"You made these!?" Her father, Emerald said. Opal nodded and turned to see her mother thinking hard.
"So maybe a Quartz's powers are genetic, just like animus power!" Said Opal's mother, Rainbow Quartz. Opal had told her parents, Rainbow and Emerald, that the pale rainbow crystals, beside the bright rainbow and green crystals, were hers.
"How long have you known about this?" Rainbow asked.
"A while now," Opal replied, "I just didn't want to tell anyone."
Emerald nodded in understanding.
"That's why you've been taking Quartz lessons."
"We were wondering why." Rainbow chimed in.
"Speaking of lessons, I don't want to be late!" Opal said. She turned to the entrance of her cave, then turned back. She then wrapped her wings around both her parents, wishing them a good day.
"I'm so proud of you." Opal heard her mother whisper into her ear. Opal beamed.
"Bye!" She called.
On her way to her lesson, she spotted something plum-coloured on the savanna. She decided she'd have enough time to check it out, before continuing on to her lessons. Opal angled her wings so she glided down to the shape. It had hidden itself, not very well, behind a bush. Opal crouched and slowly crept toward it. She parted the bushes to find a familiar face looking up at her.
"Shulker!" She said with wide eyes. Shulker blinked then smiled, showing his teeth.
"What are you doing here?" Opal asked looking left, then right.
"Uhhhh, just checking things for the Queen." He said looking around. Opal gave him the skeptical look.
"Alright," he said after a while, "I actually came here to see you."
"Why's that?" She asked taking to the sky again.
"Wait!" He called flying after her. The two kept pace, syncing wingbeats, for a while.
"I like making friends in other tribes," Shulker told her, "but all of them were killed when the Queen started this."
Opal looked down at the ground. The yellow green blades of grass swayed peacefully in the same soft breeze that carried them.
"I'm sorry." Opal said. She looked up to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry for all that you've—"
"Don't be." Shulker said cutting her off. "It's not your fault."
Opal smiled. She landed on the cliff and looked around. There were four lesson groups at the present time. Opal looked around until she found hers.
"Um Shulker." Opal looked at her group then back at the VoidWing. "Do you have to be back at a specific time?"
"Oh." Shulker said nodding, understanding, "I have plenty of time. I'd also like to know how Gemwings learn."
He smiled innocently and Opal giggled. Opal strode over to her group and sat down beside Quartz. Opal's 'Quartz' lesson group members, Citrine, Jasper, Amethyst and Holly, all looked over and saw Shulker, almost screaming in terror. This amused him very much. Holly settled down a little bit, recognising him. But the other three didn't.
"Opal." Said Citrine, clutching Opal's foreleg, "there is a purple dragon here!"
Jasper and Amethyst looked at each other, wondering what to do.
"I'm actually more of a 'plum dragon' myself." Shulker said with a slight smirk. Jasper looked confused.
"Why aren't you killing us?" He asked.
"Don't want to." Shulker said bluntly.
"Isn't your Queen ordering you to?" Asked Amethyst.
"Yes," he said, "but what she doesn't know, won't hurt her."
Suddenly the sound of claws on crystal sounded near them. Shulker instinctively wrapped his wings around himself. Opal could understand why.
"Alright!" Came a voice as firm as stone. "Let's start the lesson—"
The lessoner, Ocean Jasper, stopped in her tracks, spotting Shulker.
"What . . . You . . .?" Ocean began.
"Am I doing here? Shulker interrupted. "Curiosity. And yes I am a "purple dragon.""
Ocean looked at her group, finding them tense, but calm.
"Why don't we continue with the lesson." Opal said trying to break the awkward moment. "We all want to learn here."
Ocean glared at Shulker for a minute then turned to Opal
"Yes we should get started!"
Everyone sat down immediately, looking up at Ocean waiting for their next instruction. Shulker sat down, not even phased. He looked on with huge curiosity.
"Today, I am going to show you how to fully control your powers." She said her gaze passing over Jasper's head. "Not only can you make crystals grow around your claws, in the ground, or not, you can also make them grow by summoning them with your mind! Quartz, would you like to do a demonstration?"
Quartz nodded and padded over to Ocean. She sat down and faced her lessoner.
"Alright," Ocean said, "close your eyes and reach out to the earth, no not with your talons," she said as Quartz stretched out a foreleg, "but with the very fabric of your soul."
Quartz closed her eyes and breathed, straining after a minute. She tried hard. Then, just beside her, the smallest fragment of a crystal suddenly showed at the surface, trying to pierce through the soil. Quartz tried even harder, and the crystal grew more. There were two more, then three, then four. Quartz had her face scrunched up, and sweat was dripping off her snout. She took in one more breath and then relaxed, giving out a big breath, almost collapsing onto the ground.
"Very good effort." Said Ocean, "summoning crystals is really difficult. It's about calling out to them with your mind as well as your very being."
Jasper and Amethyst looked at each other, anxious to try.
"It'll be fine, I'm sure you'll get it." Said Shulker into Opal's ear. Opal smiled and flicked her tail, accidentally bumped her's into Shulker's whip-thin tail. Shulker looked at her and slowly twined his tail around hers. Opal thwacked him with her wing and Shulker fell onto the grass chuckling.
"I'd like you all to try now!" Ocean said. Opal took a deep breath. She sighed then took to steps forward. Instead of digging her claws in, she lifted them off the ground, leaving just her palms on the dirt. Opal closed her eyes and thought about crystal. Crystals growing out of the ground, crystals growing around her and encasing her. Crystals protecting her and her friends. Her talons began to hurt but she couldn't put them down. Opal called out to the soil beneath her and calling up the crystals beneath.
