Six Years Later...

       Glow's eyelids were heavy with slumber. One thing about her master that she appreciated was that she was very lenient about her apprentices waking up early or sleeping in. She was, however, disturbed by a very excitable younger SkyWing.

       "Come on Glow! It's a new daaaaay!" Kite piped up, followed closely by his green-black NightWing companion as he quietly strode in alongside him. Glow slowly dragged her long neck up and accidentally hit her head on the roof of her sleeping cave. She quickly recoiled with a painful hiss and scratched the back of her head with her claws, wincing painfully. Ow! I know that it's not my fault for being so big, but couldn't this cave be a LITTLE bit bigger?!

       The red SkyWing drowsily looked at Kite's innocent and bright hazel eyes with softness. "You promised you'd teach me some of your battle moves! I want to be able to fight real tough and be strong and brave like you!" He excitedly bumbled about.

       Glow let out a few chuckles as she affectionately responded to him. "That's really overselling me, but okay. You're right; I did promise I'd teach you, so I will, kiddo." She dragged herself out of her cave and slumped into the light. She looked down below her to wake up Corona, but didn't find her there. Corona? Wake up early? Oh boy, NOW I'm scared.

       She looked around the room for the mischievous SandWing, but didn't find any sign of her. The NightWing's bright pink eyes looked around nervously too, though his expression was more of expectation rather than apprehension.

       "Well, I mean...he's right. We should get to work today." Evenstar quietly suggested. "It's late enough as is, don't you think?" Glow really liked the mellow and low-energy NightWing, and seeing him and Kite together all the time always gave her a warm feeling inside.

       "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Come on Glow, this is going to be awesome!" Kite shouted, joyfully bounding out the cave. Glow worried for him and stretched her claws out to summon him back, but to no avail.

       "Wait! Don't run off –" But Evenstar's warning was cut off by a pretendroar and a startled screech from Kite. Glow and Evenstar rushed to the noise to see an apologetic Corona and a Kite breathing shakily.

       "I'm so sorry Kite! I thought Glow was going to be the first through the entrance!" The SandWing desperately assured. Kite whipped back at her, disbelief staining his cheer.

       "You're horrible! Why would you do that to me?!" He cried.

       "I'm really really sorry, it was just supposed to be a joke."

       Kite leaped onto Corona in an attempt to "fight" her, though he wasn't very strong. She tried desperately to stop him, her anxiety reflecting onto to him.

       "Woah woah woah woah woah, careful!" She begged. "Do you know what I would do if you accidentally stabbed yourself on my barb? It's a long way to the Kingdom of the Sand and we just ran out of cactus! I don't want to accidentally hurt you!" She warned him.

       Evenstar strode up to Kite and comfortingly whispered to him, wrapping his starry wings around the black-and-white accented orange dragonet. "What's going on here?" Willow stormed in, a disappointed scowl on her face.

       "I was just...playing a joke on Glow, but it kind of accidentally happened to Ki–"

       "Corona, you should know better!" Willow scolded. "You need to be more responsible! Besides, don't you have work to do?"

       "Yeah, but I wanted to have a little fun." Corona said.

       "Still, all's fun and games until someone gets hurt, you know." Willow reminded.

       "Oh come on, Willow, lighten up. We're only going to stay here for today before we go back to our forge in the Bay of a Thousand Scales. Go easy on her." Whitecap's calm voice resounded from afar. He strode up to them, his glowing turquoise SeaWing markings easily recognizable.

       "Yeah, but look at poor Kite! The little guy's a mess now!" Willow tried to reason. Whitecap shrugged, cocked his head at her and gave her a gentle brotherly shove, his silver diamond earrings jingling on his right ear.

       "He'll bounce back after Glow spends some time teaching him some fighting moves." He reasoned. He turned to the small SkyWing and smiled. "Would you like that Kite? Does that sound like fun?" He suggested to the disgruntled small SkyWing. He looked out from under his wing and nodded quietly.

       "Alright then. Corona, you can join them and help him feel better." Corona still with embarrassment glittering in her black eyes, nodded, knowing that Whitecap knew what was best for them."Now, hug it out you two! Frigga would be disappointed in you, if she knew about this." He said, motioning to Willow and Corona with his wing. He strode off, leaving them to sort themselves out. Willow sighed, and with an amused smile, wrapped herself around Corona tightly, much to Corona's begrudging annoyance.

