Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He could feel himself fading, slipping. Everything blurred out of focus. The only thing he still knew was real was the sharp, yet sickly sweet taste of the strawberry on his tongue. And the pain of the memory of his mother’s betrayal. His mother, one of the only dragons he cared for, had betrayed him.

The world, as out of focus as it was, seemed to grow. Or maybe he was shrinking. He wasn’t quite sure.

All he knew was that something was changing, and it wasn’t good. He could feel his power slipping from his grasp. He held on, though, held on long enough for one last spell.

A final act of revenge against the tribe he was sworn to hate. The tribe he failed to destroy. He would still ensure their downfall. Just through a different vessel.

With his last moment as Darkstalker, he cast his spell.

Chapter Text

He was gone. Darkstalker, one of Moon’s first friends, had disappeared. And in his place stood a dragonet. Kinkajou’s plan had worked. She was able to turn Darkstalker into a NightWing dragonet. However, when Moon looked closer, she realized that the dragonet was half RainWing.

“Funny, isn’t it?” Kinkajou said. “The once all-powerful Darkstalker, now a mere dragonet.”

“And a half RainWing, at that!” Winter remarked. Kinkajou shot him a glare.

“There is nothing wrong with being a RainWing! At least RainWing families love each other.”

This shut Winter up pretty quickly. His face fell, and, for some reason, Moon felt a dark satisfaction.

No, no, I shouldn’t feel satisfied. I should feel bad. I like Winter, his pain shouldn’t bring me joy. But it does.

…Why?

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Chapter 2: Turtle

That was rude of Kinkajou to say, Turtle thought. Someone should tell her something. Not me, though. That was a job for someone who was actually confrontational. Like Qibli. He could put Kinkajou in her place and comfort Winter.

Right after Turtle had those thoughts, Qibli said, “Kinkajou, that was rude,” and furrowed his eyebrows. Out of the corner of his eye, Turtle saw Qibli twine his tail around Winter’s.

Huh, Turtle thought. That was odd.

Chapter Text

“At least RainWing families love each other!” Kinkajou said matter-of-factly. Qibli saw Winter’s face crumble.

He also noticed Turtle close his eyes for a moment. Out of the blue, a voice in his head that wasn’t his own told him to tell Kinkajou something and put her in her place.

“Kinkajou, that was rude,” Qibli said. His voice came out in a low, flat tone. He also got the sudden urge to comfort Winter. He twined his tail around Winter’s, and for once he didn’t resist. Winter even sidled closer to him.

Where did that urge come from? He thought. Why did I do that?

Qibli glanced around, and noticed that Turtle looked confused and maybe even a bit shocked. He also noticed Moon had a small smirk on her face.

Why is Moon smiling? And what is up with Turtle? Why did Kinkajou say that? Will Winter be okay?

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Chapter 4: Winter

Kinkajou’s words felt like a hot knife in the heart. They stung more than they should have.

While it was true that Winter was a disappointment, he was certain that his family still had some love for him, no matter how deeply it was buried.

All of a sudden, Winter felt a tail twine around his. He turned, with a broken expression, to see Qibli looking at him.

Then Qibli turned to Kinkajou, and said, “Kinkajou, that was rude,” in an oddly flat tone of voice. For some reason, Qibli’s tone hurt him even more.

That tone was familiar, but Winter wasn’t sure where he had heard it before. It sounded a bit forced, like the words didn’t actually come from Qibli’s mind. He sounded like he was reading something off a script.

Winter looked around to see everyone else’s reactions. He noticed that Moon was slightly smiling, and he hoped that it was because Qibli was sticking up for him and not because of Kinkajou’s comment.

He also noticed Turtle, who’s face clearly displayed confusion. Winter prayed his confusion was about Kinkajou being mean, and not Qibli twining his tail around his.

He noticed his scales were heating up —not good for an IceWing— and he untwined his tail. He did lean closer to Qibli, to show that there were not hard feelings.

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Turtle had a feeling he knew exactly what had happened, but just to be sure, he had to test it out. He got a sudden flicker of inspiration. He plucked the idea from a a passing thought.

Turtle had always wondered, what would happen if so and so were together. He hadn’t had much else to do during those months when his family ignored him for being a failure.

This constant question that was always lingering in the back of Turtle’s mind surfaced from the depths when he saw Winter and Qibli twine tails.

He could picture it in his mind as clear as day. Winter, leaning over to Qibli and giving him a kiss, then holding Qibli in his arms.

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Turtle was having a mini panic attack. Qibli had done exactly what Turtle had pictured him doing. And his tone…that tone was all wrong.

Turtle had a feeling he knew exactly what had happened, but just to be sure, he had to test it out. He got a sudden flicker of inspiration. He plucked the idea from a a passing thought.

Turtle had always wondered, what would happen if so and so were together. He hadn’t had much else to do during those months when his family ignored him for being a failure.

This constant question that was always lingering in the back of Turtle’s mind surfaced from the depths when he saw Winter and Qibli twine tails.

He could picture it in his mind as clear as day. Winter, leaning over to Qibli and giving him a kiss, then holding Qibli in his arms.

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Qibli was very good at noticing things. Whenever there was any sort of pause, he had a habit of looking around at the people he was with. This time, he saw Moon was scowling so much she could have been Winter. Except this wasn’t a darkly handsome scowl, it was more of an “I’m going to murder you and enjoy it” kind of scowl.

Qibli was about to ask Moon why she was so angry, when Winter leaned towards him. And for some reason, Winter kissed him right on the lips, but he looked like he couldn’t control it.

Qibli tried to pull away, but Winter wrapped his arms tightly around him. That was…interesting. Definitely not Winter-like behavior.

It was honestly pretty scary. Winter’s arms were like a vice, holding Qibli in place. He could see it in Winter’s eyes that he was absolutely terrified. He could just tell that Winter wanted to let go, but it wasn’t possible. He also desperately wanted to cry.

He looked away from Winter so that he didn’t cry himself. His eyes locked on to Turtle, who’s expression conveyed satisfaction and a hint of pride.

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He was about to cry. Winter was currently kissing his best friend. To make it worse, he couldn’t seem to stop.

His own conscience told him to stop, but an even louder voice, not his own yet strangely familiar, told him that letting go was a bad idea. And, for some reason, he couldn’t resist following the louder voice’s commands.

Qibli tried to pull away, but Winter wrapped his arms around him. No matter how hard he tried, he could not release his grasp. He couldn’t even move his head to look around. He could only move his eyes.

And so he did. He met Qibli’s gaze and immediately wished he didn’t. Qibli looked like he wanted to kill Winter. Winter really wanted to explain, but he couldn’t take his lips off of Qibli’s long enough to do so.

That. Was. Terrifying. The voice in his head seemed to be controlling his actions. And he was powerless against it. He knew that voice, but he couldn’t think straight enough to place it.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Moon giving him a death glare, and Kinkajou squealing, bright pink. Turtle seemed to have a satisfied and slightly proud expression on his face.

He looked back at Qibli, who was staring at Turtle as if studying him. And then it clicked. He knew exactly who the voice in his head belonged to.

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Winter was kissing Qibli. Her Qibli. She was definitely going to kill Winter.

Moon shot a death glare at Winter, and when she spotted Kinkajou jumping up and down, she was sincerely tempted to kill her too.

But…I would never hurt Kinkajou. What is wrong with me? Unless, of course she kept me from Qibli. The way Winter was doing now.

Winter had to die. Moon knew that. But his death wasn’t going to be enough. All of the IceWings had to die.

Chapter Text

It worked. The spell he had put on Winter had worked. He had to admit to himself that he felt pretty proud.

He looked around to see everyone’s reaction. Winter and Qibli were still kissing, but both looked terrified. It was kind of funny to see. Moon, on the other hand looked like she was going to kill someone.

Turtle let Qibli and Winter keep kissing for a few minutes, until he decided it was enough, and let them go.

Let Winter be able to take control over his body again, Turtle thought.

In the next moment, Winter quickly let go of Qibli, stuttered an apology, and flew off.

Qibli stood there for a few moments, flabbergasted, then looked at Turtle.

“What was that about?” he asked

“I’m not sure,” said Turtle.

“Hmm…that was quite odd, was it not?”

“Quite,” Turtle replied.

Was Qibli catching on? Does he know what I did? Will I be found out?

How much will Winter hate me if he finds out?

Chapter Text

Qibli was still in shock that Winter had kissed him.

Winter was now flying away towards the forest. Qibli knew him well enough to know that he was crying.

Qibli turned to Turtle and gave him a suspicious look.

What was that about?” he asked

“I’m not sure,” said Turtle.

“Hmm…that was quite odd, was it not?”

“Quite,” Turtle replied.

Huh, that was…interesting. Turtle seemed to know what had happened, and he seemed almost…proud?

Should I go check on Winter? Or should I question Turtle?

Qibli decided to check on Winter. He took off and flew in the direction he had seen Winter go. He figured that Winter would hide somewhere in the woods, so he checked there first.

He was about to give up when he spotted pale blue scales behind some trees near the river.

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Winter was absolutely mortified at what he had done.

He was hiding in the forest near a river, and to be honest, he wanted Qibli to find him so he could explain what has happened. However, he was worried as to how Qibli would react.

The one dragon he definitely did not want to see was Moon. He saw how angry she was at him, and worried about what she would do to him if they were alone. And he was worried how she would react to seeing him cry.

However, he couldn’t help wondering why Moon was that angry. Was she mad at him for kissing Qibli? Would she still be angry if she knew the truth? What if she hated him forever after this?

He heard rustling in the bushes behind him, then saw yellow scales appear.

“Qibli?” he asked cautiously.

“Hey,” Qibli said sadly, sitting down next to him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Winter said, wiping away his tears.

“What happened? Why did you kiss me?” he asked.

“I-I,” Winter started. “I don’t know. I couldn’t control myself…”

“I’m that handsome, huh?” Qibli joked. Winter shot him a glare.

“No, I mean I literally I couldn’t control my actions. I wasn’t the one moving my body.”

“Wait,” Qibli asked, “Was it like there was a voice in your head telling you what to do?”

Winter’s eyes widened. “E-exactly like that! How-how did you know?”

“The same thing happened to me the other day” Qibli responded, “when Kinkajou said that thing about your family.”

“Did you, perhaps, recognize the voice?” Winter asked.

“Yes, I did. But I couldn’t quite place it…”

“I know who it is…it was Turtle. I swear by all the moons, I’m going to kill him.”

“No, Winter, you’re not going to kill anyone.”

“But…he embarrassed me!” Winter broke down into tears. “He embarrassed me in front of everyone!”

Chapter Text

She was planning on how to kill Winter. Slitting his throat while he was sleeping would have been easy enough, but he wasn’t staying at Jade Mountain anymore. Perhaps she could poison him. Or maybe she could just stab him, but that was messy and she would probably get caught. Maybe she could set him on fire. That should work.

She would have to figure out how to get Qibli away from him long enough to do that, though.

Perhaps when Kinkajou leaves for the Rainforest, I could insist that Qibli go with her. Or maybe I could have Qibli go to the desert and visit Queen Thorn.

Then, she remembered that Turtle was an animus. She could ask him to help her kill Winter. After all, SeaWings and IceWings were enemies in the war. And technically, the NightWings were allied with Blister, same as the SeaWings.

Moon searched all over the school until she found Turtle reading in his sleeping cave.

“Hello, Turtle,” she said.

