"How was school today, Murgatroyd?"

Troyd stood in front of Culuphom, water dripping off his body. His azure eyes were wide with shock. His mouth gently hung open. Slow breaths flowed in and out of his body. They were at the counter of Culuphom's Pad, on opposite ends. Scoria came from the corner. You should have listened to me, his expression said.

Concern flashed across Culuphom's face. "Murgatroyd? Are you there? What happened?"

It was early in the morning. Troyd woke up from his slumber and rolled onto his belly. He stretched his limbs, and swiftly headed up to the Pad to meet up with Culuphom and Scoria for breakfast.

It had been a moon since Troyd started attending school. So far, it was everything Troyd had hoped for! He learned new things, like maths and kingdom history, and big shiny words like distortion and selcouth. And he had his friends Silverpoint, Marge and Clove beside him the entire time!

Culuphom was at the counter, wiping a mug. He waved at the dragonet. "Good morning, little one. Sleep well?"

Troyd nodded. "Yep! Didn't have any dreams."

Troyd didn't have many dreams. If anything, dreams were rare for him, like precious gems buried underground. The few dreams he did have were merely reflections of his current situations. Like being ignored on the streets in cold nights. Or silently burning in the heat.

Culuphom tilted his head. "Oh. No dreams are better than a nightmare, wouldn't you agree?"

Troyd nodded in agreement. "Yeah... where is Scoria?"

Culuphom pointed to the rock dragon ahead. He was pacing around in the other side of the restaurant, shaking his head and being in a state of unsureness that Troyd could easily detect. Troyd immediately ran over to Scoria.

Scoria stopped. Troyd frowned. "Scoria... you ok?"

Scoria dipped his head. 'Yeah. Just worried about something.'

"Aw... what is it?"

'An adult thing.' Scoria signed. He looked down at Troyd, and handed him a piece of bread. 'Murgatroyd... if your friends ask you to do anything you're uncomfortable with, can you promise me you'll stand up? Please?'

Simply standing up for himself? That was easy peasy. Troyd nodded excitedly. "Of course I will! No one tells me what to do."

A tiny smile formed on Scoria's face, but the worry did not leave his eyes. 'Good.'

With that, Troyd left for school. The weather was partly cloudy and the sun didn't burn him up. Yes... today will be a fine, normal day! Troyd was excited to be with his friends. He looked forward to seeing them every day. Mostly Silverpoint. Sure, Clove and Marge were fun, but Silverpoint was the one out of the bunch that understood him the most. And Troyd loved being understood.

He came through the open doors of the school, and took his seat next to Silverpoint and his friends. They shared a blobby, rounded table. Other dragonets shared their own tables, most of which didn't want anything to do with him. Sometimes other dragonets would pick on him for his size or not knowing everything everyone else knew. But his friends always stood up for him!

Troyd pouted. "Aw... how come you always get here earlier than me? I wake up before Culuphom's Pad opens!"

Clove smirked. "We're just better than you."

Silverpoint jabbed Clove in the side with her tail. "Clove! How insensitive!"

"I sleep in, but I live super close to here." Marge explained. "And you live on the other side of the kingdom!"

"I live in the middle of the kingdom!" Troyd fumed, his ears folded back. "And this school is also in the middle! I wish I knew the sciency math behind all this..."

"Maybe you just need a bigger brain, chum." Clove sneered.

"What's a chum?" Troyd asked. He was curious and oblivious of how Clove was treating him.

Clove and Marge exchanged amused glances. Silverpoint frowned at them and turned to Troyd. "A chum is a close friend... but it's also a fish. We're good friends, right? Otherwise they wouldn't have called you that."

Troyd looked down at his scales. They were very light, slightly purple. "Maybe I am a fish..." he murmured to himself. "Do I look like a fish?"

Silverpoint gestured to Marge with her tail. "No. She does though."

"Because I'm a sea dragon!" Marge chimed.

