This story is created and written by Soft Raspberry.
Agate Academy
Azure and lavender and emerald and crimson wings swirled around her head and smacked into each other with sharp spikes of pain. Curved claws scratched on the rock and accidentally stamped on her foot. Her head was swimming with fear and spotting a few NightWings with silver teardrop scales made it worse, realizing they surely must be listening in to her thoughts. Their eyes were scrunched shut tightly, chin trembling slightly when a SkyWing or SandWing would shout replies over each other.
A bright lime green and sky blue SeaWing with twirled horns and light flecks of purple, Seafoam was a dragon who liked staying in her deep sea cavern, all by herself, secluded, reading scrolls with words packed in neat rows, munching on sea crabs. She definitely did not want to go to a school jammed with noisy, rowdy, young dragonets. It was all her mother’s decision to make her go to this school filled with dread and learn something useful, she had said.
“Are you ever going to read something other than those scrolls you love?” her mother had screeched at her when they splashed out of the ocean once. “Will I have to drag you to a school?”
Seafoam had twisted her claws and looked down sadly. “No.”
“Great, then. I’ll be enrolling you at Agate Academy. I’m glad to know I won’t have to drag you there,” she’d snapped, whipping around and diving back into the ocean.
Now that she was actually there, it was even worse, seeing the rock jutting out right at her side and above her and wondering if it was actually safe here like her mother had hastily promised. Banners brushed with thin gold paint and marked roughly with black paint with welcoming messages on them hung over her head with an imposing ‘you’re finally here’.
“Hello!” a female voice chirped in her ear. “Do you know what winglet you’re in?” Seafoam spun around and found a NightWing standing there and tapping her claw on a wooden clipboard with a paper pinned to it with dozens of names on it.
“No,” Seafoam whispered quietly.
“You are in the...Gold Winglet!” she announced dramatically. “You’ll be with Papaya, Honesty, Cloud, Snowdrift, Scorch and Fawn! They’re all really nice! I’ve met them all! You’ll share a cave with Snowdrift, Papaya, and Fawn. I know, that’s a really stuffed cave, but it’ll be fine! Right? Just walk down that cave and...there’ll be a cave that says ‘The Gold Winglet’.”
“Thanks,” Seafoam mumbled, swerving around and rushing toward her cave.
The halls were covered in light green vines twined delicately around the walls and miniscule flowers peeking out from cracks in the floor. She found a door with ‘The Gold Winglet’ and four beds in there. Hers, a small pool of water in a deep crater in the back of the room filled with crystal clear water, was most noticeably without much except water.
Three more dragonets tumbled in, laughing with each other and seeming totally bonded already. Her heart pounding loudly, she backed up to the corner and cowered there, taking deep breaths and trying to calm herself.
“Whoof!!” A vibrant RainWing Seafoam guessed was Papaya huffed. “Whoa! Who are you?” she asked when she detected Seafoam. “Seafoam, I guess. Well! I’m Papaya, this is Snowdrift, and THAT is Fawn!” She clapped her talons exuberantly and beamed.
“HELP!” a dragon shrieked. All four of them darted out and into the Prey Center.
There a SandWing was being wrestled by an invisible figure. A RainWing.
Seafoam gasped, a loud gasp that churned through the air and mixed with the snarls from both dragons. She flexed her claws and flicked her tail, anger bubbling to the top and spilling over. She had never been required to fight, given she usually huddled in a cave and scanned text with sharp eyes. But she had read about it plenty.
She lunged toward the figure that was not seen and, as her claws sank in and latched onto its scales, the RainWing’s scales shimmered into sight, a dark, inky black and dark purple and navy blue with white and silver splatters. Seafoam, scared beyond her own knowledge, raised her tail and smacked the dragon with it. The new dragon let go with a howl of pain and said, “I will be back,” before she fled abruptly out of the opening.
“That was Moonflower,” Papaya whispered. A dozen colors whisked through her scales, finally concluding on a pale green and pearly white.