“Oh, hi, Moon,” Turtle replied, looking startled.

“I was wondering if you could help me with something?” Moon said, smiling.

“Uh…sure,” said Turtle. “What is it?”

“I was wondering if you could help me with a project?”

“Sure, what’s the project about?”

“Different tribes’ fire,” stated Moon, “and how each of them burns differently.”

“Alright, I’m in.”

Chapter Text

“Hey, Moon? Can you keep a secret for me?” Turtle asked.

“Of course I can,” said Moon. “Fire away.”

Turtle hesitated. He wasn’t sure how to phrase this.

“So, you know how Winter kissed Qibli earlier?”

“Yeah…” Moon said, her expression darkening.

“Well,” said Turtle, “that may or may not have been my fault.”

“Oh, I see. Your fault how?”

“I was…experimenting. With my magic. I wanted to see if I could cast spells on other dragons with my thoughts. I wanted it to be something obvious so I’d know for sure.”

“I get it,” said Moon.

“So I thought, what would everyone’s reactions be to Winter kissing Qibli. And sure enough, he did.”

“I see,” said Moon. “By any chance, did you specify where he would kiss him?”

“Not exactly, no.” Turtle said. He could see that Moon looked quite annoyed now. He wondered why.

“Did you specify how long they would kiss for?”

“”I just let it play out until I’d decided it was long enough,” Turtle stated.

“Oh,” said Moon, deflating a little.

“Are you upset at me?” Turtle asked.

“No, I’m mad at Winter.” Moon said angrily. “I’m really going to kill him now.”

Chapter Text

I feel so bad for Winter. He’s gone through a lot in the past few days. This situation isn’t making it any better.

A few days earlier, Winter had found out his queen was dead. A few hours later, his father’s throat was slit in front of him. Not to mention, he was banished from his tribe now.

Qibli kind of wanted to kill Turtle too. But, since (unlike Winter), Qibli was actually a good dragon, he didn’t say that out loud.

He wrapped a wing around Winter, who was currently crying. He was very cold.

“Hey, listen. I get you’re angry, but murder is never the answer.”

“I know, but still. It would be so…satisfying to get revenge.”

“Fair. Wait…did you notice how angry Moon was? Or was I imagining that?” Qibli asked.

“No, I saw it too. She looked like she wanted to impale my head on a stick.”

“I think she’s in love with me, and that’s why she’s so angry. But, if it makes you feel better, she might think your head is pretty?”

“Oh…” Winter said with a sigh, “I see.”

“Hey!” Kinkajou said, popping out from behind a bush. “You two are really cute together. You should totally, like, kiss again.”

Winter screamed at the top of his lungs. He sounded like a dragonet.

“What are you doing here!” he shrieked.

“Watching you two,” Kinkajou said.

“Well, don’t!” Winter said, still crying. “It’s creepy.”

“Sorry,” Kinkajou said, clearly not sorry.

“You saw absolutely nothing, okay?” Winter growled.

Kinkajou laughed, turning a bright yellow. “Believe me, I saw everything.”

Winter looked ready to stab Kinkajou with an icicle. Qibli decided it was time to diffuse the tension.

“Kinkajou, now that you’re here, can you help us murder Turtle?”

Chapter Text

Kinkajou really needs to stay out of other dragons business. First, she makes that comment about my family (which was very rude), and then she interrupts a private conversation!

But hey, maybe she could be useful. She was close enough to Turtle that she could possibly help Winter get his revenge.

“Murder Turtle? What do you mean, ‘murder Turtle?’” Kinkajou asked, her voice
rising in pitch. This was going to be tricky to explain to her.

Luckily, Qibli spoke up before Winter had to.

“Well, you see…” Qibli said. “When Winter kissed me… he was under a spell. And that spell was cast by Turtle.”

“Oh,” said Kinkajou. “So you aren’t actually secretly in love? Sad.”

“No, and we never were!” Winter said quickly.

He wasn’t going to admit that ever since he had kissed Qibli, he felt weird. He wasn’t sure if he was in love with him. He felt…odd when he thought about him.

Almost like how I feel when I think about Moon. But…I’m in love with Moon. I’m not in love with Qibli… am I?

This should not be happening to him.

Winter suddenly remembered that he was crying and he wiped his tears away. He had been embarrassed enough for one day. He wouldn’t let Kinkajou see him cry. He hated crying.

When Winter was growing up, he was taught that crying was a sign of weakness and that he wasn’t supposed to show any. If you were weak, your place on the Ranking Wall would go down. He was already weak enough to his parents but if he cried, he would be so much worse to them.

He also hated crying in front of others. Sometimes he worried that if he did they would make fun of him.

However Qibli responded so nicely to him crying that he wondered if others would do the same or if Qibli was the only nice, non judgmental dragon in the world. After all, he was the sweetest dragon to ever exist.

Nope, nope. This is not me. Did Turtle put a love spell on me? Is that why I feel this way?

“Uh, Winter? You good?” Qibli asked, snapping Winter out of his thoughts. Winter realized that he had been staring at Qibli.

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” Winter said quickly.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’m sure. Uh… anyways, we need to find Turtle. No, Qibli I won’t kill him. Not yet at least.”

“Don’t kill him at all, okay Winter?” Qibli asked.

“Okay, I won’t.”

“Good,” said Kinkajou. “He’s nice.”

She was wrong about that. He wasn’t nice. He was an animus who seemed to like putting spells on other dragons. What part of that was nice?

Chapter Text

She was super glad that Turtle was going to help her get revenge. And she had a few ideas for what he could do for her.

“Turtle?” She asked. “Could you possibly build something with your magic for my project?”

“Sure. What do you want me to make?”

“I was thinking that you could make a large metal box. One that could fit at least one dragon, maybe two.”

“Okay… anything else?”

“Oh, yeah. Could you make it so that there is a control for the temperature? And could you also make it have bright lights? And things that hold all of the fire types so that they can’t be extinguished until I say so?”

“Uh…sure,” Turtle said. He sounded skeptical, but Moon couldn’t tell for sure what he was thinking. Hm.

That’s another thing I need to deal with. I’d like to know what my friends are thinking again. See if they suspect me, or if they’re catching on to my plans.

“Turtle, dear, could you do me another quick favor?”

“Uhhh… sure,” he said, looking startled.

“So, you remember the skyfire stones, right? The ones that, you know, block my telepathy?”

“Yeah, I remember. What about them?”

“Oh, I was just wondering, darling, if you could use your magic to make them not work anymore?”

“I mean, it’s possible. But…it doesn’t feel right. That wouldn’t be very nice to do to Kinkajou, Qibli or Winter. I mean… they all trust you and I uh, don’t want them to get mad at me.”

“Please, Turtle. I really need you to do this for me. And besides, I doubt that they’d ever even notice their stones stopped working.”

“Okay, sure. I’ll do it,” Turtle said.

“Really? You will? Thank you so very much Turtle. I promise I will pay you back for this.”

“No problem. Now if you will excuse me I need to start working on that box thing for your project.”

Chapter Text

Why was Moon acting weird? Is she okay? Why did she want the skyfire stones disabled to be able to read our minds again? Did she have some sort of ulterior motive?

Turtle let his mind wander through the possibilities as he worked on Moon’s box. He also wondered what Moon planned to do with it.

And, he thought about the skyfire some more. Is it really such a good idea to agree to disable it for Moon? Oh well, I guess I have to do it now. I should probably get it over with as soon as possible.

What should I enchant? Could I maybe enchant the stones themselves? That might work.

He slid his armband off and whispered “I enchant this armband to make skyfire not work on Moon and only Moon. This means that she will be able to read dragons minds who have skyfire but other mind readers will not be able to.”

Hmm…that sounded nice. Now, I can focus on Moon’s box. Although, why does she want that box?

Moon’s box was going to be pretty violent. But, if it was for a project…it wasn’t too bad. Right?

Chapter Text

Thank the moons Winter agreed to not kill Turtle. I still want to question him about the spell. Why did he even cast it in the first place?

Qibli looked at Kinkajou and Winter. Winter was still upset, but he had stopped crying, and Kinkajou was a little mad looking but other than that she was okay.

They had to find their way back to Jade Mountain if they wanted to confront Turtle. Kinkajou knew the forests better than anyone else they wknew.

“Kinkajou, which way do we go to get back to Jade Mountain?” Qibli asked her.

“Hmm…that way!” Kinkajou announced, then flew off. Qibli followed, with Winter not far behind.

When they got back to the mountain, Qibli spotted Anemone and a couple other SeaWings leaving the prey center. He decided to ask her if she had seen Turtle recently.

“Anemone, hold up!” he yelled.

“What do you want, sand snorter?” She yelled back.

He flew closer to her. “Have you seen Turtle anywhere?”

“Yes, actually. I saw him at the underground lake. The one with a skylight. He was hanging out with that NightWing you like so much.”

“Anemone, can you please be a little bit quieter?” Qibli said, glancing at Winter.

“Whatever,” she said.

Qibli yelled a quick “thank you” before she flew away.

“Let’s head to the lake now,” he told Winter and Kinkajou.

They all went to the lake, and saw Moon sitting on a rock on the far side, with Turtle in the water nearby. They were only reachable by swimming or flying.

“Guys, stay here. I’m gonna go…talk to them,”

Qibli decided to swim because his wings were tired from flying for half of the day. He was in the center of the lake when a piece of seaweed wrapped around his ankle. He tried to shake it off but it stayed on. It tightened and he decided to just swim underwater and cut it off.

He swam down and peered at it in the little light that he had. He tried to slice it off with his claws but it just pulled him downward.

Qibli began to panic. He flailed his wings and tried to swim upward. He has been underwater for too long and was running out of air.

Is this where my story ends? He began to ask himself. Is this how I die? Drowning? Will anyone even notice me in the low light? What if I never see Moon again?

He gave one last desperate flail. And then, he lost consciousness.

Chapter Text

Winter was waiting for Qibli to come back with Turtle so he could confront him for putting a spell on him to make him kiss Qibli. He watched Qibli swim for a little while. Winter looked away for a minute and when he looked back, Qibli was gone.

He thought that maybe he had already gotten to Moon and Turtle so he glanced in their direction. He wasn’t there. He looked all around the cave but Qibli was nowhere to be seen.

Oh no, oh no, oh no. He thought. Where is he?

Winter jumped into the water.

“What are you doing?” Kinkajou asked him.

He ignored her and swam to the middle of the lake where he had last seen Qibli as fast as he could. He checked behind all of the rocks in the area but when he still couldn’t find him, he dove down and began searching through the seaweed that was growing there.

At last he spotted a pale shape in the kelp. He swam towards it and was relieved to find Qibli. That relief didn’t last long though because Qibli wasn’t moving at all.

No. He thought panicked. I’m too late. He’s already dead.

Winter went up to get some air and then dove down again. He noticed that some seaweed was wrapped around Qibli’s ankle. He sliced it off and dragged Qibli upwards towards the surface. He pulled him towards the shore.

“Winter, what’s wrong with Qibli?” Kinkajou asked panicked.

“I found him unconscious underwater. Help me pull him out.”

Kinkajou waded into the water and started pulling Qibli out.

“Kinkajou, could you do me a favor? Please?”

She hesitated then said, “Sure, what is it?”

“Could you please make a dome with your wings around me and Qibli so that no one can see us?”

“Okay? Why do I have to do that?”

“Ummm, you see, in order to save him, I uhh.”