       "Alright, get off you mushy MudWing!" Corona complained.

       "You know you love me. I'm like your big sis!" Willow teased.

       "I'd sell you to Queen Scarlet for one singular mouse." Corona sarcastically threw back. Corona tried to hide it, but Glow couldn't help but giggle at their low-key amusement. They REALLY like to annoy each other, don't they. Well, it's entertaining for the rest of us anyway. She thought, seeing Kite chuckle a bit and Evenstar smiling softly.

       "Alright, come on guys. You're going to learn some battle moves, Kite." Glow instructed. "Fighting like the brave and tough SkyWing you want to be and will be." She affectionately wrapped her wing around them both, not even asking if Evenstar wanted to come, knowing he would anyway. She heard Corona walking besides her, and lightly tapped her with her wing.

       "Hey, don't take it too personally."Glow assured. "Accidents happen. Besides, I would have probably laughed if you did it to me." Corona still looked unsure, wilting guilt wrinkling her snout. "Just pick a better place to scare me next time." She suggested with a chuckle, trying to cheer Corona up.

       "I'm fine. Don't worry." Corona answered unconvincingly. "I just...let's just hurry up and get to the battle cave. I wanna see what you teach the sweet little bird." Corona piped up, trying to hide the fact she was still upset. Glow knew that because when Corona said "I'm fine" in that tone of voice, something was almost always wrong. I'll ask her about it later. She needs some time to calm down.

       They made their way to the combat cave. It was a wide expansive room with a light coming through the hole in the roof, a small "mini-lake" in the middle, and moss alongside it. It was a quiet and tranquil place, and even though it was used for combat, it was a peaceful place and the echoes helped them hear themselves. It was like talking to yourself and actually hearing what you sound like and deciding if what you think is a good idea or a bad idea to you. It was basically like one-dragon-therapy in there.

       Unsurprisingly, Corona was usually the one who used it.

       However, this wasn't the current purpose. Glow looked back at Kite, now calm and feeling more like his cheerful self, and Evenstar, the sensitive dragon who didn't leave his side. Corona was right next to her looking back at them too, with a very inquisitive expression that seemed to say exactly was Glow was thinking. They really ARE inseparable, aren't they?

       Corona's sandy black-and-white diamond-patterned scales seemed to slink subtly to the back of the cave. She still seems a bit off. Glow noted. "Are you sure you're okay?" She called to Corona.

       "Yep, I'm fine! Just fine!" She called back.

       That sounds fake, but okay. Glow beckoned Kite over with her tail, putting the thought away as Evenstar went to sit with the bitter SandWing. As soon as he sat down with her, she saw the tension inCorona fade as her and Evenstar began whispering amongst themselves. She was glad that the little NightWing had that effect on the others.

       She remembered since he hatched that he rarely talked with anyone, at least confidently, until they found Kite beaten and wounded. Since then, they've been best friends and did practically everything together. Sleeping together, working together, playing together– they were inseparable. As a result of their friendship, he started talking more with everyone else and connecting with them more. He's become far more confident in himself, and has always been willing to extend words of advice to them whenever they were in need of them.

       Glow shook away her distracted thoughts and flipped back to Kite, who was starting to turn back to his old energetic self at the prospect of learning combat techniques from his elder SkyWing. She smiled and puffed out her chest to lookas big and strong as the small one saw her. "Alright Kite; I'm going to teach you how to use your small size to your advantage." She began. "You might not be very strong or big, but even small dragons can be pretty dangerous if they know what they're doing." Kite was sitting down, stars in his widening eyes with admiration.

       "First of all, you have to know your opponent's biology; it can be your greatest ally. For example, the jaws and jaw muscles are very weak, so you can use that to your advantage by holding their mouth shut. The area in between the eyes can either kill or stun them depending how hard or with what you strike it. If you want to make a killing blow, if you can grab your opponent by the horns and twist them a certain way, breaking their neck. If you want to impair your enemy, shredding or smashing their wings, and gouging out their eyes are good ways to do that. Anything that hinders their ability fight.

