TW for yelling and minor bl00d Jelu and Tulun strolled down the hallway. Today was boring. As usual, in this stupid, foul-smelling, ugly, dank, hot castle. Okay, the hot part was just Jelu. Her family had Ice Dragon bl00d going centuries back. Strangely enough, though, Jelu was a pale orange with sky blue flecks near her talons, tail, and snout. Tulun was the exact opposite. She was mottled blue, with some patches nearly white, others shimmering azure, and others nearly black. She was quiet and odd and shy and perfect. Wait what? / Dangit! I need to stop thinking stuff like that about her! Timor and Marach would be horrified / Jelu scolded herself. She pretended she didn't, but she had always had feelings for other girls. But her aunt and uncle hated that kind of thing. Suddenly, a flash of hot pink streaked around the corner. "Tulun! Jelu!" the new dragon gasped excitedly. "Did you hear?" It was Redu. She was the most gossipy person in the palace. She was neon pink with more reddish smudge patterns. "Hear what?" Tulun said in her soft, whispery voice. "Oh. Did Maifo try to sweep the winter again?" Jelu smothered a laugh. Tulun talked nonsense all the time. She was so funny. There wasn't even anyone named Maifo in the palace. "There's a BAT in the palace!" Redu said, grinning. "He got here yesterday! A BAT!!!" "What?" Jelu said, grinning. "No WAY." "Yes, way!" Redu retorted. "I'll prove it! c'mon!" She led them through the palace for a while. Finally, they reached the containment tower. They passed some of the older prisoners, a coyote, an Arctic hare, and someone named Sesame, who said he was something called a "pangolin". Finally, they reached the new prisoner's cell. The file next to the room read: - MANGO - Eastern Tube-nosed Bat - Male, he/him - To be held in custody until further notice Jelu felt a rush of excitement as a small lump of fur in the back of the room moved. It was hanging from the CEILING!! Jelu's heart seemed to not know how to do its job anymore. It was shaking and flipping and spinning rather than beating. The bat's eyes opened and he dropped off the ceiling, landing on a pile of soft yellow and silver pillows. He blinked at the three dragons outside his cell. "Hi." "See?" Redu said smugly to Tulun and Jelu. "Hello!" Jelu said, ignoring Redu's stupid face. "I'm Jelu! You're Mango, right?" "Yeah," the bat said, standing up and walking over to a puffy armchair near the open wall. "This is my... er... friend, Tulun," she told him. "And that's Redu. Don't listen to anything she says. Like, ever." "Hey!" Redu protested. "Uh." Mango fidgeted with his ear. "I... won't?" They talked for a while, late into the night. Redu left after a while. Tulun fell asleep. But Mango and Jelu kept talking. She was glad she'd been able to make a new friend. When morning came, footsteps sounded from farther down the tunnel. Before Jelu could react, Veneen was standing in the entryway, with Morpho standing sheepishly behind him. Collab with