“You what?”

“I have to kiss him again.” He said hurriedly.

“Oh. Why?”

This is going to be tricky to explain to her.

“I have to kiss him to get air in his lungs so he doesn’t die.”

Kinkajou made a skeptical expression but nodded to him. She spread her wings, but they didn’t completely cover Winter and Qibli. Hopefully, no one was paying attention.

Winter leaned down and planted his lips on Qibli’s. He started doing chest compressions and blowing air into Qibli. He somehow still remembered how to do CPR, years after Lynx had taught him.

After the process had been repeated a few times, Qibli began to stir. He started coughing up water.

Winter waited until Qibli was settled, and then hugged him.

Qibli tried to say something but stuttered.

“Hmm?” Winter asked.

After a few more coughs, Qibli said, “Thanks, icicle breath.”

“Your welcome, sand snorter.” He said with a smile.

He was so glad that Qibli was alive. But something told him that if he had died, Winter wouldn’t just “get over it”, he would have been heartbroken for a long, long time.

Everything was going to be okay now that Qibli was safe. All would be well again. Things could just go back to normal.

But…out of the corner of his eye, he realized that one of the dragons who’s view hadn’t been obscured by Kinkajou just happened to be Moon.

Chapter Text

Her box, in all it’s hot, shining glory, suddenly sounded all the more appealing when Moon saw Winter on top of Qibli, his lips pressed against his, in the open, with lots of other dragons around.

That IceWing doesn’t know how to keep his lips to himself, hm? Maybe him losing his lips will teach him a lesson about who’s mouth he’s tasting.

“Turtle, you released the spell, right?” Moon asked, half hoping he’d say yes and half hoping he’d say no.

“I did, why?” Turtle replied. Of course he hadn’t seen Winter.

“Oh, because I just watched Winter climb on top of Qibli. So I wanted to know if he’d done that of his own volition.”

“He did. That wasn’t my fault, I promise.”

“Well it looks like I really need that tortu- I mean project box, now.”

“Well good news, I finally finished it!”

“Excellent. Thank you so very much for this, darling.”

“No problem. Oh, and by the way, I made it portable so that you could move it.”

“That’s even better,” she said happily.

Now I am going to be able to move Winter when I torture him so that no one can hear him screaming. When he dies, I’ll just say he killed himself. That should be pretty easy to believe.

She decided to head to the library before she got too violent. Besides, she needed to get something there.

She walked down the hallways of the school until she got there.

There was only a few other students in the room. A SeaWing, a MudWing, and a group of IceWings in the corner.

“Moon?” Starflight asked, turning his head in her direction.

“Yes,” she said. “Do you have that scroll I asked for?”

“Yes, right over here. Umm,”

“What is it?”

“Oh, it’s just… the last time I gave this scroll to a student, they tried to kill someone. But you’re not going to do anything like that, right?” He said with a little laugh.

“No, of course not.” She said.

“Good. Well, have fun with your scroll,”Starflight said with a smile.

Moon thanked him and began to walk towards her sleeping cave. She laid down on her moss bed and took out the scroll.

She began reading and almost immediately found out exactly where his frostbreath chamber would be.

I have an idea… it might be a little bloody, but it will work.

Chapter Text

Turtle had a feeling that Moon wasn’t telling him the truth about what she was going to use her box for. But he knew he had nothing to worry about. After a, Moon was a very trustworthy dragon. Right?

Yes, he decided.
Moon is very trustworthy. I should trust her. Plus, that box can’t be used for anything violent. Except… no. She would never do that to him.

Turtle knew that Moon was a very good dragon. She would never hurt anyone, especially not one of her closest friends.

However, he was worried that she was so angry at Winter that she might hurt him.

It would serve him right. He deserves to be treated just as bad as he treated her, if not worse. He was horrible to her. And when he hurt Moon, or anyone actually, he didn’t seem to notice.

But would Moon hurt him? Even if she knew that Qibli cared about him? And how bad would she injure him if she did? Would it be minor or deadly? Why was she so angry in the first place? She seemed to hate him, no matter what Qibli thought.

The big question was: what did Winter do to make her this angry at him?

Turtle was in a very confusing spot in this situation. He didn’t know who was the enemy and who was supposed to be on his side. He didn’t know if he should help Moon or Qibli and Winter. He also wondered if he would hurt anyone in his friend group. After all, Moon was very convincing. It almost felt like he needed to listen to her.

Am I going to use my magic too much? What if I lose my soul? Will I be able to notice? What else is Moon going to make me do?

Chapter Text

He couldn’t believe that Winter had saved him. Qibli had almost drowned and Winter had jumped into the water and saved his life.

“Tha- thank you so much. How can I ever repay you?” Qibli asked.

Winter smiled. “How about no more swimming?”

“Wasn’t planning on it.” He said, standing up.

He could see that there was a little crowd around them. However, it looked like it was thinning.

Where’s Turtle? I still need to talk to him. He needs to know that putting that spell on Winter was a horrible thing to do.

Qibli also wanted to know why Turtle had cast that spell. He decided that the only way he was going to get his answer was by looking for Turtle.

He walked around the entire school without seeing him, until he went back to his sleeping cave and found Turtle laying there, playing with his animus touched objects.

“Hello,” Qibli said in a friendly voice.

“Hi,” Turtle said.

“I need to talk to you.”

“About?”

“About what you did to Winter.”

“Oh, that.” Turtle said with a frown. “Listen, I’m really sorry. I was just testing something with my magic and-”

Qibli didn’t let him finish. He had heard enough already.

“I don’t care about your apologies. What you did was wrong. Not only did you embarrass me and Winter, but you betrayed his trust in you.”

After a moment Turtle whispered, “I-I’m sorry” and grabbed his things.

For some reason, Qibli didn’t feel proud about what he did. He felt ashamed that he was so harsh with Turtle.

Hopefully he will apologize to Winter soon. He thought. Even if he didn’t mean to hurt him, he still did, in a way.

Chapter Text

Moon had seen him and Qibli kissing and she looked really angry. She stormed out of the cave and walked away, muttering to herself.

Qibli thanked him again and walked off. Probably to find Turtle. Kinkajou was gone as well.

Winter wasn’t exactly alone though. There were still quite a lot of students at the lake all doing their own things. And it seemed like the little crowd that had gathered around them was leaving.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw students whispering to each other and laughing. He even noticed someone pointing at him.

Oh no. I thought Kinkajou was able to cover most of us. How much did they see?

He ran out as fast as he could. He got to his sleeping cave and saw Turtle dragging his stuff out. Qibli was standing in the middle of the room, fuming.

He turned towards Winter and whispered, “I found out why he did it. He was ‘testing something with his magic’”

“Oh,” Winter said sadly. He sat down on his bed and sighed. All he wished for was to feel normal again. Yet somehow he knew that would never happen.

Chapter Text

Moon went in search of Winter. She found him sitting alone in his cave. Her eyes went to his lips, those lips that had been touching Qibli’s. Those lips that would soon be melted off.

Moon ran back to her sleeping cave and grabbed the knife she had stashed under her pillow. She walked back to his sleeping cave and slipped in. He didn’t notice her since his back was turned.

She pulled the knife out and held it to Winter’s throat.

“Come with me. Now,” she whispered, “or die.”

Winter flinched and nodded carefully. He was scared. That was good. She slowly ran the knife along his scales as a threat, just to prove what she could (and would) do if he didn’t do exactly what she said.

Moon hid the knife while she lead Winter to the exit. However, she kept her sharp claw pressed his back to remind him to keep going and not stop unless she gave him permission.

They reached the exit and Moon said, “Follow me, and do not say a word.”

Winter followed her into the sky and after about an hour’s flight, they reached their destination. It was a small area of forest surrounded by boulders. In the middle of it was her box, sitting in an open clearing that was covered overhead by the trees. No one would see it from above, or from any side.

She lead Winter towards it, and unlocked the door. Moon pushed him inside and followed quickly behind him.

The box’s inside was an empty space, with only the boxes of fire and a pair of chains. It was also extremely bright. Luckily, Moon had the control for all of that.

She attached the chains to Winter’s back two legs and leaned in.

She planted her lips on his, and while he was distracted, Moon pulled out her knife again and slit his throat.

Chapter Text

Turtle felt ashamed about what he had done. He wondered if he was losing his soul.

I really hope I’m not. I’ve been using my magic too much. But, if it’s to help my friends, it’s not so bad, right? Besides, Moon is a trustworthy dragon. I can cast spells for her, and it won’t be evil.

Still, what he had done to Winter was a horrible thing to do. He had embarrassed him in front of all of his friends.

I should apollogize to him, even if he’s angry at me. But, why should I apollogize? He’s always been so rude to everyone, especially Moon, and I doubt he even knows what an apology is.

Turtle took out his animus touched objects. He needed to find the coral that helped him find things.

He whispered, “Moon,” and it started to wiggle in his talons. He followed it for about an hour until he reached a forested area. The coral lead him through the foliage until it bumped against Moon’s box.

Why is Moon’s project box out here? And why is she inside it?

“Moon,” he called, “are you in there?”

She slipped out of the door and immediately looked relieved. “Oh, good,” she said with a sigh. “It’s just you. How did you find me?”

“This,” Turtle said, motioning to the coral. He let it tap against her scales so that it would stop moving.

“Why don’t you follow me inside?” she said, smiling. Turtle walked into the box and stifled a gasp. Winter was lying on the floor surrounded by a pool of blue blood. His ankles were shackled to the floor and he was silently crying.

“Wha-what happened‽” Turtle asked nervously.

“Let’s just say he…angered me,” Moon said with a smirk. “This is the price he has to pay.”

“Good. He deserves it.” Winter looked up at him with a heartbroken expression.

“What, did you really think I was your friend? How dumb are you?” He kicked Winter in the snout, and Moon laughed.

“Dumb enough that he still thinks his parents care about him,” Moon

Chapter Text

When he got back to his sleeping cave, Winter was gone. There was a splattering of blue blood on the floor near Winter’s bed.

What happened? Qibli wondered. Why is there blood on the ground? Where is Winter?

He ran out of the cave to find Kinkajou. Maybe she knew where he went. When he got to her cave, she was sleeping in her hammock. He shook her until she woke up.

“What is it, camel breath?” Kinkajou said groggily. “Why did you wake me up?”

“Winter’s gone, and there’s blood everywhere now.”

Kinkajou yawned and said, “oh, yeah. I saw Moon with a knife. I swear, sometimes she thinks she’s being sneaky.”

“KINKAJOU!” Qibli screamed.

“Right,” she said, getting out of the hammock. “Let’s go find your boyfriend.”

“And, most likely, he’s with your girlfriend.”

“Moon’s not my girlfriend! Not yet, at least.”

“Can we please just go? Winter might be in danger.”

“Yeah, right. Of course,” Kinkajou said, blushing. They ran to Qibli and Winter’s shared cave and Qibli pointed out the blood.

“See? It’s blue, meaning it’s most definitely IceWing blood. And Winter is the only IceWing who would be in here,” Qibli said impatiently.

Kinkajou nodded, and looked at Qibli nervously. They dashed out of the cave and ran out of the school.

Once they got there, Kinkajou asked, “how are we going to find them? I have no clue where Moon went.”

“I guess we’ll just have to wing it,” Qibli laughed, but his smile faded when he saw Kinkajou’s expression. “Sorry, not the time for puns.”
“I think she said something about going home to the rainforest.” Kinkajou said.

