Lotus

Chapter 3

I looked up at the glowing glass spheres hanging from the ceiling above us, their brightly colored light leading us deeper into the mountain. I never thought that such a simple thing as light could change the way you see things. With it, I saw warm and comfortable hallways instead of the dark, claustrophobic tunnels I knew they really were. What a difference small things make.

"I can't wait for you to see our cave!" I snapped back into reality, looking over at Sienna, who had started talking to me again. "Did you know that we're sharing one? Awesome, right? It'll be so much fun to have a classmate that isn't a part of my family. I mean, I love my siblings, I really do, and I'd do anything for them, but a girl needs other friends, you know?" She sighed, then continued. "I do miss them, though. I've never been this far from them for this long." She paused for a moment, looking off into the distance. A few moments later, she shook her head, as if trying to get an annoying idea out of it. "But I'm sure they'll be fine. They can take care of themselves! As for me, I've got you here, now. Ooh, we can be like sisters! Do you have any siblings? I mean, you don't seem like the sibling type, but you never know." She then looked at me expectantly, waiting for an answer.

"Um, well, no, I don't have any siblings." I fumbled around for the right words. "See, it was bad enough for my parents to have me, let alone any others, considering that my mother is an IceWing and my father is a RainWing…" I trail off, not entirely sure of what I should say next.

Sienna's eyes widened. "Wait, you're a hybrid?! How did I not know that?!" She quickly looked me up and down, seeming to finally notice the pale pink coloring of many of my scales and horns. "Oh, my,  goodness, I can totally see it now!!" Her mouth was open in shock, and I wasn't sure how to react to that. Was she okay with me being a hybrid, or was she like most the other dragons I met, quick to think down on me based on my heritage? Before I had the chance to answer that, an excited look came over her face. "This is so cool!! I've never met a hybrid before! What's it like?"

She bombarded me with questions for the next minute or so, and because she was talking so fast, I wasn't able to answer a single one of them. When she finally took a moment to breathe again, she seemed to notice how flustered I was, and apologized. "Sorry. I have a bad tendency to talk too much, too fast." She laughed awkwardly. "I'll try to slow down a bit so you can keep up with me."

"Thanks," I replied uncomfortably. I forced my fidgeting talons down, and attempted at a small smile. I didn't think I did very well, but it seemed to do the trick.

We finally made it to our cave, and I was rather surprised by what I saw. There were two piles of green, one of soft reeds and the other of large alocasia leaves, just like the ones I usually slept on. I guessed that these were where we were supposed to sleep, the former belonging to Sienna and the latter to me. I then looked at the rest of the cave, seeing small scroll racks by the entrance, and noting the glass orbs set into the wall just like the ones that were hanging from the ceiling earlier. After a moment, I realized that the reason I was so surprised was that I genuinely liked this cave, even if only a little.

"Well," said Sienna. "Now that you've seen our cave, where would you like to go next?"

I thought for a moment, then replied hesitantly. "Um, well...could we maybe go see the healing center? My father told me a little about it, and I'm pretty interested in stuff like that..." I started to fade off.

She grinned at me. "That's a great idea! Let's go! Follow me!" Without another word, she rushed right out of the cave, with me following a little more slowly behind her.