Phoenix knew he was not a SandWing like Marigold. He'd noticed from hatching that his red scales and her sand-colored scales were different. He knew that he didn't have a poisonous barb on the end of his tail as she did. He already knew and he made peace with it. But as he read the various scrolls Marigold had allowed him to, he was beginning to feel more and more out of place. He read about every dragon Tribe that was described in Marigold's scrolls but he kept going back to the scrolls about SandWings and SkyWings. The more he read, the more different he realized he and his guardian were. And it made him lonely. He'd always wondered what life would be like if he was around dragons beside Marigold, but now he absolutely longed for the company of other dragons, especially other SkyWings. What would he be like if he was raised among his Tribe? That's all he thought about now. "Phoenix, you seem distracted," Marigold said to him one day after a hunt. "I'm fine." He didn't want to tell Marigold that the source of his loneliness was from her scrolls because he feared she'd take them from, him. They were the most he knew about the rest of Pyrrhia and as awkward as they were making him feel, he was addicted to the scrolls. He questioned more about himself in the span of two weeks than ever in his life. He wanted to explore Pyrrhia as Marigold had before he literally fell into her life. He considered asking Marigold about venturing out, but he knew Marigold would say no. She hated other dragons. And he could understand why, but he didn’t hate them. He was interested in them, from MudWings to IceWings. Apparently RainWings lived in a strange rainforest and NightWings were hard to find, but Phoenix was determined to find them. Determined to learn about each Tribe. Especially his own. Phoenix loved Marigold and cared about her very much. But he had so many questions and wanted answers. --- The moment he saw Marigold awake and moving around the next morning, he rushed to her. "Do you know anything about SkyWings?" Marigold looked at Phoenix with a strange expression. "How come?" "I've been reading some stuff about SkyWings and so I'm just curious about them." "Well," Marigold thought for a bit, "they tend to live in the mountains. They're excellent fliers, and I mean exceptional. I think that's why you're such a good flier, even though it may be difficult for you. I raced with one once. I was pretty close, but in the end I lost. It really wasn't a match." She laughed. Phoenix then tentatively asked, "what about... the Dragonets of Destiny?" Marigold said, "I don't know if you already read this, but NightWings can see the future and so they can give prophecies about what's to happen. And this one NighWing foretold that five dragonets, each from other tribes, would grow up to end the war that's been going on. They would each be born on the brightest night... ah, Phoenix, I haven't read that old prophecy in years." "Do you believe in it?" "Well, if it is true, the war should be ending in anywhere up to a year, so we'll see." "Why the war? What happened?" "My queen, Queen Oasis, was killed by scavengers," Marigold sighed and shook her head, "and now the throne is split between her three daughters, Burn, Blister, and Blaze. All of them want to be Queen, and so they each allied with different Tribes and turned everyone against each other. It's a shame, getting other Tribes mixed into their fight." "Who are SandWings allied with?" "Well, those of us who follow Burn would be allied with SkyWings, actually." "Have you met my queen?" "Scarlet? I've met her and I can't really say I like her too much. She's honestly awful. She enjoys watching fights, so she has a bunch of dragons she keeps around ONLY keeps to fight each other to the death. I've seen it, it's not a pretty sight, Phoenix." Finally silent, he looked out of one of Marigold's windows. And endless sea of sand. What was beyond the sand, Phoenix couldn't help thinking. "Why all the sudden questions?" "No reason," Phoenix said as he walked back over to his bed to read more scrolls.
