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Hare

"Adults are coming today!" sang Rhino as she and Yucca passed by Hare and Malamute. Like everyday, they were working hard, though the pain in their muscles were becoming an everyday thing now.

Hare didn't want to ease drop on them, really, she didn't, but once she heard 'adults' her ears perked up.

"Yeah, maybe we will get adopted, together! Then we can be sisters forever, just like we planned," spoke Yucca. Yucca was the other SandWing Hare ran into, and best friend of Rhino.

From the small moments Hare had with actually socializing with the other dragonets there, it was only Yucca who seemed to treat her better. She didn't bark orders at them, and actually said please to them.

Malamute told her that the dragoness was the only one in the entire orphanage (well, work camp to them) that treated her, Humu, and Stonehopper like real dragons.

"Sure, Rhino. Maybe Hare and Malamute will be adopted." She softly commented, giving them a smile as she passed by. Rhino crinkled her snout at the mention of their names.

"Those two weirdos? I'm sure someone must be blind to actually adopt them, or coyote-y brained, either one really. Their too weird looking, and no one wanted a hybrid. Honestly, I don't get the whole different tribe couples. They have to be a dumb as Princess Antalope to think about ruining bloodlines," scoffed the dragonet.

Hare saw Malamute freeze up, the wall she was busy cleaning now having holes where she began to dig her claws into. Hare knew she wouldn't be able to understand how it felt to be shunned like that; but the thought of someone making fun of her best friend when she was right in front of them, ticked her off.

Her blood red eyes watched as Rhino give them a nasty glare as she looked over her shoulder. "Their a pair of disgraceful abominations." She growled.

Something inside all three of them snapped. Malamute was the first to move, tackling Rhino to the ground, her IceWing claws close to stabbing her sides. Before Rhino could let out a scream for help, Hare gripped her snout with her talons, her uncurled tail inches from the end of her snout.

Yucca didn't do anything, but opened her wings, shielding the three from sight. If Fuga or Kholodo knew this was happening, all three knew they would be in trouble. Malamute let out a growl, a small fog cloud coming out from her mouth.

"You listen here, miss perfect, you don't know what we do to make sure we have food, to make sure those two blubber heads don't throw us out, and to make sure we can actually survive. I get it we aren't the prettiest of sights, and not what adults want to see, but do you know what I do to make sure your rooms are clean and you have food too? EVERYTHING! I will not be belittled or be talked bad about my you prefect dragonets anymore. I won't hesitate to snap your neck next time, do you understand me?" Malamute growled lowly in her ear.

Hare was a bit taken back by the hybrid's warning, but she couldn't agree more. They were both tired of not having respect from their fellow orphans, and they would no longer stand by this. Not anymore.

Hare saw tears leak from Rhino's eyes, her frame shaking like a leaf. Hare leaned down to her other ear, mumbling in a calm, yet emotionless voice, "When I move my talon, you will not scream or tell on us. Is that understood?"

Rhino nodded quickly, and slowly the two stepped away, glaring at her. Rhino hurried to her get her footing, trying to get away from him. Yucca watched her run off, and looked to the two.

"I'm sorry about her, I've tried to tell her over and over again that you two are good dragons who deserve a home too; but she just won't listen." She apologized to them. Malamute closed her eyes, and took a deep breathing, trying to calm down.

"Its fine, Yucca, we know you do," spoke Hare, smiling slightly. Malamute looked to Hare, a small look of wonder in her eyes.

"You moved like an assassin, H. I know you told me your dad was one, but you were so swift, it looked like you were a fully trained one!" Malamute said, smiling to her friend.

"My father taught me how to fight when I was younger. I trained with him for four years, then I wound up here... I guess its from what he taught me,"

Yucca looked to her, smiling. "You had an old family too? I use to have one myself, but we were too poor, so they gave me up. Hard to believe I'm leaving in a month, this place has grown on me," mumbled the dragoness.

Malamute looked at them, before giving a small hurt smile. "I wish I got to know my parents. You guys are so lucky!"

The sound of talonsteps made the three turn, a smirking RainWing looking their ways as he materialized before them. "Talkin' 'bout families?"

Malamute let out a squeak, jumping back. Hare was a bit taken back herself, trying to think of who this dragon was. He was fully white with black stripes around his talons and wings like a white tiger.

Two bright yellow eyes seemed to cut through their shock, a shine swirled into his pupils. "What's wrong, you look like you've seen a ghost?" he joked.

