"Silver... wake up."

The dragoness groaned as someone nudged her side. She didn't bother to open her eyes however. It hurt too much. There was a hard throbbing inside her skull, like an earth dragon was hammering it with its tail. It made her want to curl up and just ignore everything.

"Silver," the voice boomed again.

"She's not waking up," another one said.

"What happened to her?"

"I think it's a hangover."

"What?"

"A hangover. It's what happens when you drink too much."

"Drink too much what?"

"Too much alcohol. It's probably the reason Silver wasn't back till late last night. She must have tried some," the voice chuckled as if amused.

Silver groaned again and forced one of her eyes open, glaring at the two dragons talking over her. One was a concerned looking Zepos while the other was a grinning Merene. The lightning dragon let out a relieved sigh, but hesitated when he saw her glare. He glanced at the mind dragon as if wondering what was wrong.

"You're awake," laughed Merene causing her to groan again, covering her head.

"What do you two want?" Silver murmured in annoyance.

"We've been summoned by Zoralth again. He's made a decision," said Zepos, "He sent a messenger veer Firefly for us to come."

"Now?" groaned the unwell dragoness.

"Yes, now," replied Merene, still with her amused smile.

Silver growled in annoyance. She rolled onto her stomach and slowly pushed herself to her feet. It took her a couple of tries but eventually she managed to stand upright, only to stagger. Zepos caught her before she fell over and kept her on her feet. She coughed once and shook herself, which only caused the headache to pound harder.

The previous night was quite a bit of a blur. She remembered trying that strange drink that they were passing around and disliking it, but the more she drank the better it seemed. All she really remembered was lots of colour and noises and laughing. There was a fight as well, though she couldn't remember if she had been part of it. There was a small bruise on her side, maybe she had been in a fight. A wave of pain through her head caused to grunt again.

"Merene, could you do something for this headache?"

"Sure," grinned the mind dragon.

Suddenly the headache disappeared. Not completely of course. It was still in the back of her head, but it was more or less bearable now. Silver nodded her thanks to the other dragoness and stood up straighter, shaking herself. She could keep her feet now.

"Thankyou," she said clearly and took a breath, "We better not keep his liege waiting. Where's Retrix?"

"He went ahead," replied Zepos.

She nodded, "Well, we better catch up."

The three left the cave. At first Silver was a little wobbly in the air. She felt exhausted, even after sleeping for so long. Her shell was a bit dull as well and anything to far away was a bit blurry. She decided never to drink again. It wasn't worth the trouble.

The dragons landed at the palace again and the guards let them through without question. A few cast smiles at Silver, as if they knew what she was going through. She glared back at them. She wasn't in the best mood that morning, and she hoped she didn't snap at the king during this meeting.

"Merene, you should do most of the talking this time," Silver said.

"My pleasure," she chuckled again.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" growled the silver dragon.

"Of course. You're the second dragon I've seen after the effects of getting drunk. It is quite humorous."

"Shut up."

They entered Zoralth's cave again, the guards stopping them at the entrance before letting them through once more. Retrix was already there, his dark form sitting near one of the pillars. He nodded in greeting to them as they walked in. Zoralth was sitting in his nest again, and the mind dragon, Thylo, that had interrupted them before was also there, sitting and studying them as they walked in. He had a frown on his face, one that spoke of distrust. He seemed especially interested in Silver, his eyes pulling her apart and reading her. She had no doubt that he was reading her mind.

"Merene, guard my mind from him."

Merene nodded and did just that, causing the other mind dragon to silently snarl, before glancing at the king in annoyance. Something silent passed between them and Zoralth shook his head, glaring at Thylo. He snorted and looked away from him.

"We're all here?" chuckled Firefly as she appeared from behind one of the pillars.

"Yes," Zoralth replied before turning his view toward the four younger dragons.

Merene stepped forward, "What have you decided?"

The telekinetic dragon sighed, "We have decided to give aid to the dragons of Sky Mountain."

Silver let out a sigh of relief and smiled. After their last meeting she hadn't expected him to help. It made the whole trip worth it. She glanced at the two drakes, seeing they were quite relieved as well.

"But, in order for us to help you have to destroy D.E.D," he continued, causing Silver's heart to drop.

"Destroy D.E.D?" The silver dragon growled, deciding to speak after all, "How do you propose we are going to do that?"

"Well, you destroyed one of their bases practically by yourself. I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult," he said, "Especially with some of your dragons of equilibrium. Sky Mountain has two of them if my information is correct."

"Yes," Silver sighed, thinking. It could be done, maybe, and they could also free many other dragons from the organisation's control. They definitely had the capabilities, but focusing on attacking D.E.D would leave them wide open to any attack from A.O.D.H, and likely weaken Sky Mountain.