They took off, flying toward the rainforest.

Chapter Text

The pain was indescribable. His neck had been sliced open and was bleeding all over the place.

And then, what hurt even worse was what Turtle had said. That broke his heart, rather than any part of his body.

And Moon. He loved Moon, but she was the one hurting him. And she found it funny.

Winter watched as Moon and Turtle stepped into the closed off room that had a window facing in. He was scared, scared of what they would do to him.

The lights all flicked on, and increased in strength until they blinded him. The solid metal room slowly started to heat up. His throat was still bleeding, and any time he moved his head, a bolt of pain shot through his body. The chains around his ankles squeezed tighter, and started to heat up.

Soon, his ankles were burning from contact with the hot metal. He felt like he was melting, slowly and painfully turning into a puddle.

He felt faint. Winter placed a talon over his throat to try and keep as much blood in as possible. The last thing he wanted was to pass out.

Winter layed down on the metal floor and tried to breathe. The heat was already getting to him.

"Why did you do that?" He asked Moon in a hoarse voice.

"He really is dim," she said to herself. "You stupid ice dragon. You kissed the one I love, multiple times I might add."

His heart seemed to break even more. He knew that she was talking about Qibli.

She was always going to choose him. I scared her and yelled at her. I hurt her. Qibli would never hurt her. Still, I thought she cared about me. Just a little bit. I guess I really am dumb.

He suddenly cried out as he felt a searing pain course through his body. The box seemed to be getting even hotter and the metal was burning his scales.

Winter tried to use his frostbreath but all that came out was blood. It was at that moment that he realized just why Moon had cut him.

"You- my- frost," he tried to say. He couldn't wrap his head around it. He pressed his talon closer to his neck. The world seemed to be spinning.

"What? I couldn't have you freezing the box. Or me. It would ruin everything." Moon said cheerfully.

Winter tried to say something else, but the pain was too intense. He started to cry, and his salty tears got into his throat wound and made it hurt worse. His entire neck started to go numb from the pain.

“Oh, is the tough little IceWing prince crying?” Moon laughed again. Winter could see Turtle trying to hold back giggles too. Winter closed his eyes to try and stop the tears, but he only cried more.

“Does he want his daddy? Oh, wait, he doesn’t have one. He died.” Moon said in a mocking tone.

“Or does he want his mommy?” Turtle said in the same tone. “Wait, no, she doesn’t care if he lives or dies. I wonder what she would think about him being burned alive.”

“She’d probably laugh, just like the rest of his family” Moon said. The sad part was, they was probably right.

Would Hailstorm laugh? He loves me, right? Or, at least, he cares that I’m alive.

“It’s a little bit cold in here, isn’t it?” Moon asked, with a theatric shiver.

“Yeah,” Turtle agreed, also shivering. “I think you should turn up the heat.”

No, no. Do not turn up the heat.

But, of course, he couldn’t say that out loud. So the heat only got worse. He could now hear a sizzling noise coming from his scales.

He lifted up a talon to inspect it, and immediately wished he didn’t. Blisters had formed all over and started to peel. Not to mention, it was also bleeding in several places.

He tried to cry out again, but his throat was bone dry. Even the blood had evaporated at this point.

“Aww, is the poor IceWing in pain? Do his precious scales hurt?” Moon said, her voice maliciously teasing.

Yes, yes, the «poor IceWing» is in pain. Yes, my scales do hurt. They hurt a lot.

Winter started to cry again, but his tears evaporated, and the steam they created only hurt his eyes even more. Everything about this was pure torture.

Winter had suffered 3rd degree burns all over his body. He knew he’d have scars for the rest of his life. The only reason he’d survived Peril’s accidental attack was because of Turtle’s healing rock. And that’s when it hit him. If Turtle was on Moon’s side…then Winter could be hurt a lot worse at their whims.

Suddenly, the temperature in the box dropped. Turtle walked out of the side room with a scroll and ink.

"Enchant Winter to write a scroll to Qibli that says he is going on a trip to the Ice Kingdom to visit Hailstorm," Moon told Turtle.

Turtle closed his eyes for a moment and then gave the ink and paper to Winter.

Winter almost immediately started to write the note.

Dear Qibli,
I am heading to the Ice Kingdom to see Hailstorm. I will also be visiting a close friend of mine.

I won't be back for at least a week, if not longer.

Do me a favor and don't go swimming while I'm gone.

Your pal, Winter

When he was done, Turtle snatched the scroll and read it. He gave it to Moon who gave it a skeptical look but said, "It will work. Turtle, darling, do me a favor and gag him."

"No," Winter screamed, but it was too late, Turtle was coming towards him with a piece of cloth. They stuffed it in his mouth and no matter how loud he tried to scream, Winter's voice was muffled.

"Give up, you pathetic IceWing. No one’s going to hear you," Moon said, grinning. She walked out of the box, and, while she was closing the door she said, "Have fun. Oh, and, don't make me chain up your front talons too."

When Moon and Turtle were long gone, Winter tried to take out the gag, but wasn’t able to.

Winter layed down on the floor. He didn’t care about the pain anymore. He just wanted to die.

Chapter Text

Chapter 29: Moonwatcher

Finally, Winter was getting the punishment he deserved for kissing her boyfriend. Or, at least, her soon-to-be boyfriend.

She still had to figure out how to make Qibli love her. Should she ask Turtle to mind control him? No, that didn’t feel right.

Perhaps, I could just ask him. Yes, that would work. But, what if he says no? What would I do then?

What if he finds out what I did to Winter? Would he be mad, or happy?

Moon decided to head back to school to find Qibli. When she got there, she looked around everywhere, but he was nowhere to be found.

She sighed and decided to find Turtle instead. He was good enough company. And they could figure out what to do with Winter. A win-win, if you asked her.

Luckily, it didn’t take her too long to find Turtle. He was sitting in his cave, using his magic to do his homework for him.

Moon walked into the cave and sat down, sliding the scroll towards herself.

She started to read it out loud, but quickly grew bored. After all, she could be doing something much more interesting.

“Enough of this. Let’s go flying. I need to talk with you anyways,” she said.

Turtle looked at her with a sideways expression. “I’m kind of busy right now. Can’t you see I’m doing my homework?”

“No, you’re using your magic to do your homework for you. When you could be using it for something better. Helping me.”

Moon had a plan. A good plan. She wanted Winter to suffer emotionally as well as physically. She knew he wasn’t dead. She knew just how resilient he was. And she planned to use that to break him even slower.

“I’ve already used my magic for you, Moon,” Turtle said. Moon then remembered that she could hear his thoughts again, if she concentrated.

She wants me to use my magic again. Does she want me to make her another “project box?” Maybe this time she wants her torture chamber to be SandWing based. Huh, what would a SandWing torture chamber look like?

“It would be cold. And dark. Very cold and very dark. Small, too, since SandWings are known to be claustrophobic.” Moon said, with a slightly sadistic grin.

She could hear Turtle’s surprise, and she enjoyed it. She really did enjoy knowing what everyone was thinking. It made her life so much easier.

“So, dear, come flying with me. Please?” Moon batted her eyelashes, knowing that Turtle wasn’t able to resist her when she did that.

“Yeah, I’ll go. I need to get some fresh air anyways,” Turtle said. Good. He was following her every order with just a few pretty words.

They both walked out of Turtle’s cave together. Moon could feel herself grinning like a madman, but she did nothing about it.

“So…what did you want to talk about?” Turtle asked. Moon knew just how nervous he was. And she reveled in it.

“Oh, nothing much. I just have a…feeling that Winter isn’t dead yet. I want to…hurt him some more first.”

When they left the school, they just flew around in circles, talking.

“So,” Moon said, “I was thinking. If we, like, had to do something else to Winter, what would you do?”

That question shocked Turtle. If I had to pick? And then an image flashed through his mind. An image of Moon herself, using her claws to tear the membrane of Winter’s wing. In this mental image, Winter was crying out in pain.

Moon…really liked that idea. And, it worked well with the idea she’d had.

“I love that idea, darling. It would be quite…useful to my plan,” she said.

“What plan? Moon…what are you going to do?” Turtle asked, sounding a bit nervous.

“I want to push Winter off a cliff,” Moon said matter-of-factly. “And you’re the perfect person to help me.”

Chapter Text

Moon wanted him to help her push Winter off a cliff? No, no, he wouldn’t do that. That was murder, and murder was going too far.

“Oh, please, Turtle? It would be so nice if you would help me out,” Moon said sweetly. When she talked like that, oh, it was hard to not immediately forget that what she wanted him to do was evil.

“Fine, okay. I’ll help you. But, you’re pushing him yourself. I won’t have any hand in that part.”

“Oh, thank you. I just need you to use your magic again. What we need is bait. A way to get Winter to the edge of the cliff, and distract him.”

“Bait, hmm?” Turtle asked, thinking.

What could we use as bait for Winter? Qibli? No, no. Qibli wouldn’t have a hand in this at all. What about…

“A scavenger, that’s right,” Moon said. Turtle had completely forgotten that his thoughts were clearly audible to Moon.

He decided to just say what he thought out loud, since it didn’t really matter.

“So…you want me to use my magic to capture a scavenger? Like, put a spell on one to make it stay still, or..?”

“Nope. No matter how much I want to hurt Winter, I won’t hurt a scavenger. I want you to create an illusion of one.”

Okay, that wouldn’t be too bad. It was just an illusion, and, it was for Moon.

“Let’s go find Winter now? Or do you want to do that on your own, so I can set up the illusion ahead of time?” Turtle asked her.

Moon nodded and said, “Go set up the illusion. I can tell you don’t want to be there when I…” and she trailed off.

Turtle knew exactly what she meant. And she was right. He didn’t want to be there.

They parted ways, Moon flying towards the forest where they had left Winter, and Turtle flying towards the cliff that he knew was concealed in the trees.

When he landed, he set to work. Carefully crafting every piece of the illusion. It had to be perfect.

Chapter Text

It took him and Kinkajou longer than they had expected to find Winter. They were flying around and around, since neither of them could spot his trademark blue scales. And Qibli knew the exact shade of blue.

When the wind blew the trees under them ever so slightly to the side, Kinkajou abruptly dove into the forest. Qibli followed her, realizing that he had been so focused on finding his boyfr- uhm, on finding Winter, that he hadn’t stopped to think about finding clues to his whereabouts.

When they landed in the clearing, the first thing that caught Qibli’s attention was the giant metal box in the center of it. The box was shining, and Qibli could see the heat waves coming off of it.

“Huh,” Qibli said, looking puzzled. “What’s this doing out here?”

Kinkajou seemed to take that as a suggestion to go check it out, since she bounded forward.

“Kinkajou, no, stop!” Qibli yelled, but it was too late. Kinkajou rammed face first into the side of the box. She immediately leaped away. There was a small burn on the side of her face, but nothing too bad.

But…if the box was that hot on the outside, what was it like on the inside?

And that’s when it all pieced together. Moon’s anger, Turtle’s spells. This was a torture chamber, designed by magic to cause an IceWing as much pain and suffering as physically possible.

Qibli poked his head into the chamber through the open door, and his suspicions were confirmed. There was blood on the floor, blue IceWing blood. But Winter himself, Winter was nowhere to be found.

Qibli’s first instinct was to follow a blood trail, but there was none. There were no traces of Winter’s presence anywhere except for the chamber.