Yucca sighed and shook her head slightly. "Beetle, this is the dragoness side. What are you doing here? Looking for Darkthoughts again?"

Almost if on que, the NightWing turned the corner. "Beetle, there you are! What did I tell you about coming here and- oh, hey, Yucca. Malamute, Hare."

Hare didn't reply to her, her jaws shut. A feeling told her Beetle had been watching them for a while, he was known as the "orphanage spy" for a reason. The RainWing seemed to notice the albino's silence, Hare noting how his tail curled a bit, as though he were trying to hold it like a SandWing.

"What's wrong, snowflake? Got your snout in a bunch?" he asked as he changed to fully white and made his eyes red. She looked as he tried to make the frill behind his ears to look like her sail as well.

Hare didn't respond to him, watching Beetle suddenly change his scales again, this time matching Malamute. Light brown danced along his snout, wings, forearms, and top of his head.

"You look like a jaguar snatched ya tongue straight from your mouth!" he laughed, his voice strangled almost. Looked to Darkthoughts, his best friend, and smiled to her.

"Hey, Darky! How's my faaaaavorite NightWing doin'?" he asked, throwing a wing over her. The dark violet dragonet rolled her amber eyes, looking to Hare and Malamute.

"Kholodo is looking for, you two. I think it's time for you two to hide. I thought I saw a dragon coming when I was outside."

Hare nodded, already starting to walk away from them. She rounded the corner, closing her eye slightly from the bright light shining in her face from the nearby window. Once she was starting down the first flight of stairs, her sharp hearing caught something of interest.

"What's wrong with her?"

'Spitfire,'

"What do you mean?"

'Fuga?'

"Rhino, she's looks scared out of her mind!"

Hare felt her blood run cold, hearing them as they came up the stairs. Hare's mind and body went into obedient mode. She had her wings tight to her side, her head was down, her blood red eyes closed. Her ears went back, like she was trying to block out any order besides the ones directed to her.

She felt the waves from Fuga and Spitfire walking, she didn't address them. She knew better, she had the scar to prove it.

It was just a small scar on her, right above her talon where Kholodno's tail spikes stabbed her. Fuga had stung her with his barbed tail, but luckily from all of the SandWings fights the orphanage had, they had lots of Brightsting cactus growing nearby.

Brightsting helped counter the poison, drops of its juice were to be placed onto the sting. It cleared up in a few days, but it left a large and hideous bruise. She didn't have a scar of it, but it was tender where the sting was. Right under where her wing and underbelly met if any were wondering.

It hurt to fly, which made her work less, meaning she didn't get full meals like she did now. Malamute even began to sneak food to her once it was nighttime, when she would be too weak to do anything.

Once she felt them pass by her and leave did she hurry down the stairs, talonsteps heard behind her, who she assumed belong to Malamute.

On the main floor, Hare spotted Kholodno standing by another dragon. He was a NightWing, splashes of white on his ebony black scales. His dark green eyes stood out slightly against his scales. Hare noted the dark green underbelly on him, larger splotches of white on them.

She heard Malamute gasp, "Stonehopper!". Malamute dashed as fast as she could to the NightWing, the two falling to the ground as they began to hug.

"Malster! Haha, how's my favorite hybrid doing today?" he asked, trying to stand up, noticing Kholodno glare at them.

Malamute still had her wings around his long neck, her blue eyes shining. "I'm doing great! What are you doing back here?" she asked.

Stonehopper smiled to her. "I came here to get ya. I finally convinced my folks into adopting you," he replied. Malamute's eyes widen, her tail wagging slightly.

"You finally met you parents?" she asked as she gasped slightly. "Yeah! I traveled to the NightWing Kingdom and looked for them. Their names are Duskflight and Preycatcher, they live near where the old palace use to be. You and Humu can finally have a place to call home!"

Hare saw Malamute suddenly stop, her tail freezing before it thumped onto the ground. Hare bowed her head, recalling the small amount of time she has spent with the SeaWing.

From what Hare had heard of him through Malamute, they seemed like very friends. It didn't really surprise her, as MudWings tend to be very close to the ones they grew up with. Even with dragons that aren't the same tribe. Loosing Humu, was like loosing a brother to Malamute it seemed like.

Hare heard how soft and how fragile Malamute's voice suddenly became. It was weak and held a heartbroken tone, unlike her normal excited and happy-go-lucky self.

"Humu... he... he passed away... he died from his infected wounds a few months ago..."

Hare felt the air seem to thicken, and it felt harder to breath in. Hare didn't need to look up, she already knew the hurt faces the two were making. She heard shuffling, and guessed it was Stonehopper trying to control his emotions.

