Lotus

Chapter 4

We started down the hallway and entered into the Great Hall again. Though it hadn't been long since we were last in there, it was about twice as crowded as before. It seemed as if all of the students' entire families were squished into the one room, leaving no room for anyone to breathe. I sucked in as deep of a breath as my lungs could handle, then held it, thinking that it would be the only air that I would get while going through the massive crowd.

After a moment, I realized how ridiculous that thought was. It's just my anxiety getting the best of me. I forced myself to let the air out slowly, soothing my nerves. The number of dragons in the room shrank to a size more bearable for my nerves, and I started walking through it.

Sienna had gone off ahead of me, not realizing that I had stopped in the segue between the Great Hall and the smaller hallway. Once in the throng of other dragons, I tried looking for her, but she was nowhere to be found. My nerves spiked again at this, causing my mind to run wild about what I would do now that I didn't have anyone to help me out. 

With another deep breath, though, I looked around again, a little more thoroughly than before. I finally spotted her on the far side of the room. She was talking to a cinnamon-brown MudWing, who seemed to have a very friendly, relaxed vibe about him.

That's probably her brother. Maybe older, but the way she was talking about being a "bigwings" earlier (whatever that is) made it seem like she was the oldest, so maybe not.

Not knowing what else to do, I went over and joined them. I was right about the vibe; it seemed that everyone that passed by him immediately took a liking to him, no matter what tribe they came from. 

If only I had that kind of effect on people.

I finally reached those two, and my nerves hit me once again with full force at the thought of meeting someone new. With another deep breath, I stilled my fidgeting talons and tapped Sienna lightly on the shoulder.

A moment passed, and it felt like years went by. I was certain that she didn't feel that, so I began to mentally prepare myself to tap her again when she finally looked over at me.

She was already smiling brightly at the MudWing, so when she turned to face me, I wasn't expecting her grin to widen even more. She looked like she was genuinely glad to see me, which was new to me. I had never seen that look on anyone else's face before. My father, Almond, never really liked to show his emotions, neither on his face nor with his color-changing scales, after the so-called "disaster" with my mother, and Walnut just had a constant relaxed look on his face and scales. And other dragons, well...they never were really happy to see me in the first place, let alone again. So when Sienna looked actually glad to see me again, I couldn't help but feel a little happy as well.

"Hi! Kamala, have you met Khaki yet?" She gestured towards the MudWing she was speaking to. "He's in the Ruby winglet. He's been one of my closest friends for years."

Well, not her brother, then.

"Did you know he's already met everyone here, and even memorized all of their names? Well, besides you of course. It's crazy, though! I don't know how he does it. He has an incredible memory, and can remember pretty much everything. I wish I had that kind of memory, don't you?" She looked towards me with a massive grin on her face.

Yeah. Definitely not her brother.

"Hi, I'm Khaki," he interjected before Sienna could continue. "I'm glad to finally meet you. As Sienna said, you were the only dragon I hadn't met, so it's good to do so now. How are you liking Jade Mountain so far?"

"It's, um, good," I said, feeling rather flustered at being put on the spot. Thankfully, he didn't bombard me with questions like Sienna did. I could see why everyone seemed to like him, though. He was very friendly, in an older-brother sort of way. I had a feeling he was going to be an interesting dragon to get to know. "Sienna has been showing me around a bit, so…"

Thankfully, Sienna did what she usually did and took that as a hint to continue talking. She started up a conversation about Jade Mountain with Khaki, and he seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say.

I wanted to leave them then, as to not be a burden anymore. My anxiety was pushing me to stay though, not wanting to navigate the school by myself. After a moment of internal warring between the two, I forced myself to go with the former, and walked away from them before I could think twice about it.