“We’ll get her,” Fawn grunted. She rolled her neck around and crammed a pig into her mouth, chewing loudly.
“With my claws,” Snowdrift promised, claws twitching with certainty. “I’ll tear her apart like no one has ever seen.” She paused and then added, “She took a lot of prey.”
The SandWing on the floor wheezed in a breath and slowly secured his breath. A NightWing and a SkyWing tumbled in on top of each other and scrambled over to the SandWing, bickering blaringly. They hurled questions at each other and finally turned to the group.
“Whewf, more new dragons,” the SkyWing said flatly. “I’m Cloud.”
“Ohhhh, you’re the SkyWing in our group!” Papaya exclaimed. She pointed at the smirking NightWing. “You’re Honesty. And I guess that’s Scorch.”
“Yup,” Honesty said. “That’s me. Anyways. I’m going to bed now. If you guys want to tag along, go ahead.” He strided out of the cave, admiring his claws, and instantly Scorch and Cloud trailed him, Scorch still limping. Snowdrift, Fawn, Papaya, and Seafoam all glanced at each other and shrugged, deciding to venture back to their cave. They all padded quietly back without looking at each other.
When the group finally got back to their cave, Seafoam yawned and plopped down into her pool, Fawn splashed into her mud goop, Snowdrift slid silently onto her piercing cold ice shelf, and Papaya snuggled into her comfortably fit hammock.
After a few moments of silence, Papaya murmured sleepily, “Good night.”
...
“Seafoam. SEAFOAM!!” Fawn yelled into her ears, shaking her shoulders.
“Whattt??” Seafoam whined. “I was sleepingggg.” As she pried her eyes open, Snowdrift and Fawn were standing there with concerned looks on their faces. “Everything okay?”
“No. Papaya is missing and Honesty has a bunch of injuries,” Snowdrift explained.
Seafoam rubbed her head and grimaced. Her sleepiness, still lingering in the back of her mind, prohibited her from thinking straight. Snowdrift’s scales were shining brightly and sparkling with glory, and Fawn had not even a speck of mud on her. Seafoam peeped down at her own scales and winced again, realizing there were brushes of dirtiness and she was filthy.
“How did that happen?” Seafoam finally asked. Snowdrift and Fawn rolled their eyes in unison and sighed.
“Just come with us to the Healing Office,” Fawn offered. Seafoam nodded and they set off down the rocky hall, blinking and trying to swipe off any more straying drowsiness.
“I get the impression Honesty is snotty and obnoxious, but it’s the same with all NightWings. Can’t say I’m surprised,” Snowdrift remarked. Seafoam snorted.
As they waltzed into the room, they saw Honesty on the bed, coughing and wheezing.
Seafoam cringed when she saw him and she looked away quickly. Thick slashes were sliced onto his body and crusted blood clung onto his dry scales. His eyes were bloodshot and his front leg had a bandage wrapped around it.
“So we’re supposed to feel sorry for this pathetic walrus?” Snowdrift asked, scrunching up her snout and fanning the air in front of her like a rotten stench was dirtying the air.
“Yup,” Honesty rasped. “I know you hate me but Papaya’s missing and next all of you will be injured. So if you don’t help me to find this Moonflower, buh-bye.”
“I’ll help you,” Fawn supplied. “Just wait until I get my claws on her.” She curled her claws and smiled, a smile that told everyone she was fierce and don’t mess with me. Seafoam and Snowdrift nodded in agreement, though Snowdrift hesitated a bit.
“So...,” Seafoam started. “Snowdrift. You want to go look for Papaya with me?”
“Sure,” Snowdrift agreed. They rushed out of the cave and down through the halls, wings bumping each other on accident. Seafoam folded her wings in and crimped her tail into a tight spiral. As they passed the caves, they got glimpses of happy dragonets playing with each other and laughing heartily. They walked by the Prey Center, crowded with hungry dragonets stabbing their claws into squealing animals.
