Joy of Understanding is a fanfiction made by Summerleaf. It is part of the Zero Hour book collection, and is book four of arc one. Enjoy! :3
Notes[]
None currently! :3
Chapter 1 - Torch[]
Torch didn't know what to do. Spire was fine now, as the fit wasn't a huge one. Just a bit of squirming and panicked yelps. But both Ultraviolet and Hummingbird were fast asleep, Flickergem looked tired but kept insisting she was fine. And Torch... He was just weighed down with the fact that he was putting all their lives in danger.
"I think we might as well rest now," Torch decided finally. "No use in waking them up."
Flickergem nodded gratefully. "Yes, that'd be a good idea." She curled up next to the two others, tucking in her wings and wrapping her tail around her flank. "C'mon, Spire. Some rest would do you good."
Spire was shivering violently, but his eyes still shone with that determined look that Torch loved to see. It meant his friend still had fight in him, and Torch was overjoyed to know Spire would live another day. Spire scooted a little closer to the group but wasn't within a tail length of them. Torch rolled his eyes. Sometimes he could be too determined.
"Here, Spire. I'll sleep with you," he whispered.
Spire looked up gratefully and sprawled himself out, unlike the others. He always claimed it helped him feel cooler.
"Goodnight, my friend."
~ o ~
"Torch, wake up!!"
"Torch?!"
"TORCH!!"
Torch groaned and pressed his talons against his ears. He was not a morning dragon.
"Torch, Spire's gone!"
That woke him up in less then a second. He swarmed up and gazed around, searching desperately for Spire. "Where did he go?"
Ultraviolet hurriedly pointed to the east. "They just snatched him and flew away!"
Hummingbird and Flickergem were up now too. "They were SeaWings; or at least the ones I saw were," continued Ultraviolet.
"That would make sense. They are headed to the SeaWing kingdom," Hummingbird stated.
Torch was already up and running. "Come on! We have to save him!"
"Right!" Flickergem pumped her wings and glided above her brother. She nodded in approval as Ultraviolet and Hummingbird came up beside her. "Wow, this is so exciting! I feel like this is our first adventure as a group!"
"That's because it is," Hummingbird muttered.
"Umm, you do know that your boyfriend just got kidnapped, right?" Ultraviolet half joked.
Flickergem made a kind of snorting, scoffy noise. "First, he is not my boyfriend. Second, that's makes it even more fun!"
"CoughBoyfriendCough."
Hummingbird looked faintly amused but looked away and grumbled something inaudible.
Torch was listening from below, only able to pick up small bits of their conversation. How stupid can one dragon get? They all have no idea what could be happening to Spire... He couldn't stop the images from flooding into his mind. They made him sick. Spire was unstable, and if those dragons didn't know that... Torch shook his head. It couldn't be. It just couldn't.
But it happened. And it was happening now. I have to find him.
Chapter 2 - Ultraviolet[]
Ultraviolet was worried sick about Spire. Sure, she didn't love him like Flickergem did, but that didn't mean she couldn't care about him. They were a group now; a team! And friends don't leave other friends.
It was night; a long while after they had settled down for a rest. The moons were high in the sky, and crickets were chirping. Ultraviolet was still awake with her thoughts, her tail flicking to and fro. Her eyes were glowing with a vibrant purple tinge. She listened to her breathing and felt her chest rising and falling slowly. Her eyelids grew heavy.
The young dragonet looked up, sorrowful. "Mother," she whispered "when will my eyes turn normal?"
"Hmm..." the older dragon murmured, stroking her daughter's mane lovingly. "I don't think they'll ever be normal." The silver dragon's face fell. Her purple eyes glittered with tears. "Ultraviolet, my little star. You are not normal, no. You are brilliant. You are special. You are rare."
Ultraviolet looked up once again. "Do you promise?"
Her mother smiled. "I promise."
"Mother... Tell me about colors."
"Well, there are all sorts of colors. Like the colors of the rainbow; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet."
Ultraviolet closed her eyes and tried to imagine the colors, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't. "I wish... I wish I could see like you. Maybe then everyone would stop teasing me."
"Don't worry, Ultraviolet. You will grow up to be big and strong, and no one can take that away from you." The mother smiled warmly and folded her wing so it draped across her daughter's flank.
"I think they already have," the dragonet whispered.
"No they haven't. You'll see. One day, you'll see."
Ultraviolet didn't stir in her sleep. A small smile spread across her face as she lay there, bathed in moonlight. When she she woke, she didn't remember her dream. All she knew was that she felt unusually happy.
Chapter 3 - Hummingbird[]
"Where in the wide wide world of Phrrhia are we heading? It's been too long!" Flickergem complained.
"Quit your whining. I've suffered far more than you and even I don't complain as much," Hummingbird snapped.
Flickergem blinked. Her expression soon changed rapidly to anger. "Don't you dare say I have suffered less than you! Have you had to go through years of teasing and bulling? Have you had to wallow in tears and pain? Have you had to cower while your peers could be bold and explore freely? I think not!" Flickergem literally spat the words out. She had had just about enough of Hummingbird's annoying rants!
Hummingbird looked stunned. "I-"
"No! You know what, just get away from me! I don't want to see your face as long as I live!" Words were pouring out of Flickergem's mouth now without her thinking. As soon as they escaped her lips she froze. This was wrong. They shouldn't be fighting...
Hummingbird looked as if someone had paralyzed her. "Wind pours from your mouth," she whispered. And with that she spun around and pelted off in a different direction, tears burning behind her eyes. She didn't want to cry. Crying was for weaklings, and she was not a weakling. Yet Hummingbird still couldn't shake the feeling of regret and pain that weighed her down. No! I am a warrior, and warriors don't cry!
She ran and ran until she couldn't anymore. She gasped for breath and paced, shaking of the acid from her blood. It was nighttime. Hummingbird laid down as soon as the sharp feeling faded from her chest. A small whisper escaped her lips. She snorted, crossed. When had she become such a wimp? This whole friendship thing must be turning me into a soft pile of goo. Hummingbird gazed up through the canopy of leaves at the two crescent moons glowing in the sky. I'll leave. Perhaps they'll fair even better without me.
So she rose and carefully picked the largest leaf she could find. Soon a large maple leaf laid in front of her. She collected some blueberries and began to write...
Dear friends,
I regret to inform you that I will be leaving. I feel like I'm not really needed in this group, nor in your lives. Perhaps we will meet again, but until then, I say to you; goodbye. May fortune fill you wings.
Best,
Hummingbird.
Hummingbird grimly pumped her wings and glided silently to their camp. She treaded carefully to the center and rolled an obvious smooth rock there. She laid her maple leaf on in and leapt into the sky once more.
No turning back.
This fanfiction is complete! Here is the next one: A Misty Wake