This story is not relevant to the timeline of the Dragonets of Destiny or Jade Mountain and will not mention any canon characters or canon events, besides the Scorching and the War of the SandWing Succession/The great war. --- It was raining. Like it often did in the rainforest. Stupid rain, making it too wet to climb trees and delaying all the foraging trips. Fleck hated it. He hated everything about the humid downpour that splattered his once dry wings. Groaning, he hauled himself out of the dripping hammock and slithered over to the healer’s hut. Maybe if he acted like he had a stomachache or something he could at least dry himself off and talk to someone sensible enough to stay out of the rain. The healer’s hut was set in the lower hanging branches of a huge tree, surrounded by platforms and hammocks. The hut itself was woven from strong reeds and covered with broad, thick leaves. All around the roof, little red berries marked that this was a healer’s hut, along with a toucan carved into the door to signify that Toucan, an older RainWing, had been the hut’s builder many years before. This hut was currently owned by a tall, blue and green RainWing who goes by the name Elegance. Ducking inside, Fleck could see the owner crouching by a store of medicinal herbs, muttering to herself. Fleck rolled his eyes. Everyone in the tribe knew that Elegance was as forgetful as a fruit fly and would not be able to remember how to peel a banana if nobody corrected her. Purple spirals drifted through her scales and Fleck could see she was utterly stuck and confused out of her mind trying to remember what herbs did what. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see that splotches of gold and blue drifting across light tangerine scales. Fleck sighed. He wished that he could just be normal, that he could have control over his constantly shifting scales. Fleck was born without control over his scales, so they were always changing and only showed emotions if they were very strong. If he tried hard enough, he could slow or stop his scales but what was the point? He would be straining all the time to keep them where they were. Because of his condition, he never had his shifting ceremony. When all RainWing dragonets reached the age of 1, they came up with their distinct scale patterns to discern themselves from the other colorful dragons. But instead of getting to have a wonderful party in his honor, he was constantly shifting without being able to stop it, rendering the ceremony impossible for him to complete. Elegance looked up from her pile of herbs when Fleck plopped down on one of the mossy cots. “Do you need anything, um...” She trailed off. Clearly, she had not remembered his name. Fleck felt a little offended by this. He was obviously the most memorable dragon in the whole of Pyrrhia “Fleck” He said, now wanting to claw her nose off. “Ah, yes. Sorry about that.” “I have an upset stomach and came in to rest, that’s all” “OH! Well I have something for tha-“ “No, no, it’s fine I don’t need anything!” He said, cutting her off before she could give him some herbs that would make him throw up. “I just wanted to sleep for a while.” “Oh. Well, I’ll leave you to that then.” Elegance seemed a bit ruffled by his outburst and honestly a bit relieved that she wouldn’t have to worry about remembering which herb she needed. Fleck settled himself on the cot, listening to the rain outside and drifted off to sleep. --- Art and story by me Fleck's appearance will change every chapter Elegance is owned by thanks for letting me use her! Wings of Fire belongs to Tui T. Sutherland Next Chapter: Coming soon!
