When Gideon arrived at the Whispering Willows, he was told takes of the warring clans that battled above the underground cave system the Willows lived in. From the first time he heard the tales, he was obsessed with The Scholar's Guild. He wished and pleaded to be able to join them, but to no avail. Nobody was going to give up another dragonet to the territorial and violent dragons that lived above. But one night, as Gideon was staring out the hole in his ceiling, he saw a pair of feathered moonlit wings soar past. It was Minoo, a caring dragoness who often played with him.

He fluttered his way up out of the hole in the roof and squeezed his way through. The outside world was beautiful, he realized. The dark trees surrounded The Stony surface he had climbed through, but most strikingly were the stars. He had seen them before, catching glimpses through chipped ceilings, and strategically placed holes, but never before had he seen them like this.

The sky was a rich blue, like the color of Gideon's scales. The small white specks twinkled, their brightness striking in the dark night.

With a jolt he realized that Minoo was soaring away quickly. She was a coatl, with smaller wings, so she would be easy to catch up to, but Gideon was still a very young drake. He took off, chasing after the white coatl as she hurtled through the night.

He finally caught up to her as she touched down in the middle of a grassy clearing. He followed her cautiously, nudging quietly through the underbrush. He poked his snout through a non thorny spot in his Bush and saw Minoo nuzzling a stranger Gideon had never met. The stranger was an adult Imperial, with shimmering wings and kind eyes.

Gideon padded curiously out of the bush to get a better look and the Imperial's eyes widened. It cleared it's throat and nudged Minoo. She spun around and let it a squeak of alarm.

"Gideon! What are you doing here?"

"I was following you..." Gideon replied, still craning his neck to look at the Imperial. Minoo flung up her wing to hide the Imperial's face, her snout flushing bright pink.

"I- uh- go back home! Right now!"

"Who is that?" Gideon asked, ignoring her flustered demand.

"My name's Audacious," said the Imperial, poking it's head out from behind Minoo's wing.

"Audacious! He cant see you! If we get caught I won't be able to see you again!" She hissed sideways.

"It's okay. I won't tell anyone. But, why haven't I ever seen him before?"

"You've never seen them" Gideon flinched as he realized he'd used the wrong pronouns for the Imperial "before because- well- remember when Natu told you about the Scholar's Guild? That's where Audacious lives. They're not from the Whispering Willows."

Gideon let out a happy gasp of surprise. "You live at the Scholar's Guild!? I want to go there so bad!" A plan quickly formulated in Gideon's brain. "Take me there. You will take me there or... Or I'll tell everyone about Audacious and you." Gideon declared lifting his chin up.

"You little-!" Minoo began angrily.

Audacious chucked, holding Minoo back gently. She growled and snuggled back onto Audacious, pouting.

"Sure, young dragonet." Audacious began. "You can come with us, as long as you change your name, pretend that you were found in the woods, and say that I was out alone, flying."

"Deal." Gideon- no, now Duskflare, said with confidence.

"I would like to point out that this makes no sense, and should not be happening." Minoo interjected.

"Are you going to stop us?" Duskflare asked.

"I- well... No. Go ahead, do your weird stuff. But I still don't approve." She huffed.


"Well, Audacious, Duskflare needs someone to show him the way to the Scholar's Guild." Duskflare said, raising an eyebrow.

"Duskflare, huh? Are you... Sure about that one?"

"Yes. Now, shall we?" He strode off, flicking his tail as a signal for Audacious to catch up. Audacious turned around and tapped his snout to Minoo's.

"I'll be back by moonhigh," Audacious whispered to the coatl. "Love you."

"Love you too," she echoed, before slipping off into a small hollow in a tree trunk.


"Well, Duskflare, I suppose it's time to learn about the crew before we arrive. We have Arliin, she's the librarian, she recently lost her assistant, so she might be in need... Oh, and there's Sanzen, he's the astronomer. He's been looking for an apprentice for months now, but he hasn't been able to find-"

"I want him! Can I be his apprentice? Please please please please please!" Duskflare chirped, hopping as he walked.

"Really? That's great! Sanzen will be so happy that you're going to be able to be hsi apprentice! You know, he's been..."

And Audacious' voice began to trail off as Duskflare smiled, looking up at the moon. He was finally headed off to his dream home. He would research the stars until the end of his days. He breathed in heavily, closing his eyes. This. This is what he wanted. Duskflare was finally going home.