"You could still help with that," said Zepos, "It won't have to be only us trying to take down D.E.D."

"No, while there are two rather dangerous dragon hunting corporations out there we will not leave our haven. It is two dangerous," Zoralth said.

"So you decide to send Sky Mountain in there instead?" growled Retrix; even he seemed angry at the proposition.

"That is our proposal. Will you except?"

The four dragons looked at each other, trying to decide. Silver had no idea how Iraliene would react to such a trade, even if it was for the Syndicate's help. The life dragon wasn't big on making attacks, more focused on defending her own mountain. It would be a difficult thing to convince the life dragon.

"Merene, do you still have contact with Iraliene?" asked Silver.

The mind dragon nodded, "I left the communication thing back at my cave."

Silver turned to Zoralth, "We would like to talk to Iraliene before making the decision."

The telekinetic dragon nodded, "I would expect nothing less. When you have made a decision please inform me."

"Of course," Merene replied.

The metal dragoness sighed in annoyance. It would take another couple of days of mulling over unimportant details before they would come back together and make a decision. Diplomacy was annoying. Shaking herself she turned to walk out of the cave.

"Wait, before you leave, will you be attending the dance the night after tomorrow?" asked Zoralth.

Silver looked back in surprise, "Aaah... I don't know how to dance."

"What!?" Firefly exclaimed, cutting off anything Zoralth was about to say.

The dragoness shrugged, "It's not like anyone taught me."

"No, this cannot be allowed," the fire dragoness said, "If no one has taught you, then I will."

Silver hesitated, "You... really don't have to."

"You don't have a choice in this young dragoness. Everyone needs to know how to dance. No exceptions."

"But..."

"Not buts! I will teach you. We start tonight, after you recover from that hangover you undoubtedly have."

"I suggest you accept her offer," said Zoralth with a laugh, "Firefly won't let you go until you do."

"Uugh, fine," sighed Silver, it couldn't be that bad.

"Am I right to assume that none of you others know how to dance either?" asked Firefly, turning to Silver's companions.

Zepos shook his head, and Retrix only sighed, looking at the floor. Merene however grinned and nodded.

"I do," she said with a quite smirk.

The other three dragons looked at her in surprise. They didn't know that about the mind dragon. Sky Mountain didn't exactly offer dancing lessons, and Merene had never left the place before now.

"Since when?" asked Zepos.

'I'm a mind dragon,' she replied mentally to the dragons, 'I can literally take the information from other dragons minds. Thus, no need for lessons. Have fun.'

She laughed and before the others could argue back she left the room. With a few growls of annoyance the others followed her out, not exactly looking forward to what was in store for them that night, but they knew that if they didn't Firefly would probably hunt them down and drag them into it.

* * *

True to her word, Firefly came around that afternoon, dragging the three dragons out with her. Merene had long since left. What she was doing they had no idea, but it wasn't really on their minds. Silver had been sleeping, still very tired from the previous night was annoyed when she was woken up again. The fire dragoness then led the three of them to another part of the haven.

"This is my... home, I guess," Firefly said as she landed in front of a larger domed structure, "A bit too icy if you ask me, but everything in this place is."

They entered the dome through another finely carved door. It was another rather large place, though for a dragon like Firefly it wouldn't be unexpected. It was surprisingly open, with an over-comfortable looking nest full of blankets and pillows at one side of the dome and what looked like benches surrounding an open space. A large, round, table stood at the end of the open space, where dragons could sit and watch whatever happened.

"This is rather big for a single dragon," stated Retrix, looking around.

"It is," replied Firefly, "But it's a good place to host private... affairs, and other such things."

"I guess so," The void dragon said.

"Now, to the reason I brought you here in the first place," the fire dragoness smirked, "Dancing! It's one of my favourite things to do. All the complicated twists and turns, the feeling. Oh, it's almost as great as flying. Now, there are quite a few differences from humans dancing in case you were thinking it was anything similar. For one, the female is the leader, and she is the one that, in a sense, creates the dance. The males job is to... guess, almost, how that dance is going to proceed and change themselves to fit the female they are dancing with. It can be hard, but some drakes are extremely good at it. It is also very intimate, with touches, rubs and nuzzles all the way through until the end. Again, another difference to human dancing is that dragons don't do it to music, though they can. Every dancer has a different rhythm, a different way of doing it."

"Sounds rather messy," grunted Retrix.

"Oh, it is far from that, especially when you become a professional at it. Of course, at the beginning you may be a bit messy but by the end you will be great at it!" exclaimed Firefly, "But I can only teach you the basics. The rest is up to your preference, or who you are dancing with."