Seafoam and Snowdrift clomped down chunky rock stairs carved messily into cropped steps, serving as a staircase to deeper levels of the mountain. When they reached the bottom, a wide lake was in the center, filled with abundance of fish and coral. The whole clearing was lighted up with little snippets of dazzling sunlight, light happily singing its cheerful song. Small bushes filled with mysterious fruits grew in the dark corners, the bushes with wide green and blue leaves with red dots and orange and purple orbs of fruit.
Seafoam couldn’t resist the urge to jump into the small lake and swirl to the bottom. She automatically flashed her luminescent scales to tell Snowdrift that she was going to search in and around the lake for Papaya, but then realized Snowdrift couldn’t understand her. She popped up and out and quickly told Snowdrift what she was doing.
“Okay. I’ll search...over here,” Snowdrift replied, waving her claws vaguely toward the extra empty space. She scurried away and poked her head into various crevices, humming a light tune.
Seafoam popped back underwater and bumped the rock with her talons, a massive rock that covered most of the bottom of the lake. She tried to haul it up, and it was surprisingly light. What could be under there? Seafoam thought warily. She lifted it up easily and there was an empty space below with just a few mysterious items in leafy bags. Seafoam sank lower and sliced open the bags, objects tumbling out.
Most of it was just fruit, like oranges or pears, apples or bananas, or papayas or blueberries, but a few weapons flowed out also, like knives and daggers, even a small bottle of glowing green liquid. Seafoam knew immediately that these were Moonflower’s belongings. But how did she get all the way down here?
Muffled screams interrupted Seafoam’s thoughts and she gave a boost of energy to her wings to propel her up to the top. She bursted to the top and saw Snowdrift jumping up and down excitedly, and it took a second for Seafoam to discover she was okay.
“What happened?” Seafoam asked. Snowdrift was now whipping her claws around her face and pointing to a small opening in the rocky wall.
“I found her!” Snowdrift answered. “She’s right in there!” She tried to pry the wall open but wasn’t able to. “Why can’t I get in?”
“Eh, if the RainWing can get in, there must be a way,” Seafoam said. She raised her tail and slapped it against the wall, splitting it open with a loud crack. Inside, Papaya groaned, curled her wounded talons into a tight loop, and flopped over. She didn’t have any injuries, but you could tell she hadn’t been fed and had been beaten, though without physical wounds.
“I’ll take her up,” Snowdrift offered.
“Thanks,” Seafoam said sheepishly. “Any chance I can swim a bit longer? I found something interesting.”
Snowdrift shrugged and responded, “Sure. So long as you tell us what you find.” Seafoam agreed and dove back into the small lake and drifted to the bottom. The products had coasted to rest on the bottom and the knife was sticking out dangerously.
A cloaked dragon with sharp claws shot out of the hole and leaped onto Seafoam. She slit her snout and bright scarlet blood bubbled out. She gashed a few more places on her wings and back, Seafoam thrashing hopelessly, and, just as soon as she came, she left again and retreated back down into her hole. Seafoam’s head was spinning and her thoughts were all a daze. All Seafoam could do was float in the water and wait for someone to come get her...
...
“Eeessshh,” Papaya muttered above her. “Look at that one.” She waved her claws over Seafoam’s snout.
“I know,” Palm, the Agate Academy doctor, said patiently. “You’ve told me.” She breathed a spurt of fire onto a dry stick and placed it in a holder above the stone shelf, lighting up the room and providing a chance for Seafoam to squeeze her eyes shut.
“Okay, Seafoam. I take it this Moonflower gal attacked you, and you have some injuries. Take some of this cactus juice and you’ll be fine. You were scratched with some SandWing venom, but if you drink this and rub it onto your scratches, it’ll heal in no time! But literally. Only a few hours,” Palm told her. Hours felt like maybe a few eternities to Seafoam, but she’d take what she could get. It also explained why her clawed up snout burned right now, and her tail felt like icy water was seeping through it.