Qibli sighed. He wouldn’t be able to find Winter in this forest if there were no clues to where he went.

“What if we just, like, went back to school?” Kinkajou asked. “We can figure out what we know there, and like, do other things.”

That was…a good idea. If they stayed here too long, Moon could come back and find them. Qibli knew it wouldn’t take her long to catch on that they knew what she had done.

They both flew all the way back to school. Neither of them wanted to be alone after what they had just seen, so they both went to Qibli’s cave to talk.

Once inside the cave, Qibli found a rolled up scroll on his bed. He picked it up. It was from Winter.

He read the scroll, which was a note saying that Winter had gone to the Ice Kingdom to visit his brother.

Oh, thank the moons. I thought he was hurt.

“It says he’s gone to visit his brother in the Ice Kingdom, and that he’ll be back soon,” Qibli said.

Kinkajou sighed. “Great moons, he had us worried. It’s good that he’s just gone on a trip. I really thought he was hurt.”

“Me too. I was scared for him, but he’s okay.”

Chapter Text

When he woke up from whatever pain induced, delirious sleep he was in, Winter was no longer in the box. He was lying down on the ground, still in pain. With effort, he looked up and saw Moon standing over him, her talons sharp and gleaming in the light.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Moon said sweetly. “Come look at what I found.” She hauled him to his feet. Winter immediately let out a cry of pain, and Moon laughed. The burns on his talons were extremely painful to stand on.

Moon laughed again. “Do your poor talons hurt? Can you walk, or are you just going to be a worthless dragonet?

To my parents, yes. To my parents, I am a worthless child.

She ran her talons along his wings, and he shuddered. “Ah, here should do nicely,” Moon said with a smirk.

What does she mean? What is she going to do to me?

“Well, you see, darling,” Moon said while she ran her talons along his chest, “I can’t exactly tell you.”

Winter’s eyes widened. It was almost as if she had read his mind. But that wasn’t possible. He still had the skyfire.

But what if I don’t? What if she took it?

“I didn’t take anything, darling. In fact, I think I found something you’d like. Follow me, if you can.” Moon lead him to a cliff, and pointed at a small, moving shape near the edge of it. It took a moment before he recognized those clever little paws. It was Bandit. Winters pet scavenger that he had freed before he went to find Hailstorm.

“Moon…please don’t…please don’t hurt Bandit,” Winter choked out.

“Aww, your little scavenger has a name?” she asked in a mocking tone.

“Yes, he does. And even if he was a disappointment, I still care about him. So don’t hurt him.”

I do care about him…unlike my parents about me…

“Oh, you’re funny. Too bad, I have to do this,” Moon said, resting her talons on his wing again.

“Do…do what?” Winter asked, in an extremely panicked tone.

She didn’t answer, at least, not with words. What she did do was cut him again. She used her talons to slice open his wing, from the very top to the end.

Winter tried to scream, but somehow, during his momentary confusion, Moon had managed to tie a gag around his mouth. She dragged him closer to the edge of the cliff and then dropped him on the ground.

“You’d better go save your little pet,” Moon said, motioning to the cliff. Bandit was no longer standing there. Winter rushed as fast as he could to the edge and looked down, where he saw a small, broken figure. He leaped off to see if Bandit was okay, but he instantly regretted it. He was now falling with no way to stop himself.

When he landed on an outcropping, he noticed with horror that the shape was gone. Winter looked at his right wing, which was bleeding everywhere. He stretched it out carefully, to see what the damage looked like.

At that exact moment, a large boulder fell directly on top of it, crushing his bones. He heard the crunch of all the bones in his wing being broken.

There was nothing that could be done about the tears that spilled from his eyes. He looked up and saw Moon smiling viciously at him.

She flew down and said, “whoops, didn’t mean to do that. Here, let me help you.”

She lifted up the boulder with surprising strength, smiled, and dropped it again.

“Oh, sorry. I guess I can’t help you after all.” Moon said, and flew away.

Chapter Text

Bluebell and her best friend Marigold were getting ready to go rock climbing. They had to find the perfect spot, so that they wouldn’t be spotted by dragons.

Luckily, Mari knew the perfect spot.

“I know exactly where we should go climbing,” Marigold said, “it’s this one outcropping on a cliff that we can climb up to. We can have a picnic up there.”

“Great idea,” Bluebell said. “Besides, I’ve been in the mood for a picnic myself. Are you absolutely sure that there’s no dragons?”

“I’m positive. At least, I never see them there,” Marigold said.

“You can’t see!”

“I think I’d be able to see a damn dragon!”

“Fine, but if I get eaten, you’re joining me in hell.”

“What are you going to bring to the picnic?” Marigold asked.

Bluebell hesitated, then said, “I think sandwiches. They’re easy enough to make and carry with us.”

Mari nodded. “That works. I’ll bring, like, cookies or something.”

“Make sure you remember to bring water, cause knowing you, you’re an idiot and you’ll forget.”

After packing their stuff, they headed out. When they got to the cliff, something felt really off. There seemed to be commotion coming from the forest above the cliff.

Bluebell spotted two dragons winging away. “What did you say about there being no dragons, again?” She asked.

“Oh, shut up,” Marigold said, giving Bluebell a friendly shove.

“Let’s wait for a little while before we start climbing, just to be safe.” After about 10 minutes, they made their way up to the overhang. At one point, Marigold’s foot slipped and they almost fell.

“Idiot,” Bluebell said, lightheartedly. After a few seconds, she asked, “you good though?”

“Mentally, never. Physically, yeah.”

Macaroni better not try to yeet themself off a cliff.

“Hey, do you hear that?” Bluebell asked.

After a moment, Marigold said, “No. Blueberry, you’re hearing things,” and kept climbing.

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

Bluebell sighed, knowing that she wasn’t going to win this one. She reached the outcropping first, and froze. There was a dragon lying there. He didn’t seem to notice her, so she carefully leaned down and whispered, “Mari, there’s a dragon up here.”

“WHAT!” Marigold yelled back. Bluebell tried to shush them, but it was too late. The dragon’s eyes opened, and he seemed to listen more intently.

Bluebell looked up ever so carefully, and now that she was closer, she could see that he was bleeding all over, and she noticed that there was a giant rock on top of one of his wings.

Poor thing. We have to help him, but what if he eats us?

“Marigold, come up here real quick!”

They climbed up and stifled a gasp.

“His wing!”

“We have to help him,” Bluebell agreed.

Marigold immediately dropped to their knees next to him, and started to examine his wing.

“Eh, I think he’ll be fine,” Marigold said.

“You idiot. His wing is literally being crushed by a boulder!”

“Ah, I see.”

“Lies.” Bluebell approached the dragon, and noticed that his entire body was covered in burns. There also seemed to be a large gash in his throat.

“You poor thing,” she said. “What happened to you?”

Chapter Text

The dragon seemed to be studying them. His eyes watching their every move.

"Hey, Marigold?" Bluebell asked. "Did you bring water?"

"Yeah, why?" Marigold asked, turning towards her.

"Just give it to me," Bluebell said impatiently.

"Fine." Marigold opened up their backpack and took out a large bottle of water. Bluebell took it and quickly opened it.

She headed towards the dragon. His mouth slowly opened and she poured some of the water in.

"What are you doing? We need that," Marigold protested.

"Shush," Bluebell said. "Do you have anything that can cut something?"

"Yes, why?"

"There's something in his mouth. It's blocking the water."

Marigold took a pair of scissors out of their backpack and handed them to Bluebell.

She took them and looked at the dragon. "You wont eat me, right?"

The dragon looked back at her and blinked slowly. Bluebell obviously took this as a sign because she  continued to give the dragon water in small portions until the bottle was empty.

"Why did you do that? We could have used that water."

Bluebell looked at the dragon and then back at Marigold. "Miracle was thirsty, so I gave him water."

Of course she named it already.

"Miracle? Really?" Marigold asked.

Bluebell shrugged. "I think it's cute."

"Whatever."

"Can you help me try and move this boulder off of his wing?"

“Me? You really think I’d be any good at moving a boulder?”

Bluebell looked annoyed, but Marigold knew they were right. There was no way they could move a boulder.

“Just try, for Clearsight’s sake!”

Marigold sighed, knowing that they would be no help, but they placed their hands on the boulder and shoved along with Bluebell.

The giant rock rolled off, and Mari knew that it was Bluebell who had done it. At least, they knew it wasn’t them who had pushed the rock that hard.

The dragon, sorry, Miracle, let out a gasp. His eyes lit up ever so slightly. Marigold realized that he was an IceWing. They knew he would eat the
if he got the chance, but that didn’t stop themfrom being curious.

Marigold stepped forward, kneeling down again and studying the dragon. Miracle was sparkly, very sparkly.

“He looks like such a cool guy, huh, Bluebell?” Marigold said with a laugh.

“Mari, now is not the time for a joke!” Bluebell snapped. Gosh, Bluebell was so uptight sometimes. Marigold was only trying to lighten the mood.

“Okay, geez, sorry. I was just trying to be funny. You know, cause I can tell that you’re stressed.”

“Yeah, I’m stressed. We have to help Miracle,” Bluebell said, still focused on the dying dragon.

Marigold sighed. “I can’t believe you named the dragon.”

“I can’t believe you wouldn’t.”

Marigold knew that Bluebell had a point. If they were going to save this dragon, they would have to have a name for him.

They sighed. “Fine. Miracle. I think we should set his wing.”

“Set his wing? What do you even mean by that?”

Bluebell was an idiot. “I mean, set his wing as in like with a bandage. So that he doesn’t move it while it heals.”

“We don’t have a bandage though. And I don’t know how to set a dragon’s wing.”

Marigold pulled a pair of scissors from one of their many pockets and cut a strip of fabric from their shirt.

“I do. Hold his wing down for me, please. And be careful.”

Once Miracle’s wing was secured, Marigold wrapped the cloth around it.

“There. He shouldn’t be able to move it. Now, it’ll heal properly,” Marigold said proudly.

“Macaroni, why the actual hell do you know how to set a dragon wing?” Bluebell said, in shock.

“I used to watch dragons all the time. I’ve seen some things.”

“I thought you said you lived in some sort of ancient ruins before we met?”

“Yeah, I did, but what do you think I did all day?”

Marigold watched dragons whenever they got the chance. They’d seen dragons of all colours. They’d seen red and orange ones flying to the east, blue and white ones flying north, yellow ones flying southeast, and occasionally black ones flying south.

All of a sudden, Marigold heard a low, accented growl. Miracle had woken up.

Chapter Text

Qibli was pacing his cave, with Kinkajou hanging upside down from a ledge near the ceiling. He knew in his head that Winter was okay, but there was something nagging in the back of his mind that told him that he wasn’t.

Qibli tried to shake off the feeling, especially considering how chill Kinkajou was being, but it was hard.

Soon enough, Moon and Turtle walked into his cave. Moon was grinning, but there was something sinister about it.

“Oh, hi, Qibli,” Moon said. “It’s good to see you.”

“Uh, good to see you too,” Qibli said nervously. He didn’t like the way she was looking at him, like she wanted him, and would have him, no matter what. And if she was allied with Turtle, then, well, Qibli had no choice.

Moon looked Qibli in the eyes, and grinned again. Qibli decided to ask her if she’d seen Winter. He knew she had, but he wanted to know what she would say.

“Hey, have you seen Winter lately?” Qibli asked, looking away from her.

“No, actually. I haven’t seen him since the underground lake.”

