Breaking Dawn

Chapter One

Dawn frowned at the scroll she was reading. That can't be right... She went back over it, dipped her claws in some ink, and made a quick annotation. Dawn leaned back and studied the scroll again. Better! She glanced up and around the shop, twisting an opal bracelet around her wrist. It was a slow day at her little shop, the Sunset Dragon, so Dawn had finished up some of the things she'd been meaning to do but hadn't had the time. Such as repainting the sign hanging over her door a bright gold, pink, and orange. However, three hours into the day, Dawn was left with nothing to do. Hence the nest of scrolls. After making one more annotation, Dawn set down the scroll and stretched, a huge yawn splitting across her face. She prepared to settle back down again when the bell on the door rang. Dawn froze for a second, then sprang into action. Scrolls were shoved back on shelves, except for the annotated one. She took that one and ran over to the glasswork section, grabbing a beautiful blue-green vase she had been meaning to sell. Dawn then hurried over to the main aisle. Abruptly, she hit something hard and fell backwards. "Owww!" The vase rolled out of her talons. A deep emerald snout hovered into her vision, a concerned look twisting its features. "Um. Are you ok?" Dawn longed to flop back and stay there, but she jumped to her feet with a huge smile on her face. "I'm fine! Are you uh, um..." The green dragon picked up the vase and handed it to Dawn. "Yeah, I'm okay. Here." Dawn took the vase and picked up the scroll, then slowly walked over to the clerk's desk and stood behind it. "What can I get for you?" She asked. The Seawing-he was a Seawing-glanced up. "Just some flowers. Exotic ones, like from the rainforest." Dawn nodded. "Can I have your name, please?" She said as she walked over to the flower part of her shop. The Seawing hesitated. "It's...Turtle." Dawn froze, her talons shaking over the orchids she had been about to grab. "T-Turtle?" She stuttered, staring at the emerald Seawing, who was now trying to hide his face, unsuccessfully. He had blushed a bright green. "Yeah. The prince," he mumbled. Dawn snatched up the orchids and arranged them artistically in the vase. "No. No, that's not why..." She trailed off. What was she supposed to say? Turtle. I haven't seen him in YEARS. Turtle looked away. "Oh. Oh, it's okay. Sorry. Usually people get nervous when they recognize me," he muttered, doing a great impression of a green puddle. Dawn blinked at him. He looked nothing like how she remembered, although her mind had built a hero around the quiet green dragon. "Here's your flowers," she said, handing them to him. Turtle stared the flowers and then glanced back up at her. "Thanks. How much are these?" He asked. "Three embers for the flowers, and nine for the vase," Dawn mumbled. Does he remember me? Does he remember what he did? "Will you go to the full moon festival with me?" She managed to squeak out. Internally, Dawn crumbled. She sounded like a moon-cursed scavenger! To her surprise, Turtle just looked astonished. "Me? I wasn't planning on going. Then again, no one asked, so..." Dawn laughed. "No one asked me either, but the full moon festival is super cool. Have you ever been to one?" Turtle shook his head. "I've been pretty busy," he said, a tinge of regret marring his voice. Dawn smiled sympathetically. "Why don't you take a break for a bit? You could come to the festival..." Turtle frowned and said, "I don't really know you that well. To be honest-" "No! You knew me! Know...me!" Dawn yelped, "Right...? The Seawing frowned and tilted his head. "I'm pretty sure I would remember your scales. They're very...memorable." Dawn flushed. Her pink and gold scales and blue eyes were a tough topic. No Skywing had ever had her scales. True, she was part Icewing, but it wasn't fair that she didn't get to be normal like...Sparrowhawk. She winced. "I'm...you kind of...broke me out of prison...?" Turtle made a high-pitched noise and jumped about a foot. "How do you know about that? No wait, don't answer that, that was a stupid question." He peered at Dawn. "I don't remember you being so...shiny." Dawn frowned at him. "So will you come with me to the festival or not?" She asked. Turtle shrugged. "Sure. I have nothing better to do besides sit around and-" he snapped his jaw shut. Oh my moons, Dawn thought. He actually said yes. He actually said yes! She composed herself. "See you tonight then!" She said shyly. Turtle smiled. "See you tonight!" Dawn waited until he had walked out of the door before squealing and running upstairs. He said yes!