Chapter 4: Lesson Learned
“Has anyone ever told you that art has rules?” A bright RainWing lectured from the front of the class. Without waiting for a response, she continued. “Well they were wrong! My name is Kinkajou, and here at the Art Cave, we don’t have any restrictions! Be yourself! Your funny, creative, wonderful self! Or, if you’re more introverted, that’s great too! Here you can make small talk or stay in your head! Because… ART HAS NO RULES!” She said all of this in the span of about two seconds, without seeming to take a breath in between.
Butterfly applauded, but felt a little silly when her and Peacemaker were the only ones.
He didn’t seem to have that problem. “That pulled on my heartstrings,” he brushed a non-existent tear from his eye and resumed his lonely applause. “You really have a way with words. C’mon, guys! All hail the art queen!”
Cliff, Butterfly, and her clawmates clapped passionately, making Kinkajou beam and blush simultaneously.
“Aw, thank you you guys,” she pressed a talon to her heart and smiled affectionately. “Okay! Remember all that stuff I said about not wanting to talk to anybody? Well, today we’re doing a team project, so, you kinda have to. Okay! One easel, two artists! GO! Get painting, you buckets of inspiration!”
Peacemaker applauded once more and paraded himself around the room until Cliff pulled him by the arm to stand by his easel.
Butterfly was trying to decide if she should just pair up with Cactus or Toucan or something, or if she should try and befriend some other dragonet.
Well, her decision was made for her. Her ‘Destiny Dragonet’, if you will, came LOUD and rocking her black and yellow stripes. “Hey New Girl,” she grinned, “my name’s Bumblebee. Mind if I join you?”
“Not at all! I’m Butterfly. What should we paint?”
“Well, I haven’t put that much thought into it, but, I dunno,” she shrugged, looking at the ceiling bashfully, “maybe just a series of my uncle Swordtail kissing Auntie Sundew, and then poor Auntie Luna punching the nearest dragon,” she suggested casually. When she noticed Butterfly staring, she explained, “It’s this whole family thing. We’ll need blue, green, brown, black, red—for blood—and….” And so the next two hours went during this… experiment.
Bumblebee was nice to talk to—exciting personality, and all—however, she did enjoy sprinkling some descriptive profanity into her vocabulary. She was quite a, ah, how would you say? Colorful dragon.
(And Butterfly wasn’t talking about her scales.)
~*~
“Wow, and where did the inspiration for this come from?” Kinkajou stood before their painting, mentally turning it with her talons.
“A dream,” Bumblebee said proudly.
“I love your macaw,” Kinkajou said brightly. “You used all the right shades of a native—”
“Oh, the red is blood,” Bumblebee said lightly. “You see, this is what should happen every year on my hatching day, when Auntie Luna comes to Auntie Sundew and Uncle Swordtail’s house. I’d pay money to see that. Actual money.”
“As would I,” Peacemaker attested.
Kinkajou gave him a worried look. “You’ll do no such thing.” She looked at the painting once more before coming to her conclusion. “Nope! It’s a macaw. That’s the power of abstract, dragons!”
“Uh, no,” Bumblebee frowned. “I’m fairly certain that it’s my aunt and uncle.”
Butterfly buried her face in her talons. Oohh, boy.
~*~
“Who knew that you were so good on the trumpet?!” Butterfly praised the blushing SandWing. They had just exited the Music Cave after a rehearsal. They were practicing a famous piece by various artists and she’d felt extremely under prepared. (Let’s just say that her and the piano weren’t exactly the best of friends.)
But Cactus and trumpets, now they were a match made in heaven.
“We did,” Auklet, Cosmo, and Toucan offered.
“But seriously,” the SeaWing princess looked at Butterfly, “she was holding back earlier. She can play even better than that.”
“It leaves you speechless,” Cosmo agreed.
“Wow,” Butterfly raised her eyebrows.
“‘Wow’ is right,” Toucan nodded.
“Oh, and speaking of wow,” Butterfly opened her drawstring pouch and fished inside, sparing a beet red Cactus any more flattery. “I was writing a letter to my parents while I waited for class to start.” She frowned into her pouch. “I must’ve left it in the cave.”
“That’s nice,” Toucan smiled. “Did you mention me?”
“Um, I mentioned all of you,” she replied good naturedly. “Be right back.” She was about to turn and leave, but…
“Yeah, Toucan, she mentioned all of us,” Auklet said haughtily.
“Oh, please, you know you were just about to ask the same question.”
Butterfly smiled and turned to re-enter the cave. Once inside, however, what she saw infuriated her.
Mantis and Egret—the MudWing from the Jade Winglet—were reading off a scroll and giggling. (She didn’t know that males were capable of producing that horrid sound that they emitted.) They were reading her scroll.
“Mantis, that’s mine,” she reached for the paper and gave him a look. “Give it back.”
He looked up from her letter and smirked. “You’re the girl that wrote this? Really? Already homesick, huh?” He laughed and hit Egret’s arm in that boyish way that meant they found something hilarious and wanted their friend to laugh with them.
“Hey, hey—read the letter,” Egret whispered.
“I should, right? Everyone needs to hear this.”
Butterfly narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you dare—”
“Dear Mom and Dad,” he began, loud enough to capture the attention of several dragons. “So far I’ve only been here a day, but I’ve already fallen in love.”
“He didn’t finish that sentence,” Butterfly announced to the room. “It ends with Jade Mountain Academy.”
“Bosh,” Mantis scoffed. “I met the entire Quartz winglet, a NightWing showed me around, blah blah blah… When do I get in?” he yawned and his eyes skimmed the parchment before settling on something he found interesting. “—his name is Peacemaker. Between him and Cliff, the SkyWing prince, I don’t know who’s funnier. They’re actually quite charming,” he emphasized in a way that hadn’t been done so in the letter.
She rolled her eyes.
Hearing their names, Cliff and Peacemaker wandered over, giving Mantis and Butterfly curious looks.
“Are you done yet?” Butterfly asked the HiveWing curtly.
He raised a talon. “Almost—patience, darling.” He cleared his throat. “Although there have been some questionable clientele, I don’t hate it here. And I’m sure you wouldn’t be surprised to know that the weird ones are HiveWings. I paired with one of them for battle training and one for art. They’re so aggravating!” He narrowed his eyes at her disapprovingly. “One of them painted her aunt punching her uncle, and the other… well. There isn’t enough space left to describe it all, so that’s all for now. Love, your little Caterpillar.” He looked up at Butterfly. “You spelled Caterpillar wrong, by the way. There’s only one T, not two.”
Butterfly snatched her letter from Mantis and stalked away.
What happened to meaning well?
Idiot.
Butterfly’s Letter
Dear Mom and Dad,
So far it’s only been a day, but I’ve already fallen in love with Jade Mountain Academy. Today I met the entire Quartz winglet after this NightWing showed me around. He was in detention when I got here, actually, and he’s really funny. His name is Peacemaker. Between him and the SkyWing Prince, Cliff, I don’t know who’s funnier. And they are—surprisingly enough—quite charming. Oh! And by the way, there are three princesses and a prince in the school right now! Isn’t that crazy?? And although there have been some questionable clientele, I don’t hate it here. And I’m sure you wouldn’t be surprised to know that the weird ones are HiveWings. I paired with one of them for battle training and one for art. They’re so… aggravating! One of them painted her aunt punching her uncle, and the other… well. There isn’t enough space left to describe it all, so that’s all for now.
Love,
Your little Catterpillar
