The Sunrise Winglet

Dream's eyes opened to the dim morning sun of dawn. Her head told her to go back to sleep. She wanted to... but how would she know if she got accepted into the academy or not? She groaned getting up but gave a small grin to herself, her mood lifted when she thought of sneaking the results letter to her room.

If her parents found out she was accepted, they wouldn't let her go ANYWHERE alone. They would be blabbering how amazing it was. At least she thought.

She was not going to let that happen.

If she didn't get accepted, they would be... okay. Just okay. They would tell her that they would try again next year, but she would be able to see the disappointment on their faces. That was even worse. So for her parents and for herself, she hoped she got in. It was something her grandfather wanted for her ever since she was born and Dream's father had been waiting ever since until she had come of age to apply.

She took a deep breath as she slowly exited her room, her black figure crawling through the house. Unlike other NightWings, Dreamcatcher and her family lived near the volcano, still interacting with the tribe, but not on it. They lived in a lighter place, it wasn't dark. It was on a tall grassy cliff where you could see everything if you went outside. The cooling fresh air was what she needed and to her luck, the mail was always outside.

The plan was to slowly creep past her parents without them noticing, go outside, get the letter, and go back to her room and read it.

She crawled slowly towards the door, but before she could let out a sigh of relief, her dad jumped in front of her.

"Aha!" He exclaimed, his face turned upwards in an amused and surprised grin. Dream got up and ran to embrace him in a tight warm hug. Their black bodies blending. "You know what day it is today, right my honeybun?" he asked, his eyes lighting up in excitement.

Dream snorted slightly, chuckling, "The 26th of July?" She nuzzled him slightly. Her dad shook his head in a playful manner,

"Well yes, but—"

"I knooow, its the day we get the result letter for the Sunrise Winglet," she interrupted. Groaning in a playful manner as if to say How could I forget the day you've been blabbering about ever since we applied?

Her dad smiled and nodded. "Let's go get your mother and go outside to read the letter."

Plan failed, Dream thought, let's just see how this goes.

She rushed outside to get in the last of the splendid crisp morning before her mother and father caught up to her. And without a doubt, the letter was sitting there. Right before their door on a silver platter. Her Father eagerly uncovered the letter, his eyes turned from curious to happy in a second, clearly showing that she had gotten accepted. But before Dream could run to embrace her father, her mother gave him a hesitant look. "Can I talk to you for a minute, Dark?" Her Father, confused, nodded.

"All right, darling." They went back inside, but before Dream could wonder what was going on, a thought beeped inside her head—clearly not hers.

I don't think we should let her go. She could get in danger, plus she's not the most behaved dragon on Pyrrhia. She could get herself in big trouble. Dreamcatcher's eyes widened as she recognized her mother's voice. How is that possible? she thought. Mindreading? She ran to the door to listen, hearing her father's voice first.

"Miranda, what are you talking about? Dream and I have been waiting for this moment for a long time and you choose NOW to be the perfect time to tell me I shouldn't let my daughter go to the best school in Pyhrria? Just because she is curious and adventurous?" Her father, by his voice, seemed outraged, upset, and confused at the same time. Then her Mother spoke, surprised by the strong-headed comeback that her father made.

"Dark, I didn't mean it that way. It's just you know how they can pick on NightWings. It's a school after all. I don't want my baby to come home crying." She said, tears forming in her eyes. "I don't want her to be hurt. I want her to be safe and happy. I don't know what will happen to her at that place." Her father wrapped his wings around her, calming down.

"I understand, but our girl is strong. If you want, we can give her our animus touched gift we got from Flicker. The letter, remember? She can talk to us every day through the two-sided letter. And it doesn't have to send, we get it right away. Don't cry honey, everything will be fine. Have faith in her."

Her mother sniffled slightly before nodding. Dark dried her tears, trying to make it unnoticeable that she was crying. When they came out, they were both smiling as if nothing happened. They shared a group hug before happily saying she got accepted and she would be going tomorrow.

Dream sighed happily, giving a nervous and excited chuckle, not knowing what she had ahead of her. She would be meeting her winglet tomorrow: the other six dragonets she was going to spend a lot of time with. She hoped they got along well.

"And one more thing," her father stopped her, "before you go flying off to your friends to say goodbyes, here's a two-sided letter. When you write to us, you don't have to send it, we will automatically get it. And we will write to you. Make sure to write to us honeybun."

"Daily!" her mother added, laughing and kissing Dream's face and hugging her with her wings. "We love you baby girl. Go have your life adventure." They gathered her up in a group hug before letting her go to her friends. This was the last day she would be with her family and her friends for a long time...