That was a lie. Qibli knew Moon was responsible for Winter’s disappearance. But he didn’t know how to get her to admit that.

“Qibli, I have something I need to tell you,” Moon said. “I…love you.”

Qibli felt the voice in his head return, telling him that he loved her back. He also felt some of his memories fading. That IceWing…what was his name again? Snow? Popsicle?

"I love you too, Moon."

Chapter Text

The crushing weight had been lifted off of his wing, and the gag had been removed. By scavengers, no less.

The two scavengers who seemed to be taking care of him couldn’t have looked more different. One was tall, with long, dark blue hair that was tied up in a complicated pattern. Winter noticed that she had blue and brown eyes. She also had a white flower tucked behind her ear.

The other scavenger had shoulder length, light yellow hair. She was a little bit shorter than the blue haired scavenger but she seemed tough.

The taller scavenger (who he had begun to call Ocean because of her hair) went over to his wing and gasped. She said something to her companion (who he was calling Sunflower). Sunflower shook her head and replied.

Ocean looked annoyed but remained calm. She said something to Sunflower in a commanding tone. Sunflower nodded and began climbing down the cliff.

"Thank you," Winter said, forgetting that scavengers didn’t speak the same language as dragons.

"Of course," Ocean replied, smiling.

He gasped. She had just spoken to him, in dragon.

Ocean laughed and came closer to him. She paused for a moment and then said, "No eat please?"

Winter shook his head. He would have never eaten her. Not in a million years.

She smiled and set one of her paws on his talon. He smiled back but almost immediately his smile faded. He had heard something, someone. 

Chapter Text

Miracle started to panic. He had heard something that scared him.

"What is it? Are you okay?" Bluebell asked.

Miracle tried to say something to her but she couldn't understand much. He tried again and this time she heard the word "hide".

"Why?" She asked in dragon.

Miracle looked at her with fear in his eyes. "She’s here. Hide now."

"Who-"

Miracle grabbed her and hid her under his good wing. Bluebell tried to protest but he shushed her.

After a few seconds, Marigold's bag was thrown onto the ledge. Marigold followed shortly after.

"Bluebell?" They asked. "Bluebell, where are you?" They looked at Miracle. "You stupid dragon! I swear if you ate my friend I’ll–"

Miracle grabbed Mari and stuffed them under his wing with Bluebell. "Hi," Bluebell said in a whisper.

"Oh, thank the moons you’re okay. Why are we hiding?"

"I’m not sure. I think something spooked–"

All of a sudden a black dragon landed on the outcropping. She smiled wickedly at Miracle.

Chapter Text

The black dragon was frighteningly beautiful. She had swooped down and landed on the ledge.
"Hello darling,"  she said. Or at least, Marigold thought she said. They knew some dragon, but it wasn’t much.

"I see that you got the boulder off. How nice."

Miracle stayed silent. He was obviously scared of this dragon.

Why?

The black dragon, who Marigold was calling Nightmare, paused for a moment, as if… listening to something.

"Where are they?" Nightmare asked.

"Not here." Miracle said. He had a raspy voice with a bit of an accent.

"Gone"

Nightmare paused again and then said, "I know you’re lying. They’re hiding under your wing, aren't they? How about this? We play a little game. If you make any noise, I kill them, if you don’t, I let them live. Sound fair?"

Miracle nodded.

Nightmare leaned close to him and then dug her talons into his arm. Miracle’s eyes widened but he stayed quiet. She dug her talons deeper and began twisting them around. Blue blood spattered the rock.

Miracle started to cry but still made an effort to stay muted. He looked up at Nightmare with a broken expression.

"WHAT," Nightmare hissed. "No. No you’re lying." She took her talons out of his arm and put them over her ears. "Stop it, stop it. Stop lying."

What is happening? Why does it seem like she’s talking to him?

Nightmare looked at Miracle and screamed, "Liar!" She sliced his face and part of his chest with her claw.

He still made no sounds, even though he must have been in excruciating pain.

He wants us to live. He cared about us. Marigold realized.

Nightmare glared at Miracle, her face wreathed in smoke, and flew away. Miracle let out a sigh and layed down, crying.

Chapter Text

He…loved Moon. At least, that’s what the voice in his head was telling him to think. He wasn’t sure how he felt, though.

Kinkajou, on the other hand, was clearly enamored with Moon. And Qibli had a sneaking suspicion that there was no spell on her.

Kinkajou sighed dramatically. “You’re so lucky, Qibli.”

He didn’t think he was lucky. He was just as terrified of Moon as he was in love with her.

The way she had stalked out of the cave, like some sort of death goddess, made him nervous. And what made him even more nervous was how hot he found her.

He knew that was completely irrational. He didn’t think Moon was hot. At least, he didn’t before she told him she loved him. He could feel it in the back of his mind, the dragon he truly loved. But, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t put a name to the dragon he so desperately wanted to see.

He couldn’t keep this mystery dragon off his mind. But every time he was close to figuring out why, the voice in his head came back and instructed him to focus on Moon.

After a while, Moon returned. Her talons were stained with blue blood. That was okay, though, since he loved her and she could do no wrong.

Part of him wanted to say that this was the best day of his life, but another part of him knew that this would break someone's heart.

Who?

"I know," Qibli sighed as he flopped onto his bed.

"I wonder what Winter will think when he finds out?" Kinkajou asked.

"Who?"

Kinkajou looked startled. "What do you mean «who?». Winter's your best friend."

"I don't know who you're talking about. I've never known a Winter."

Chapter Text

Winter started to cry, but still made an effort to stay muted. He looked up at Moon with a broken expression.

I thought I liked you, Moon, but then I realized that I like Qibli. I like him because he would never hurt someone, or torture someone.

"WHAT," Moon hissed. "No. No you’re, lying." She took her talons out of his arm and put them over her ears. "Stop it, stop it. Stop lying.” He will never love you after he finds out what you did. He will love me. "Liar," Moon screamed. She took her talons and sliced part of his face and chest.

The pain Winter was in was almost too great. He almost cried out, but he knew that would only put Ocean and Sunflower in danger.

Moon flew away and after Winter was sure she was gone he sighed and collapsed onto the rock.

Sunflower and Ocean scrambled out from underneath his wing. Ocean yelled something at Sunflower. She opened up a bag, took out a large kit, and handed it to Ocean.

Ocean came over to him and whispered, "Help you hurt." Even in her broken dragon, Winter could understand what she was trying to say. He rolled over the smallest bit so that she could see the wound Moon had made.

She gasped and turned back to Sunflower. They had a short conversation and when it was over, Ocean looked back at him.
"Breathe, calm," she told him.

"Why?"

Moon flew away and after Winter was sure she was gone he sighed and collapsed onto the rock.

Sunflower and Ocean scrambled out from underneath his wing. Ocean yelled something at Sunflower. She opened up a bag, took out a large kit, and handed it to Ocean.

Ocean came over to him and whispered, "Help you hurt." Even in her broken dragon, Winter could understand what she was trying to say. He rolled over the smallest bit so that she could see the wound Moon had made.

She gasped and turned back to Sunflower. They had a short conversation and when it was over, Ocean looked back at him.
"Breathe, calm," she told him.

"Why?"
She didn't answer. "Breathe, calm," she repeated.

Winter tried to breathe but everything hurt. He just wanted to be done with the pain.

"Calm?" Ocean asked.

He nodded. "Calm."

"Good," she said. Ocean opened the kit and took out a needle and thread. She looped the thread through the needle and tied the ends together. "Breathe." She reminded him. Or maybe she was reminding herself. He couldn't tell.

She began stitching up his chest while Sunflower worked on his wing.

"Hello," she said.

"Hi," Winter croaked.

"I'm so sorry that you got hurt. What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now," he said.

"Okay. I won't force you to."

She began wrapping up his wing in a bandage.

"You speak dragon. How?" Winter asked.

"Long story short, I stalked dragons for years and picked up on some things."

"Oh. Okay, kinda creepy but, sure."

Sunflower laughed. "What's your name?"

He paused. He wasn't sure if he should tell her. "Umm, I'm, uhh."

"You can trust us, don't worry. Here, I'll go first. I'm Marigold, you can call me Mari for short. And my pronouns are they/them. My friend is Bluebell and her pronouns are she/her. I call her Blueberry."

"Hi," said Bluebell. She had finished stitching up his chest and was climbing up his neck. "Need to fix you face."

"Okay." Winter said. "Thank you."

"Yes, of course," she said. She began to stitch his cheek where Moon had cut him. It stung, but it wasn't anything too bad.

When Bluebell was done, Winter said, "I'm Winter and my preferred pronouns are he/him. Also, I am very thankful that you guys rescued me."

Marigold translated what he said to Bluebell, who began smiling like crazy.

“You’re welcome, she says.” Mari translated.

Chapter Text

They needed to figure out how to get Winter off of the outcropping, but they couldn't just drop him. That would be obscene.

"How do you suppose that we get you off of this?" Bluebell asked Winter. Marigold translated what she said. Winter replied and Mari translated that as well.

"He isn't sure. Flying is definitely out of the picture though."

Winter tried to say something but Bluebell didn't understand it. He looked at Marigold and she said, "Climbing down would be easy enough, but his burns…"

"Maybe we could use the ropes that we used to climb up here. We could like, lower him down or something?"

Mari paused. "The rope would probably break underneath his weight. It is meant for humans you know. Even if he lost a lot of weight, it would still snap."

"Oh," Bluebell said sadly. "I thought it was a good idea,"

"It's not."

"Damn, okay then… okay but seriously, how are we going to get him off of here?"

Maybe Mari has an idea. Although, knowing them, it would be pretty dumb and not at all useful. But still.

“Hey, Macaroni? We need to get him to our house. He’s not going to make it if we leave him here.”

Mari shrugged. “He’s a dragon, I think he’ll be fine.”

“No. Mari, listen. He’s not going to be fine unless we help him. So please, help me help him.”

“Fine. What do you need me to do?”

Bluebell had an idea. Maybe not a good one, but an idea all the same. “What if we…carefully helped him glide down into the valley? I think he can walk, with support.”

"I have an even better idea," Marigold said slowly. They walked towards Winter and grabbed his wrist in their hands.

"Mari… what are you doing?"

They didn't answer. Instead, Marigold led Winter closer to the edge of the ledge. "Marigold, what are you doing?" Bluebell repeated. They still refused to answer.

All of a sudden, they pushed him off of the cliff.

"Winter!" Bluebell yelled. He's gone, Marigold just killed him. She thought. She forced herself to look over the edge.

Bluebell gasped when she saw that Winter had landed on a smaller outcropping. It was barely big enough to fit him, but it was something.

She glared at Marigold. "Why did you do that?" She yelled. "You could have seriously hurt him, or-or worse."

"I don't know…it worked, though.” Marigold shrugged. “I’m not sorry, so don’t ask me to say it.”

"Mari! What the hell!"

"I'm not sorry for anything," they said while grabbing their backpack.

Bluebell started to climb down towards Winter, with Mari following shortly behind. When she reached him, she could see that he was shaking from horns to tail.

"Are you hurt?" She asked him in dragon.

He nodded. "I-Im fine."

"Okay good." She paused and then asked Mari, "Tell him our plan, please. And this time, let him take off on his own."

Marigold translated the plan to Winter. "He's going to do it but he's worried."

"Tell him that I promise he won't get hurt," said Bluebell.

