Chapter Text
A few days ago, Qibli’s life took a turn he hadn’t anticipated.
The SandWing had expected to remain Queen Thorn’s bodyguard for the foreseeable future, but he now found himself flying in the opposite direction of his queen.
He didn’t like leaving her behind. In fact, it made him want to scream. But he also knew that in his absence, she would remain completely safe. Thorn was a popular queen and had many formidable allies. It didn’t make logical sense to be concerned for her (but he’d worry anyways).
Besides, the War of SandWing Succession had been over for months now. Most SandWings had fully accepted Thorn as the rightful dragon to inherit the throne. If Blister’s demise somehow hadn’t convinced them yet, the Eye of Onyx incinerating the dragon named after it had to have been enough. He wondered if there was any other time in history in which something like that had happened.
The “dragonets of destiny”, who had helped to end the war (despite the false prophecy), had established a school for all tribes at Jade Mountain. It made sense to Qibli why they’d do this. After all, what’s the point of ending a war if you’re not going to take measures to prevent another? The queens of Pyrrhia evidently agreed, as they’d all agreed to send students from their tribes.
Which is how Qibli ended up in this situation. Not that he was complaining. He was extraordinarily grateful to have this opportunity. An opportunity that only five dragons from each tribe would receive.
In addition to himself, Queen Thorn had selected Ostrich, Pronghorn, Arid and Camel as the other SandWings to attend the academy.
He was quite familiar with Ostrich, but he didn’t really know much about the others. They weren’t former Outclaws; but if Thorn had deemed them worthy, Qibli wasn’t going to argue with that.
Six-Claws, Thorn’s most trusted general (and Ostrich’s father) would be the escort on their journey. Even in times of peace, it wasn’t a bad idea to be safe about these things.
Fortunately, Jade Mountain wasn’t a particularly far journey from Thorn’s stronghold. In fact, it was very close to the eastern border of the Kingdom of Sand. Even from the desert, Qibli could see its unmistakable shape on the horizon.
As the group made their way to the academy, Qibli felt that despite the fact he was flying forwards, his soul was trying to pull him in the opposite direction- back towards the Kingdom of Sand and the Scorpion Den. Where he’d been born, raised, and where all his memories lay- the good, and the bad.
The physical distance between him and his past was not putting him at ease. He tried to close his eyes to calm himself for a moment, but when he did, he only saw his grandfather staring back at him instead. He shivered.
You have to leave this all behind you. The Outclaws are your family. This is a new chapter of your life. Why can’t you just look forward to a fresh start? Why can’t you just-
He was startled out of his reverie by a nudge from his right. It was Ostrich, gazing at him with a concerned expression on her face.
“Sorry, Qibli! I didn’t mean to scare you like that. Are you… okay?” She tilted her head.
Qibli shook his head as if to clear it, and put on his winningest grin. “Oh, me? I’m doing just fine! I was just thinking about what’s ahead of us. It can be a little daunting thinking of all the stuff we’re going to have to learn. It’s going to be a big task. But not one I can’t handle!”
I hope. As much as he did believe that, he had this awful feeling that something was going to get in his way. He’d been too lucky to end up with the Outclaws. He was sure his past would come back to haunt him, eventually.
Ostrich nodded in agreement. “I think you'll do great, Qibli. I’m just going to do my best!” She chirped. Qibli smiled back at her, but couldn’t bring himself to say anything. Perhaps things would ease up for him, too, once he got to the academy.
He’d been so distracted by his own thoughts that he hadn’t even noticed how close they were to Jade Mountain. Figures he spotted in the distance slowly materialized into dragons the closer they flew.
Qibli was surprised to find that the entrance area was quite open. It was a large, flat-ground area carved into the side of the mountain that could easily house fifty dragons. For some reason, he'd expected something far more claustrophobic: perhaps a much smaller entrance leading immediately into dark, stuffy tunnels. The only walls resided on the far side of the area- the rest was entirely open. Speaking of tunnels, there were several branching off from this hub area, all of them well-illuminated by small light globes that dotted the ceilings.
As the SandWings touched down in the clearing, A jumpy NightWing with black-purple scales and gleaming amethyst eyes sprang forward to greet them.