She spread her wings, and the spots on her body flashed with bright colors. Troyd shielded his eyes. For some reason, when he saw bright colors or light, his eyes hurt and he got a headache. If the colors flashed between each other or on and off, however, Troyd never remembered a scewed 42 seconds of his life. The teacher said that Troyd might have something called "epilepsy," but Troyd refused to believe so. He didn't want any more pity than he already had for being homeless.

Marge suddenly remembered that Troyd didn't like flashy colors, and closed her wings. "Whoops. Heh heh..."

A few seconds later, the teacher walked in. Class had started. The teacher went on to talk about the subjects they've been studying, like how magic dragons, cursed dragons, were to be feared and instantly reported. About how the cursed had ended so many innocent lives to ease their own megalovania. Troyd didn't know what that meant, but it sounded bad, so he took their word for it. And why wouldn't he? He was learning from the school! The very place giving him true knowledge!

Soon it was time for recess. Troyd followed his friends outside to the school field. There wasn't much to do in physical terms. Running and walking around was already done enough. The school didn't have much sports equipment for there to be any official games out of PE. So Troyd and his friends decided to play pretend.

Troyd pretended he was an inventor. He picked up twigs and leaves and tied them together using strands of long grass, and attached them to his body. He'd always wanted to fly, and this fictional profession made it possible. Silverpoint pretended to be a royal guard. Marge pretended to be a baker. Clove pretended to be cursed with the ability to make plants grow at his command.

They had a lot of fun, but soon they'd have to go back inside and continue learning. That was one thing that sucked about being in school... not enough play time.

"Say... let's skip class." Clove suggested.

Troyd's ears instantly perked up. "What?! No, we can't! That's breaking the rules!"

"It's not breaking the rules if no one else knows." Clove added nonchalantly. "Besides, if we leave now, they won't notice us gone. We can be free to pretend wherever we want. Speaking of which, where should we go?"

"I say we go to the river!" Marge chimed.

"I say we go back to class and pretend this never happened!" Troyd cried. "Silverpoint, back me up here!"

Silverpoint looked at Troyd, then at Clove and Marge, who stood together. Silverpoint sighed. "I'm sorry, but they're right. We should skip class. I haven't basked in the river or felt free in moons... I know you're new here, but trust me, Murgatroyd; sooner or later you'll be wanting out too. So why not join us while we have the chance?"

Troyd processed this. Either he could break the rules and hang out with his friends and be free of learning for the rest of the day, or he could refuse and learn alone, with no one to protect him. Troyd slumped, and begrudgingly agreed to come along with them. I hope I won't regret this, he thought.

One by one, Silverpoint, Marge and Clove lit up in excitement. Clove lead them to the edge of the school field, where a fence separated them from the outside world. He simply climbed over it. Silverpoint and Marge flew over it. Troyd decided to do it his own way, and went under the fence.

Troyd looked back at the school, worry flowing over his body. "M-maybe we should head back... the teacher is calling everyone."

Marge laughed. "Now? That's the time you don't want to be back! You'll surely get in trouble! We're already free. If we back down now, they'll sense our weakness and punish us. Punish you, since you're the one that wants to go back so badly."

"Ok FINE! I'll stick with you guys." Troyd grumbled.

His only friends cheered. They raced each other through the town roads and fields, and eventually made it to the river. There was a bridge going over it, and they were on the edge of it. The water rippled below them. Today was a calm day, and so was the river.

Marge flashed a smile at the group. "Last one in is a rotten egg!" She squealed.

Marge lept off the bridge and dove into the river. Her shape disappeared underneath, then resurfaced. She chortled and beckoned more of the group to join her in the water. Clove was the next, and he bundled himself up in a ball midair before splashing in the water. He laughed too. It all seemed like so much fun...

Silverpoint gave him an understanding look. "It's ok." She reassured. "The water is cold at first, but you quickly get used to it. And it's not that far of a fall! The water is safe. It will catch you. You won't get hurt." She smiled. "Promise."

With that, she joined them in the below. Troyd looked down at them. They were splashing each other with water and laughing and having fun. Troyd wanted to have fun with them. Closing his eyes, he took a step off the bridge, and fell off.

