Harp didn't feel like an ordinary IceWing.

Ordinary IceWings always worried about their positions in the rankings. Ordinary IceWings always cared about their posture. Ordinary IceWings never acted childish. Harp was the exact opposite of all of that.

She never even cared to look at her rankings, but her parents always pestered her about it. "Now Harp, eating that seal without permission at the table lost you points" and "Harp! You have been acting very childish lately! You've moved down two spots!" and "Look, Harp! You've moved up one! Now you're number three in the rankings!" (That last one was told yesterday.)

Harp always slumped her shoulders whenever she had the chance to. (When no one was looking, she would sometimes try to sit down. But her mother would most likely see her, and poke her sharp in the back with her pointy tail) And Harp never did the perfect posture she'd learned when she was a year old, unless she was in front of the queen, or higher ranks than herself. Her mother told her these things were childish.

Harp grumpily argued one time. "Why are the IceWings the only tribe who never has any fun?" She'd asked her mother.

Snowstorm's reply was, "Because we're perfect."

That was her mother's favorite response. "Why do we have to have raw food all the time?" Harp would ask. (She quite wondered sometimes on what it would feel like for warm food to go down her throat. She desperately wanted to try it) "Because we're perfect" Snowstorm would shoot back at her. Basically every and any question you can even think of asking Snowstorm, the answer would most likely be: "Because we're perfect."

Harp sure didn't feel perfect.

But that's all going to change today! Harp thought. The day had come. Harp had been waiting for it for months. Queen Blaze was coming to visit as their special guest. She was bringing her ten best soldiers in with her, she and Queen Glacier, were yet again, going to plot on how to kill Blister and Burn.

Harp was invited to attend.

Sure, to all the other IceWings, this was just an every month thing, but last month when Queen Blaze came in, Harp's position on the rankings was somewhere in the middle of the third circle. (Who could remember all of those numbers??) Which is why for the past month, Harp worked extra hard trying to follow her parents' guide. They were the ones who got her to position three in the rankings. Harp wanted to be number one so badly, she wanted to forget all the worries of trying to get there and just get there already and then sleep and relax.

Tonight was the night. Harp could feel it.

She had desperately wanted to find love since she was a young dragonet, but deep in her soul, she felt her soulmate showing up at the banquet after the meeting. She wondered what position he was in... (Harp didn't quite know any of the IceWings in the Ice Kingdom... Which was pathetic) What if he was related to the queen? What did he look like? Was he nice? Was he cute?

Harp had a soft heart for love, and she wanted to know when she'd find her soulmate. After all, she was seven years old.

Just a few more minutes... Harp thought impatiently, waiting in front of the Ice Kingdom for the messenger to say that the SandWings were waiting for them somewhere in a secret specific area.

There! Finally! Three moons, that took forever! Harp grinned up at Snowstorm who was next to her, Harp was trying to contain her excitement in one smile. Which was failing.

Her mother returned to her, a small, kind smile, then looked up at the flying messenger again, snapping herself back into the 'Tough Stance' (that's what Harp always called it).

Harp wasn't the only dragon waiting. All the other dragonets from the First Circle were there, plus all the adult First Circle dragons. Snowstorm was indeed, very lucky to go. She was the dragon on the bottom of the First Circle rankings. Harp's father, Avalanche, could not attend this magnificent meeting.

No matter how much they would have begged the queen, it would have been a no (even if they tried to beg the queen, it might have moved them down the rankings, possibly not able to come tonight - they didn't dare risk that). Avalanche was the top ranked of the Second Circle. The messenger landed in front of Queen Glacier, bowed, and told her the news.

It seemed as though every dragon standing in the line behind the queen edged forward to hear what the messenger was saying.

"Your Majesty," the messenger started. "Queen Blaze and her soldiers are waiting between her stronghold, and the Great Ice Cliff. In The Secret Sand Garden." The messenger said to the queen.

Queen Glacier spread her wings and looked behind her shoulder at Harp and Snowstorm, then at the rest of the dragons.

"You may go." She said to the messenger.

While the messenger scurried off into the Ice Kingdom, they took off soaring along with Queen Glacier leading the way. Heading to go meet the SandWings.

Harps Wings didn't ache as much as she thought they would. They only flew for about five to ten minutes; because the Great Ice Cliff was just outside of the Ice Kingdom. And just a little farther beyond that, was The Secret Sand Garden, hidden in the sands.

When they got there, the SandWings and the IceWings stood in a small room next to the garden. They stood in a circle half and half,with the Queens facing each other. And guess who was shuffled into the split of the circle next to a SandWing? Harp.

It felt so weird standing next to him he was so warm. The SandWing looked around Harp's age, but much more muscular and larger than she was, and he had scars on his body from battles. He was truly seen as one of Queen Blaze's 'Top Ten' just looking at him it was obvious. His scales were clean at the moment, the only blood on him was near his barb as if a dragon tried to bite it off.

The SandWing's one flaw: Balance. He kept losing his balance and bumped into Harp, mumbling, "Sorry" every time.

Harp would roll her eyes, but she didn't dare say anything to the unbalanced SandWing because she didn't want to cause a scene or have him dislike her. They were allies, so they needed to be pleasant to one another.

Harp scanned the IceWing half of the room, looking for her soulmate... He has to be here, I can feel it! She locked her eyes on an IceWing standing across from her. He too, was standing next to a SandWing, and he kept giving the SandWing dirty looks whenever he got too close to him.

His muscles were amazingly thick, and his deep blue eyes were sparkly. His scales looked as if they've been polished three times right before they left, and his face looked dangerously sweet.

