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After her incident with Ruari, Keira remained to herself for the rest of the week. She didn't want to talk to Fallon or Mara either, as she was afraid of what they would say to her, though she did visit Evelyn for a day. As always, the visit left her in slightly higher spirits, but she was stuck in a gloomy muck. The only way she could escape it was if she trudged through it and endured it until the end, when she could lift herself out of it.

There was talk of a city-wide festival. She overheard Ruari and his family talking about it and wondered if she would be able to go. When she was younger, she remembered how much she enjoyed her village's small festival every year. It seemed like a giant celebration back then, with magical displays and lots of sweets. She could only imagine how grand a city's festival would be, especially when it was a city as giant as this. It got her hopes up to see it, but she realized that she would probably have to sit it out because of her Northern blood.

Keira sighed and rubbed her snout. The marks Ruari had left her disappeared within hours while he still had to wear a bandage around his neck. She had no idea why her body healed so quickly, but it certainly didn't concern her. If she didn't have this innate ability, she would already have two different ugly scars on her muzzle. I need to stop sticking my nose where it doesn't belong.

She smiled to herself and hopped off of the bed to stretch out. It had been long enough that perhaps her fight with Ruari would be a distant memory now. Maybe today she and Fallon could train again. The training had definitely helped her fight Ruari; however she wasn't necessarily proud of that. Still, the difference of strength between them was surprisingly substantial. She didn't realize she had that kind of strength.

But even though she had strength and speed on her side, Ruari undoubtedly could have killed her. That shock had rattled her to her core; she blacked out for a moment and found herself still standing, much to her disbelief. She shuddered. To think that a frail whelp like him could kill me, just because he can use magic.

She admitted that she was jealous of that kind of power. Fallon said that her kor could open up at any time, and perhaps it took Northerners more years than it did Southerners to reach that stage. She held onto that shred of waning hope.

Keira wandered around the house. She saw Ruari and Fallon in the living area and passed by. After what happened, she didn't blame Ruari for not wanting to speak to her anymore. She more or less accepted that he didn't like her and gave up trying to talk with him. She ruined her chances.

But then Fallon called to her. She turned around and poked her head into the room, avoiding eye contact with the black and blue dragonet. He turned his head away too, so that made things easier.

"The festival starts tomorrow," he said with a kind expression. "It's a week long, so there will be plenty of opportunities to see it. Would you like to go with us?"

Keira couldn't hide her eagerness. She nodded and gave a small smile. "I'd like to."

He smiled back and nodded his head. "Good! We'll be leaving to help set up later tonight. You can come along if you want, but it won't be nearly as much fun as tomorrow."

She nodded again and turned back around to smile to herself. In spite of hurting his son, Fallon still treated her just the same: as a part of their family. She only wished that the rest of his clan would treat her like she belonged too. Maybe then she wouldn't feel so sad.

The next day was warmer than the last. When Keira stepped outside, she noticed that most of the snow was melting away, and the ground was wet and squishy. It was nearly evening on the first festival day, so the sun was just beginning to set as cool air brushed across her scales. She wore the ruby necklace Evelyn had given her and followed Fallon and his family to the festival square, a few wing-beats behind them.

The streets and the skies were flooded with glinting scales of all colors. Flying was a bit more difficult than normal because she had to avoid running into other dragons in the sky. Keeping an eye out in all directions was challenging, and it was nearly impossible to see anything directly above her.

The center of the festival was held in the main market area, on the large plaza that now held decorated stalls and tents. Colorful ribbons, tassels, and banners hung across the area, and beneath them were the crowded aisles and streets of dragons. Most stalls were stacked next to one another, forming pathways for the crowds to follow. The temperature was much warmer here as the sun beamed down overhead.

From what Fallon had described, there was everything from food and drinks to games and commodities. It would take a few days to see and experience everything, and then the final day of the festival, the fifth day, there would be a magical show, where one performer of each element would display their talent.

Keira landed with the family and clung closely to Fallon as they arrived. He received many greetings, praises, and respectful bows by those who were paying enough attention to see him; otherwise, mostly everyone was distracted in some way or another by the celebration.