Shulker, on the other hand, was watching Opal as she began to strain, breathing hard and scrunching up her face. Shulker looked at the ground around her and almost yelled out. Large pearlescent rainbow crystals were growing fast, almost as tall as Opal was then more. The grew up and around her like a large crystal dome. Shulker knew instantly what she was thinking about. He looked over at the other dragonets. They were all straining, but not much was happening. Not as much as Opal, that was for sure. Quartz was doing a little more, now that she's having a second go. Shulker looked over at their lessoner. She was monitoring what was happening looking at each dragonet, assessing their powers. Her eyes almost fell out of her head when she saw Opal, who, in turn, was fully encased in her opal-like crystal dome. A single claw then burst out, piercing through the shimmering wall. It traced a small hole, just big enough for Opal to poke her head through.
"How'd I do?" She asked smirking. Ocean came over to assess the crystal. She tapped her claw on the wall, the looked to the side of the window.
"Very good Opal," Ocean said finally, "just work in your thickness next time."
Opal looked at her dome then nodded.
"Can you teach us how to get out?" Opal asked. Ocean turned to her as if to make a tart remark, then thought the better of it.
"I remember you weren't in my first few classes," Ocean said a little more gently. "Just tap the crystal lightly with one of your claws, twice."
Opal looked at the crystal dome, then at the grass outside of it. She lifted a talon and lightly tapped the crystal once, then twice. Almost immediately the crystal shattered, freeing Opal, and making Citrine jump.
"Sorry." Opal whispered. The shards instantly dissolved into the ground. Opal then crept over to sit beside Shulker. She saw that Citrine and Amethyst had quite tall crystals. Taller than when she last saw them. Quartz had crystals growing almost as tall as Opal's dome, and Ocean thought they were good.
. . .
Straight after Quartz lessons, was hunting lessons. Larimar was back as their lessoner, looking better. The scratches on her stomach had healed to pale pink scars, and Larimar herself didn't seem to notice some dragonets looking intently at them.
"Time for our lesson!" Larimar called, with a voice as firm and strong as before, maybe stronger. The Opal's lesson mates, Flint, Emerald, Lapis, Nephrite and Sardonyx, all scuttled over to sit patiently. Larimar glanced warily over at Shulker, but had a little less of a heart attack than Ocean Jasper, when she saw him. The lesson group all sat in front of a large cave opening, at the bottom of Mt Unakite. The tunnel led down into a maze-like cave system.
"Today, I am going to show you the most efficient way to find Aythem!" Larimar's voice rang out across the plains. Opal smiled to herself. She knew nobody in this group knew about her Quartz powers. Opal knew that she could find Aythem faster than the others.
"The most efficient way to find Aythem," Larimar repeated, "is to look for luminous stones! The more luminous stones there are, the faster you can find Aythem!"
Flint nodded then walked over to Opal.
"Let's work together," he said, "I'm sure if we pair up, we will find more than the other four."
Flint and Opal watched as Lapis and Sardonyx made a pair, and Emerald and Nephrite, made the other pair. The four GemWings came over to Opal and Flint.
"May the best GemWings win." Said Lapis before he turned and raced down the tunnel, Sardonyx right behind.
"What he said." Said Nephrite. Opal motioned for Flint to follow before entering the cave. Larimar rolled her eyes in amusement as they passed. Clearly, there was a competition of which pair can collect the most Aythem. This happened almost every hunting lesson.
"They never said using powers was cheating." Opal muttered smugly to herself as she took the right turn that led down into the ground. The passage was dark, and damp, with small stones that poked at their talons as they walked.
"What?" Flint asked as they passed a small patch of luminous stones. Opal followed them.
"What did you say?" He asked again.
"Oh nothing." Opal replied with a smile. She then paused to take in the scent of the cold damp air. She shook her head and continued walking. The Aythem patch was near, she could sense it. Finally she turned a corner to find the patch had been completely emptied. There were no more that two crystals. Opal sighed and continued.
"There might be bigger patches the deeper we go." Flint pointed out, flicking his shiny grey wings.
"True. True." Opal nodded as she took a left turn. The tunnel sloped down, deep into the earth. The walls began to close in, the deeper they went.
"Maybe this is why no one has come down here." Flint observed as he slowed to trail behind Opal. Soon the tunnel ceiling became so low, Opal had to duck to avoid hitting her head. Flint did so as well. The duo crept through the narrow passage for a while. Suddenly the passage opened up into a large cavern. Luminous rocks where everywhere, lighting up the cave with an eerie glow. Opal stood for a moment admiring the colours that spread across the cave. She was looking at a purple cluster when she spotted a large patch of Aythem.
"We found it!" Opal cried. She took one step forward to find there was nothing there, lost her balance and fell into the cave below. She landed with a thud at the floor of the cavern.
"Ow." Opal groaned.
"Opal are you oka—" Flint started then cut off.
Opening her eyes again slowly, Opal looked around. Her eyes had adjusted enough for her to see clearly what she had fallen into. Small carved steps rose from the floor and back up to the ledge where Flint was. Tiny holes had been dug out of the walls behind her, and a small fire was burning from tiny chunks of wood. Fire. Opal knew something wasn't right. GemWings can't make fire. What is going on? Opal looked around. Five small figures were creeping toward her, holding pointy objects. Only a glint from one of the crystals revealed them for just a second. They were small and thin, standing on two legs like a FeatherWing. The only difference was they were standing straight up, not hunched. They had beady little eyes and fur on the tops of their heads. The little creatures had wrapped themselves in soft fur, covering their small bodies. They were about the size of a full grown GemWing's talon. Opal had heard of these. GemWings called them Critters.