Lotus

Chapter 21

It ended up taking Marmoset at least another hour to run those tests, possibly more. Most of them were completely unnecessary, but it wasn't like I could've done anything about it. Marmoset wouldn't have listened to me anyway.

When I eventually escaped his grasp, I made my way to the sleeping cave I shared with Sienna, hoping that she would be there. When I stepped into it, I glanced around the small space. She wasn't there. 

I was about to turn around to check somewhere else when something pounced on me from behind, tackling me to the ground. I strained my eyes up to see who it was.

"Kamala! I'm so glad you're okay," exclaimed Sienna as she proceeded to practically strangle me in a hug. I tried to respond, but since she had squeezed all of the air out of me, my mouth opened and closed a few times without a sound.

"She won't be for long if you keep hugging the life out of her, Sienna," Kosan said with a snicker. Sienna smacked his head with her tail. "Ow!"

We sat there for a moment, and her grip around me tightened. "I was so worried," she whispered. "I couldn't...not again…" 

Before I had a chance to wonder at what she was thinking, I felt two more bodies slam I to us from behind. Cairo and Walnut. I unwillingly let out a small strangled sound as I continued to get smashed.

"I can't breathe," I somehow managed to force out of my lungs. Or maybe I just said it in my head. It was either that, or they were just completely ignoring me, since they continued to smoosh me for another long minute or so.

After what seemed like ages, they finally let me go. I tried to suck in mouthfuls of air as discreetly as I could as I smiled appreciatively. As much as I didn't particularly like being squashed by other dragons, it was nice to see that they cared about me enough to do so. 

"We're so glad you're okay, Kamala," Walnut said.

"Yeah," followed Cairo. "I mean, who else could we go to when we need medical attention and Marmoset is being annoying?" Kosan snorted, and smacked her head with his tail just as Sienna had done to him a few minutes before. "Ow! What was that for?!"

The two started bickering, with Walnut and Sienna throwing in comments here and there. Not wanting to get involved, I took a few steps backward. I let my eyes wander for a moment, until they stopped on Gemini's. He was watching the others argue, but he must've felt my gaze, since he then made eye contact with me. I smiled slightly, and he moved around the group and came to a stop next to me.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"..."

Wow, Kamala. Excellent communication skills.

"It's, uh...good to have you back." 

"Thanks. Oh, and thanks for not squishing me. My lungs appreciate it."

Gemini laughed at that. I did so as well, glancing at him. I then realized that I felt a little twang of something new inside. Something...weird.

Deciding it would be best to ignore it, I moved my attention back towards the conversation. "So, would you be able to tell me exactly what happened? I tried asking Marmoset, but…" I shrugged a bit, knowing he would understand what I was getting at.

He nodded, and proceeded to explain what had happened. Apparently, someone had put the school's small bottle of Letalis oleander all over the supply of fruit for that day. When they got me to the healing center, those who had eaten the fruit were already in there, including all of the other RainWings, Cerastes, and Iva. He told me that I must have been able to remember at least most of the antidote for the poisoning, because when Marmoset got there, he finished it up fairly quickly and administered it to us right away. They then just had to wait a few days until it did its job.

"You know, Kamala," Kosan broke in. "If there's one dragon you should be thanking, it's Gemini. He was the one to first notice that you weren't looking good, and to suggest you get to the healing center. If you had gotten there any later, you wouldn't have had enough time to make the antidote."

"Yeah," Cairo said. "He was also the one that helped you to not drop all of the ingredients and make a huge mess instead of a cure."

I thought back to it, only vaguely remembering splotches of color, including a red one. "Really? I don't really remember much of it, but thank you." I met his eyes, and felt the little twang again.

He just shrugged, and looked away. I wasn't sure, but I could've sworn he looked a little redder in the face than usual. I opened my mouth to say something else when another, more important thought came to mind.

"What have the teachers done about this?" I asked.

Sienna spoke up this time. "Well, they can't really do much. No one knows who did it, so they've only been able to do what they can, such as taking more safety precautions when it comes to food and such, and trying to keep everyone calm. They're still working a bit on that last one, but I think everyone has accepted by now what happened, and have mostly moved on. They're going to allow the students the weekend to spend with their families, but they think it's probably best to resume a normal schedule as soon as possible."

"Good. And, uh...I mean, did anyone..." I said, afraid of the question, but even more so the answer.

"No," she said quietly. "Everyone survived." I let out a slow breath, soothing my nerves. It was silent for several minutes, until Kosan decided to speak.

"Well, on a lighter note, what do you guys want to do now?"

There was a little muttering, and I thought about my stomach, which I had just realized was very empty. "Can we go to the Prey Center?" I said, speaking up. "I'm starving." 

Everyone nodded and voiced  their agreement. "Sure!" Kosan even said. "As long as you don't eat any poisonous mangoes." 

We all groaned at that. "Too soon, Kosan. Too soon."

.....

This is a bit random, but I'm just wondering, do you guys like it when authors have after notes like this one? A lot of the material I've read on here has little notes the end of each chapter, while others don't. Personally, I don't much care either way, but I'm sure there are some people out there who feel more inclined to one or another.

I guess another question is, do you guys want me to start writing more of these little things at the end of every chapter or so? I've only done it a couple times, since I don't always know what to say. I mean, there isn't always something to be said about what you just read in the actual chapter, and though it is polite, it feels weird to always be thanking my readers or apologizing for a 'bad chapter', like many authors do.

On the other hand, it's often nice to see how the author feels about their own work, and sometimes where their inspiration comes from. Depending on the author, you even get to find out a little about what they're doing in their lives. At the same time though, does anyone actually care about the author's thoughts? If anything, they probably just want more of the actual story instead, and hearing more from the author that isn't actual plot is meaningless and unnecessary nonsense.

Or am I just totally overthinking this, and none of it really matters because literally no cares either way?

Anyway, that's my spiel for the day. If you have any thoughts about all of that, let me know. I'd love to hear your opinion about it.

And of course, thanks for reading!

XLizzyMX