Experience…? Gretel echoed his word in her mind, puzzled. Then she remembered his cousin mentioned how Efron’s control-freak of a mother had constantly revealed him much like their prey. I’ve got nothing to hide, but even I got nervous when Efron revealed me just now–and I had asked him to! If he had revealed me without my knowledge or permission, I don't know if I'd ever trust him again. Yet he tolerated over a year of her doing that to him… The wind-type hatchling shuddered.

“...Are you alright?” her friend asked her again, growing concerned by her silence. “Wait–did I scare you after all…?!”

“N-No! I'm okay; you didn't do anything wrong,” Gretel assured him. She wanted to clarify that he was the one she was worried about having been scared–by his mother in the past–but the baby wyvern knew the mention of her usually sent him into a panic, and so changed the subject. “Enough about reveals. Let's focus on your other ability now!”

He blinked, confused. “...Conceals?”

“No, silly! Your flight! I promised to help you learn to fly, right?”

Efron’s green eyes shone with excitement at that. “Really? Like, right now?”

“Why not? Are you too drained from the reveals?”

“No–revealers, and every other dragon type besides wind, really–rely on physical strength for flight, not any magical abilities.”

Gretel tilted her head slightly. “So do wind types,” she corrected him. “Our magic over wind direction and summons just lets us fly without using too much of our physical strength.”

“Huh. I never would've guessed; the way you all glide around makes it look so effortless…”

She giggled. “With my abilities, I'm sure you can glide around the same way!”

“Are you sure it's that easy?”

“Why wouldn't it be?”

He shrugged. “Wind types are as light as feathers. I'm… not.”

“Hm. Well, let's give it a try anyway!”

“...Alright. Um… What should I do…?”

“How high can you climb a tree?”

“...What?” The violet revealer suddenly seemed wary of her methods. “Revealers can't really climb anything without footholds. But why does it matter?”

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“It's easier to fly if you're falling; your wings should instinctively spread, so when they do, I can catch you on a summoned wind.”

Efron grimaced ever so subtly, but Gretel’s sharp eyes noticed it.

“What?” she prompted innocently.

“I mentioned before that flight isn't instinctual to revealers, since our wings weren't naturally evolved like other dragon types’; ours were gifts from the heavens after that story I told you about Zephyr reaching it,” he reminded her quietly. “Falling from too high is dangerous for us until after we've learned to fly.”

“Wait… You're telling me that story was real history?! Are you sure revealer's wings weren't just evolved generations after Zephyr reached the heavens? I mean, it's possible you didn't start to evolve to have them until after Zephyr returned; maybe other revealers decided to climb the mountain to reach the light dragons after they healed his hatchling, and that could've played a part. Because light dragons can heal–that’s a fact–but they can't give dragons wings or natural gemstones or anything. They can't just make things like that occur in nature.”

“It wasn't light dragons who gave them to us,” he stated, the tip of his lowered tail twitching slightly. “Sure, some parts of the story were probably exaggerated–with the mountain he climbed being the ‘tallest in the world,’ for instance. But everything else is true…!”

Gretel narrowed her hot pink eyes skeptically. “If your wings weren't evolved, and weren't a gift from light dragons, then how did revealers suddenly get them?”

“The second dragon type inhabiting the heavens…”

“...Huh? Aren't they just a myth? There are only eleven different dragon types.”

“That we've seen,” he pointed out the least bit defensively, the twitching of his tail-tip becoming more frequent as if with building frustration. Then he paused for moment and immediately his demeanor changed to more neutrality.

Another conceal? She frowned again. “You know you're allowed to have emotions, right?”

“...What?”

“I don't know what you've been taught, but it's okay to get defensive. I admit I don't know much about revealer dragons’ history, so you're right to be upset if I'm being insensitive. And… sorry if I was being that way. I'm just trying to understand, that's all.”

“...Taught?”

“Sorry. I don't know for sure if revealers are taught to use conceals. I just assumed.”

“Gretel, I'm not concealing my emotions because I'm ‘not allowed to have them.’ I'm concealing them out of respect,” he explained calmly.

“...Respect? For what?”

“You,” he chuckled, slightly amused and relieved to know her disapproval stemmed from poor communication.

“How exactly are conceals respectful...?” she asked, genuinely wanting to understand.

“Because I don't want to be defensive or anxious or any other negative thing around you. I want to get along and keep peace between us.”

His friend gaped at him, astonished. “I never thought about it that way…”

“It's okay. Different dragon types don't really spend much time together like we do. Just a few minutes ago I thought your flight was magical, remember? There's a lot we don't take the time to learn about each other.”

“True…” Gretel sat down and mulled over his words. Now that I think about it, the rumors of the twelfth dragon type were only spread by elites–dragons who have actually been to the heavens themselves. Maybe they aren't a myth after all…?

“Anyways… I can jump and hover on my own, for a few seconds I mean. If that's enough for you to help me fly,” he said, circling the topic back to her offer.

“Oh! Okay–yeah! Let's do this!”