“Hi! I’m Fatespeaker!" She chided. "Welcome to Jade Mountain Academy! We’re happy to have you here. Each of you, please take a copy of this scroll- it’ll be very useful for your orientation!” She dug into a satchel before pausing abruptly. "Hold on, why are there six of you?" Fatespeaker cocked her head.
Six-Claws shook his head. "I'm not a student, just an escort. Queen Thorn always puts safety first."
The NightWing nodded, quickly digging out five scrolls and handing off one to each of the SandWing students.
“You’ve been sorted into groups called winglets!” she explained. “These winglets are made up of one dragon from each tribe, for seven dragons total per winglet. Check out the scroll to see who your new clawmates are!”
He scanned the scroll and quickly located his name under “Jade Winglet”. It read:
"~Jade Winglet~
NightWing: Moonwatcher
RainWing: Kinkajou
IceWing: Winter
SandWing: Qibli (Hey, that’s me!)
SeaWing: Turtle
SkyWing: Peril
MudWing: Umber".
Okay. Knowing the names of my ‘clawmates’ is great for introductions, but it doesn’t tell me anything about what they’ll actually be like. Not just their personalities, but their core values. What they’re willing to die to defend. I'm going to need a lot more data there. A few weeks to gather most surface level info, a few months to find their secrets.
Huh? You don’t need to know their secrets, he reminded himself.
But it was second nature to him. Ever since he was a young dragonet, he’d seen most dragons as puzzles that could (or needed to) be solved. If you just found what made them tick, you could change your behavior to make them like you. Mostly. Wish it had worked on Mother…
Qibli clenched his jaw. No use dwelling on that. You’re a student now. And you’re here to make your queen proud.
Fatespeaker allowed the students to take a quick look at their winglet assignments before continuing. “For where you’ll sleep: your winglet has been split into three groups: two pairs, and one group of three. So, you’ll be sharing a sleeping cave with one or two other dragons.”
Hmm. Should I hope for a 3-cave, so I’ll have an ally to back me up if the third attacks me? I’d have to hope they would take my side in a battle. Or should I hope for a two and hope it’s someone I can reasonably beat in a fight? I should be safe here, but unfamiliar dragons are also unpredictable.
“It’s the first day, so we’re open to new assignments if anyone has an issue with the clawmate that was chosen for them! For that, you can talk to Tsunami- the grumpy-looking blue SeaWing.” she finished with a smile. So this is it, then.
Six-Claws then gave his goodbyes and well wishes to the five SandWing students. He then brought his daughter into a long hug, which prompted a feeling of jealousy to claw at Qibli. I wish Thorn were here. But I don’t want her to worry about me.
With a parting wave, Six-Claws took off back towards the Sand Kingdom. Ostrich stared in that direction for a long time, unsuccessfully trying to keep her wings from drooping. Pronghorn, Arid and Camel slowly began to split off, heading deeper into the mountain.
Qibli placed his right talons on Ostrich's left shoulder. “I sure hope nothing bad has happened to Thorn in the miniscule time we’ve been away from her so far.” He joked.
She giggled. "Of course not! You're ridiculous, Qibli." She paused for a while, before continuing, “...It’s not a bad thing to miss your parents, right?"
"No. Thorn might not be my mom, but she might as well be. And I miss her, too." Qibli admitted.
Ostrich nodded with a sad smile. "At least we're not alone there." Turning to him, she said, "You know, if you're ever going through something rough... You can tell me. That's what Outclaws do... we look after each other."
Qibli laughed. "I'll be fine. But you can come to me if you have any issues, too." He flashed a toothy grin. There's no way she could ever understand. "Well, I'm going to go scout out the rest of this place, then find my sleeping cave. I'll see you around." He bowed his head slightly.
"Oh! I understand. See you, Qibli!"
He then turned towards the other end of the cave, where the tunnels leading into the rest of the school lay.
“Remember, Qibli!!! Outclaws stick together!!!” Ostrich called out, waving her wings and smiling broadly. “That’s right,” he called over his shoulder, feeling a little bit of warmth to ease his nerves.
She's a great friend and a useful ally. But I don't know if I can trust anyone else here yet.