       "A really helpful thing is to knock the wind out of a dragon. Not only will it stun them and give them trouble breathing, but they won't be able to breathe fire or ice either. You do this by delivering a blow to the soft area between the diaphragm and the ribs. Biting the tail is a really obvious one, but that's all I'll tell you. This knowledge will help you on the battlefield." Glow finished her anatomy lesson, pointing to the body parts as she named them, and demonstrating the methods of attack.

       She noticed Evenstar and Corona watching intently as well, clearly taking the lesson in. Glow was almost a year away from graduating from her apprenticeship, Corona two, and it seemed like they were learning so much from her.

       Evenstar had a kinship for glassblowing and jewelry, his gentle and small talons making expert work. He also had an affinity for music, and often wrote music in his spare time. Dragons, mostly female, have bought many things made by him. Corona was great at bargaining and making weapons and other metalworks, and was already pretty skilled at fighting, given the poisonous barbed tail she was naturally equipped with.

       Glow turned to Kite, his tail thumping the ground rapidly with anticipation and his back talons tapping the ground impatiently. "Do you understand?" She asked her peer. Kite nodded vigorously, eager to employ his newfound knowledge. "Alright, kiddo. I want you to come at me using what you know. I'm much bigger and much stronger than you, so use your size to your advantage. You got that?"

       He nodded. "Yep! I'm ready; tell me when to go Glow!" He said enthusiastically. "Come on, come on, come OOOOOON!" Glow readied herself for his oncoming attack. Once she was ready she nodded, and Kite flared his yellow-orange wings tipped with black and white markings, the ones that gave him his name, and let out a small roar.

       He launched himself from his position straight towards her face. She dodged his projectile path and pulled him back by his tail and he flipped himself onto his stomach before she could properly pin him. She held his tiny body down by the head and wings, feeling him struggle and writhe beneath her. He was doing this for a while, trying to get his claws free, to trying to wriggle out of her grasp, but to no avail. Glow was waiting for him to heed to her advice and her lesson, but she was getting anxious. Come on, I know you can do it. What are you doing?

       She suddenly felt him go limp, and she instinctively feared for the worst. She let go of him and started checking him, when he suddenly sprang back to life and smashed her jaw with his tail and kicked her into the wall. She now had a pounding headache and a metallic taste began filling her mouth as she looked around, her vision blurred and hazy. She stumbled forward, roaring into the vast cavern.

       All she saw was a light orange shape launch at her, then his weight was on her neck and back. She tried desperately to throw him off, thrashing him about when she felt him stomp on her wing. She let out a painful roar and threw him across the cave with her tail. She was still dazed and couldn't see properly, but she could see where Kite was relatively okay.

       She tried to fly but her wing was numb from when Kite stomped on it and tripped. Kite took the opportunity and charged at her. When she got back up, he tackled her and stomped on her gut. She was having a hard time breathing now and she went limp, giving up. She felt Kite get off and she was getting her breath back, her headache still hurting her. Once her vision was clear and she could properly breathe again, she stumbled up and looked Kite in the face.

       "Wow...you really, uh...did well. You really did a number on me–ow!" She strained on her congratulatory praise.

       "Are you okay, Glow? I didn't want to hurt you, I'm so sorry!" Kite apologized, concerned. Glow smiled warmly at him stroking his small head.

       "No, you did great!" Glow assured. "In the battlefield, you don't worry about your opponent; you just fight for your own survival. On the battlefield, it's kill or be killed. Does that make sense?"

       "Yeah, I think so." He answered.

       Glow smiled and looked over at Evenstar, who seemed to have fallen asleep, and Corona who looked more proud of Kite than Glow was. Though to be fair, she did just get beaten by a two-year-old, so she didn't think too much of it. "Well, I think that's enough for today." Glow concluded. "You and Evenstar go play, and I'm going to go for a nice fly around the mountains and clear my head. Corona, do you want to come with?" She asked. Corona piped up and turned her face away embarrassed.

       "Sure, I'll come with. I need some fresh air too anyways." She responded.

       "Alright then." Glow said.

       Glow and Corona strolled into the main cave to find Willow and Whitecap wearing their white capes and with packs full of merchandise. Glow's heart immediately filled with sadness. She hated saying goodbye to her friends and she hated the distance and lack of communication between them when they were away.

