It had been a good 3 hours since Firefly and her friends depart Jade Mountain. Their flight was long and restless, but at least they were going to approach the outskirts of the Mud Kingdom soon.

During that 3 hours, some of the other dragonets would come to her to chat. Mire had explained that the bronze ring around her horn was animus-touched by her mother's good friend. It gave her fire resistant scales since she hatched without it and obviously required it in order to be around her own mother.

Lychee would look back every now and then to start small talk with her cousin aswell. They discussed what they imagined the Kingdom of the Sea to look like, what color Lychee's scales should be the next day, and whether or not the scavenger den they had passed still had any inhabitants.

None of the boys had the urge to talk to her though, except one.

Mirage suddenly stopped beating his wings to let the gentle morning breeze carry him backwards. He arrived gracefully at Firefly's side while Scarp took his place at the very front.

"Aren't you supposed to be the one leading us to your home ?" Firefly joked.

"Don't worry, Scarp said he knows the way," Mirage assured her. "But .... He's already going the wrong way..."

"A LITTLE BIT TO THE LEFT, SCARP !" he yelled to the dragon up ahead.

"HAH !" Nemertea exclaimed instead. "I TOLD YOU SO !"

"HahA I ToLd YoU sO HAh !" the Skywing mocked in a high pitched voice.

"Why you pompous smoke-breather !"

"This is entertaining," Mirage said quietly.

"I think you just found their soulmates," Firefly remarked. They both laughed as the dragons upfront continued to quarrel.

Silence fell upon them soon, the only sound they were producing was their synchronized wingbeats. Say something, Firefly ! Why did he even come all the way back here ?

"So.." she started, trying not to sound awkward. "What was it like to grow up on an island ?"

Mirage squinted his black eyes at the sky and took time to plan out his answer. "It was a little bit lonely, honestly."

"Are you an only dragonet too ?"

He nodded. "Don't get me wrong, my parents are so much fun and our home is usually very lively, but I didn't know any other dragons at that time."

Firefly raised an eye ridge. "Don't you have like 31 uncles ? Doesn't that mean lots of cousins ?"

"Yeah, but they all live in either the Deep Palace or the renovated Summer Palace. You know I don't like swimming."

He paused. Firefly thought he must be feeling quite sad at that moment but then looked right into Firefly's emerald green eyes and beamed. "That's why I was so excited to go to Jade Mountain Academy."

She stared into his pure black eyes, entranced by them yet again. Those eyes had happiness, pride, and if Firefly looked deep enough, they had a sense of longing in them too. Why is it always so hard to look away from his eyes ?

"Apparently you were also excited to make her your girlfriend and introduce her to your parents," Arete, who had been quiet for most of their journey, snickered.

Firefly's ruff flared pink while Mirage's snout and ears grew orange.

"I.. don't .. That was not original the plan.. I.." he scrambled for the right words as his face became darker and his wingbeats turned frantic.

"Aaaawww... !" Lychee cooed. "He's blushing !"

"It's okay to express your feelings, Mirage," Mire teased. Are you kidding me ? Even Mire is teasing us ?

Nemertea snorted. "But maybe not on your face next time."

"Are we going to ignore how hilarious Firefly looks ?" Scarp chimed in.

"Hah ! She's all pink !" Arete pointed a talon at the pink-ruffed Rainwing at the back. "I bet that means lovee~"

Red seeped into Firefly's Rainwing scales as she retorted back. "Well do you know what this color means ?"

"Let me guess ; burningly hot love ?"

"No," Firefly said sweetly. "It means : eat your tail you son of toad."

Everyone else tried to smother their laughs as Arete threw a hissing fit at the now smug Firefly.

Once she had composed herself, Mire decided to finally stop them. "Okay, that's enough. Mirage, can you go back to the front ?"

Mirage gave Firefly an apologetic smile before beating his wings faster to get to his original position in their slightly crooked diamond formation.

Clandestine, who had been silently watching the whole thing, gave Firefly a sideways glance once Mirage had passed her.

Firefly knew exactly what she was going to say.You were listening to our minds, weren't you ?

The petite Nightwing smiled and gave a small nod, answering the unspoken question.

I don't even want to know what you heard.

Note : Sorry this chapter is a bit short !

Also, I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I have an art book now ! My art is definitely not the greatest but I'm practicing :)