing, Whitefish, was the son of Tsunami and Riptide, the SkyWing, Asteroid, was the son of Peril and Clay, Fatewalker, the NightWing, was the son of Fatespeaker and Starflight. The IceWing, Leopard, was the daughter of Winter and Lynx. She didn't know who Autumn and Sunbeam where, since Clay's children would be considered SkyWing and Sunny didn't have any dragonets.

Maybe Qibli and Moon's? But no, they would be considered NightWings. What about Queen Thorn and Smolder's? That was definitely a possibility. The queen and the prince were partners. She would figure it out on the way, Firefly decided. 

"Mother?" Firefly called to her mother's usual choice of scales: green, with horizon-colored underwings and ruff, a bluish snout, red spikes, and blue-and-orange legs. "When are we leaving? You know, to go to school?"

Anyone would think school is the top of Firefly's mind, her mother thought affectionately. "Soon, Firefly," she answered. "After lunch." Firefly let out an impatient growl. Lunch was a few hours away! What was she supposed to do? Take a nap? Read those scrolls for the millionth time? Perhaps she could think about her clawmates. She had certainly did some thinking about Sunbeam's parents, but she didn't think about Autumn's. 

She didn't know any female MudWings. Maybe they were Clay's sister's dragonets. Crane, Pheasant, Sora, Firefly listed off the top of her mind. Crane was dead, so she crossed that one off the list. But it could be one of Clay's brothers'. Reed, Marsh, and Umber. She remembered Reed's partner was Sepia, a former Jade Mountain Academy student. She remembered the story: One day, Reed and his sibs went to visit Clay and Marsh, and they had immediately fallen head-over-heels for each other.

Now she thought of it, Where did Sora and Umber go? She had heard they ran away, but where did they go? Maybe they went to Possibility or Sanctuary. She closed her thoughts and decided to do something else. If she ate now, that would count as lunch, wouldn't it? No, her mother would never allow that, she had far more important duties.

Ugh. I guess I just have to wait, Firefly grumbled in her head.

~ · ~

"This is it." Deathbringer replied, waving his talons at a building on the mountain. "Jade Mountain Academy." Along with Firefly, Deathbringer and Queen Glory were dropping off Lime, Leafcutter, Peafowl, Thoughtbringer, Moonlight, Smokeseer, Duststorm, and Dewdrop. 

"It-it's beautiful," Peafowl choked. The school was painted a sea green, and dragons of all colors swarmed below them. "Shall we land?"

Queen Glory nodded. "Firefly," she whispered. "Is it all you hoped?" Firefly had never seen this many dragons in one place at one time.

"Yes, mother," she whispered. "I can't wait to start learning!"

Glory smiled. "You will, daughter," she said. "You'll learn everything, and become the smartest dragon in Pyrrhia." Firefly smiled back.

They flapped down to the ledge and greeted a black dragon with a silver teardop below her eyes. Is she a mind reader like I am? Firefly wondered. She isn't, Firefly thought, relieved. I wouldn't like another mind reader reading my thoughts. My thoughts are private, while other's... are not.

"Hello, students! Welcome to Jade Mountain Academy! I hope, like Firefly, you've visited this school some times, enough times to know it a little," Fatespeaker winked at her. "If not, there will be dragons who will guide you. There will also be a tour, but that's for tomorrow. For now, you can rest, explore the place, and get to know your clawmates."

"Where's my cave?" Firefly asked. 

"The Quartz Winglet cave is down that hallway," Fatespeaker waved a wing at the far left hallway. "You'll see the art cave, then go a little way, the history cave, then you turn right, three caves down on the right, the one with the quartz on the cave entrance, that's your cave."

"Wow," Firefly said, awed. "You really collected jade, gold, silver, and copper, just to mark the winglet caves?"

"Yep," Fatespeaker grinned proudly. "We are a very serious school, but looks are also great, too."

Firefly turned to the left hallway. Up a little, she could see flower petals arranged into a paintbrush. Cute. Then there was a scroll above an entrance. She walked that way, then turned right. There were five caves. Imagine if there was a Diamond Winglet, she thought, looking at the green jade, the yellow gold, the sparkly gray silver, the white quartz, and the brown copper. She turned into the quartz cave.

Inside, there were already an icy blue dragon with a pearls draped around her horns, a purplish-black dragon, and a not-very-burly brown-and-orange female dragon. Whitefish, Fatewalker, and Autmn. My new clawmates.