The Prince of Night and Rain

Chapter 14

No new characters are being introduced, and neither do I have any drawings of any of the dragons in the group currently, so here is the reference for Queen Coral Pulled off the Wiki.

As Scrollreader talked away, her mind blocked so he could focus on what he would say to the queen. His legs were shaking with each step he took as his nerves bundled and jumbled like a ball of yarn. What if I say something that is misinterpreted as a threat? It's her granddaughter, after all... 

"Here we are," Scrollreader said as she abruptly stopped. Shadowscale yelped as he nearly collided with her, a reminiscent glare of annoyance flashing across his face before vanishing in an instant. However, it didn't go unnoticed by the Deep burgundy and red SkyWing guard to the left of the entrance and the olive-shaded SeaWing to the right. "The Pray Center, it's been cleared out so the queens can have their privacy."

"Thank you, Scrollreader, I can-"

"I'll wait for you so I can show you to your room later." She said, as though either ignoring or not listening to Shadowscale. He took a tiny peek into her mind and found that it was the latter and just sighed.

"Fine." He grumbled as he turned to the guards. "My name is Prince Shadowscale of the Night and RainWing tribe. I wish to speak to Queen Coral of the SeaWings regarding urgent news."

"'Aight." The SkyWing guard muttered as she puffed out a ring of smoke. The SeaWing just nodded his head. 

Shadowscale walked right in and had to refrain from curiously dipping into the two queens thoughts as they made pleasant conversation. Queen Ruby saw him first, for she was facing in his direction while Coral had her back towards the entrance.

"Oh my, Coral! You are popular today!" The SkyWing Queen chuckled as she sipped some tea.

"How did you know?" Shadowscale asked as he came closer. Queen Coral turned towards him at the sound of his voice with a thoughtful look in her eyes. 

"We received a letter from your mother Prince Shadowscale mere hours ago, She mentioned the disappearance of my granddaughter Coy and the others, and it turns out there was another last night... yours." Shadowscale glanced down at his talons at Queen Coral's words. "She is worried about you."

"I... I didn't-"

"Of course not. You just wanted to take the initiative." Queen Ruby said. 

"Indeed, Queen Glory is still new to mothering, so of course she'd be a little... protective, I was too, we all were." Queen Coral said. "It took me a while, but both Tsunami and Anemone showed me that they could take care of themselves, I still worry for them, but I put away the harnesses. Auklet was five when I took hers off."

"Which, if I may, is still excessively long to have a harness on her Coral." Queen Ruby pointed out with a chuckle. The SeaWing Queen gave Queen Ruby a dumbfounded expression. "Is it? I thought I was letting her out early."

"Point is." Queen Ruby continued. "You are not a dragonet anymore, and from what I hear, you can take care of yourself. Queen Glory is a young mother and needs to know when you can begin to take hold of the clay of destiny and shape it into your own."

"Very poetic, Queen Ruby." Queen Coral said with a smile. "Couldn't have said it any better myself."

"Thank you, Queen Coral." Queen Ruby said with a grin before returning her gaze to Prince Shadowscale. "So don't worry, we won't report you to anyone who will drag you back to the Rainforest. We'll tell your mother that you are okay, though, and I hope you can find Coy and the others."

"Oh, okay..."

"When Beroida told me of Coy's disappearance, I didn't think much of it. I assumed she had enough of Jade Mountain Academy and bailed on her sister and didn't get the return message from my son or his... RainWing mate-" She said "RainWing mate" in a slightly strained voice. "-Turns out that I was wrong when I received your mother's letter, that is."

He's gorgeous... Queen Ruby's thought slipped past his mental defenses, causing the Prince to shudder before patching up his mental barrier mentally. Luckily for him, she voiced her opinion. "I have to admit. I don't think I've quite seen such gorgeous scales on a dragon before. I like the dark black and grays with the splash of color splattered throughout. Oh! Pink means... embarrassed or love again? So it seems they work like normal RainWing scales, but... there are less?"

Shadowscale stomped out the colors of embarrassment and tried to keep them a mix of twinkling emerald greens, sapphire blues, and amethyst purples. 

"Okay, well, I guess there was no relevance in coming here-"

"But there was." Queen Coral said with a kind smile. "We now know you are safe, and we can tell Glory not to worry."

"Thank you, Your Majesties," Shadowscale said politely with a bow.

"Good luck, Prince Shadowscale." Queen Ruby said as he rose.

"And please find my Granddaughter." Queen Coral added with a smile.

"Thank you, and don't worry, Queen Coral, I will."

~☆~

"So... do you wanna tour of the entire school or just to be shown to your room?" Scrollreader asked when he exited the Pray Center. He really didn't want to stay around this peppy dragon any longer than he had to, but getting familiar with the place and the dragons would also be a good thing...

He sighed with defeat. "Sure, a tour will be good-"

"Oh! Really? Oh! OKAY!" She exclaimed. She then proceeded to show him around different caves and tunnels with destinations and activities. She showed him the tunnels that lead to Stonemover and the Dragonets of Destiny's quarters. She showed him the Art Cave, The Music Cave, and the classes (of which they weren't allowed into because classes were in session). Then finally, they ended at the Underground pools. 

"This is my favorite place." Scrollreader sighed as she came over and glanced into the crystal clear water. "It's so relaxing here as I can just... think for myself, you know?"

"Ha. You have no idea..." Shadowscale said as he released his barriers around his mind, only to hear the distant hums and Scrollreader's surprisingly tranquil mind.

"This is the place I come to when I just wanna be left alone." She said.

Shadowscale cocked his head. "Pardon if I say, but you never struck me as a dragon who enjoys alone time."

"Well..." she started, then sighed. "I do, and I don't. Sometimes, I like being around other dragons, Not a center of attention type but, you know... greeting, talking, making friends... but I also like this. Solitude, peace, and quiet. I don't know. I feel like when I'm around other dragons, I feel different. Like I'm SUPPOSED to be different... but here..."

She smiled as she glanced down at her talons. "I can be myself."

"And... what is yourself?" He asked.

"A NightWing named Scrollreader. Not Starflight's daughter, not the crazy blackish-purple dragon, not the scroll-obsessed dragonet who likes to meet and greet. Just a typical NightWing on the continent of Pyrrhia."

"Can you feel emotions?" Shadowscale asked out of the blue, startling the NightWing.

"What? Of COURSE-"

"I mean of other dragons." Shadowscale chuckled as her mind blew up with offense.

"I... uh... I honestly don't know..." She said after a while.

"I think you have a weak mind-reading ability as your mother does." He said, taking a step forward.

"I can't read minds, Fatespeaker thinks she can, but I don't-"

"It's not physical thoughts, but emotions. It could explain why you feel different around them all. You're an empath. Their emotions bounce off them and into you, leaving you feeling different, adapting to what they like and want in a dragon."

"How do you know this?" She asked. A little wary of him as he came closer. "What makes you think this has anything to do... with the ancient NightWing powers?"

"Well, firstly, the way you act around your mom and when around an area so charged with many emotions, and the difference of your attitude down here, far away from the others," Shadowscale said. He then grabbed her talons in his and smiled into her emerald green orbs.

"And I guess it helps that I can also read minds."

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand he finally told someone! I hope you liked this chapter! Stay home and Stay safe kiddos!