Marigold translated what she said to Winter. He looked a bit calmer but still a little nervous.

"Why don't you climb down so you can help with the landing? I'll stay up here so I can help him," Bluebell suggested.

"Okay, yeah. I'll do that."

Mari slowly made their way down the rest of the cliff. Once they were at the bottom they signaled for Winter to fly down.

He started shaking violently.

"I- I can't do it," Winter stuttered.

"Yes you can. You've got this," Bluebell tried to say. She knew that he wasn't going to try unless he felt encouraged enough to. "I'll be here for you."

Winter nodded and took off.

Chapter Text

Winter had just taken off when everything went wrong. The bandage that was wrapped around his wing fell off, and his wing opened all the way. Too far.

Winter began to fall and Marigold was surprised when he didn't make any noise whatsoever. Bluebell, on the other hand, was screaming at the top of her lungs.

Winter was about to hit the ground but managed to catch himself with his good wing. Bluebell made her way down the cliff as fast as she could. When she got to the bottom she ran straight towards where Winter had crashed.

Mari ran after her and saw with horror that there was a gaping hole in Winter's wing. Almost his entire body was covered in his bright blue blood.

Bluebell seemed at a loss for words. She was just standing there, staring at the bleeding IceWing. "W-Winter," she sniffled. "I- are- are you okay?"

"Well that was a stupid question," Marigold pointed out. "The answer is obviously no. His wing is literally ripped open."

Bluebell glared at them, tears streaming down her face. "Thanks for pointing that out, dumbass." She looked at Winter again and winced. "We need to get him back to the cabin. Everything that we need is there. Do you- do you have anything to slow the bleeding?"

"I have a blanket, would that work?" Mari asked.

Bluebell nodded and said, "That would work perfectly. Hand it over to me, now."

Marigold slid their backpack off and opened it. They took out the blanket and handed it to Bluebell. She walked closer to the crying dragon and slowly lifted up his wing."Mari, could you hold this up for me?" She asked, gesturing to Winter's wing.

"Of course."

Mari walked over to him and held up his wing. It was gross, being covered in his blood and all.

"M-Marigold?" Winter whispered.

"Yes. What do you want?" They asked.

"I, um,"  He took a shaky breath. "Could you tell Bluebell to leave? I just… don't want to see her right now."

Marigold paused. Why doesn't he want to see her? She's been helping him this entire time. She didn't do anything wrong.

"Uhh, sure. Why, though?"

"It's just, she promised that I wouldn't get hurt and then…" He trailed off.

"Oh, okay. Yeah. I'll have her leave, just let her finish up your wing."

Winter nodded. He looked at Bluebell, who was wrapping up his wing in fabric. The blanket did a good job of keeping most of the blood in, but there were still a few spots that were bleeding through it.

Once Bluebell was finished, Mari dragged her away from him. "What is it?"

"Blueberry, listen," Marigold said with a sigh. "Winter wants you to leave."

"What- why. Did I do something wrong? Did I put the blanket on wrong? I can go fix-"

"Blue, Blue, he doesn't want to see you."

"Why? what did I do?"

"You kinda betrayed his trust in you when you said that he wouldn't get hurt, and then his wing..."

It looked like Bluebell had been struck with lightning. "Oh," she said. "I’ll just go then."

Chapter Text

A letter had arrived, addressed to him, from Queen Snowfall.

That's odd, Qibli thought to himself. Why would the IceWing queen be writing to me?

"Hey Qibli," Kinkajou asked. "What's that?"

"I’m not sure," he replied. "It's from Queen Snowfall."

"Well, what does it say?" she asked. Qibli tore open the wax seal and unrolled the scroll. The message read:

Dearest Qibli of the SandWings,

It is my deepest regret to inform you that Winter of the IceWings has tragically died.

We do not yet know what caused this, but I can assure you that we are tirelessly working to resolve it.

We will be holding a funeral for him a week from the next full moon.

My deepest condolences, Queen Snowfall of the IceWings

No! Screamed a part of his mind. He’s gone.

But, I don’t even know who he is! Yelled another half. Why should I feel sad for someone I don’t know?

Before his inner war could continue, Kinkajou snatched the letter from his talons.

It took her a bit longer to read what it had said, but by the time she was finished, tears were streaming down her face and she had turned an indigo color with lines of gray in her wings.

"Kinkajou?" Qibli asked, touching one of his wings to hers. "Are you okay?"

She looked up at him. "Q-Q-Qibli, h-how are you okay? Winter is d-d-d-dead." She took a shaky breath. "He’s your b-best friend, and he’s gone, and you're okay. How?"

"I told you already Kinkajou, I don’t know any Winters."

But you do! You do know him. He’s your closest friend, screamed his mind again.

Qibli took a breath. "If I don’t know him, then why should I be sad?"

Kinkajou looked at him, her body now indigo with lime green splotches, indicating fear. "How- how can you not know him? He was your boyfri- I mean, your friend."

"Kinkajou, I don’t know who he is. I feel like I’ve heard his name, but I just can’t put a face to it.”

He tried again, only getting flashes of pale blue scales, and a rush of intense emotions. He felt angry, but he also felt empathy and love. He didn’t know where these feelings came from, but they must have been connected to this “Winter” dragon.

"Please, please try to remember him, Qibli. He is- was amazing, and he cared about you so much. Please remember, " Kinkajou said quietly.

Qibli paused. It seemed like Winter's death was affecting Kinkajou a lot, and it seemed like he should know who Winter was. "I’ll try, I promise," he told Kinkajou.

She looked relieved after hearing him say this. however, that relief quickly washed away as she asked, "How are we going to tell the others?"
"We already know," Moon said, walking into the room with Turtle at her side. There were tears streaming down both of their faces. Moon looked up at him. "Why aren't you sad?"

"I don't remember who he is," Qibli responded.

At this, he saw Moon smile. It was a small smirk, but it was still there. "That’s… probably for the best. This is a horrible feeling that you shouldn't have to endure," she said slowly

I do feel it! Screamed his mind. I do feel sad! Why did he have to die? I loved him.

Chapter Text

Bluebell left, her face falling. Winter felt bad about it, but he also couldn’t face her right now. She had promised that he wouldn't get hurt, and then, well, he got hurt.

Every step he took was painful. The burns from Moon were agonizing to walk on, and his wing felt like it was going to fall off.

I wonder if I’ll be able to fly after this? He thought. What happens if I can't?

After around five minutes of walking in silence, Marigold spoke. "Hey, Winter?" they asked, looking up at him.

"Yes?"

"Well, I was just wondering… who was that dragon earlier?"

Winter tensed. Even thinking about Moon made him anxious. If she was able to read his mind, even with the skyfire on, then there was a chance she could find him.

Wait, how did she do that?

"Winter?" Marigold's voice snapped him back to reality.

"Sorry," he said. "Her name is Moon."

"Okay. Can she read minds?"

"Uhhhhhhh, yes."

"Cool. That would explain why she got all angry at you. Hey, Winter?" Mari asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you have childhood trauma? Also, why are you covered in burns?"

He paused. Mari was asking some really personal questions. "I’d, uhhh, rather not answer the first one, and the second one is a long story."

Marigold muttered something about how he couldn’t hide from them forever and then asked, "Did you know Moon? You seem like you know her. Also, is your arm okay? Also, do your parents love you? I have a feeling they don’t. Whats your favorite color? Do you have any crushes? Have you ever been hugged? Have you ever kissed someone? Why are you blushing so much right now?"

Winter began to walk even faster. Some of the things Marigold had asked him stung, and he was starting to regret sending Bluebell away. "Uhhhh, can we not talk about this right now?"
"Hey, I’m the one who’s supposed to be asking the questions here! Anyways, is Moon your girlfriend? She seems like a pretty shitty girlfriend. You should break up with her. How’s your relationship with your father?"

"SHE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!!! SHE HATES ME AND TRIED TO KILL ME. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY SHE HATES ME! I SAVED HER CRUSH’S STUPID LIFE. SHE SHOULD BE HAPPY, BUT NO, I DO ONE THING WRONG AND SHE GOES, "WELP, LOOKS LIKE ITS GENOCIDE TIME!" AND BURNS ME ALIVE!!!! ALSO, MY FATHER IS DEAD, BUT EVEN WHEN HE WAS ALIVE, HE HATED ME!!!"

Mari took a few steps back, "Sorry," they said quietly. "I'll stop asking questions."

Winters heart broke. He didn't want to hurt anyone else's feelings. "Sorry, I…"

"Stop pouting, igloo-face," Mari said as they pulled a dagger out of their backpack. "You don’t want to piss off someone with a knife."

He paused. The blade that they were holding looked… familiar. "Where did you get that?"

Marigold shrugged, "Found it. I think that nightmare of a dragon dropped it."

Winter lifted a talon to his neck gingerly. He knew why the knife was familiar.

It was Moon’s.

Chapter Text

"Goddammit, my knife is missing!" Moon yelled.

"Which one?" Turtle asked.

"The animus-touched one! You know, the one you enchanted for me.”

Moon couldn’t believe she has lost her knife. Where was it now? Had she, perhaps, dropped it when she was messing with Winter?

No, no, that can’t be it. I would never be so careless. Maybe I can make Turtle summon it for me.

“Turtle, dear, would you do me a favor?” she asked sweetly.

“Yes, Moon, whatever you need,” he said in response. That was good. He was so willing to do whatever she asked.

“Will you summon my knife for me?”

“Uh, sure. How should I phrase the spell?”

“I don’t know, just, like, have it fly to me or something.”

“Okay, sure.” Turtle said as he closed his eyes. A moment later he said, “Its pretty far away. Are you sure you want it to come here? To the school, I mean.”

“Good point. You should probably summon it when we’re somewhere else.”

Moon stared at the ceiling for a long moment, thinking. Then, Turtle spoke.

“Is Winter dead? Did you…” he said slowly.

“Yes. He’s dead. Well, he wasn’t dead when I left, but he definitely is now.”

“I see. What did you even do to him when you went back?” Turtle asked cautiously.

“I…talked to him. And, I slashed his face and chest open. That’s how I’m so sure he’ll die soon. Also, he had two scavengers with him.”

“Real scavengers? How did they even find him?”

“No clue. Don’t worry, though. They’re just small, weak scavengers. They won’t be an impediment on our plans.”

Turtle opened his mouth to say something else, but then a bright pink and yellow dragon walked into the cave. Kinkajou.

These two together again. The two dragons I love, in the same room, Moon heard Kinkajou think.

“What did you two do to Qibli?” Kinkajou said, not even bothering to say hello.

“Nothing,” Moon said, “nothing at all.”

If she doesn’t believe me, I’ll just have Turtle make her believe me.

“Don’t lie to me. I know there’s something wrong with him.”

They refuse to tell me what they’ve done. Why won’t they trust me? I love them both, and yet they hurt my friends and don’t tell me why…

“Kinkajou, we didn’t hurt anyone,” Moon said. “Why don’t you just forget about all of this?” Moon gave Turtle a significant look.

No, NO. She’s trying to convince Turtle to wipe my memories…

“No one is going to be doing anything to you. Calm down, Kinkajou.” Moon said. She totally wanted Turtle to wipe Kinkajou’s memories.

She keeps saying things without me saying anything out loud. It’s almost like she can read my mind.

Oh no. She knows. Now I really need to have her mind wiped.

Moon looked at Turtle. “Do it,” she said.

