Breaking Dawn

Chapter Two

Dawn waited anxiously by the door for hours. The sundial in the middle of the square ticked away the minutes, and Dawn twitched at every little sound. Where is Turtle? She wondered. Finally, a short moment after the sun set, the bell over the door rang as someone pushed through it. "Turtle! I was afraid you weren't coming!" Dawn said nervously, twisting her talons together. The emerald dragonet winced. "I'm not really supposed to be here, okay? But...I needed a break from..." Turtle trailed off. Dawn cocked her head. "Thank you for coming then!" Did he basically just say he didn't want to be here? She shivered, and Turtle looked at her askance. "Hey, I really want to see what a Moon Festival is like. Are we going or not?" Dawn felt her spines puff up a little bit, but she forced them to smooth back. "Sure. Let's go." He doesn't want to be here. With me. Dawn opened the door and shoved Turtle out of it, then walked out herself. They took to the air and flew towards the bridge over the Five Tail River that cut through Possibility. The vibrations from the music pumped through the air, making Dawn want to dance and sing. Her talons shook slightly as she resisted the urge to start dancing and clapping along to the rhythm. Turtle gave her an odd look, and she blushed gold, making an effort to stop. They swooped down towards the festival, Turtle gaping at the beaten silver discs that were hung everywhere. Dawn pulled up abruptly onto the bridge, talons skidding across the wooden slats. Skywings and Sandwings made up most of the crowd, but IceWings, Mudwings, and Seawings mingled there too. Considering the conflict brewing between the Seawings and Icewings over the missing Icewing princess, Dawn wasn't surprised to see the two tribes avoiding each other. Even with the whole message of "peace" the festival soaked in, tensions were high. Turtle followed a moment after, landing next to Dawn with a huge smile on his face. "This is epic!" He shouted in order to be heard over the music. Dragons swirled around them, clapping their wings together and twirling in a beautiful array of colors. "Do you know how to dance?" Dawn asked, leaning towards Turtle. He shook his head and Dawn grinned. "Come on! I'll show you." They took to the air, and hung there, powerful wingbeats keeping Dawn and Turtle aloft. "Alright, now do the opposite of what I do, ok? So if I twirl right, you twirl left. And if I clap your left wing with my right wing, you clap back with your left wing!" Dawn shouted. Turtle nodded. "Okay!" Dawn started slowly, spinning once then reaching out and tapping Turtle's wing lightly with one of her own, then reversing the process. As the music got faster and faster, so did they, whirling through the air until Turtle broke the cycle. He hung there for a second and tried to regain his breath. "That-that was awesome," Turtle said reverently. Dawn grinned. "See? This was completely worth it. Right?" Turtle stared at her. "Did you think I didn't want to come to the festival with you?" Dawn was about to answer when someone in the crowd screamed. "DRAGONBITE VIPER!" A shock went through Dawn, causing her to freeze for a second before coming back to her senses. The dragons around Dawn immediately began yelling and taking off, the sky filled with so many yellows and oranges and reds and golds that it looked as though the sky was on fire with scales. The hints of blue and white mingled in just completed the effect. The bridge was deserted in seconds. Dawn had no idea why she had stayed until she glanced to her right and saw Turtle with his eyes squeezed tightly shut. He hadn't moved. Dawn peered around the square, heart thumping in her chest. Finally she spotted the viper, slithering across the mud bricks, a figure behind it. Dawn's heart twisted as she realized it was a female Seawing. Screaming. Time seemed to slow as Dawn leapt towards the viper, scales heating up and fire streaming from her jaw. It didn't have time to bite her before she killed it quickly and watched in satisfaction while it withered into ash. Dawn whirled around quickly and glanced back at Turtle. He had his eyes open now and was staring, terrified, at the light blue Seawing. "Dawn...what do I do?" He whispered. Dawn picked up a stone and stared at it for a second. Should she...? Before she could hesitate any longer, Dawn squeezed her eyes shut and said, "Enchant this stone so that whomever it touches is cleaned of all venom and healed of all wounds." Her bracelet started to glow and Turtle glanced up sharply from the wounded Seawing's side, but Dawn ignored him and walked over to dragon who had been bitten. Dawn touched the Seawing gently with the rock and watched as the black that had bled  through her veins shrink back and disappear. The wound closed as though it had never been there. Dawn looked up and caught Turtle staring at her, his face turned a pale green. "Are you okay?" He said finally. Dawn nodded, and went back to watching the Seawing as she sat up, gave them both a frightened look, and ducked into an alley. Turtle stared at the alley the Seawing had gone through for a second before looking back up at Dawn, who shrugged. "If you want to talk-" "You're an animus!" They both started, then stopped. Finally, Turtle spoke up. "You're an animus. A powerful one, obviously." He hesitated for a second, then said, "I need your help."