A brow was raised from Shieldwing's eye as Garrock insisted that some sort of "nonsense" was sure to take place. He could only assume that the larger dragon had some kind of reason to say that, but it didn't matter to him. He had his reasons for helping to come to this decision, after all. He immediately moved to take a spot near the front of his companions, wanting to stay protectively at the front of his group, maintaining an image of strength and reliability.
Or at least, that's how he hoped he looked.
Though as the group passed by the other group of Semscale dragons, he couldn't help but overhear something. But as he turned his head to take a look at the others, he couldn't tell whose maw it had come from, and he decided to shake it off. He might have just been imagining things anyway. Besides, he had more important things to focus on right now.
Though even as he tried to keep his focus on the task at hand, his gaze couldn't help but wander the building as they made their way through. His expression was neutral for a while as he took in what kinds of things dragons in this area tended to do to learn how to be a proper dragon. Although as they passed one particular hall where he could see some drakes reading, he frowned. Days spent struggling to stay awake with a book laid out in front of him came straight to the forefront of his mind, and he felt something similar as he heard a lecture going on in another room. He still remembered the angry and frustrated look that the Brynbacks kept giving him every time he had to be startled back into reality....
He was snapped out of his thoughts again as another voice met them. He observed the brief scene between the two dragons, whose identities were pretty easy to guess at this point. Though he was momentarily caught off-guard by Heliotrope's scales. He'd never quite seen a pattern like that before....
Although as he watched the scene before him unfold, he heard the exasperated sigh from the bloodstone-like longtooth and immediately felt a twinge of sympathy run through his entire body. Sympathy not for Heliotrope, however; he felt bad for the smaller yet stockier drake that had just been "asked" to leave. He recognized the treatment immediately. The exasperated sigh, the dismissive response when questioned, and the hesitant exit in front of strangers. Worse yet, the second sigh and face-claw almost immediately after she believed he was gone. He could only hope that this was simply due to the older dragon being overworked right now and that this wasn't commonplace.
Shieldwing turned his head to look back at the exit as Coryn left the room, only returning back to the situation at hand when he heard Heliotrope ask about their visit. He raised one of his feet, ready to step forward and announce their purpose, breathing in to begin, only to deflate slightly as Garrock began to speak before he could even open his maw.
From there, Heliotrope proceeded to address the issue at hand and asked the group if any of them had any issues of their own. Shieldwing paused for a moment as he considered her words. "If your emotions or thoughts have seem a little off" is what she had specifically stated wanting them to mention. His thoughts turned back to his own quietness ever since the conclusion of their mission and the negative thoughts that had stuck in his mind for their entire return flight. Heck, even just a minute ago, he had been reminding himself of the more negative experiences of studying back home. He considered mentioning this nagging negativity, but he faltered as he listened in to his companions and how they spoke. Fellwing, Skobeloff and even Stargaze had said they were all doing fine.
What would it look like if the only one who had any concerns at all about a potential creeping Darkness was the Brynback? House Brynback was practically renowned for their ability to fight against the Darkness. Being the only one to voice concerns over it would just make him look an even more incompetent Brynback than before. Plus, it would mean admitting all of his negative thoughts right here in front of everybody, including Garrock and Stargaze. That wasn't exactly appealing either.
No, he needed to keep looking strong and reliable. He needed to be their shield, after all. Even if this negativity
was the Darkness' doing, surely he could power through it and handle it himself.
Luckily, he didn't even get a chance to answer as Kyte's situation got brought up instead, and seemed to be a much bigger issue than any of them had anticipated. And he heard the turn it had made...and he knew exactly where Stargaze's mind was going to go as Heliotrope explained the situation.
"So it's not going to be a problem then," Shieldwing was quick to speak up, hoping to stop Stargaze from what he expected to be thoughts of guilt.
"Sounds like you don't have to worry too much, Kyte. And we got a great lesson on the Moons to boot! Besides..." He stepped back, stepping beside Stargaze and quickly raising his own wing, draping it over Stargaze for a moment.
"It's probably a lot better like that than it would have been if we'd left it. Right, Stargaze?" He turned his head to look at his companion with a smile, his own negative thoughts having been shoved aside in an attempt to help his clutchmate.
After a moment of hesitation, he looked back to Kyte again as something crossed his mind.
"And...hey, if you need help while you're getting used to it, you can ask me. Unlike Stonescale, I promise won't laugh or make fun of you or anything. I mean, I know we're not in the same clutch or anything, but...w-well, just think about it." He quickly averted his gaze as a sense of awkwardness suddenly washed over him as that last statement was beginning to end. Was he trying too hard? Maybe. But it was better than staying quiet this time. Besides, maybe this was a bridge that could still be mended....
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