Wings of Fire: A Twisted Future - Broken Visions

Chapter 16

By the time class ended, Quietkeep had managed to finish half of his new painting. Eel wasn't pleased, eyeing him with suspicion.

''Quietkeep, art is art, there are no mistakes, you could've continued,'' she had argued, reaching for his easel. Quietkeep had shaken his head, shaking out his wings uncomfortably.

''I messed up horribly,'' he'd stammered, nudging the SeaWing away. ''When, um, Bracken stretched, Permafrost's tail caught my easel and my brush slashed a line across the entire canvas.'' But Eel still wanted to see it.

''You could've made something with that line,'' Eel sighed, clutching her snout with her claws. ''Perhaps a fallen tree, or a river-'' That was annoying. Especially since Eel thought she knew what she was talking about when really she had no idea.

Quietkeep sighed, bowing his head into his palms. ''But there were no treeeeees, it wouldn't make sense! Nor a river, nor anything! I just simply had to restart.''

And now he was walking back to his cave, grumbling under his snout. He hated explaining himself. It always meant socializing and socializing always had the risk of messing up your sentence. It was horrible. This was the worst week of his life: leaving his mother behind alone in the rainforest with the RainWings, getting Avalanche and Urchin as clawmates, flying or working for three days straight, being chased by an insane librarian in the middle of the night, being haunted by a vision, and now getting bothered by a mindless art teacher. If only she knew.

''Quietkeep,'' a voice suddenly called from the crowd. The NightWing's head snapped up, ears perked. Was he hearing things? Nobody would have a good reason to call to him. Nobody liked him, nobody thought he was useful or talented except his mother, so there would, logically-speaking, be no reason for someone to call his name. He was hearing things. That vision was playing with him...

''Three moons, Quietkeep, are you deaf?'' the voice, now more aggressive, hissed, followed by grunts and yelps as someone shoved through the dragonets. ''Actually, no, your ears went up! Don't lie, turn around!'' Permafrost. That was an unmistakable voice. Turning around would be the cheaper decision for both of them; not turning around would mean Quietkeep would have paranoia and a probably scarred neck. It would also mean Permafrost would most likely be expelled. Sighing, the black dragonet slowly turned around, stepping into the shallow dip in the wall which held the door to his cave. 

''Yes?'' he grumbled, looking up at the silver dragoness. Either she was impatient or didn;t want to talk here because she snatched his wrist in a painful grasp and pulled him away. Quietkeep yelped, jumping up as her claws relaxed almost instantly, probably realizing that this was just the path she had to take to be kicked out of the academy. ''Why so vicious all the time?'' 

''No matter, just follow me,'' the IceWing growled, shooting him a look before turning back again and scampering off toward the library. Again, following would be the cheaper option, so Quietkeep followed without any more comments. She led them up the winding path, her wings quivering as they got nearer to the huge hall full of scrolls. Was she just as scared as he was? They both had been frightened out of their minds a few nights ago when Fennec chased them through Jade Mountain. Perhaps going to the library wasn't the right option, at least for now...

''Alright, we won't stand around here or it would be too suspicious,'' Permafrost murmured when they finally arrived at the tall doors. ''Let's go inside.'' The NightWing scraped his claws against stone, wishing there was a turf he could latch onto. ''Don't worry. There are dragonets inside, I didn't hear any screaming, so Fennec must be fine.'' That relaxed Quietkeep a little bit, but only until Permafrost decided to add ''yet.''

They pushed the left door open, craning their necks to peer inside. All seemed normal: Raven and Flounder were standing in front of Fennec's desk, waiting patiently while the little SandWing librarian searched for something; Morningflower and Swan were reading one scroll together, their tails ( curiously ) intertwined; Jackal was flying up to the top level of the library, a ring of one long outcrop along the round wall and shelves pushed against the wall, carrying two or three scrolls in his bag, and Hydra was waiting in line behind Raven and Flounder. Seemed normal enough.