Lotus

Chapter 17

I quickly picked out a scroll, and headed to one of the back corners of the cave. The scroll was on the different medical practices of the various dragons across Pyrrhia. I was rather curious to see how they compared to what we did in the rainforest.

Sienna sat with me for a while, reading her own scroll. Though I didn't see what it was about, she seemed fascinated by its contents. She made little noises over every so often, seemingly without realizing it.

We sat in silence for a long time, both of us caught up in our own scrolls. Sienna eventually wandered off to find her brother, leaving me alone with my own thoughts.

Some time passed by before I felt someone tap lightly on my shoulder. I looked up, and was surprised to find Gemini there.

"Gemini! Hey!" I said quietly.

He smiled slightly, but looked uneasy. "Do you have a minute?"

I nodded and rolled my scroll back up, then turned my full attention to him. He sat in the spot Sienna was earlier, and fiddled with one of the small pebbles on the ground. "I was wondering, um…what is it like being a hybrid?"

I was a little surprised, to be honest, by that question. I guess I should've expected someone to ask me that at some point in my life, but for some reason, I didn't.

Gemini must've seen the surprise on my face, because he started to elaborate. "I mean, I've lived my whole life as a SkyWing, so I have no idea what it's like being anything else, especially how it is with you." He seemed to realize something, a slight look of panic coming over his face. "Oh, goodness, that was offensive wasn't it? Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything--"

"No, no, it's okay. Seriously, don't worry about it," I assured him, and he seemed to relax a bit. "I understand what you're trying to say." I was quiet for a few moments, thinking about what I should say. "First, I just want to say that I'm not entirely sure if this is going to be the same for you, given your unique situation."

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I just need to have some idea of what's going to happen from now on. I can't go headfirst into it without having some sort of idea of what's coming."

I nodded, understanding how he felt. I took a moment to collect my thoughts, thinking back to the times I've spent around other dragons. "Well, I guess I should start with saying (and I apologize for being blunt) that you'll most likely never be fully accepted into society again. There are going to be dragons who say you will, but that's just not the truth. Maybe it will be someday, but right now, it just...isn't. Most dragons think that they're superior to the other kinds of dragons, and that the mixing of genes between them ruins the purity of their bloodline. This supposed 'impurity' leads to them treating us as lesser beings." My thoughts flashed to memories of going into the busiest section of the RainWing village with my father. "Though most dragons are civil enough not to get physical about these prejudices, they have an air about them, and a look in their eye that shows how they really feel."

"Harsh," muttered Gemini, looking down.

"Yeah," I replied. "It kind of is." I looked away, staring intently at nothing in particular. "But I can't blame them. That's just how they were raised. I probably would've done the same if I were in their position." I blinked hard focusing back on the present. "Since I wasn't, though, there wasn't much I could really do about it except live with it."

I wasn't sure what else to say at that point, so I decided to not say anything at all. We sat in an awkward silence for a moment. "Is there...anything else? Something I should be prepared for?" Gemini flicked the pebble he had been fidgeting with across the floor.

I thought about it for a minute. Was there anything else? I thought back to more of the days I spent in the rainforest, trying to talk to some of the other dragonets my age and them pretty much ignoring me. I thought about a feeling that I had then, one that I hadn't known the name for at the time. Thinking about it now, I finally understood what it was. "You're probably going to feel lonely. Even though you're surrounded by dragons, possibly ones who say that they care about you despite all of your flaws, you'll still feel like you're the only one going through these struggles." I thought about my father and Walnut trying to make me feel better when the other dragonets blew me off those first few times, and remembered how they were never really able to give me the comfort I needed. "Because in some ways, you are."

I didn't realize until then that I had been clenching my talons. I forced them to relax, and I looked up at Gemini. I waited until he looked me in the eye.

"It's okay to feel that way sometimes, though. It's just a natural part of our lives, especially as a hybrid." I took in a deep breath, and cleared those memories from my head. After a moment, I shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure what else to say, except that if you ever need to talk to someone about it, you can always come to me."

Without saying anything, Gemini smiled slightly at me, and placed his talons gently on mine. A silent thank you passed between us, along with a mutual understanding.

We sat there for a while, and listened as a heavy thunderstorm began rolling in slowly from a distance.