She was thankful for that because that meant she would receive less glares. Already, she caught disgusted looks and spiteful glances out of the corner of her eyes. Even amongst the loud, drowning sounds of the festival, she could hear a few dragons mumble obscenities her way. It was difficult for her to enjoy the festivities because of them, but she tried her best to ignore it.

Instead, she looked around and admired all of the pretty sights. Light-crystals of every beautiful, vibrant shade of blue filled paper lanterns hanging from posts. Each day was a different theme: today everything was related to the sea. Paintings of waves, fish, and other types of aquatic animals were painted on tapestries and on the walls of tents. There were lots of seashells and sand lying about too.

Keira had never been to the sea before and wondered if it was as pretty as what she saw here. Some of the pathways were completely covered in warm sand, and she liked the feeling of walking on it. It was almost like snow, but much warmer and coarse. Walking along, she could smell saltwater mixing in with the delicious scents of cooked seafood.

The path led to a dragon-made beach on the river that sprung up overnight. There were dragons of all ages lounging around or playing in the water, though it wasn't quite big enough to fit everyone. As far as Keira knew, it looked exactly like a real beach, though without a large expanse of water behind it.

Mara and Ruari split off and left Keira and Fallon to each other. She smiled happily as he bumped noses with her. "Is there anywhere you would like to go?" he asked.

Keira shrugged her wings. "Nowhere in particular."

Fallon rumbled and nodded as he started to lead her away from the crowded beach. He led her around to many different stalls where she could try some unique seafood and even play a few games. She noticed that there were a lot of different games to play, but only a portion of them were designed for the general public. Many different games were designed for a specific element or two, so not everyone could play them. Keira felt left out, since she didn't have an element or any magical ability whatsoever, but there were still plenty of games she could play--and she was quite good at them too!

It seemed that not everyone was prejudiced against her. Almost all of the stall owners and festival workers treated her like a normal dragon, but then she realized Fallon had most likely ordered them to treat her well. Either way, Keira was happy.

After so long, they managed to find Mara and Ruari again. Ruari was with his purple-scaled friend that she had seen before. They were laughing and playing a game together, which made her feel rather lonely. She leaned against Fallon as he talked to Mara about what to do next. A warm wing acknowledged her and tucked her against his flank.

By now, the sun had set, so it left the plaza with a blue glow. Despite that, the number of dragons attending had hardly diminished. Fallon had said that the first day was usually the slowest day, and that there seemed to be a lot more dragons attending this year. The festival wasn't just closed to the city, so many dragons from the surrounding area came to visit too.

The five of them meandered about the plaza and tried activities and food that caught their eyes. Keira felt antsy because she wanted to go and explore, but she also didn't want to leave Fallon's side. Constantly listening and watching Ruari and his friend have fun put her in an ill mood. She felt jealous and wanted to get away from that. Maybe she could make a friend! She saw a lot of dragonets her age playing at the beach, and it seemed like a safe place for her.

She nudged Fallon and asked, "Can I go to the beach?"

"You want to go alone? I'll go with you," he offered. He looked worried.

She shook her head. "I'd rather go alone." She put on a confident smile, and he nodded his head. A few weeks ago, he probably would have never left her out of his sight, but now that she had trained with him and showed that she could handle herself, he appeared more lenient in letting her go.

"Okay, but please be safe. If anyone even makes the slightest notion to harm you, run and come to me. We'll be eating in that large tent there," he said and pointed down the path to a long tent that was bigger than the others.

"Thank you!" she said and bounded away. She felt free. After all of this time of feeling like she was tied to a leash, she was free to make her own choices and do the things she wanted. While she was anxious to explore the festival on her own, an uneasy feeling settled in her gut. Now she was alone, surrounded by Southern dragons.

However, no one really noticed her anymore. There were all engrossed in their own activities to see the white dragonet ambling around. The eyes she did meet seemed to glare at her and make her feel nervous, but she tried to keep her head down. Thankfully, there were no complications and she found her way to the river without incident.

But when she stepped onto the sandy beach, many hardened gazes turned her way, coming from the adults there. She hesitated and stopped in her tracks. None of the younger dragons seemed to pay her any attention, but the others weren't so oblivious to her presence.

