Three o'clock. The group of windians glanced at each other curiously. All eight were there, Lucy and her brother, Janet, Justin, a off-white winged windian who was currently dating Janet, Jason, a red-head who had been wandering back and forth in a rather impatient way, Chad, a brown winged windian who had been playfully juggling a few rocks as he waited for Janet's news, Candice, the third and final female of the group, and David, a tall, rounder windian. The eight of them were known as the WINGS, one of the few groups that could be considered a gang, and most of their actions revolved around their views of Windian superiority in Windia. Janet sighed loudly and glanced around at her little group, waiting until she was certain that all of their attention was focused on her.

"Bet you're wondering what must be up with this short notice, huh?" Janet sighed and reached into her skirt pocket, pulling out a little pink slip and waved it in front of the group. "I found this posted on the inside of my locker this morning. It's from the head dean." She handed it to Justin, then motioned for him to look at it and pass it around the group. "It basically says that if any of us try to mess with that stupid dragon as bad as we have on school grounds again, they're pretty much going to expel the whole lot of us."

Jason sneered as he glanced over the note and passed it to Candice on his left. "What do they mean by messing with him?"

"They mean," Candice turned and snapped harshly at Jason, "to stop fucking with the guy on school grounds!"

"Watch your mouth." Janet growled and glanced around, looking for any nearby deans that might have heard that. Jason immediately became defensive.

"Whoa, hold on a sec! What the hell are you so snappy at me for?"

"You're the only one who messes with the guy like that at school!" Candice placed her hands on her hips in a determined way.

"Oh, and like the rest of you are just so innocent."

"Yea, well at least the rest of us didn't get OSS for a week because we were picking fights all the time in the courtyard."

"That wasn't with Ray!"

"No, but you're still-" Candice was cut off sharply by Janet.

"Will you two hush already? Just quit messing with people on school grounds and we'll be fine, alright?" She pinned Jason with a sharp look.

"Yea yea... alright." Jason muttered and turned his eyes to avoid Janet's glare.

"And that means everyone, Jason, not just Ray. I don't exactly want to get expelled this year."

"Alright!" He turned back to Janet, threatening to match her glare with one of his own. "I get the picture, no more fights in school."

"Good." Janet gave a quick smirk. "Now then, shall we go see if our little dragon is off school grounds yet?"

* * *

Ray had just stopped by his house to drop off his backpack before he was out the door again and heading toward the Windian elementary school. He had just thrown on a pair of blue jeans and a gray t-shirt in place of his school uniform. Heading down the street at a quick pace, his hands placed casually in his pocket as he glanced about. The elementary school was just a few blocks away from his house, but he had never trusted letting his little sister walk home by herself. A few bad run-ins with Janet's group had often made him worry about his own sister's safety at school, and had him praying that the elementary kids were too young to care much about what she was.

He approached the elementary school, stopping just outside of it and leaning against a nearby tree as he watched the front doors. A few moments passed, and suddenly the low sound of a bell rang out through the air, introducing the schools dismissal. A few moments later and the front doors of the school burst open as kids rushed out, racing towards their escorts or heading home, or getting into small groups and just talking while they waited for a parent to come by. One little girl, the one with her blue hair up in pigtails, who had a backpack snug on her back and was holding a piece of paper in one hand and a little plastic lunch box in the other, went hopping down the school steps and rushed happily to Ray. Ray crouched down to the midget's height as she flew at him and wrapped her arms happily around his neck, almost knocking him back with her hug.

"Yay! Ray! You're here!" Giggling happily, the little dragon let go of her brother as he stood up and held out the paper she had been clutching in her hand. "Look what I did today in school! Ms. Lacey said we could use it for the Wing Festival this year!" The little girl beamed happily.

Ray chuckled at his sister. A wing day was like a birthday, it was the day celebrated for when a windian gained their wings, usually between the ages of seven and nine. The Wing Festival, was a day that the King and Queen threw for Windia to celebrate the day that their daughter or son had grown their wings. However, that day had not been celebrated in Windia since the new King and Queen. "Sorry to tell you, Brat, but there hasn't been a Wing Festival in Windia for a while."

Britney pouted. "Why not?"

"Wing Festival is when the royalty celebrate the day their son or daughter grows their wings. But the king and queen here don't have a kid..." Ray patted is sister lightly on the head. "Or at least not one they've ever told Windia about." He shrugged helplessly.

"Aw, but I like my picture!" Britney held up the paper again for Ray to examine. On it was a nicely drawn bird that had been given to Britney and her classmates for coloring. "Ms. Lacey said she liked the coloring!" Ray chuckled again as he glanced over the purple and blue scribbles that covered the bird.

"It's nice, Brat." He patted her lightly on the head and handing her back the paper. "Come on, let's get home."

Britney skipped out in front of her brother in the direction of home. "Can we go to the park today? You said you'd take me out sometime and it's really pretty outside today!"

Ray chuckled again. "Alright Brat, but first we've got to go drop this stuff off."

"I'll race you!" The little dragon giggled as she began sprinting. With a quick shout of surprise, Ray took off after her and the two dragons raced home.