Transported: A Wings of Fire Story

I'm Still Standing

Daniel walked through the portal behind his two larger friends, watching as the world around him returned to the familiar stone walls of Jade Mountain.

"Whoa... Feels like forever since we saw this place again..." Winter commented as he placed a talon on his old sleeping ledge.

Turtle looked around, too. Green embers rose from his body, flickered, and vanished in the air behind him, almost like a trail.
"I honestly never thought I'd see this place again... Especially not after..." He fell silent.

Daniel looked at Turtle; he had a small, glowing frown on his face as he seemed to remember some unwanted memories.

Daniel walked up to him and placed a hand on his talon.
Surprisingly, his hand didn't phase through as he expected it to; it sat comfortably on top.

Turtle immediately whipped his head around to see Daniel trying to comfort him.
He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off.

"Hey, Anemone's going to be really happy to see you," Daniel reassured him.
"Don't worry."

"B-But I don't want her to see me... Not like... This..."
He looked down at his spectre of a body.

Daniel smiled at Turtle.
"Turtle, it means the world to us that you're not fully gone... And I'm sure she'll feel the same."

Turtle wasn't convinced, but he decided to just take Daniel's word for it with a small nod.
"If you say so..."

Daniel rolled his eyes.
"Oh, please, when have I ever been wrong?"

Both Turtle and Winter shot him vigorous side eyes.
"I can recall a few times..." Winter answered.

Daniel sighed in defeat.
"Alright, alright, I got the idea... But believe me, everyone will be stoked to see you two again. After all! Everyone thought you were dead!"

With that, Daniel took the lead and started heading back down toward the grand hall where everyone else was gathered.

Winter and Turtle followed loosely behind, opting to keep a small distance as they all wandered down through the academy.

Eventually, Daniel arrived in the grand hall and, as expected, saw everyone there.
However, most of them seemed to be sleeping, except for two dragons.

Hailstorm and Anemone sat awake; they were talking and whispering to one another, but not loud enough for Daniel to pick up on what they were saying.

Once Daniel made his way into their line of sight, both of them immediately turned their attention over to him.

"Daniel!" Anemone called out a little too loudly for comfort, especially since everyone seemed to be sleeping.
She smiled widely, cheerfully, and in a genuinely friendly manner.
Honestly, it was a little odd since he still wasn't used to seeing this new version of the Seawing princess.
'Well, at least she turned her character around.'

Daniel returned the smile.
"Hey... What are you two doing up?" He lowered his voice.

"Keeping watch," Hailstorm responded as Daniel approached.
"Did you manage to clear your head a little?"

Daniel nodded as he looked behind him, realising that both Winter and Turtle were hiding from view.
"Y-Yeah, a little..." Daniel lied.

Hailstorm shot him a weary smile.
"Good to hear," He looked into Daniel's eyes.

Daniel raised a brow.
"You alright?"

Hailstorm nodded quickly.
"O-Oh! Yeah, I'm alright... Just... Cold..."