The three hybrids flew on for a long time, often taking rests for Startide, who wasn't accustomed to flying like this before. He never flew for leisure, it was much too dangerous with potentially dangerous dragons around. He only ever flew either toward prey or fleeing from danger.

For the sixth time today, Startide lay gasping for air near some mud puddle. River and Radiance stood around him, the icier one looking dreadfully worried, while the muddy dragon sat to breathe as well.

When the dragons were finally ready to take flight once again, the three dragons winged away, northeast, to the Sea Kingdom.

Hours passed without much. Startide figured most talking would be done when they arrived at wherever they were going. Besides the silence, Riverbed did at one point sing the dragonets' song. His voice was deep enough to rumble through the winds, and Radiance and Startide joined in, even trying to make up their own verses to add to the song. This mostly ended up with River desperately trying to rhyme words while Startide and Radiance laughed so hysterically they almost fell out of the sky.

Another hour passed, the three stopped again for a rest, hopefully their last. On the beach, Radiance had prepared an evening meal of deer ,which River roasted ;and some wild vegetables, which only she ate.

"Hey kid, you neva' told me you got bling." River said with a mouthful of venison, eyeing the ringlet clamped onto Startide's horn. "Whoa! Is that skyfire?!"

Starflight nodded, swallowing his own food. "Yeah, mom made it for me. Skyfire set in her favorite stone, jade." He grazed his claw along the ringlet's smooth surface."

"Your mother, huh?" Radiance asked. "Where is she?"

Startide felt his chest yawn into an endless abyss.

"Gone. She and Dad both. He left when I was little, and Mum disappeared about a year ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Radiance sighed, her scales melted inta a soft, pitiful blue. "My parents are gone too. I used to have a little sister, but she was killed accidentally by some over-teasing MudWings. They didn't know how strong they were, their bigwings even offered to help me bury her."

"My only surviving relative is ma really old fart of a gran'pa. He's some grouchy watah-wings that hasn't even seen me before, I bet." River grumbled. "Brotha was killed by that snivelin' skink, Eclipse..."

"Let's not gripe about the students, Riverbed." Radiance glared almost sternly.

The three resolved to keep going now that everyone was fed. Off into the sky they flew once again.

Another hour passed.

Just as the sun was setting behind them, the hybrids swooped lower above the ocean, towards a towering island cliff that jutted strongly out of the water. Three shapes on the cliff's edge came winging toward them, colors of green, gold, and dark brown.

River and Radiance stopped to hover, Startide following suit as the three new dragons circled them slowly, inspecting them. They were also hybrids. One a deep green RainWing with SeaWing fins and pulsing gills. The gold one with big wings was an oddly colored SkyWing with SandWing spine and barbed tail. Finally, the dark brown one was a rather bulky NightWing, dark brown overscales, black underscales, and a relatively smashed, puggly snout.

"Radiance!" the Rain-SeaWing said with a smile.

"Riverbed." The smashed-snout hybrid greeted and nodded. "Who have you brought to us this evening, you two?"

"This is Startide," River said. "Night-Sea i believe. He's a real nice kid. Who's this? Peak?" He flicked a wing at the fiery-gold SkyWing "So, for your graduation choice you wanted to be a soldier, huh? I expected as much from a kid with tough 'a scales as yous." River smiled toothily.

Peak grunted, and nodded slightly.

"Welp, come on in I suppose." The dark-scaled hybrid said. "It'll be getting cold here pretty quick."

"after you, Coal" Radiance smiled.

"Octopus, Peak, let's go." Coal flicked his wing back to the island. The other hybrids followed closely behind.

Startide followed the others down a winding flight of stairs that led to a yawning cave on the other side of the island. Coal, Octopus, and Peak went in first, with Radiance and lastly River following close behind Startide.

Suddenly, the space around him was plunged into darkness. Startide lit up the glowing scales along his neck, tail, and spotted under his wings. Peak's sharped features loomed out of the darkness, and almost scowled in the luminescent light. The Sky hybrid  breathed a plume of crackling fire. Behind him, River lit up his scales along his belly, Radiance catching any light she could and reflecting it with her mirror-like scales.

The cave around wasn't muchly improved. but at least Startide could see Peak in front of him and the floor under his talons.

He walked with the other hybrids down this rather wide tunnel for a while, a long time. All was silent, excepting the whoosh of Peak and Coal's flames and the clicking of claws on polished stones. Everyone was mostly quiet, except for River's annoying humming of the dragonets' song. Well, it wasn't annoying, at all. Comforting more like.

In the distance, the sounds of other dragons grew louder. Shrieking, flapping, laughing, talking. Startide grew  little more excited. The others must have sensed this, because Startide found Peak quickening his pace a little.

As suddenly as the world was sunk into the darkness, it opened up to light again. As Coal, Octopus, and peak swept out of Startide's way, he could see a huge cavern open up before him, filled with at least fifty dragonets.

Startide gasped.

Light poured down on them from sky windows in the ceiling, which depicted the full moon outside. They flew through woven rings of vines that hung from stalactites, swam in the gurgling, salty river, and napped in the moonlight atop towering stalagmites. Different colors, every color, there were colors of dragons everywhere. From black as midnight, to sea blue, forest green, sterling silver, garish gold, all of it. They weren't normal dragon colors though.

Every dragon in this cave was a hybrid.

Startide's eyes froze open in wonder. A whole cavern of dragons just like him.

Radiance smiled, and placed a talon on his shoulder.

"Startide, welcome to Tribes United Academy."