Silver tilted her head, starting to get interested in this new challenge. She padded over to the middle of the open area and looked back at Firefly, "So, how does this work?"

The fire dragon grinned, "Good to see you so eager. First though I want to ask you a few questions. Answer truthfully, it'll help me understand, to an extent, how you would dance."

"Okay," Silver said, sitting on her haunches.

"Now, you are obviously a very rare species. You have a strong will and a rather obsolete view on the world, one that would be very hard to change. Am I right?"

"I guess."

"Good. Are you extrovert or introvert?

"Introvert."

"Really? You didn't seem that way last night," the fire dragoness grinned.

"I was drunk."

"Too true. Lover or fighter?"

"Umm... fighter."

"Thought so. Have you mated before?"

"What?" Silver exclaimed, slightly shocked, "How does that help you?"

"Trust me and answer the question," sighed Firefly.

"No."

"Hmm, interesting. Are you in love with anyone?"

The metal dragon hesitated, wondering how to answer that. She glanced over at Zepos, and he smiled at her, with a curious glint passing through his eyes. He wanted an answer to that question as well.

"Yes," she said, smiling back at the lightning dragon.

Firefly tilted her head, seemingly surprised. She didn't miss the glance, and wondered at something.

"You have siblings?"

"Two brothers, fire dragons."

"Hmm... I'd like to meet them some day. How about parents?"

This time Silver went quiet, looking down at the ground. She let out a sigh, knowing that it would be better for her to come to terms with it, but she was finding it more and more difficult with each day.

"Dead... both of them," she said quietly.

Firefly's eyes softened, "I'm sure they were wonderful."

Silver smiled slightly, "Is that all?"

"It's enough. Lets get started!" the fire dragoness grinned, "Silver, choose your partner, I'll grab the other."

"Zepos?" Silver looked at the lightning drake. He grinned and nodded, trotting up to her. He nudged her gently.

"This is going to be fun," he promised.

"I'm sure it will," replied Silver, smiling back.

"Could I sit out for this, and watch?" asked Retrix, not seeming very enthused at this activity.

"Nope, get over here void dragon," Firefly smirked.

The drake narrowed his eyes, to which the dragoness just sat down, grinning and beckoning him over with her tail. They glared at each other for a couple more moments before Retrix sighed and stood up, dragging himself up to where she was waiting. He didn't look at all pleased with the situation, and it caused Silver to grin, amused at his attitude. The void dragon plonked himself in front of Firefly, still glaring at her.

"That's not how you start my dear," the fire dragon said, placing the tip of her tail on his chin, "Stand up."

Again he sighed and stood up, shaking himself out and murmuring quietly about how this was a bad idea. Silver laughed and turned to Zepos, who seemed a bit nervous. He continued to fidget, moving from one foot to the other and swishing his tail along the floor. He cut a few grooves in the icy floor, as if trying to sharpen his claws.

"Okay, you usually start with a step. Sideways, then forwards, passing each other, brushing wings as you do," said Firefly.

The two pairs did what they were told. Silver and Zepos did it a little awkwardly, and the poor lightning dragon nearly tripped over his feet, but they managed to keep themselves up. As they passed each other they brushed wings, Silver's cold, hard metal against the leathery fabric of a normal dragon's wing. They stopped, glancing at Firefly, waiting for the next thing. The other pair didn't have any such trouble. The dragoness, as she did everything, danced sideways and with a small leap jumped past Retrix. And, too all the dragons surprise, he did so as well, following Firefly exactly with his own gracefulness.

"Well done young dragon," said the fire dragoness, looking at Retrix in surprise, "Silver and Zepos, you need some work."

She walked over to them and they turned to face her. Firefly began to walk around them, looking over them with a thoughtful frown on her face. Her eyes suddenly lit up, as if she figured out what the problem was.

"Aaah. Silver, your shell, as pretty as it looks, is getting in the way," said the fire dragon.

"What?" Silver frowned, glancing at the silver metal that protected her body.

"Yes, that is it. For a dance you need to learn to feel your way through the air and the ground. Your personality makes that difficult already, and with your shell preventing you from connecting with the other dragon it really does get in the way. Can you get rid of it?" asked Firefly.

"Umm...," the metal dragoness hesitated, not wanting to answer the question, "Y-yes. I can. But I don't like it. The shell protects me. Without it I'm vulnerable."

A flicker of understanding went through Firefly's eyes, "Silver. You're dancing. You're supposed to be vulnerable."

"But... I've never even flown like that before. My wings are too sensitive and my scales are soft. If I loose the shell everything becomes too much."

"There's no such thing as 'too much', young dragoness. Show me."

"I... can't."

"Silver. Show me."

