The wind was cold, and the mist was gathering like a thick blanket of cobwebs. The moss below was cold, and wet her claws. A freezing wing caused the trees to sing eerily. It was hard to tell whether it was daytime or not, as the twisting fog obstructed her view. Was it normal to feel a little uneasy in conditions like this?

Moonstone shivered, wishing she'd brought more than just a pouch to keep snacks in. She'd finished those a while ago, and was hungry again too.

How much further till I get to Jade Mountain? I hope they'll accept me. she thought, worrying with her claws. A small splash below her talons told her she'd stepped into a small river. Water! she was so happy, she lapped it up, and when she'd drunk enough to make her stop feeling hungry for a second, she continued walking, hoping to find a way out of this fog. She was way too tired to fly. As if by magic, the mist suddenly cleared, and she found herself out of the dense mist-ridden forest, and climbing a shallow slope. In the distance, she saw the dual peaks of Jade Mountain. Ack, I climbed the wrong mountain. she laughed to herself. At least it's daytime.

She wandered a little higher up the cliffside, and then stopped, flopping down in exhaustion . I wish I got around more, then this wouldn't be so hard, I don't have enough stamina. My tribe was so isolated for so long, and due to the great war, which hardly any of us knew about, we didn't leave the rainforest.

She reluctantly got up as the sun was setting, and the school expected the new intake to arrive before then. Urghhhhhh. she grumbled in her head. I have to fly or I won't make it.

Taking to the air, and to her relief, she caught a fast current easily, and that took her around half the way before the wind dropped significantly and she had to do exhausting manual work. A SkyWing could have made it to Jade Mountain in five minutes from the rainforest, which was where she had come from. She had left at sunrise so she wouldn't have gotten late.

The two peaks looked almost like stone fangs, jutting out from the ground. As she got closer, and circled in to land, she noticed that by the entrance to Jade Mountain Academy, the stone had been smoothed and polished, probably to decrease the risk of injury for younger dragonets. Obviously, it could still hurt if you ran or flew into it, but at least there weren't any sharp points on it.

Swooping down, she collapsed on the soft welcoming grass, and lay there, letting her scales change to a light golden yellow of relief. She spread her talons into the grass and cherished the moment. Suddenly, she heard a voice. It said: "Oh, hello!". Moonstone groaned internally. Couldn't she just relax for a little while longer? Did she have to get up?

Moonstone looked up, aching in every limb. "Hi." she said, in the politest, shyest, not-exhausted-at-all way possible. I'd better give the impression of being shy, but nice. I'm certainly not shy in real life, but I don't want these other dragons to hate me from the moment they meet me, or think of me as loud and rowdy.

"What's your name?" the black dragon said. Moonstone stood up, limbs shaking with effort, and the setting sun caught something on the dragon's face. There was a silver teardrop scale in the corner of each eye, which vanished as she smiled. "Moonstone, right? Don't be freaked out, I know all of the dragonets' names here already. I'm not a mind reader." she grinned in a friendly way. "I'm Fatespeaker, and I'm not a teacher, but you'll see me around, mostly at the library, helping Starflight. Come on inside, and I'll show you to your cave."

Fatespeaker beckoned, and Moonstone followed. "So, the plan for today was, get used to this place, get to know some of the dragonets here, maybe make some friends. Tomorrow, we'll have discussion classes where we talk to the dragons we haven't already talked to."

"Ok..." Moonstone said, looking down at her feet. They walked in silence for a bit.

"Hey," Fatespeaker said reassuringly, putting one wing over her. "It's ok to be shy around dragons you don't know, and that's fine. Just take deep breaths, and try to keep your brain from running around inside your head like a terrified chinchilla." There was a long pause. "And if you don't mind me asking, why are you called Moonstone?"

"Uh..." Moonstone said, trying to come up with a lie to hide the real reason. The real reason was that she had... an ability. She knew nobody else had it, and she had been pushed out of to the outskirts of the RainWing village because of it. "I found a moonstone in the rainforest and I ate it, and it bleached these scales on my chest. It doesn't hurt, but actually it's pretty cool. I usually get anxiety attacks when people ask me about it though." she forced a laugh, and then wished she didn't.

"That's really interesting. Thank you for letting me know." Fatespeaker nodded curiously. "Ah, here we are."

They both stopped at the cave, and Moonstone noticed that everyone was asleep. "See you around." Fatespeaker dipped her head, before walking down the corridor. There was a SkyWing and a MudWing in the cave, both resting peacefully and breathing regularly. "Wait, one question." she called after Fatespeaker's departing back.

Fatespeaker twisted her neck around. "Yes?" she said, in an open-to-any-question-you-give-me voice.

"What are their names? The other dragonets, I mean."

"Flicker and Alligator." Fatespeaker waited a bit longer, before adding, "Good night." then she strolled down the corridor, either to wait for more late students, or to go to her own bed.

Moonstone looked around, and spotted a woven hammock that was high up. Better than nothing. She took long tired flaps, and reached it, before settling down and falling asleep almost instantly. The dim rays of the sun faded.