It was almost his 5th hatching day, and Ultramarine was scared. For as long as they could remember, they had been anticipating their first swim - the day when their grandparents would take them to the ocean and they would visit the Deep Palace. All Seawing dragonets went through this ceremony, but for most, it was just a formality. Almost all of them had already been to the underwater castle countless times, but for Ultramarine, it was more.
“Mare!” Inkscale called from the other room, using his nickname. “We need to plan your hatching day meal!” His mother was the reason he was different from the other Seawings. As he entered the room, he saw how her pitch-black Nightwing scales matched the sculpted walls of the traditional dwelling, not like his father’s turquoise ones. His mother was out of place in this Seawing celebration, but it was he and his father who didn’t fit into the small town where they lived.
When Inkscale and Driftwood had married, they decided to live in Silverstar, where Inkscale had lived as a young dragonet. They moved into a nice house at the edge of town. They had respectable jobs, owning a small shop that sold driftwood carvings and painted seashells, and a respectable life, following the rules, but Driftwood’s turquoise colors always led to suspicion. Even now, when hybrids were common, Ultramarine was questioned, mistrusted, and even feared for her odd looks.
Inkscale was going on about whether they should serve salmon or tuna for the appetizer when Driftwood burst in. His heavy tail lashed back and forth as he caught his breath. He held out a letter written on the special waterproof paper that Seawings used.
“It’s from Seahorse and Mussel,” he said, referring to his parents, who would be swimming to the Deep Palace with Ultramarine. “They’ve decided that they want to stay with us for the week before the party. They’re arriving tomorrow.”
Inkscale quickly scanned the paper before giving out orders like starcandies at the Silverstar market. The three dragons worked as fast as they could to clean and organize for the Seawing grandparents’ visit. They stocked the guest room with everything a Seawing could need before gulping down a quick dinner and going back to work.
When the moon rose the next night, Ultramarine was awoken from her sleep. She and her parents flew to the river, a known arrival point for Seawing visitors. Soon, the two elderly dragons appeared. They both greeted Ultramarine enthusiastically, flashing happy patterns with their glowing scales. They all flew back to the house and settled the Seawings in; Nightwings slept during the day and were awake at night, so it would take some time to get used to it.
It had been a few days, and the elderly Seawings still weren’t accustomed to the traditional Nightwing way of life. But never mind all that! It was time for them to fly to the Sea Kingdom for Ultramarine’s hatching day. The flight was long and tiring, even though they stopped to rest often. As Seahorse and Mussel chatted with Driftwood and Inkscale, Mare was left alone with her thoughts.
She imagined the scene in her head: they would all go down to the beach, smiling and joyful. Mare and her grandparents would slip into the water. And the Seawings would take off, sliding gracefully through the currents, beating the ocean with their powerful tails, flashing hellos with glowing stripes to others as they whooshed past. Soon, they would slow to a stop, look around, and wonder, Where’s Mare? The hybrid would be flailing through the water, unable to swim with her too-small tail and Nightwing body. What would everyone say? How could she be a Seawing if she couldn’t swim?
She didn’t know she wouldn’t be able to; she’d never tried. But that meant she didn’t know that she could, either. Her parents had reassured her, saying it would all be fine, but what did they know? She was an outcast to the Nightwings and an outcast to the Seawings. She didn’t belong in either place.
This was how Mare’s thoughts went, around and around, through the flight. But sooner than she imagined, they arrived. The beach was quiet and peaceful, looking just like every other, but Mare knew that this was the place that every Seawing dragonet for hundreds of years had started this symbolic swim. Once a Seawing turned 5 and completed this ceremony with their grandparents, they began to be a part of the community. They went to school, helped out, and joined activities and teams. Mare would soon begin her first year of school in the Nightwing village and maybe make some friends. She knew that there were other hybrids nearby, including a Silkwing/Nightwing hybrid named Comet.
But while she was thinking, the others had gotten prepared. They were just waiting for her. She stepped up between her grandparents, took a deep breath, and plunged in. The water shocked her with cold. But as she flailed around, unaccustomed to the feeling of not touching solid ground, she felt her wings fold and tail lash. Her instincts told her what to do. They shot forward, following a strong current toward the underwater palace, their grandparents close behind.
They were one with the water. All of their worries melted away as they soared through this new land. Fish scattered as they dove past. All too soon, the exhilarating swim was over, and they had reached the Deep Palace. It towered over them, a colossal structure of coral and stone. Seahorse darted towards a small tunnel, not a sign of her old age apparent, and gestured for Ultramarine to follow. They continued until they came to a huge cavern. In the center was a bowl of octopus ink. As Mare looked at it, they knew what to do. They dipped their claw into the bowl, staining his talon black. She flicked her tail, manipulating the water and moving towards an empty spot on the enormous wall of the cave.
He made a mark with the ink. He didn’t yet know what it meant, or how it connected him to the Silkwing hybrid back at home, but he could feel that it was right. He scanned the wall and saw thousands of marks, each one different. As they wrote their existence into the ancient room, they could feel the wisdom of centuries of dragons gazing down upon them. They sensed what these dragons needed to tell them.
“I know,” they murmured. “I know.”