Changing Times: Mountains Crumbling

Chapter Two

The soft sound of a ringing gong filled the air, pulling Toad out of his calm, peaceful thoughts. Slowly, he pulled himself out of his pond, shaking open his wings.
"Classtime. Here we go. Wish me luck."
Nearby, he heard Jasper mumble something, as he struggled to scramble to his feet.
"Classtime! Yes! We get to meet our Winglet now! What do you think they'll be like?" Jasper asked, his black eyes shining with excitement.
"I'm...not sure. I guess I just hope they'll be nice." Toad answered, flicking his tail.
"Yeah, fair. I mean, if we were stuck in a Winglet full of chickenheads, that'd majorly suck, wouldn't it?" Jasper agreed, stretching his talons.
"Yeah...it would."
"Come on! We don't want to be late!"
With that, Jasper hurried out of the cave, Toad following close behind.
                                *
Toad and Jasper slipped through the winding hallways, Jasper glancing at one of his scrolls, every now and then.
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Toad asked, worriedly.
"Of course I'm sure. I'm insulted that you could possibly doubt my amazing navigation skills!" he cried, grinning, playfully.
"Alright, if you're sure-"
"See, right there! The classroom with the blue flowers, right?" Jasper exclaimed, pointing his tail at a doorway decorated by small, blue blooms.
Toad allowed a hesitant smile to creep across his face.
Sticking close to Jasper's side, Toad slunk into the classroom, shoulders hunched and wings pulled in close.
"Follow me." Jasper instructed, sitting down close to one of the sunlit windows.
Toad sat down beside him, glancing around at the other dragons in the room. His Winglet.
A pale red Skywing sat closest to them. His scales were rippling with clawmarks and signs of battle.
Beside him was a firey red and black Rainwing. Toad hadn't seen many Rainwings, and he'd certainly never seen one with those colours decorating their scales.
A brilliant cyan Seawing was sitting in a corner, beside a deep black and purple Nightwing.
A shockingly cool blue Icewing sat the furthest away from the group. Toad noticed small fragments of ice spreading around her talons.
And, at the very back, sat a deep, woodsy green Leafwing, a bee's nest orange Hivewing, and a shining azure Silkwing, with huge, rainbow-hued wings.
Before anyone could say a word, and Toad was pretty sure that Jasper was going to say several, a calm blue Seawing shot into the room.
"Hello, everyone! Sorry I'm late. One of the students started a fight, and I was the only one who was there to deal with it. I'm Froth, by the way, and I'm going to be your Communications teacher!" she burst out, her words tumbling over each other, like a jetstream of bubbles.
"What in the three moons is Communications?" the Skywing snapped, disdainfully.
"Who started the fight?" the Hivewing piped up.
"Iguana started the fight, and I'd appreciate it if you don't ask me any more questions about that right now. Meanwhile, Communications is a class where you'll learn about the differing tribes and learn to get along better with your peers. Something Iguana and her two friends could certainly benefit from learning." Froth answered, in the same breathless, speedy manner as before, "Now, let's start by introducing ourselves. I'll start. I'm Froth, and I've been teaching here for two years and counting! Now, you."
Toad jumped, slightly, as she nodded in his direction.
"Do NOT say anything weird. Just work on making a good impression, OK?"
"I-I'm Toad. A-And I'm in you're Winglet, I guess." he said, his words seeming to melt together as he said them.
"Which means you'll get to see more of his fabulous face! Aren't you guys lucky! By the way, I'm Jasper. Toad's my clawmate." Jasper added, grinning.
"I'm Eaglet, and I'm not here by choice, and I don't want to be here. So don't start thinking we're going to be friends or anything." the Skywing snapped, glaring at the others.
"Yikes. Who put a bee in his breakfast?" Jasper muttered to Toad.
Toad chuckled under his breath.
"I'm Lanternfish, and I'm very excited to be here! I hope we can all at least get along." the Seawing chuckled, casting a pointed glance in Eaglet's direction.
"I'm Tarantula." the Rainwing muttered, not meeting any of their eyes.
"I'm Etienne, and I have icescales. Just in case, I don't know, one of you wanted a high five?" the Icewing laughed, flexing her claws.
Toad shivered, his eyes fixed on the ice coating the floor, where her claws touched it.
"Um...I'm Virgo..." the Nightwing murmured, flicking her thin tail.
The Hivewing at the back turned her head away, the message clear. She wasn't saying anything.
"Alright then, Hornet." Froth sighed, looking tired.
The Leafwing reached forward, and scratched the word 'Sycamore' into the dirt.
"Sycamore's mute, just to clear things up." Froth stated, smiling at the thin Leafwing.
"I'm Mathys, and I can't wait to get to know you all! You all look like such nice dragons!" the Silkwing cried, an infectious smile decorating his face.
"Now that you all know each other, do any of you have any questions for me or your classmates?" Froth asked, tilting her head to the side.
"I do," Eaglet said, raising one talon, "How'd you get all those scars?"
Toad froze, as all eyes turned in his direction. His talons began to shake, slightly. He'd known this was going to happen, but he was hoping he might have come up with a better answer by now.
But he hadn't. So he'd just have to tell them the truth.
"M-My mother gave them to me. She told me that they were a way to learn from my mistakes. That every time I looked at them, I'd be reminded to do better." he answered, his voice ringing out loud and clear, for the first time in years.
A shocked silence filled the cave, as the dragons in it began to look at him with something he'd seen one too many times: Pity.
"Oh, you poor thing! That's awful!" Mathys cried, running over and flinging his arms around his neck.
Toad stiffened. What was he doing? Was he trying to strangle him?
But, before he could even begin to process what had just happened, Mathys stepped back, smiling, slightly.
"Don't worry. No one'll treat you like that here. I'll make sure of it!" he assured Toad, puffing out his chest.
Toad couldn't help but laugh at this. The sight of such a small dragon acting as if he could take on a hundred attackers all at once was too much. As he laughed, Toad felt a warm feeling in his chest, a feeling he'd never felt before. He thought that maybe it was because he was finally surrounded by dragons who appreciated him.
"What else are we doing, today?" Jasper asked, turning in Froth's direction.
"Well, today, all I wanted you to do was get to know each other. And, you've done that. So, you can just do whatever you want for the rest of classtime. Just don't get into any fights, or I swear!" Froth chuckled, waving her wings.
At once, the dragonets leapt to their talons, and hurried out of the cave, their tails curling and uncurling. Toad followed, at the very back of the crowd, still smiling.