He was perfect.

The IceWing caught her staring at him, and smiled across the room at her. This was it. Her soulmate.

After the long, boring meeting about how to vanquish Queen Blaze's sisters (with Queen Glacier doing most of the talking while the SandWing Queen agreed), the banquet was held in the inside garden. This was supposed to encourage the IceWings and SandWings to mingle among one another, in hopes to understand and like their allies.

It didn't really work out that way though, the SandWings stood on one side of the room while the IceWings stood on the other. Harp could only see one or two of each tribe actually talking amongst each other. Harp wasn't going to sit around and talk to any SandWings, she was going to make the first move at her soulmate.

"Hi! I'm Harp, First Circle. Third Position." She added. We are all in the first Circle, Frostbrain! She said to herself feeling stupid. She was always taught to introduce herself as her position of circle and rank - that's just what IceWings did to one another. But she just needed to say her rank in this FIRST CIRCLE meeting!

The IceWing chuckled. "Hello, Harp. I am Iceberg. First Position." He paused, then added, "First Circle," smiling.

Iceberg goofily nodded at her necklace, that had one circle looped around it, indicating that she was in the First Circle. "Pretty" he said.

Iceberg swept his wings and tail majestically lifting his chin.

He looks as though he was expecting something... What? A compliment?

"Yours is too, and I love your eyes" Harp tried. She really did love the deep blue color, it looked as though she could stare in them forever while they sucked her into the galaxy.

"Thank you." Iceberg said, and returned, "Your eyes are..." He stopped peering into her eyes, as though looking for a word to describe them. Was the word good? was it bad? Harp hated her green eyes, no IceWing had green eyes. Sure, they weren't extremely green, more like a greenish-blue, but still.

"Weird?" she jokingly finished for him.

"Yes, exactly!" Iceberg said, without a hint of happiness in his voice. He sounded more... Displeased.

"Let me get us some drinks" he said, then quickly swept away without her to give him a response.

Harp waited. And waited. And waited.

Iceberg never came.

Soon enough, she saw him chatting with another female dragon.

What did I do wrong?! Harp thought, her heart seemed to have shattered like glass. She was trying to hold back tears, she swept out of the room, to the outside garden.

Harp cried for a long time. She cried... And she cried... Alone. Although she had first met this dragon, this showed her that it was clear that every IceWing she'd meet after that would treat her the same way Iceberg did, and choose someone else over her.

She stopped crying when she heard a voice in the darkness. It sounded a little like Iceberg's, except deeper.

"Hey, you okay?" The voice said.

"Hello?" Harp said back, hiccuping through her tears.

A dragon emerged from the dark, but it wasn't Iceberg (so she'd hoped), in fact it wasn't even an IceWing... It was a SandWing.

But it was not just any SandWing. It was the SandWing that was next to her during the meeting.

"Oh..." Harp said, wiping her tears. "Hello, unbalanced one."

The SandWing barked a loud laugh and then he realized that that wasn't the smartest move in this situation. After a moment, he said calmly, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing... Just sort of mistreated..." She looked through the window and scanned the area. She spotted her mother talking with one of her friends, and then she saw Iceberg and the other girl dragon talking and laughing together. Harp put her head down and immediately wished that she shouldn't have looked.

The SandWing followed her gaze in the window and then looked at her in confusion. He cocked his head and then shook it.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Harp." She replied.

The SandWing's wings flared black, making Harp look up, a little startled. "That is such a beautiful name! How did you get it?" He asked.

No one had ever asked this question before. "Just a name after a harp seal I guess... That's all. No big deal."

"No big deal?! Not for me! It's way better than my name, Green-Eyes!" The SandWing said.

Harp sadly laughed a little, she looked into his eyes and noticed they were pitch black... With no color to them at all. They seemed oddly soothing to Harp.

"Well? What's your name?" She asked him.

The SandWing scratched his ear. "Its... Oryx."

"Oryx?" Harp echoed.

"I know I know it sounds like a disease." He said.

"No no," Harp said quickly. "I like it."

Oryx smiled, as he walked towards her, he tripped on Harp's tail. Oryx let out a small yelp and fell right on top of Harp. Their snouts inches away from each other. Oryx's eyes widened as his face wasn't yellow-gold anymore. It was bright red. Harp really hoped that she wasn't as red as he was.

"Sorry!" They both said simultaneously as Oryx shuffled off of her awkwardly.

Oryx continued, "I really didn't mean to do that! Honest!" He looked around cautiously. "Haha!" Oryx said. "Would you imagine that? The third-best soldier in Queen Blaze's Army, getting taken down by an IceWing! Oh, I sure am glad we're allies!"

Harp giggled and she got a pleased look from Oryx.

"I'm the Third Position in the First Circle rankings." Harp said. "If you know what that is."

"Sorry..." Oryx said, sitting down next to her. "Not a clue."

"Well, I think it means that we're basically in the same position. Third-best. I think." Harp said to him.

"Coincidence?" he said looking down at her smiling.

"Thank you," Harp looked up at him. "For coming out here, and seeing me."

"Of course." Oryx smiled and nudged her.

"Well, clumsy." Harp said, after a long moment of silence. "What now?"

"Well," Oryx took her Talons in his warmth. Harp got chills all over her spine and it went through her wings.

"I think..." he said, bringing her into a deep hug wrapping his wings around her, Harp rested her head on his chest, while he rested his on her forehead. After hours of silence (that is, it felt like hours to Harp. She just wanted to stay in this position forever), Oryx finally said something.

Oryx looked down at her and smiled. He squeezed her talons lightly.

"I think that our lives are going to change."