The water caught him. A cold feeling raced across his body, across every single scale, even his eyes and mouth. The water was fresh, but it also tasted slightly putrid. Troyd spat out the water, but only more came in. What is going on?! He thought, splashing his paws in the water with no effect of getting it to stop flooding his mouth. Why can't I breathe?!

And then Troyd remembered something very important. He can't swim.

Troyd opened his mouth to scream for help, but water was all that he got. He flailed in the water. It got in his eyes and it went down his throat unwillingly. Into his lungs. His chest burned. His limbs burned. He kept flailing and splashing, but his friends were too busy having fun to notice him struggling to function at all.

HELP ME! Troyd screamed. But his voice fell on deaf ears. Marge and Clove were tackling each other, diving in and out of the water with ease. Even Silverpoint was distracted with them. Troyd tried to splash at her, but he could barely control himself. His panic made it impossible to signal to his friends that he was in danger.

Blots of his vision started to become unseeable. His ears rang like a bell was trapped in them. His mind became fuzzy and his limbs weren't as frantic as before. His energy was depleting, faster than he could comprehend. He was being sealed in a watery grave, whether he liked it or not.

Troyd's mind was too fuzzy to think of his family or anything he liked and would miss. Of Scoria. Of Culuphom and Hoita and Cathorn. Of his friends and how careless they were. In fact, he couldn't think anything. His eyes glazed over, and he felt the burning sentation in his chest become numb. Everything was slowly fading right before his eyes.

He reached out a final time, trying to grasp a hand to save himself... but that hand never came. The last thing Troyd saw was Silverpoint abandoning him for Marge and Clove. Because then, his eyes closed, and the darkness in his mind swallowed him whole.

"I saved you, my Sun."

"Get up."

"Get up, Murgatroyd."

Troyd's eyes opened. He was on the bank of the river, in the gravel sand and surrounded by river plants and shells. He coughed out some water... he coughed out a LOT of water, actually. He rubbed his eyes and head, and looked around. He thought he heard someone talking to him. A soft voice, perhaps? It sounded soft and motherly.

His eyes fell on a sparkling dragon a few metres away from him. The dragon was a beautiful combination of orange, pink and gold. Her four wings folded over her body like a cape, and her tail curled in the breeze. Her antennae twitched and her azure eyes looked back at him with silent kindness. She smiled.

"H-hello..?" Troyd managed to choke out. "Who are you...?"

Instead of answering him, the mystery dragon turned around and spread her wings. She took to the skies and disappeared into the clouds to be lost forever. Troyd got to his feet and sat on his haunches. Why was he at the river and not school? What happened?

He searched his memory, and instantly wished he didn't. He remembered following them out of school to play in the river. He remembered wanting to go back, but followed them because they convinced him that he'd be safer with his friends. He remembered falling into the river to join them, only to be forgotten. Only to drown. Only to die.

Dread washed over Troyd. He was dead. He died. He was sure of it. And somehow, he was safe and alive like nothing happened. He put a hand on his chest. He also felt a lot more healthier and stronger than usual. Sparkles of light and curiosity over the mystery dragon distracted his judgement. What is going on?

Troyd got up and headed to Culuphom's Pad. As much as he wanted to ask and tell them what happened, he didn't. That would be weird and unbelieveable. And he'd get into trouble if he told them that he skipped school to apparently drown and be brought back to life by someone he didn't even know.

He was at the door of the restaurant now. Taking in a deep sigh, he opened it, and the smells of everything he sook comfort in sent him into a trance.

"How was school today, Murgatroyd?"

Troyd stood in front of Culuphom, water dripping off his body. His azure eyes were wide with shock. His mouth gently hung open. Slow breaths flowed in and out of his body. He felt relieved, and yet he didn't. He shouldn't have survived. He should be dead, a body floating in the river, from not heeding Scoria's warning.

"Murgatroyd? Are you there? What happened?"

Troyd snapped out of his trance. He looked up at Culuphom and Scoria. He dipped his head. "Y-yeah." He coughed, shivering. "I'm fine..."