Note : This isn't supposed to be published until a few more days but I just got so excited that this book has reached 100 total reads that I had to post a part and say THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!

Firefly could feel the the beams of sunlight pouring from the leaf windows above her. It was as if the light was caressing her scales, gently trying to wake her up. She loved this kind of wake up call. Although I do miss mom's.

She unwrapped herself from the cocoon of white polar bear fur she had brought along with her to Jade Mountain. It was one of the hatching day gifts she had received from Queen Snowfall of the Icewings. She had always used the fur blanket to keep herself warm at night. It gave her a cozy and safe feeling whenever she was alone in her room back in the rainforest.

Firefly jumped out of her hammock and stretched herself in one swift motion. Then, she looked around her sleeping cave. The moon globes' glow had been minimised to a subtle gleam and the reed mattress in front of her was all tidied up. Her clawmate, Nemertea, wasn't anywhere on sight though.

She strode outside the cave but only found dragonets she had never met before making their way across the tunnel. So she joined them and started walking to Group Discussion class where she would meet the rest of her winglet.

She reached her destination and entered and empty cave. The room was exposed to open air on one side to the left of the entrance. It was decorated with colorful talon-prints on the stone walls and a few light grey sheep wool rugs that were sewn together to form one big carpet in the center.

Firefly sat herself down on the carpet, her tail curled around her front talons, and decided to do a little bit of cloud-gazing while waiting for someone else to come.

Ten minutes later, a group of three male dragonets came into the cave, happily chatting about lizards. There was an Icewing, Skywing, and the Sandwing/Seawing hybrid she met the day before, Mirage. Their conversation ended once they noticed Firefly's presence.

"Hey.." she greeted awkwardly.

"Oh ! You're...um.. Firefly ! Right ?" Mirage said even more awkwardly.

"Yeah. And your name is Mirage if I'm not mistaken."

"Yes, it is." There was a pause and Firefly just stared at his beautiful black eyes before he said the next bit. "These are my friends ; Arete and Scarp."

"Hi ! Where's your clawmate ?" the currant red Skywing, Scarp, blurted out. He had dark brown horns, pinkish-orange underscales, amber eyes, and a healthily plump body, contrary to his name. Well he's going to be great friends with Nemertea.

"I couldn't find her," Firefly replied politely, struggling to keep her ruff and stars a calm lavender color.

"Oh wow !" Arete snickered.The Icewing had sparkly frost colored scales with a slightly darker tint on his scalp and along his back. He also had pale blue eyes and shiny white spikes and claws. "Sounds like your friend ditched you to go hang out with cooler dragons."

"Well it also sounds like your parents ditched you to learn manners from a walrus," she retorted, now unable to stop her ruff from turning tangerine orange. What is with me and parent insults lately ? I've never been like this back home.

"Ouch.." Scarp hissed into Arete's ear and then ducking out of the way of his cold but extremely sharp claws.

"I didn't know you had a sassy side," Mirage complemented. Was it a complement ?

"You just met me yesterday," Firefly remarked, allowing herself to calm down once she saw his eyes again. "And plus, you weren't being rude to me like these obnoxious cockatoos."

Arete growled at her while Scarp just raised an eyeridge. But before any of them could voice another comeback, Tsunami and the rest of the winglet appeared, including Starflight's daughter.

"Alright ! Settle down, Obsidian Winglet !" Tsunami commanded. "I'm going to have to use the hunting trick again."

The dragonets sat in a circle, Nemertea taking her place next to her mother while Mire plopped herself between her and Firefly.

"Where have you been ?" she whispered to the Mudwing hybrid.

"I was checking on my sibs," Mire answered truthfully. "Nemertea just tagged along because you were still asleep."

"Let's start with the introductions and then we can go hunting to release any tensions," Tsunami said. "I'll start. My name is Tsunami, head of JMA and mother of the beautiful dragoness next to me."

"My name is Princess Nemertea, Tsunami's daughter, and I live with the Talon's of Peace with my dad and little brother. His name is Krill."

Wait. She lives in the Talons of Peace camp ? Doesn't her mom hate that group ? But isn't her dad the leader ? Does this mean Nemertea doesn't live with her own mother ? Mom never told me this.

They continued the introductions, mentioning their names and elaborating a little on their lives. The male dragonets' eyes had widen when they realised Firefly was royalty. Turns out, so was Mirage. He is the dragonet of one of the 32 sons of Queen Coral, meaning him and Nemertea are cousins.

"My name is Clandestine. My dad is Starflight and I like scrolls just like him."

"Now that you all know each other, just go hunting out there in the forest !" Tsunami adviced the dragonets. "Come back to the prey center when you're done."

The dragonets all flew to the nearby forest that had an opening with a lake near the outskirts. Firefly stayed aloft, skimming the perimeter and scanning the ground for an easy prey. She spotted a drove of black goats grazing on the edge of the forest. Okay. I can dive down, grab a goat, fly through the forest, and then get back to the sky when I'm in the clearing of the lake.

She braced herself and then did exactly that. Her outstretched talons were able to get a hold on a goat and she tried to snap it's neck while she zoomed past the trees, maneuvering around them expertly. The goat was squirming in her claws, tipping Firefly's balance a little. She saw the large body of water up ahead and got ready to fly higher, hoping to fully kill her prey later.

Once she reached the clearing, she shot up into the blue sky but met with warm ivory scales instead. The other dragon's wings got tangled in her's and they both plummeted down into the lake, creating a huge splash.

Firefly arose to the surface, gasping and coughing for air while her prey tried to escape by swimmming away from the dragons. I guess I'll just eat fruits today.

She looked over and saw that the dragon she had crashed to was Mirage, who was in a similar state as Firefly. Her ruff and stars immediately converted into a very dark purple with a blush pink ombré.

"I'm....soo..so..... sorry.." he wheezed out in between coughs.

"Yeh, me too." Firefly let out a coughing fit aswell. "Shouldn't you be an expert in swimming and breathing underwater and stuff ?"

"I hate swimming," Mirage stated. "It's quite ironic, I know." He let out a nervous chuckle.

She blinked at him in confusion before deciding not to question that. "Never saw that coming.. Um... We should head back now."

He nodded and gladly followed her out of the water. They shook their wings dry and then took off to Jade Mountain without saying a word. Once they landed on the open space of the prey center, they waved their goodbyes and set out in different directions. Firefly bolted to the fruit table where Lychee was happily munching on some kiwis.

"You would not believe what just happened !" Firefly exclaimed while slamming her talons on the table with full force.

"Dear moons ! You just gave me a heart attack !" Lychee jumped back, dark green appearing all over her, then orangy-purple, then back to her regular peachy-pink.

"Can I please just rant to you about my day ?"

"Only if I can rant to you about mine."

So, they talked. A lot.