The two of them locked gazes, neither willing to back down. Silver refused to let her shell down. She hated it. It was like she suddenly became weak and frail, where her bones could snap at the slightest movement and her wings could by blown away with the slightest gale of wind. It frightened her, being like that.

"Do you trust Zepos?" asked Firefly suddenly.

"Of course!"

"Then trust him when you are vulnerable."

Silver growled, before bowing her head in defeat. She did trust the lightning dragon... but without her shell she didn't feel like herself. She wasn't strong, mentally or physically, and everything was a potential danger. Even flying. Without her shell she felt like a hatchling again.

"Nothing will happen to you," Zepos said, "I'll be there the whole time."

She glanced at the lightning dragon and smiled, before taking a deep breath. Her shell rippled, before beginning to retract. It slid from her wings, neck, and tail, gathering in a small pool at the base of her neck. The light in the room flicked and she closed her wings around herself, shivering slightly as the sensitive scales below were once again revealed to the open air. Everyone was silent for a moment, looking at Silver in a mixture of surprise and wonder. Even Retrix was staring. She felt the heat rise to her face.

"Well... are we going to continue?" she said, shifting uncomfortably.

"You look like a light dragon," said Firefly, tilting her head, "And very beautiful. Why don't you like this form again?"

"I told you," growled Silver, "I feel uncomfortable."

"Well, that will change. Trust me," the fire dragoness grinned, before turning and taking a couple of steps back, "Let's try again!"

They all took their positions again, and repeated the manoeuvre. As Silver's wing brushed against Zepos's she let out a small peep, flinching. It didn't hurt, but it was the first time she had really... felt something with her wing. The part of her that was usually coated in metal never felt anything except the coolness of the protective plate above it. Like this, the slightest shift in the wind she could feel, and it scared her. Like this, she was delicate.

"Are you alright Silver?" asked Zepos, quickly turning to her, worried that he had hurt her.

"Yeah. Just feels weird," she quickly reassured the drake.

"Don't stop! You had that perfect!" growled Firefly, before sighing and shaking her head, "Gah! Guess we'll have to go again."

They retook their positions and redid the manoeuvre, again and again, for what seemed like hours. Firefly continued to add small things afterwards, like a quickly step backwards, or twirling their tails together. For Silver the feeling of being vulnerable slowly disappeared as she began to enjoy the strange feelings rushing through her body. When they added flying into the dance her heart took a leap as she felt what little wind there was rush through her wings like a torrent, and she shot upwards as if she was as light as a feather. With a whoop she turned, twisting in midair, and speeding off again leaving a surprised Zepos far behind. She twirled, flipped and spun, suddenly feeling alive. This feeling... it was amazing.

The others watched without a sound as the lone dragon danced in the air, completely lost in the world. It caused Firefly to smile, thinking back to when she was still young. Retrix watched as well, entranced by the movements. Zepos landed next to them, having given up on trying to follow her, and watched as well. His heart felt as light as she was. This was the first time he had really seen joy on the metal dragon's face.

Eventually Silver realised what was happening and she slowed to a halt, hovering in midair and looking down at the three dragons watching her. She blushed slightly.

"I think you found it!" Firefly exclaimed causing the dragoness to tilt her head in confusion.

"Found what?" replied Silver.

"Your dance. It needs some work, obviously. I mean, you can't exactly leave your partner behind," the fire dragon laughed, "But you did it! I look forward to seeing more."

The metal dragon flashed an apologetic smile to Zepos, and he laughed and shook his head, "It was worth it."

Silver flushed again at that and flapped her way to the ground. She landed nimbly and shook herself, glancing at the dragons around her with a little bit off nervousness. She hardly remembered what had happened, but it was one of the greatest feelings she had ever had in her life.

"What's next?" she asked Firefly.

"Oh, that should be enough for today," replied Firefly, "I'll see you again tomorrow. It's late, and even if you aren't tired I am. Good work today you three."

They all smiled at her before leaving the house. Outside it was quite a bit darker. Silver hadn't figured out how light worked in this place but it seemed that it was able to become darker and lighter with the sun. They took to the air and as soon as they did she realised that her shell wasn't back in place. She shivered again, debating whether to put it back on or not. In the end she decided to spend the night without it. It couldn't hurt.

She flew to her nest, saying goodnight to Zepos and Retrix, before heading to her nest and curling up on the inside. It was only now she realised how exhausted she was. This dancing thing was harder then she had expected it to be, but better as well. Smiling to herself she rested her head on her tail and closed her eyes.

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Hey guys! New chapter! Hope you enjoyed. It was actually really fun to write. Vote in you did enjoy, and tell me what you thought. Dragons dancing? What are your thoughts on that? Anyway, next chapter will probably take a while to get out, though hopefully not too long. See Ya!

Pennator^