Chapter 8

As the cold night began approaching, Hide went to the ledge, lying next to the dull stalagmite Tsuki had been sitting on only hours before.

Hide wondered why his mother hadn't had the star-like scales underneath her wings, but Arison, Kira, and everyone else including himself had them. He hadn't known why, and he thought that Tsuki or Takashi would have known.

He felt a presence behind him, along with sharp claws raking against the hard rock below them. When he looked back, he noticed Tsuki was walking up to Hide, her wings slightly sagging.

"Well, you excited to finally heal?" She asked.

"Yeah..." Hide lied.

He knew he had no real good reason to lie. Even if she was sweet, Hide couldn't trust her. Not with his life, or with his dignity.

"So what did he want? You never told me." Tsuki said, looking kind of hurt.

"What's wrong? You look like you're in pain?" He asked, disregarding what Tsuki had said.

"Oh! It's nothing. But answer my question."

"Not until you tell me what's wrong." Hide said bluntly.

Tsuki sighed, her wings slouching, like they were glued poorly to her body.

"Well, we just tell each other everything, so when he told me to leave while you guys spoke alone, it just hurt like a blast to the chest. I can't explain it properly, but it just hurts seeing you guys talk without me." Tsuki admitted.

"Tsuki, don't be upset. It was only him apologizing to me, and for us to start over. It was kind of cute actually. It was like watching the hatchlings admit they did something bad. Seeing him all nervous. Never seen that feeling expressed so clearly." Hide chuckled.

Tsuki's eyes looked glossy, but she hadn't said anything. A few moments went by before she patted Hide's head, walking away.

When Hide looked back, he saw a trail of water droplets leading into the cave, all scattered in Tsuki's direction.

Hide looked forwards, seeing the moon rise in the dark blue and purple sky, as the three suns had set only an hour before.

He set his head down on his talons, before falling asleep.

Hide was greeted by the three-morning suns. He yawned, happy to not see his room back home, as he was exposed the entire night.

"Morning Hide..." a voice called out from the cave.

Hide looked back to see that Takashi's scales looked even more beautiful at dawn. All three of the sun's rays had cast over his crimson scales. The gold in them, twinkled in the cave, making him look like a lost treasure in the morning light.

Hide stood to his talons, walking into the cave.

"What are you doing Hide?" Takashi asked.

Hide walked up to him, sitting in front of Takashi. He began swaying his tail and smiled before asking,

"So, I have a question. Can you try you're best to help me?"

Takashi nodded.

"So, everyone in the kingdom of the moon has these scales that look like mine in their wings. However I never remember my mother getting hers, do you know anything about that?" Hide asked, extending his wing to show the array of stars inside of them.

Takashi hesitated for a moment, seeming lost in thought. He quickly snapped out of it, shaking his head.

"Well, if I'm remembering from what Tsuki told me, one dragonet is born every hundred years without those stars. Like a small birth defect, nothing to fret over, trust me, those genes don't pass down." Takashi assured him.

Hide nodded feeling genuine happiness that he'd finally known a little more. He then got up, walking toward his satchel.

"Whatcha doing now?" Takashi asked.

"Getting my bag! After we wake Tsuki, we gotta get in the air!" Hide reminded Takashi

Takashi grunted like he was reluctant.

Hide flashed his teeth in a smile once again, jumping up the perch, walking across it, and jumping to the ledge, where Tsuki was sleeping peacefully.

Hide jumped on her, rolling her off the ledge, and onto the floor, his laughter filling half the room, Tsuki's angry groans filling the other half.

"What the hell-" Tsuki groaned.

Hide jumped off of her, giggling. Tsuki got up, rubbing her head.

He looked toward the cave entrance, watching Takashi stretch his body like the wildcats all along the mountains. His scales made the gold treasure among the walls scatter and dance as he moved.

He trotted to the cave opening, getting ready to leap into the air and soar south. Just as he went to leap, Takashi grabbed Hide's tail.

"Hey! What was that for Takashi?" Hide yelped.

"We leave together. I can't trust that you won't just ditch us. Besides, it's nice to leave together, since I'll have to lead you two, two hundred miles south." Takashi said, pausing before revealing the journey.

"Two hundred miles?! My wings aren't going to hold up enough for that Takashi!" Tsuki cried.

Takashi let out an exasperated sigh.

"That's why I'm leading. I can carry up to three thousand pounds, which means I'll be able to carry you easily Tsuki." He said.

Tsuki scoffed, then hovered up to the perch, before grabbing an ocean blue bag, seemingly filled to the brim with survival materials. Tsuki quickly hovered back down to the floor, before trotting towards Takashi and Hide.

"We ready to go?" Tsuki groaned, stomping her talons like a hatchling.

They all stepped up to the platform, flexed out their wings, leaped into the air, and began falling down the cliff. Before long, the air shot them into the morning sky, the wind currents taking them along.

Takashi flapped his large wings, putting him far ahead of Hide and Tsuki. His crimson wings shone in the sky, making them a beautiful firetruck red.

Hide looked down and noticed that they were flying over a dense forest, not far from the den, maybe a mile out. The trees had sage green leaves, with wonderful purple and white flowers, and they smelled even more wonderful than they looked. Hide took a big whiff of the air around him.

"Enjoying the scent?" Takashi said, a cocky smirk on his face.

"It smells amazing. How could I not smell it before?" Hide said, taking another deep inhale.

"It's true. I'd say" Tsuki said, dipping underneath Takashi to get a better whiff.

Takashi nodded, looking back toward the other two.

"They do smell amazing, however, while we're on our way to the kingdom of sand, I must tell you what they are like. The kingdom of ground is allied with them after all." Takashi yelled as the air hit their faces.

Hide nodded, and glided closer to Takashi, hoping to hear him better.

"Well. Due to the lack of pigment in the desert, the dragons native to that area are all shades of yellow and gold. And just like you're kingdom, with that one dragon being born without those star-like scales in their wings, The Sand Dragons have a dark green dragon born every hundred years. Those dragons, naturally, have sharp spines on their back, and tails. No other exceptions. They're also very prone to flowers." Takashi explained.

"Impressive. How'd you know that?" Tsuki asked sarcastically.

"Scrolls," Takashi answered simply.

Hide was impressed with how much knowledge Takashi had retained from scrolls he didn't seem to have anymore. He'd wish for him to be as smart as Takashi. But he didn't seem to be as knowledgeable; although maybe he just never felt that way because of the lack of modernized scrolls in the library.