Lotus

Chapter 12

"Pick up the pace. I don't want you dawdling and distracting the other students who are trying to work."

My entire winglet was following closely behind Sulfur as she wound through the hallways. "What are we doing?" Stormkeeper muttered behind me.

In front of me, Kosan turned around slightly, looking back at her. "Sulfur isn't letting us into her classroom. It looked like some of the other students made a huge mess of things in there, so I think she's taking us to another teacher while she cleans it up."

Before Stormkeeper had a chance to respond, Sulfur burst into the art cave. "Oriole!" The maroon Skywing moving between the other dragons flinched, then moved over to Sulfur.

"What?" Oriole whispered back. 

"I need you to take my winglet for today."

"Wait, what? Why? I already have both the Gypsum and the Copper winglets todsy. I can't manage a third on my own."

Sulfur seemed to think for a moment. "Alright, well, I'll go grab Marmoset, then. I doubt he's doing anything useful right now, so he might as well come help you out in here."

"Hold on, why can't you just teach your own winglet?"

Sulfur growled a bit, clearly losing her patience. "A few of my other students got into some of the chemicals, getting toxic matter all over my cave." She then gestured to us. "I obviously can't let my students in there, can I?"

Oriole made a face, but then nodded. "Fine. But you better make Marmoset come quickly. There's only so much I can do at once."

Sulfur didn't say another word at that; she just turned around and left. Well, that was...weird.

Oriole rubbed her head a bit, as if she could feel a headache coming on. She then looked at us. "Sorry you had to hear all that. I have nothing against teaching you, but it seems like she does this kind of thing a lot to me." She shook her head. "Well, I guess just go find a spot to squeeze yourself into. It's just a free work day." She then began walking through her other students, helping if any of them asked. 

I watched as the rest of my winglet slowly moved into the main area of the cave, moving into spots that were still open, and working on whatever project had been started there.

It took me a moment to realize that I should be doing the same, but at that point, most of the spots were already gone. I scanned the cave, looking for an open one. I found one near two IceWings, but they both glared viciously at me. Yep, that's a no.

I finally found a spot next to a NightWing. She was molding clay, into what I had no idea. I sat down next to her. My nerves started buzzing the way they did every time I met someone new, but I stamped them down, forcing them to do this anyway. I was trying to think of what to say, but she beat me to it.

"I'm Cosmichunter," she said, glancing over slightly at me. She didn't say anything else, but continued to look at me.

I felt a little uncomfortable, and I tried to think of what to say back. "Uh, I'm Kamala." That answer seemed to satisfy her, and she turned back to her clay. "What are you making?"

She shrugged, with a slightly dazed look on her face. "I don't know yet. I'm kinda just letting my mind drift off and seeing where that takes me. Want to join me?" I smiled a little, and she pulled off a hunk of the clay she was working with. "Remember, don't think about what you're making. Just let your mind drift."

She plopped the clay down into my talons, and I set it down on the table. Just let your mind drift. I sunk my talons deep into the clay and started moving it around. It reminded me of the mud in the rainforest: thick and sticky, though not exactly uncomfortable. It caused a memory to come to mind; one that I had practically forgotten about, because I was so little.

My first and only memory of my mother.

I stood behind the thick trunk of a tree, watching as a white dragon landed next to my father. They nuzzled each other for a moment, and then began talking to each other. I couldn't hear what they said because it was raining so hard, but I sensed some worry from them.

There was a flash of light, and a few moments later, a loud rumbling resounded over the treetops. I let out a small yelp, and scurried over to where my father was standing. I clutched his forearm, squeezing my eyes closed. The thunder was always the scariest part of the storm.

"Kamala," my father said to me, stroking my back. "Open your eyes and meet you mother." 

My eyes popped open. My mother? I had never had anything like that before. I looked at the white dragon, whose scales seemed to have a faint glow in the dim light. I didn't recognize anything about her, but I felt a small tug inside of me, something familiar. I slowly moved over to her, and after a slight hesitation, I put my talons on hers. I looked up at her, and she had a huge smile on her face. There was something sad about it, though, and I wanted to make her feel better. I nuzzled her a little, and she did it back.

"I love you so much, my little lotus," she whispered in my ear. Then she was gone. 

I stood there in the rain for what felt like hours after that, feeling the thick mud in between my talons and the rain dripping down my face. As it turned out, the thunder wasn't really the scariest part of the storm.

Kamala.

"Kamala!"

I jolted back into reality, looking down at the clay that I had pulverized between my talons.

"A--are you okay?" I turned to my left to find Gemini, who was looking at me, concerned. "You're, um, crying."

I put my talons to my face, feeling the water beneath my eyes. I shook my head a little, then responded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just...remembered something that I had forgotten about. That's all."

He didn't seem entirely convinced by that explanation, but he didn't press me any further. "Well, the class is over, and everyone is heading to the Prey Center for lunch. Are you coming?"

I nodded, and he moved towards the cave's entrance. I quickly wiped my eyes, and washed the clay left on my talons off at a small water basin in the back of the cave. I walked back to where Gemini was waiting for me, and when I reached him, he offered me a small smile.

As we walked out of the art cave, I realized that I missed the mother I never really knew more than I ever had before.