"H-he... he what?"

From all the knowledge Hare knew of NightWings, they normally didn't care about the other tribes; but much like MudWings, they were close to the ones they grew up with.

Malamute explained what happened to him in a hushed tone, Stonehopper listening attentively. Hare had to hand it to them, they were all strong minded dragons from what she observed so far. Stonehopper seemed level headed and didn't seem to be the type of dragon to lash out.

Malamute, though sometimes hyper, knew went to be serious, much like now. She was a hard worker, and definitely a go getter when work was involved. (Thought sometimes Hare thought it was so she could eat a lot of food.)

Stonehopper finally seemed to notice her, a small look of surprise on his face. "Mala, who's this?" he asked, tipping his snout to the albino.

Malamute suddenly smiled, her tail wagging in a happy manner. "I forgot! Stonehopper," she said as she gripped his talons, practically dragging him over to Hare, "this is my new roommate, Hare!"

Hare forced herself to give a small smile, enjoying her friend's normal attitude coming back with vengeance. Hare held her talon out, claws outstretched for a shake.

"Pleasure to meet you, Stonehopper. Malamute has told me a lot about you," she said in her unwavering voice. It was something she did on instinct it seemed like. If she was in the presence of someone new, her voice became sturdy and cold sounding. (Now that she thought about it, that may have been what made a lot of other dragons to assume she was a hybrid)

Stonehopper outstretched his own talon, his spots almost matching her blind white scales. He looked her up and down, before smiling a bit.

"Albinic?" He asked. Hare gave a slight nod.

"Second dragon to guess correctly," she murmured.

Stonehopper let out a laugh, throwing his head back a little. "I understand how you feel. For a long time, others thought I was a hybrid myself. I have a scale condition called Vitiligo, it's where I have missing pigments in my scales," he explained.

Hare gave a small smile, thankful he could understand her to an extent. The sound of a throat clearing made them all look to the side. Kholodno, who was now accompanied by Fuga, flicked his spiked tail.

"Only one can leave, Stonehopper. You can't have both of them," Kholodno spoke with an icy breathe. A small cloud of fog escaped his mouth, something a few of the other IceWings in the orphanage did when they got upset or angry.

Hare saw from the corner of her eye as Stonehopper's ears flatten a bit. He looked to Malamute, who looked back to him. His dark green eyes locking with her light blues.

Hare noticed the hesitate look on Malamute's face, like she was trying to think of something. Hare had a feeling she was going to try and convince Stonehopper to take her, and leave herself here.

'Oh no you don't,'

"Stonehopper, take Malamute."

Malamute and Stonehopper looked to her as though she suddenly grew a second head. She pushed out her chest a little bit, and held her wings a bit higher.

"Malamute has been here much longer them I have. She deserves to get out of here... I...," the thought of her father flashed in her mind, forcing her to quickly bat away her tear, "I deserve... to be here."

Malamute looked to her, her ears doing to slightly, like she knew why Hare thought that way. Over the corse of time, Hare began to blame herself. If she has been quicker, if she had been stronger to break the glass... Centipede would still be alive.

Hare noticed the look Stonehopper was giving her, before she saw a small pair of silver teardrop shaped scales next to his eyes.

The albino knew that those teardrops meant he could read minds, all mind readers had them. She stared at him for a moment, trying to plan her thoughts carefully.

'I'll be fine, she needs to get out of here. You've known her longer, and I hope and trust that you take care of her.'

Stonehopper didn't move for a moment, before nodding slightly. "I'll take Malamute. I'll come back next month for the SandWing," he explained.

Kholodno gave a small nod, before turning and leading Malamute and Stonehopper away to the front desk.

Hare watched them leave shortly after with unwavering eyes. She stood by the window, blinking rapidly to try and block most of the harsh light. She didn't want to miss this experience, seeing her best friend leave.

Of course she was hurt, now being all alone in this horrible place. She felt loneliness, yet greeted it as an old friend. Malamute had been here much longer, she deserved to leave and have a happy life.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Fuga, who now stood by her side.

"I need you to do me a favor, whitey."

Hare didn't say anything, just merely nodded.

"Since the other left, you will be in charge of everything in this place. Inculding: cleaning, working for two people, now three, doing as the other's have asked you to, and to not interact with the other dragonets. Remember, we only have to keep you, we didn't promise to treat you like a normal dragon."

Hare nodded once more.

'I never expected you to.'