- Whisperpeak Academy for Wayward Dragons - Ch.16 P.3 - Dying Tears -

Instructions

(+)heard that before... The almighty winds. Amandi. "What's your association called?" "Everlasting Virtue, of course!" My blood went cold. "It's a good thing we have the wind of Infinity- Skygale's whole military force would surely collapse if all of us were taken." Aisha commented, smiling leisurely as she studied a small painting. "I'm the Maiden of Infinity. I was taken to the labs as well." Even Fleece's head flicked up from that statement. "So, you're saying... SKYGALE HAS BEEN UNPROTECTED FOR MONTHS?" Aisha screamed and Fleece instantly leaped from behind the bedframe and towards her, pinning her down with two fingers lightly pressed on her vocal cords. "Um... Yeah, that's one of the reasons why Kaidranga is going nuts right now." I carefully backed up as they fought on the bed. Fleece grunted, "This is the one time I appreciate your constant state of satisfaction, Kristine." Okay. Finally, identification for rainbow girl. Kristine grinned and released her hair from her tight metal-tied ponytail. The wide curls sprung loose and bounced into the air like huge slinkies. "It's simply an art of controlling your feelings to 'benefit' others. In a way, it doubles as self-improvement and manipulation. Can't have anyone getting too unhappy, can we?" She leaned over the bed where Fleece was trying to get Aisha under control. "With Aisha, her emotions are activated by material and more superficial things like status." She dramatically sighed and snapped her fingers, as if to cue something. "OH MY GOD- DO YOU THINK THE PENTHOUSE IS ALRIGHT? WHAT ABOUT THE-" "We have a penthouse?" I questioned, failing miserably to hide my excitment. "Aisha, shut up!" Fleece's voice boomed. His eyes flashed. Then it was over, and he crawled off the bed and helped her up, which made Kristine practically glow with pride. "The Wind of Control maintains equality over abundance and emotion." I recalled a voice saying. I would've written "tranquility", but that's okay. The four of us reverted to that first-time-meeting-someone awkwardness quickly after that, as if that whole scene never happened. It seemed these three never got a chance to socially develop. It made me grateful that I didn't have such an intense upbringing, with Amandi's trials and all that. "Well... What should I call you guys? Am I like, your boss? Or coworker? Partner?" "We work together! We're found family!" Kris smiled and squeezed her two friends' hands. Fleece corrected her, being his less-than-sweet self. "Think of us as equals that bond over a shared talent." "Family!" Kris argued back. The more I rolled my eyes, the closer I felt to them. Maybe one day I'd have a friend group that didn't annoy me. Ironic, since I usually filled that role for everyone else. "Oh my gosh! You guys are here!" Henry came bolting from the hallway and tripped straight onto the mattress. After scrambling up, he offered his hand to his private rescues with a grin on his face. "Uh... How'd it take you so long to realize that?" I picked up his buckled shoe that had fallen off in all his excitement and handed it to him. "I put myself under a focus spell so I could work on the map plan better... Y'know, things were getting kinda noisy in the kitchen and the walls are pretty thin.." He pushed his glasses back up his nose stem as they threatened to fall. "The spell worked a bit too well, to say the least. But on the bright side, our ambush is perfectly formulated, and I can live here now!" He turned earnestly to the missing members of Everlasting Virtue and prompted, "So, how was the trip? Not too rough I hope- I gave you plenty of supplies." Aisha retorted, "Plenty for a peasant.... Nothing special." Fleece instantly interrupted, narrowing his eyes at her. "The supplies were fine. I- WE appreciated the support." Kristine nodded and grinned happily. "Iris, you've done a great job introducing yourself. I'm sure you could use a break." Henry excused me and himself, joining me out into the hall. "So, what do you think?" He asked with an eager smile on his face. "Not the group I was expecting... I felt kinda intimidated at first." Embarrassment flushed my cheeks at such a childish statement. That's all that popped in my head at the moment. "I get it. But there's nothing to fear! Those three were destined to help you pursue your own goal- keeping abundance, control and emotion infinite." "But they've been at it for so long, and have went through the proper training... I just don't wanna let them down or fail at my mission." I shrugged, trying to dismiss the statement, but Henry put a caring, steady hand on my shoulder, like back at the lab. "You don't understand how much they admire you. The trials for the Maiden of Infinity are terribly more complicated than theirs. You'll go through them soon, but for now we need to focus on Oceane." "Thanks," I mumbled under my breath. "I'm gonna go if that's okay." (+)