Nira dug through an old chest, piles upon piles of dusty old linens and clothes filling it. She selected a particularly old, moth eaten pair of her old riding gloves, long outgrown. That week, they were focusing on Scent Tracking.
      Hastily, she threw them in the pockets of her black shorts as she heard a knocking at the oak door. She pulled it open, revealing Skandar and Triton.

"Hey, Skandar! What're you doing over here so early?" Nira greeted him cheerfully, although she was rather tired.

"I brought you a gift!" He said, tossing something into her hands.

     It was Eclipse's white reins, the dragon in tow. Nira rolled her eyes.

"You're so kind. What an amazing gift." She said sarcastically.

"I know. Did you get something for her to track?"

"Yep." Nira responded, pulling the gloves out of her pocket and holding them up.

"God, these are small. How old are these?" Skandar asked, taking one and holding it up.

"I believe I was eleven years old when I got them." She told him, attempting to put the one he wasn't holding on. It didn't fit.

The small, leather glove was a light shade of brown. Nira held it in her palm, comparing it to her much larger hand. The gloves were four years old. Many people would hold onto them for sentimental values, but she wasn't one to keep things. Even if they held onto good memories.
The gloves were from a time when Nira's parents hadn't left to some unknown place, leaving her to live alone. They had known that she'd survive well, with two dragons helping her. But she still held resentment in her heart. When I win The Test, they'll be sorry that they left. She had thought scathingly.

"Let's get moving!" Skandar suggested, handing the glove back to Nira.

Nira climbed onto the already saddled Eclipse, and she roared a greeting. She stopped, looking back at the stable. She didn't have to stop for long, because Wisp came barreling out of the door, shrieking. He must have slept right through Skandar coming in and getting Eclipse.
Eclipse flicked her tail playfully, knocking the small Windracer off course slightly. He grumbed, flapping his wings harder to avoid spiraling into the ground.
Wisp hooked his claws around the back of Nira's saddle, settling in for the flight he knew would come. She reached back, scratching him behind the ears before grasping the reins and taking off.
         They rocketed over the long grasses of the plains, Eclipse's silver claws brushing the ground lightly. Hiding things at the lake wasn't as easy. The only trees were scraggly and thin, but the occasional boulder made good hiding places. Nira hastily covered one of the gloves with loose dirt, shoving it partially underneath a large rock.

"Are you done?" Skandar asked from down the bank.

Nira turned around and couldn't help but laugh. Skandar was hanging from Eclipse's head, covering her eyes with his gloves hands. She was attempting to shake him off, but to no avail. He held quickly.

"Yep!" Nira responded, jogging over.

Eclipse shook her head harder, throwing Skandar onto the ground. Nira snorted, holding up the glove for her dragon to sniff. Tail twitching, she crawled along the soil, nose to the earth. She seemed to be going in the right direction, and Nira was elated until she promptly walked right past the boulder.
Eclipse snorted, climbing atop the large rock and lying down. She was sunning herself in the morning light. Nira brought her hand to her face, stifling a laugh.

"Nice." Skandar snorted.

Nira called Eclipse over, and the dragon grumbled and stood up, leaping off the boulder and soaring over. She folded her wings against her silver sides, head cocked slightly.

"Let's try this again." Nira suggested, holding up the glove for a second time.

      After plenty of tries, Eclipse finally started to find the glove. It took her a while to sniff out the article of clothing, but it was something. Nira really didn't expect them to win that event, but that was okay. Only one rider had won every single event, and that was Snake. Snake, the last rider from Calem to win, disappearing with his dragon soon after. Presumed dead.
      Nira aspired to be like Snake some day. No, as good as Snake. She didn't want to mysteriously disappear one day.
       Nira's thoughts were interrupted when the glove that Eclipse had been hunting landed in her hand. She absentmindedly patted the dragon on her horned head, but she was imagining herself at The Test. Heroically patting her dragon as she went to accept the trophy, everyone clapping...

"Uh, Nira? You okay?"

     Her fantasy was interrupted by Skandar. She must have been lagging Eclipse for longer than she thought. Whoops.
     She chose to let that one slide and pretend that it never happened. The sun was setting, sending a pastel reflection over the lake in shades of blue and pink, accented with glimmers of gold. The wispy clouds glowed with colour, similar to the lake, glowing mostly orange or pink, shadowed with blue.
        The bright patterns reflected in Eclipse's scales as she and Nira flew home, gliding on a strong updraft. The dragon barely even had to flap her broad wings as she soared over the rolling terrain of the plains.