       "Are you really leaving right now? You've only been here for a fortnight, you could stay for longer." Glow said.

       "I'm sorry, Glow, but there are customers near the Kingdom of the Sea we need to provide for. We need to keep business running." Whitecap reasoned apologetically.

       "And besides, there are materials exclusive to that locale that we need to grab hold of. We need to get our items stockpiled again." Willow chimed in. Glow hung her head low in disappointment and Corona took her talon in hers.

       "Could we could tag along with you? At least until the edge of the Diamond Spray Delta?" Corona asked. Whitecap and Willow looked at each other anxiously. They eventually nodded and turned back to look at them.

       "Oh, alright, you can come with us part of the way." Whitecap finally answered. Glow looked up and smiled a bright smile, happiness dancing in her amber eyes.

       "Go get your stuff ready, guys; we're leaving in two minutes." Willow instructed.

       Glow and Corona, now donning their white capes, were flying out over marshlands. Their cave was on the east edge of the SkyWing mountain range, south of Queen Scarlet's Castle, so the Diamond Spray Delta wasn't all that far. Glow and her companions were mostly silent, and the flight was beginning to get awkward. Someone should say something, this is getting really uncomfortable!

       Willow decided to break the awkward silence. "So, how did Kite do? Any improvement?" She asked.

       "Oh yeah, that little chickadee knocked the wind out of me and gave me a headache." Glow summarized. "He put up a really good fight, though I feel like if I had the first attack, I could have beaten him."

       "You should test that next time." Whitecap chimed in.

       Corona was still silent and Glow was getting suspicious. Especially after the reaction she had when Glow asked Corona if she wanted to come with her. What is with her? She's not usually like this. A failed prank has never made her act this strange. Willow seemed to notice too because she looked back at Glow and gave her a look of confused bewilderment. She was about to make this flight a thousand times more awkward.

       "Are you sure you're okay, Corona? You've been acting really weird all day, I'm just wor-"

       "What do you care? Why does everyone care so much?" Corona spat bitterly. "It's not like you do! All I am is just something Frigga scraped in."

       Willow shook her head in disbelief. "Of course you're not, Corona! We all care about you. I know for certain than I do!" She reasoned.

       "No matter what, I'll always be a criminal and a thief who constantly hurts or fails the dragons she cares about!" Corona went on. "I'M JUST A PILE OF CAMEL DUNG, AREN'T I!?"

       This outburst came when they had just reached their destination and Whitecap and Willow couldn't stay to talk to Corona. Willow gave Glow a look that said you know what to do; you've got this under control.

       "Um...Well, we'll just leave you two to talk amongst yourselves." Whitecap said, discomfort written all over his narrow face.

       "We hope you feel better, Corona." Willow added.

       They flew off towards the Bay of a Thousand scales, their brilliant white capes flapping in the breeze as they flew by. Glow took Corona by her talons and looked at her with concern. "Alright, what's up? You've been acting weird all day. And don't tell me you're fine because you and I both know that's a lie." Corona avoided Glow's gaze, and she could feel her talons trembling.

       Corona let out an exasperated sigh. "If I tell you, do you promise not to laugh or make fun of me?" She asked. Okay, I'm really worried now. "O-of course! Why on Pyrrhia would I ever make fun of you?" Corona began to pull Glow by her talons towards the dense trees that bordered the marsh.

       Corona was still avoiding Glow's gaze. Glow was getting annoyed with how evasive she was being and took her face in her talons and looked her in her deep obsidian black eyes.

       "Listen, it's okay. Whatever you have to tell me, you can tell me." Glow assured. "I won't be mad, I promise. I won't make fun of you, I won't invalidate you, and I won't hate you. We're best friends, you can tell me anything. Okay?"

       Corona still looked doubtful, and Glow could see tears forming in her friend's eyes. Glow let go of her face and Corona, though still looking embarrassed, held eye contact with her.

       "Glow, I...I..." She paused. Glow was getting nauseatingly anxious. What? What is it you stubborn goat? What!?!?! Corona took a sharp breath and then let out a deep sigh."I...I just feel like...like I'm a nuisance." She finally said and pressed her head into Glow's large chest. Glow, feeling sympathetic for her friend, wrapped her giant wings around her.

