Just a Little Homesick

Chapter 1

Brightseeker always wanted to feel at home.

That comfortable sense of belonging, whether it was when curled up in a nest of blankets or eating warm papayas in the shade of the tall, glossy-leaved trees of the rainforest. Brightseeker wanted that.

Ever since her mother left Brightseeker and her father for a SandWing, she felt adrift. Lost. Wherever her mother was, her home was. But Brightseeker didn't know where her mother was. She told herself she didn't care, but deep down she knew that wasn't the case.

So here she was, hoping to find that home in the place that was Jade Mountain Academy. Maybe she could finally find a place where she felt that she belonged in the twisting stone passageways of the school. She hoped so.

There was one problem. One, seemingly insignificant thing, that threw her out of the loop. That made Brightseeker uncomfortable. The hybrids. In an effort to further unite Pyrrhia and its tribes, the founders had decided to add a spot to each winglet for a hybrid dragon.

Since the NightWings lived with the RainWings in the rainforest, there were plenty of hybrid dragons there. Not to mention the fact that RainWings were probably the most accepting of all the tribes. Despite this, Brightseeker disliked them. She didn't think they were natural. There were different tribes for a reason, right? Brightseeker knew that wasn't why she didn't like hybrids, though.

After hearing word that her mother and the SandWing had had dragonets together, Brightseeker had grown an immediate distaste for the SandWing-NightWing hybrids. She hadn't even met them before in her life, but she told herself she hated them. Her bias towards the newly-hatched hybrids spread to every hybrid dragon she saw.

Oh well. I can't decide what the school founders think. Brightseeker approached the school, walking slightly ahead of her father, Stormflyer. Maybe I can avoid them.

"Can you stop it with the discriminatory comments?" Stormflyer poked her in the side with a wing.

"I told you to stop reading my mind," she grumbled. "It's not fair."

"Life isn't fair. It's not every hybrid on the continent's fault that your mother decided to leave-"

"I thought we agreed not to talk about that."

"Right." Stormflyer paused and looked ahead. "Can't we just fly over there? It's too much trouble to walk."

Brightseeker shook her head vigorously. "No. I don't want to fly. I don't like to."

"You've never tried. It's not a matter of whether you like to or not. You're lucky to be tiny enough to fit on my back, otherwise we never would have made it here in time."

"Yeah! You can just fly me over there-"

"No. Brightseeker, you have to get over your fear of heights. I won't be there to fly you places when you're at school."

"Please?"

After some grumbling on Stormflyer's part, he finally let her climb onto his back and took off into the air, flying the rest of the way. He began descending and skidded to a halt right at the entrance, lowering his wings so Brightseeker could hop off.

"That's the last time you get to do that," he mumbled, stretching. "You better have learnt to fly next time I see you."

"Yeah, yeah." Brightseeker said. She paused and looked up at her father. "You'll write letters, right?"

"Why write letters when you can just fly over and visit me when you have time?" Stormflyer rolled his eyes. "But yes, I will."

Brightseeker grinned as she was pulled into a hug.