She snatched the bark vial of gooey white liquid and poured it all over her wounds and smeared it on the cuts. Almost instantly the burning and freezing feelings faded away until they were only faint pricks of pain.
“I’m almost done in here,” Honesty added with a smirk.
“Great for you,” Scorch snapped, rolling his eyes. Seafoam hadn’t realized he was in there, huddling in a dim corner with his obsidian eyes to the ground.
She glanced around and figured out Snowdrift, Cloud, and Fawn were there too. So maybe they do care about me?
Back in her small SeaWing village, which was presumably the deepest, everyone was either overly cheerful or stiff and grumpy. There weren’t many options for friends and if there were any her age, they too would have had stone carved faces or bright eyes Seafoam didn’t know how to deal with. Her mom wasn’t either, mostly just irrationally upset all the time, and her dad was one of those dragons who only cared about scrolls and reading.
She sighed. Maybe that was where she got her reading love from.
But since her parents didn’t seem to care enough to love her, and all the dragonets she knew were snobs, she didn’t have much experience with dragonets who thought she was worth knowing.
“Anyways,” Papaya interjected. “I want to go to the ocean tonight. Anyone up for it? I’ve never seen it before!”
That did sound like something Seafoam was interested in, though would she be well enough? Already knowing her question, Palm nodded agreeably when she looked up at her questionably.
“I’ll go,” Fawn, Cloud, Scorch, and Snowdrift chimed in. Then everyone looked expectantly at Honesty, who had the largest scowl on his scarred face. Ignoring them blissfully, he pretended to not notice them and tapped his claws on his stone shelf, angrily, and used his other forearm to study it intently.
Papaya cleared her throat a little louder than normal and flashed lime green, lemon yellow, and magenta pink in huge swirls on her scales.
“All right! I’ll go! But only if you stop that,” he compromised, squinting his eyes at the vibrant colors.
“Great! Meet me at our cave right before sunset, after we eat. And that reminds me! Seafoam, I brought you some fruit!” Papaya yanked a bag twined out of long strands of grass and large leaves, and pulled out a dozen colorful fruits. Seafoam gratefully took them and let the sweet juice make her feel happier.
“I’ll take some of those,” Honesty said, reaching toward the bag.
“Nope!” Papaya declared. “Only for Seafoam.”
Cloud and Scorch left the cave soon after, chatting together about fighting strategies and bragging about the awesome new queens they had. Soon after that, Fawn, Snowdrift, and Papaya said their goodbyes and plodded out of the cave, waving their talons at her. Then it was just her and a scowling, irksome NightWing complaining about how unfair it was to be in the Healing Office. She rolled her eyes every time he grumbled, “But it’ll scar! And then Stargazer and Intelligent will laugh their snouts off at me! It’s not fair!”
“All right!” Palm announced a few hours later. “Looks like we have a healthy SeaWing! You’re free to go!” She made an exciting noise and laughed when Seafoam smiled. Then she whispered, “The NightWing is good too, but I’ll keep him in here for a bit longer to annoy him.”
“Thank you,” Seafoam told her gratefully. “I’m a lot better now, thanks to you.”
“Anytime,” Palm promised.
Seafoam bounded out of the room jubilantly and into the Prey Center where numerous chickens and pheasants squawked around, trying to avoid hungry dragonets but catch their own prey at the same time. She spotted Papaya, Fawn, and Snowdrift easily and sauntered over there, where Fawn was munching happily on a flopped over squirrel. Papaya was staring disgustedly at her and chewing her own mound of fruit, sticky purple juice dripping down her snout. Papaya handed Snowdrift a starfruit, and, when Snowdrift shoved it in her mouth, she grimaced and spit it out in a mushy heap on the stone floor.
“Eeeyuck,” Snowdrift said, shaking her head and drinking a whole bowl of water. “That was disgusting.”