       "Oh Corona, it's okay. You're not a nuisance." Glow said soothingly. "We all care about you, I care about you."

       "Well, so did Tarantula and Dust...and Kite..." Corona rebuked.

       "What do you mean?" Glow asked.

       "I mean," Corona paused. "I was a thief...a criminal. I stole and cheated dragons, but it was always for them. I cared more about Tarantula and Dust than anyone else. But when you and Frigga found me and gave me a chance, I...left them behind. How do they feel? Do they hate me? Do they miss me? Are they even still alive? Did the Outclaws execute them after I left? I just...

       "I probably hurt them, and I hurt Kite and the others, too. I just don't understand why any of you care about me when I've done wrong for almost my whole life...I just don't understand..."

       Glow felt her heart break when she heard her tough, sarcastic, dry, and cynical best friend break down like this in a blubbering mess.

       "Corona...We care about you because we saw a devoted dragon just trying to take care of the only family she had." Glow started. "We saw potential for a better life, and you took it. Your old friends shouldn't blame you for your choice. You made that choice of your own volition, and you have a better life now. Here, you're safe, you have a family, and here you're putting your skills to good use for something productive. You have a real talent for the work we do.

       "You're a good dragon, and you mean so much to us and to Frigga. You're part of her family too, and she doesn't even have one anymore." Glow added. "It'll be okay...alright? We're here for you. I'm here for you." Glow finished.

       Corona looked up at her, tear stains on her cheeks. Glow wiped them away with her talons and Corona looked away awkwardly. She put her talons in Glow's and sighed.

       "Yeah...okay...okay okay, it'll be alright. You're right. Let's...let's go home now, okay?" Corona agreed.

       Glow looked down at her steadily. "Alright. Let's go home, we'll go to bed early tonight, okay?" Glow suggested.

       Corona flared her large wings covered by a dominant black flame pattern tipped with white and lifted into the sky, Glow following close behind. They flew a good way when a blue-green nervous SeaWing carrying scrolls bumped into them by accident. When he turned around and started blubbering nervously, as if afraid of them. "Woah, hold on, sir! It's okay, we're the White Capes. We just sell and make stuff, okay?" Glow cautioned.

       The SeaWing calmed down a bit and extended his claw. "Um hello; I'm Webs. I'm just taking these scrolls home to my dragonets."

       "Awwwwww, you have a family? Are those dragonets a handful?" Corona asked casually, returning to her old self.

       "Heh, you could say that I suppose." He responded cheerfully.

       "Hey, you're a SeaWing in SkyWing territory. Shouldn't your home be that way?" Glow said, pointing in the direction Whitecap and Willow just went. "Are you lost or something?" Glow questioned.

       "Oh, no no no I know, I'm aware. I just...I don't want to talk about it." The SeaWing muttered. Glow felt a pang in her heart for this SeaWing. She was about to offer him to come back with them when Corona stopped her.

       "Um, mind if we just chat for a second sir? We just need to talk about something really quickly." Corona hurriedly asked.

       "Oh no, I need to get home really quickly. My little ones are probably missing me, so I need to get back. It was nice chatting with you two, though!" He hurriedly said goodbye and flew on his way to the other side of the mountain range. Corona was eyeing the SeaWing suspiciously.

       "Something about him is off; he's trying to hide something." Corona suspected.

       "Come on Corona, he's just a poor SeaWing who can't go home anymore with a family to look after." Glow reasoned.

       "Yeah, that's what he's telling us." Corona argued. "He's lying. I know it; I've seen dragons do it all the time in the Scorpion Den to get what they want. We should follow him."

       "What? But what if he catches us? And even if he doesn't, what benefit would he have by lying to us about that?" Glow asked.

       "Trust me, he'd hiding something, and we need to find out exactly what it is; we're following him!" Corona decided.

       Glow sighed tiredly, eyeing the sun going over the horizon and one of the three moons becoming visible. We have enough time to get back before dark. And besides, he doesn't seem dangerous and we're just following him.

       "Alright, I'll trust you. Besides, what could possibly go wrong?" Glow figured.