River and I chat for a while. He's actually quite good company, though I can't get a good read on him. He's not told me much about himself, though to be fair I haven't talked much about myself either. I've just briefly explained a bit about Morphwings, but that's all.

We've mostly talked about how much we hate dragon hunters. Apparently River hates them just as much as I do, so we have a good growling match about them. It was good to let out a little steam for once instead of just being told to calm down.

I can't always just bottle up my anger and save it for when hunters choose to show up, so I'm glad to let it out like this. River let's me just do what I like as long as it's within reason, something I find myself liking about him.

"I hate how so many humans are dedicating their lives to killing all dragons off!" River is growling now. "They're the ones who deserve to die," I growl in agreement. "I can handle them hating dragons. I don't care if they want us dead. But I draw the line at them actively harming one of us!"

"And they call us monsters!" River snorts. "Just stupid!"

After we continue ranting for hours on end, we finally calm down. "Feels good to let it out," I remark. "Yup," River nods. "Sometimes you just have to complain about stuff, even if people have heard all this stuff before and just don't care what you have to say anymore."

"It's like you can read my mind, buddy."

"Never say never."

"Are you saying you can read my mind?"

"Are you doubting my abilities to read minds?"

"Yes."

"Good, you're smart."

"Knew it."

We both chuckle at ourselves. It's only then that I realise how late it's getting. The sun is setting on the horizon, giving the ocean and sky an amber hue to them. River also seems to notice this.

"It's getting late, I should go home," he says. I nod and morph back into dragon form so I can fly off his back. "Same here. Wish I could. See ya."

"Bye!" He grins before diving back underwater, splashing me as he goes. I roll my eyes before flying off back to Morphwing Island.

When I said I wish I could go back home, I meant it. I've never been away for so long before. Honestly, it scares me a little to be away for so long. I never know what's happening back home or if everyone is safe or anything like that. It worries me.

"Indigo?!" Selene is in a panicked frenzy when I approach the island. She hasn't seen me yet, but she's looking around frantically. I guess that's what happens when you run off and don't come back for hours on end and it's starting to get dark. I watch her for a moment before flying over.

"Right here," I roar to her. She quickly tackles me to the ground, hugging me tightly with her wings. "Where were you?! I was so worried! You just stormed out and... I didn't know where you'd gone! I asked Camo if you'd gone back home, but he said you hadn't and... don't do this to me again!"

"Don't worry, I never went too far," I tell her. "I was talking with an old friend. That's all. I'm surprised you didn't hear us, we were growling a lot."

"Are you sure you're okay?" She questions, looking me over as though I'd just been in a war. I nuzzle against her. "I swear, I'm fine. Nothing happened. I'm sorry I worried you."

"Just please let me know where you're going next time," she begs me. "Of course I will," I agree. "I was planning on being back sooner, I just lost track of time when I ran into River."

"Who's River?" She asks. "A Scauldron," I reply. "He saved me from some hunters a while back. He's great." "Good on him, then," Selene states approvingly. "Now get inside. It's getting late, you should sleep. I want you to rest up as much as possible while you're still here. I know you won't rest once you're back on schedule because you're just that stubborn."

I don't bother contradicting her, but I can't let her get away with that entirely. "Who do you think I got it from?" I question innocently before flying inside.

She growls before flying after me. "Little brat!" "Save that for when Asher comes over," I tell her with a teasing smirk. She laughs before darting at me, but I easily dodge her and she almost hits the wall. "Missed me!"

She growls again playfully and tries again, with me diving away again. The minute I realise she won't be able to stop herself before the wall, however, I quickly grab her in my wings and we both hurtle to the ground, to which I take the full impact.

I unfurl my wings slowly, hoping she's alright. Thankfully she is. "Thanks, Indigo," she sighs in relief. "I guess I need to work on my agility. It's been a long time."

"I can help you out, if you like," I offer. "I've been training dragons in their speed, strength, range, agility and all that stuff for years."

"That actually sounds kind of nice," she agrees, walking out from my wings. I stand up, whimpering quietly as I hit myself quite hard during the fall, but quietly enough that she won't hear. I know she'll only try to extend my time here if she knew I was hurt.

"So how do we do this?" Selene asks. "We'll need to go back outside so that we have enough space to work," I say. "But it's getting dark and I don't want you hurting yourself because you couldn't see something and dodge it in time. We can work at night once you can dodge obstacles much easier, but not yet."

"Let's start tomorrow, then," she shrugged. "I'm pretty tired anyway." "Sure," I agree. We then fly back to her cave, with me whimpering quietly with each painful stroke of my wings.