"What is she doing here?" she heard to her right. She glanced and saw a cross-looking, old dragon. Then more voices joined him and mocked her all too loudly. It was as if she were stepping into a gauntlet ready to rip her apart if she made one false step.

Their eyes tried to pry her open, nagging at her conscience until she turned around with a glum expression, hanging her head and drooping her tail, defeated. Her heart beat rapidly and her limbs trembled.

She didn't belong here.

All of her hopes of trying to fit in were crushed. She thought that maybe she could make a friend or two, but no one would give her a chance. Another rude remark filled her ears and her head as she walked out of the plaza area and down a street, away from the main festivities. Her steps were fast; she wanted to get away.

There were more vendors here than there were food and activities. Lots of apparel items, jewelry, and trinkets stocked the shelves of these smaller carts. This street wasn't as busy as the main area, but there were quite a number of dragons browsing through the vendors' wares.

Keira slipped away from the crowded streets and bit back her tears. She found a quiet, empty alleyway and slinked into it, finding herself to be far from the festivities in only moments. The faint roar of the crowd filled the background while she stepped into darkness and solitude. At least here she could be alone and not have to be the receiving subject of spite.

She growled and slapped the ground with her talons to vent some of her frustration. _I should have never left Fallon's side._Just when things were beginning to look up for her, she took a spiraling dive back to where she was--an unwanted and hated dragonet.

Maybe I should just go home, she thought as she wandered down the alley. She didn't like the idea of being by herself in the darkest corners of a city filled with dragons that despised her. It didn't settle right in her stomach.

Then two dragons cut into her path, laughing and snorting like they had done something mischievous. One of them was big like an adult and had green and blue scales covering his body, while the other was much smaller than him, a dragonet closer to Keira's age. He was a pale green color.

Keira stopped in her tracks, but their heads turned toward her direction. It was hard not to notice a pure-white dragonet standing in a dark alley.

"Hey, Delwyn, look," the big one said. "It's the Northern dragonet." They both started walking toward her, immediately placing Keira in an unwanted situation. She knew she should run, but she refused to look like a coward.

"What do you want?" she asked and tilted her nose up slightly.

"Well, you do have a pretty necklace," he said with an impish smirk. "Can I see it?" They closed the distance between them with every step.

Keira knew she could take at least the big one on herself, but she wasn't sure with the both of them there. And she shouldn't be fighting them anyhow; if she injured one of them that would only make her staying in the city worse for her and for Fallon. The best option was clearly for her to run... but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"It was a gift from one of the Elders," Keira stated in an attempt to deter them.

"It must be valuable, then," Delwyn said, grinning. "How does a Northerner get gifted something so valuable?"

Keira growled and took a step back as he reached for it. "Back off."

The larger dragon stepped forward. "I think you misunderstand. We only want to look at it," he said, but the evil-looking grin on his muzzle obviously stated his true intentions.

"Keira!" a voice called from behind her. She glanced and saw one of Ruari's friends she had met over a week ago, the red one with a white-plated underbelly. "I was looking everywhere for you!" he said and nuzzled her snout as he sidled up beside her. Keira flinched and pulled away. "What are you doing with Kane and Delwyn?"

Both of the dragons stared at him with hateful eyes. "We were just leaving," Kane stated and turned away. They quickly left with their tails twitching behind them.

Keira took a few steps away from the dragonet and glared at him. "What are you doing?"

"I just thought I'd save you some trouble," he answered with a kind smile. "I happened to glance down as I was flying over and saw you here. It's a good thing, too. It looked like things were about to get ugly."

Keira grunted and walked away. "I didn't need your help." She wondered why two goons like them would simply back away because of this dragonet. Were they scared of him? Should she be scared of him?

Aidan padded alongside her. "We didn't get a chance to meet properly yet. My name is Aidan!"

She rolled her eyes. "It's nice to meet you." She tried to sound as monotone as possible so she wouldn't be rude but also let him know she wasn't interested in his companionship, especially since he was friends with Ruari.

"Why are you wandering an alleyway by yourself when there's a festival going on?" he wondered. "There are plenty of fun places to be!"

"I needed a break," she mumbled just loud enough he could hear.

"Oh, I see! Do you mind if I take a break with you?"

