Shadows Burning

"She fainted," whispered Raindrop, "We don't know why.  I hope she's alright."  then she realized that every onlooker was staring expectantly at the group.  someone had to go next.  Raindrop squared her shoulders and walked toward the circle.  she weaved through hordes of beautiful dragons, but she was too worried to enjoy it.  Then, she heard it, a barely audible whisper.  "Dancing"  It came from the dragon on her left.  she turned to examine it.  Her dragon's scales were all different shades of blue and pink, but they seemed unnaturally dull.  it's eyes were glazed over and it swayed unsteadily as it stood.  she realized it was sick.  then she realized something else, the reason it looked so different from the others.  her dragon had no wings. 

        Raindrop's ceremony was over.  her name was now Raindrop's Dancing, she had recieved a dragon.  but it was not at all what she had expected

Shadow groaned and opened her eyes. Her vision was still hazy, but she could make out six blurry faces havering over her, looking concerned. Then she felt something warm, hard, and smooth nudge the side of her head. She rolled her head sideways to see what it was. It was her new dragon, Burning. Shadow tried to stand, but her legs could not yet stand the wieght, and she collapsed again. Burning turned around and offered his tail, which Shadow leaned on gratefully. Then she slowly got to her feet, using her dragon's tail as support.

Shadow looked around at all her friends' faces. "So, who's next?" She said, and gave a weak, breathy laugh.

Raindrop was giddy with relief, yet all of her was bursting with curiosity.  What had happened to Shadow?  But Raindrop decided not to bombard her friend with questions until later.  She wanted to give Shadow time to rest.  so she focused on the others, waiting to see who volunteered. 

Raindrop stepped forward. "I'll go," she said. Walking through the group of dragons, she noticed everyone was watching her, both human and dragon. There were dragons of all colors and sizes. Finally one voiced their name. "Flowing," it said. Ribbon turned and grinned when she saw the purple and turquoise dragon. Her ceremony ended, and she walked back to the others with her new friend.

Now just Jasmine and Star had to do their ceremonies. And then...and then...

The words that Shadow had heard before echoed in her ears. "When the Shining, the Dancing, the Swaying, the Flowing, and the Burning unite, they WILL BURN." Shadow shivered. Suddenly she felt dizzy again. 

Shadow wondered what the words could mean. She knew that Burning was her dragon, Raining was Raindrop's dragon, Flowing was Ribbon's dragon, and Swaying was Lily's dragon, but what was Shining and Shimmering? They must be Jasmine's and Star's dragons-to-be, she thought. But still... what could the ominous words actually MEAN?

(Whoops! I accidentally called myself Raindrop in that last post. Sorry!)

"Who's going to go next?" Ribbon asked.

"MeMeMeMeMeMeMeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" yelled Jasmine who couldn't wait one more minute to find her dragon and her name.

"Ok, go on"

Raindrop rolled her eyes at Jasmine's childish announcement

Jamine sprinted forward, quickly practiced the qwertyuiopi dance to get her excitement out, took a deep breath, and plunged into the sea of dragons. 

(The What Dance!)

(You mean you don't know what the qwertyuiopi dance is?!)

(qwertyuiop is the top row of letters on the keyboard)

(Oh.)

Raindrop leaned against her new dragon, making herself comfortable.  she was getting tired, the soft glow of the fire adding to her drowsiness. 

Lily rubbed her dragon down with her hands to make her feel comfortable with her. Then she got up on Swaying and slowly fell alseep, but she stopped herself because she thought of ot as rude to the others.

(I am)

Ribbon stroked Flowing, tracing the swirls on her scales with a finger.