The trees rustled as the wind blew through their young leaves. The brisk chill of my mother's scales felt somewhat comforting as we watched as students from different tribes running in and out of the school. Another breeze flew by and I dug my claws deeper into the rock below. My mother just sighed as we continued to watch.
     "I don't want to go to school anymore." I whined. I fit perfectly in the shadows, next to my mother. Under her wing, I felt safe. Safer than a huge school filled with loud dragons who will certainly judge anyone who is different. Maybe standing here was a sign: This is where you belong. Stay here forever and never leave.
      And certainly don't let the person you trust the most leave you alone with the mean dragons.

     I began to shrink more and more into my mother's wing. Sometimes I wish I could've been a NightWing instead, one with mind reading powers. Then I could know what she thinks of this school, how she really feels about abandoning me, and if this really means love in her book.
     I heard shrieks and yelps as a group of Sandwing charged out of the school and into the sky. I was fairly sure I had seen thousands of different dragons, all of which were way to loud. How was anyone going to teach or learn with them always yelling?
     And what if they hated me? What if they just took a good look at me, saw the ruff hidden behind my ears, or how the freckles were very similar to the placement of a RainWing's. And thought, she's a hybrid, how disgusting.

     "I really don't want to go here anymore." I said again.
     "I know Glaze, now stop complaining." My mother said coldly. "You have to. It will be good for you. You will like it more than living on the run, and hidden from all the tribes."
     "I don't mind hiding from the other tribes." I stated back. "I just want to be back home, with you and Dad."

     "Living on the run is awful and you know it." My mother snapped. "If only I wasn't an idiot when I was younger and stupidly fell in love..." I just stared at the ground. Mother always said this. She always complained at dinner how much better her life in the castle was. I knew better though, because if she truly didn't want to live like this, she would've ran back to the castle as soon as I hatched. Dad would sometimes get fed up with it though, and just outright tell her she can leave whenever she wants and deal with the disappointment from her tribe.
     "I want to be home with Dad," I muttered. If she was going to tell me how much she hated me and the world, I would just retort by using the dragon she is smitten by.
     "He'll visit," my mother finally said. "I will too. You'll see us all the time. And you'll make friends." I could practically hear her thinking, no she won't, she's too awkward and scared to do anything.

     "I'm too awkward to meet people." I murmured.
     My mother bent down and put her face close to mine. "You need to stop muttering." She hissed. Her eyes trailed to my snout and ruff. "And make sure no one sees your secret." She spat out. I felt the shame rise in me. Despite her love for my dad, she constantly saw my differences as imperfections.
     "I know," I said clearly. "Hide my ruff, pretend that you and dad are Nobel's, and make sure to mask every emotion that could give away my secret."

      I paused. "But isn't this dangerous? I mean, if I mess up in front of everyone, it's over. No more school, I'll be kicked out and—"
     "You'll be careful. You won't mess up." My mother said firmly. "I know you think it's terrible being the way you are, but if you just contain yourself for the entire year, you'll be fine. No one will know that you aren't normal. Understand? Now, let's got inside."
      "Not yet," I said slowly. "I want to watch for just a bit longer."
      My mother just let out an exasperated sigh and sat down. "Fine."
     I watched a couple more students run in and out, all of which had smiles on their faces.

     My mother eventually nudged my side and I looked up to her. "Look," She said with a smirk. I looked up into the sky and saw what looked like hundreds of blue, green, and turquoise wings sailed down toward them. "The SeaWings are here. I'm surprised TidalWave has kept her throne for this long." She said in her favorite, "I-know-all-the-royal-families-personally" voice.
      "If that's Queen TidalWave, then the one next to her must be Droplet, her only daughter." I responded in my "I-know-who-everyone-is-too-and-you-aren't-special" voice.
     "No one likes a show off, Glaze." My mother said. "Watch your tone as well, I don't want you coming back home in two weeks because of your attitude."

     I stared down at my claws. No matter what I did, I could never be enough for my overbearing mother. She always expected me to do more and more. She never thought about how it would make me feel. It was never in her concerns at all about how I feel.
     A wizened SeaWing walked out of the cave entrance, and met the other SeaWings with a grin on her face. "You all came for another year!" She croaked happily. She unfurled her wings and Droplet ran forward happily. The wizened SeaWing wrapped her wings around her and grinned even wider. The turquoise dragon behind them stopped forward, disgust written clearly on her features. The wizened SeaWing let go of Droplet and slowly walked over to the other dragon. She engulfed her in a hug as well, only the turquoise dragon didn't hug back.
     "I'm not sure about all this again," Queen TidalWave said is a gruff voice. She was the color of pale shells, with hints of dark blue along her scales.
     "I'm such a camel-brain," I realized. "That is Tsunami, and TidalWave is Anemone's daughter."
     "I'll be fine." Droplet told her mother. "Besides, Aqua and Scallop will protect me."

If it was even possible, the glare on Aqua's face grew even darker. TidalWave sighed and tapped at her chin. "Remember, Droplet. You can come home at anytime, do you understand? If you ever feel like this is too much you can—"
"Always just send a letter and come home, I know mom." Droplet finished for her.
I felt my own wings droop. My mother never wished for me to stay home. She just simply wanted me to go to school to get out of her scales. Was it because I was different? Maybe Snow secretly wanted to keep me as far away from her as possible, because I was a reminder that she could never undo the path she chose? All of her actions agreed with these theories.
I'm not sure I want to be normal, even if it meant my mom would look at me like every little thing I do is wrong. Maybe she'd be happier if I did though? Maybe I could learn to be normal at this school.

     As the SeaWings continued their chatting on the mountain, the turquoise dragon turned to look over at me. She lifted an eye ridge at seeing my mother and I hiding in the shadows. I began to shuffle closer into my mother, who simply growled at me to stop hiding. As Tsunami said something about how delighted she was to have everyone there again, Aqua turned to look away from us. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"I want to recheck everything again before I leave, who knows what changes could of occurred after one year." TidalWave said. I could feel the annoyance rolling off of Droplet and Aqua in powerful waves. Tsunami just let out an exasperated sigh as she led the royal family into the mountain. As Aqua walked past us, I got a strong scent of blood from her. I felt my stomach do several somersaults, but the stench vanished as soon as it arrived. I watched her disappear into the mountain and all I could think in that moment was,

What had she done?