Flame hated his life. Actually, no, there was a better way to phrase it. Life had given Flame nothing to feel good about.

There were so many things he disliked that he wasn't even sure if the things that he did like were important anymore. Every time he thought about that, violent images flashed into his head.

He'd burn down the rainforest and the NightWings who lived in it.

He'd kill every SandWing he met with their own tail barb.

He'd shout from the mountaintops that he didn't hurt Stonemover purposely.

But even then.

Even then, what was the point?

His mother had better stuff to do. She didn't care about him anymore. She just left him at Jade Mountain Academy. And she probably didn't even worry about what was going to happen to him now.

Maybe that huge NightWing tyrant was right. Maybe he was the 'darkness of dragons'. His thoughts would have probably backed that idea up if anyone dared to read them.

So if everyone had decided to make him the villain, why should he stop them?

"Flame? Are you listening to me?"

A voice interrupted his stream of thoughts. The voice of his Queen, no less.

He remembered all at once why he was currently flying with the SkyWing Queen and four guards. Most importantly, he also remembered where they were flying to.

A hospital.

A moon-forsaken hospital.

As if he didn't know that dragons already saw him as irreparably scarred.

He looked up at Queen Ruby, bashfully shaking his head. The SkyWing Queen looked as serene as always and was quite the stark contrast to her mother when it came to personality.

She nodded patiently, not seeming annoyed or upset. "I understand that you're probably very disoriented right now. But until we can prove that you weren't the one who consciously attacked Stonemover, we can't keep you at the Academy. You need help that they cannot provide. Which is why, until the trial, you will stay at Summit Central."

Flame audibly growled, and Ruby couldn't help but look at him with pity. He still didn't understand why the Queen of the SkyWings had decided to accompany a supposed convict to his "prison", but there they were.

"I'm sorry that this had to happen to you of all dragons. You've already suffered enough to last you a lifetime," she said, her words carefully said. Flame had never wanted to slash a SkyWing's wings off more fervently.

"But Summit Central is a very good place to try to find who you are," she continued, not noticing his claws twitch. "There's a lot of dragons I know that will be able to help you. And perhaps you'll be able to help others too," be paused, trying to think of some words, "even then, this is only temporary. I'm sure we'll be able to prove you're innocent without the need for much time."

Flame wasn't sure if to be hopeful or not. Even if they did manage to prove that he wasn't guilty, what would he be going back to? A school of dragonets who either hated him or didn't care about him? It wasn't exactly a great prospect.

"How can you be so sure of that?" He retorted, uncaring about who he was talking to.

Ruby was surprised to finally hear him speak but smiled. "That's because I believe in you, Flame. I trust that under your scars and smoke there is a good dragon. Am I wrong to think so?"

He shrugged and stayed quiet for the minutes that followed. She had no reason to believe in him, and he half believed she only said so out of pity for the once replacement Dragonet of Destiny.

Flame didn't hate Ruby. Not in a conventional way, anyways. He knew Scarlet had been the reason why his mother, Avalanche, had left the SkyWing Kingdom, to begin with. But Ruby had this sort of maternal aura that Flame didn't like. She seemed to worry about him. She thought he needed curing. Which he didn't. He didn't need to be fixed, he wasn't broken. Someone had enchanted him to do something he wouldn't have done ever. Why was everyone saying he needed to go to a hospital to fix that?

"Maybe that's why mom never came back for me: she really thought I had done it. I bet that's what everyone thinks. I bet even Ruby doesn't think I will be going back to the academy." He growled, internally, "I don't care. I won't ever be going to that stupid mountain anymore. Put a stupid rock over that idea, Flame."

Soon enough the group began to swoop downwards, towards the peaks they have previously flown over. The SkyWing Queen was a skilled flier, and would effortlessly glide between the spurs of rock. Flame scoffed at the idea of ever being able to do that.

The peaks of the mountains were frosted, but there was no snow yet. If Flame had to guess, there wouldn't be snow for at least the next two moons to come. He remembered how he used to keep a weather diary every day when he lived with the Talons of Peace. That memory left a sad sense of longing inside him, he missed being able to live each day freely, without thinking about how a SandWing scarred your face or without hating NightWings with all of his might. He missed his old self. And he hated that, too.

Soon enough, they saw a building nestled on the very top of the mountain in front of them. Flame had to narrow his eyes to even see how intricate it was from that distance.

Summit Central was a busy hospital, with dragons coming in and out and circling around it. The structure itself fit comfortably on the mountaintop, with various buildings and taller spires connected into a compact building. There was a landing square at the front and a few on the flat roofs, which he imagined were for emergencies. A few dragons were perched on the lower plateaus under the hospital, with stairs that led to the center landing square.

And on those lower plateaus, Flame noticed a few systems of pulleys which a few SkyWings operated, pulling the ropes to receive objects from the ground below. As they circled around the mountain, he also saw a larger pulley, which unloaded a limping dragon and another SkyWing, which were quickly escorted upwards towards the building.

"Interesting. So this place is accessible from the ground villages, and cargo can be brought in from there. I didn't think that was possible..."

He let himself be surprised for a moment before he landed next to Queen Ruby in the front landing square, and the dragons around them began to bow down low to the SkyWing Queen. Flame was snapped abruptly from his thoughts as he followed the guards and her, making his way through the crowd.

"No. This isn't for me. It's an interesting, busy and new place, but I don't need to be here. I don't want to be here... so I don't have to be."

He paused, as a new, burning plan was made its way inside his twisted mind.

He was done having other dragons decide his destiny.

"I'm leaving. As soon as I get the chance. And I won't let anyone stop me."