Keira sighed and stopped to sit down. She shook her head. "I suppose not." Keira quickly realized that she was trying to shrug off the only dragonet to ever approach her in a friendly manner. Most adults looked at her with contempt and taught their dragonets the same, but Aidan was one of the few to see past her heritage and actually want to speak to her, while she treated him indifferently. "S-sorry," she apologized, lowering her head.

"What for?" he asked. His golden eyes were soft and caring; he reminded her of Fallon. But he seemed a bit daft despite having a sort of intelligent cunning about him. She couldn't categorize him with anyone she had met so far.

"Nothing... Uhm, thanks for helping me," she said and showed a small smile.

He bared a toothy grin and sat down next to her. "No problem. My grandfather is an Elder, so they're scared that I'll tell on them or something." He chuckled and shifted his wings at his flanks. "So, where are you from?"

She scrutinized him.

"Okay, I know you're from the North, but what part of it?"

"Oh, uhm... It was a small village about half-a-day's travel from here," she said and scratched her forearm. "At the base of the mountain."

"So you didn't live very far then... I'm sorry about what happened. I'm glad I didn't have to go through something like that... I probably wouldn't have survived myself." He looked at her with a gentle expression. "You must be pretty strong."

Keira clawed at the dirt and awkwardly shrugged her wings. "Maybe..."

Aidan booped her snout and nudged her with his wing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get all dark and sad. How about we go explore the festival together? The first day is a good day to find all of the best places to go! Then you can revisit them later in the week."

Keira was hesitant, but seeing the genuine smile painted on his face was more than welcoming. He was the only one her age to reach out to her, and that brought a warmth to her heart. She nodded and followed him back to the festival.

"But I thought everything changes tomorrow," she observed. "How can we find the best places?"

"Well, the theme will change, but the contents typically don't. Like, say you really enjoyed eating some seafood from that chef there," he said and pointed to a stall selling food. "Tomorrow, he'll probably make some of the best rainforest food you've ever eaten!"

Keira nodded in understanding.

"Or those prizes there!" he said and pointed again to a game where the goal was to score as many points as possible in an allotted time by tossing a ball through a hoop. "Instead of giant, stuffed fish and sharks, you could win a giant, stuffed tiger or banana!"

Keira scrunched her nose. "Why would I want a giant, stuffed banana?"

Aidan giggled and shrugged his wings. "No idea! But it is pretty fun to carry around all day. Just imagine all of the funny looks you would get!"

Keira laughed too and bared a bright, toothy grin. Then she suddenly stopped in her tracks and stared at the ground with disbelief.

Aidan paused and turned back. "Something wrong, Keira?"

She smiled and shook her head. For the first time since she lost everything... she laughed. It felt so foreign to her that she almost forgot what it felt like. It had sounded so strange that it caught her off-guard, but now she couldn't keep from smiling.

The rest of the night felt like a dream to her. Aidan showed her around the festival, talking about his previous years of fun experience while also trying new things with her, like eating an octopus. He made the funniest faces and lifted Keira's spirits substantially. She hardly even noticed the other dragons around her, and no one caused her any problems. Being with Aidan was the most fun she ever had.

Eventually, Keira had to return to Fallon's family, so Aidan led her around the plaza until they found them. He smiled softly at her and nuzzled her snout before leaving her side to join Ruari and the purple dragonet. She looked longingly over at them as he was reunited with his friends. A tinge of jealousy ached in her chest before Fallon took her attention away.

"Did you have fun, Keira?" he asked and looked back at Aidan.

Keira nodded and grinned. "I think I made a friend," she said and looked over at the red dragonet too. He was talking to his friends with the biggest, toothy smile she had ever seen.

Fallon chuckled and hugged her with a wing. "I'm glad you did. Aidan is a good dragon. Maybe you will see him tomorrow too!"

Keira hoped with all of her heart that she would see him again.

Aidan and the purple dragonet eventually had to go as night fell. The moon was nearing its peak in the sky before the family headed back home to get some well-deserved rest.

Keira curled up in her bed with a blanket over her and smiled to herself as she relived the better half of her night in her mind. Now that she had a taste of happiness, she craved more.