“It’s just that you have bad taste in foods,” Papaya told her, laughing. Seafoam took her own starfruit and was surprised when it tasted like a melting sunset in her mouth. She grabbed four more and stuffed them all into her mouth, savoring the sweet taste. “See, Seafoam likes them. Anyways. Let’s get down the ocean.” Her scales were a blinding pink and yellow and nearly made Seafoam’s eyes close out forever. From Seafoam’s limited study of RainWing scale colors, it meant Papaya was excited and happy. Scorch, Cloud, a grumpy Honesty joined them quickly.
“I know the way,” Seafoam said. “I can lead us there.” She spread her wings and leapt out of the opening in the cave wall. It was an especially dreary day, clouds covering the sun but still a wet, sticky humidity hung in the air. A light mist made their wings slick, and Seafoam hated it, though Papaya looked like this was her everyday adventure. She even turned herself invisible at one point, and Seafoam was scrambling to find her when she popped up right next to her, scaring the three moons out of her.
After a couple long moments of flying, the sea was spotted on the southern horizon of their view. Papaya’s scales went through many changes and swishes of colors, and she flapped her wings harder. Seafoam dove down through the sky and toward the ocean, sparkling in the mist. When she arrived above it, she cannonballed into it with a loud splash, and twirled back out with a boost of speed from her wings.
“Oooo,” Papaya cheered. Seafoam hopped back out and shook her wings dry.
A loud hiss interrupted Papaya’s shout and a blue, black, and purple RainWing stalked toward them. Moonflower, Seafoam thought, panicking. Cloud jumped on her and tried to sink his claws into the vulnerable spot on her tail, but she spurted a blast of venom at him and he had to duck out of the way before he could hurt her.
After Moonflower finally hit him with a tiny glob of black goo, Fawn did bite her tail and got rewarded with a howl of pain. Then, without noticing her fear, Seafoam dug her claws into the ground and shot herself toward Moonflower. She scratched her claws on her snout and hit her with her powerful tail. Even though Moonflower was moaning, her energy hadn’t disappeared. She threw both Fawn and Seafoam off her simply and roared, narrowing her eyes at her.
Papaya suddenly appeared on Moonflower and spat a dark spot of sizzling venom into one of her scratches made by Fawn and into her eyes. Papaya was light, so Moonflower could throw her off the same she did with Fawn and Seafoam, but Papaya had excellent skills from life in the rainforest and clung on desperately.
Seafoam could tell Papaya was struggling so much and breathing hard but she distracted Moonflower long enough for Scorch to sneak up behind her and Snowdrift to call up some frostbreath. Honesty was sitting in the ocean, grumbling about how annoying Palm was. Scorch raised his tail and stabbed Moonflower in the tail, and her wails got louder and louder. Snowdrift breathed a plume of frostbreath on her claws and talons, paralyzing her and making her into a frozen statue.
Scorch and Papaya finally backed off and let her stand there and cry. She had several melted black spots everywhere from Papaya, numerous scratches from Fawn, Seafoam, and Cloud, a large bloody gash from Scorch’s tail, and an icy sheet of snowflakes from Snowdrift’s frostbreath. Each breath she took was wheezy and every time it got shorter and shorter.
“You...dragonets think that...working together is...better,” Moonflower gasped. “But you’ll...see soon, it’s...always better...to be alone.” At her last words, her eyes closed peacefully and her raspy breathing was at an end.
...
Everybody was in the Healing Office. Everyone had injuries, except Honesty, who claimed he ‘didn’t want to mess you guys up,’ although, everyone knew it was just for selfish reasons.
Cloud had a little splotch of RainWing venom on his shoulder, but Palm decided it would heal very quickly. Fawn had two bite marks on her tail, but once those were sealed with a healing ointment, she left to go eat about a thousand chickens. Seafoam herself only had various scrapes with crusted red blood, but those didn’t take long to heal either. Instead of excusing herself like Fawn did, she stayed to watch the rest of them heal. Papaya’s, Snowdrift’s, and Scorch’s injuries were similar to Seafoams’, though for some reason it took longer to cure them.
But in no time, school was back to normal, with all the dragonets happily learning.
The End