“Okay…” Turtle nodded. He closed his eyes.

Enchant Kinkajou the RainWing to forget all about anything she thinks Moon and I did to Qibli and to Winter.

Ah, that was better. Kinkajou was now looking at Moon and Turtle in confusion.

“What am I doing in here?” she asked quietly. Moon could see her confusion in her mind.

“I don’t know what you’re here for, but now that you are, would you stay?”

Moon had a new idea. A way to hurt the IceWings even more. She had Kinkajou in her clutches now.

“Uh,” Kinkajou said. “No thanks. I should go back and find Qibli. He’s waiting for me.”

Kinkajou turned around, only to see Turtle now blocking the exit.

“Oh,” Moon said, sweet and creepy at the same time. “Did I say you got a choice?”

Chapter Text

He felt kind of bad for Kinkajou. He didn’t know what Moon wanted with her, but it probably wasn’t good. He still did what Moon said, blocking off the door and keeping Kinkajou trapped. He wanted to see Moon hurt someone else. He didn’t know why, but he kind of thought it would be fun to see what ideas Moon had to torture whoever she got her claws on.

She’s going to hurt Kinkajou, and I’m going to watch. And enjoy it.

Moon looked at him and laughed. She knew what he was thinking, and it seemed she found it just as entertaining as he did.

“Oh, no, you’re staying,” Moon said. She wrapped her talons around Kinkajou’s neck, holding her in place.

“Turtle, dear, will you make some chains for me? Please?” Moon asked. Yes, yes he would make chains for her. He’d even put the chains on Kinkajou if Moon wanted him to.

He snapped his talons, and sliver chains appeared, along with a silver collar. Kinkajou flinched, and Moon laughed at whatever she heared in Kinkajou’s mind.

“Oh yes, it’ll be exactly like that. Just what you’re thinking.” Moon said, grinning.

Kinkajou whimpered, and Turtle got the impression that she had a lot more trauma than she let on. And Moon seemed to be playing on that to hurt her not only physically, but emotionally.

“Hold her down,” Moon ordered. “And whatever you do, don’t let her open her mouth.”

Turtle got on top of her, pinning the small RainWing to the floor. He wrapped a talon around her snout.

“Stay down, and you won’t get that hurt. Try to struggle, and you won’t be able to move again. Be a good girl and I won’t have to use my magic.”

He smiled down at her. She tried to look up, but he used his other hand to press her head to the ground.

He heard a clack and then a click, as Moon snapped the chains around Kinkajou’s ankles. She then lifted her head off the ground, and snapped the collar around her neck.

“You can get off of her, you know. Just don’t let go of her snout. And I need a muzzle to clamp it shut.” Moon said.

“Yes, of course. Whatever you need,” Turtle replied, climbing off of Kinkajou.

He snapped his talons again and summoned a silver muzzle that matched the chains and collar.

Moon took it and clamped it around Kinkajou’s snout. She was now completely restrained and helpless.

Chapter Text

Kinkajou should be back by now. She said she was only going to talk to Moon and Turtle.

Qibli paced his cave, his tail anxiously swishing. He was nervous for Kinkajou. He knew there was something wrong with Moon, and that she was dangerous, but he didn’t think she would hurt Kinkajou. And he trusted that Turtle would protect Kinkajou.

But by all the moons, where was she? Qibli decided to go check on her. He left his cave and walked all the way to the cave that Moon shared with Kinkajou.

When he walked into the cave, it was empty. There wasn’t a single dragon in it. Kinkajou must have gone somewhere with Moon and Turtle.

But…wouldn’t she tell me if she was leaving?

Qibli looked around the cave, and spotted a pair of metal chains on the ground. That wasn’t good.

Should I wait for them to come back? That seems like the best thing to do…but Kinkajou could be in danger. I never should have let her go alone. And maybe…I can find out more about whoever Winter is, and how I’m supposed to know him.

So it was settled. Qibli decided to fly out to the rainforest again, since that’s where he suspected Moon would want to go. He figured that, since that’s where he’d found that metal box, perhaps that’s where Moon would take Kinkajou.

He took off, and soared out into the night. On his way to confront the dragon he “loved,” and try to save his friend.

Chapter Text

“Mari, put that knife down. Now.” he said, giving them a significant look. It was already dangerous enough that a scavenger had a dragon weapon, and even more so that the weapon belonged to Moon. But the cherry on top was that, now that Turtle was her ally, the knife was most definitely enchanted.

“Why?” Mari asked, in a joking tone, “scared I’m gonna hurt you?”

“Yes! You don’t know how dangerous that blade is!”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure. I know how to use a knife, after all.”

“No, I mean, that blade is enchanted. And it’ll probably hurt you really badly if you’re not careful. I have a feeling that you’re never careful.

Winter saw Marigold’s eyes light up when he said the dagger was enchanted. They suddenly looked 10x more likely to listen to him.

“Enchanted? Like with magic? Dragons can do that?” They asked.

“Yeah, some. They’re called animus dragons. And they can basically do whatever they want with magic.”

“Ooh! Are you an animus dragon?”

“Uh, no. You think I’d be in this situation if I was?”

“Fair enough. Is that nightmare dragon an animus?”

“No, thank the moons. Although…” Winter trailed off. It had just hit him that, because she had Turtle on her side, Moon basically did have animus magic. And that wasn’t good at all.

“Although what, snow-for-brains?” Mari asked impatiently.

“Although her ally Turtle is an animus, and since he works with her, she basically is too.”

“Oh. Well, that’s not good at all,” Mari said, sounding like they didn’t actually care if it was good.

Wow, Mari is really apathetic. Are they okay? Like seriously, I don’t think they’d care if they got seriously hurt. I can’t just ask them, though.

“Can you please get rid of the knife?”

“No,” Marigold said, matter of factly. “So anyways, now that we’re here, can you tell me what happened to you? I’m guessing it has to do with the nightmare dragon.”

Winter hadn’t realized that they had arrived. They were standing in front of a relatively large building.

“Y’know, I didn’t think this through all that well. How are you going to get into the house?”

“Ah, well, you’ll just have to squeeze.” Mari pushed Winter through the very small door. The wood splintered as he went through it, but he made it in.

He had to duck in order to not hit his head on the ceiling. And he had to pull his body in close in order to not knock anything over.

“Hello,” Bluebell said, emerging from a room close to him.

He turned to look at her. “Hi.”

Bluebell looked at him and frowned. She said something to Mari, who nodded. “Winter, please follow Bluebell. She needs to clean your wounds and stuff. I don’t really know how to. I also need to find a bunch of bandages for your wing, so… bye.”

Bluebell opened a door and led him inside a room. The room was large enough to fit both of them comfortably. The floor was made of tiles and there was a large area with glass walls in the corner.

Bluebell had him sit down in the glass corner. She turned a dial and water started to pour out of a faucet and onto him.

Winter enjoyed the cold water that was pouring over his back. It was still a little warm, but was significantly cooler than what Moon had given him. All of a sudden, the water started to burn and he shrieked.

Chapter Text

Bluebell rushed to turn off the shower, and screamed, “Sorry, sorry! Accident! Sorry!”

Winter moved as far away from her as he could, no doubt scared and angry.

The water had been set to 110° when it was supposed to be 60°, and burned him. The cuts and singed areas on his body where the water had hit began to bleed again and he collapsed, shuddering.

Bluebell rushed to change the temperature of the shower and then looked at Winter again. He was glaring at her through his tears.

“I’m so sorry. Something’s wrong with–” Winter cut her off.

“Get-” he choked, coughing up blood, “get away from me.”

“I…” She couldn't help a single tear from sliding down her face. “No. I need to help you.”

Shockingly, he nodded. “Please, please be careful.”

Bluebell agreed and turned on the shower, checking the temperature. When it was as cold as it could be, she took the shower head off and aimed it at Winters back. He bristled but let her continue.

After a couple of minutes, most of the blood on his back was gone and he seemed to have relaxed a little bit. That was, until, when Bluebell tried to wash his neck.

Bluebell had forgotten that there was a long gash in it, but not before the pressure from the shower had touched it did she realize. The force of the water had made the, barely scabbed over wound, bleed again.

Winter didn’t seem to notice for a moment, until he saw the blue blood pouring onto his neck. He stared into Bluebells eyes with pure horror as he gingerly lifted a talon to his neck. It came back, stained blue.

“B- Bluebell?” Winter asked. Bluebell barely heard him as she started to panic. She turned the water off as fast as she could and grabbed a towel. She held it up to Winter’s neck, trying to keep in as much of his blood in as possible.

“Stay here! I need to find Mari,” she said as she handed Winter the towel. She ran out of the bathroom as fast as she could and screamed Mari’s name.

After running around the cabin for a few minutes, Bluebell found Mari. They were lounging on a bed, reading a book.

“Mari! What are you doing? You were supposed to find the bandages for Winter!”

Marigolds head shot up. “I did. I have them here.” They motioned towards the large pile of bandages on the bed besides them. “Why?”

Bluebell grabbed the entire pile and ran downstairs, with Mari shortly behind her.

“Why do you need them?” they asked again.

“What do you think, genius?” Bluebell yelled.

“For a cut on Winter? I don’t know!”

“Well, here’s your answer,” she said when they entered the bathroom. Winter was still sitting in the shower with the towel pressed to his neck. He looked relived to see both of them.

“Goddammit, that was my favorite towel,” Mari complained. Winter shot them a glare.

“Shut up and grab some bandages.”

Mari did as they were told and snatched the gauze out of Bluebells arms. Bluebell walked over to Winter and gently grabbed the towel. She motioned for Marigold to give her the gauze. When they did, she quietly said, “Tell him this might hurt a bit.”

“Got it,” said Mari. They repeated the message to Winter, who frowned. “Be careful, Blue.”

She nodded and placed the bandage on Winter’s neck. He flinched but didn’t complain. After a few wraps, Bluebell tied up the bandage and cut off the excess. She looked up and whispered, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Winter replied.

“Good.” She looked at Marigold again. “I’ll wrap the rest of his body if you get his wing. I think the most important thing would be for it to be wrapped in bandages and then set, or if you could do both.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Don’t worry.”

Chapter Text

After around an hour, Mari and Bluebell had finished covering Winter in bandages and his wing had been set. He looked really uncomfortable but it was better than nothing.

“We should bring him into the basement,” Bluebell said. “It would probably be the best spot for him to sleep in, since there’s barely anything in there for him to knock over.”

Marigold turned towards Winter. “Think you can walk? I need to get you into the basement.”

He shrugged, “I’ll try. Just… don’t rush me.”

“He’s going to try,” said Mari as they turned to look at Bluebell.

“Good. I’ll head down there to get his room ready. I figured he should stay in the empty room, it has a lot more space in it.”

“Okay, bye.”

With that, Bluebell walked out of the room and headed down the stairs.
Winter looked at them. “Wheres she going?”

“Oh, she’s gonna go get your room set up. Now, can you please tell me what happened to you?”

“Uhhh, no thanks.”

“Why?”

“I just don’t want to talk about it right now,” Winter said. He paused for a moment and then asked, “Do you have anything to eat?”

“Oh, yeah,” said Mari, realizing just how skinny Winter was. “Follow me.”

They walked into the kitchen and asked, “What do you want?”

“Anything is okay.”

“Alright. We have rice. You’ll like it. I just have to heat it up.” Mari opened the fridge.

Hmm…what if I stuck Winter in the fridge? Would that help? No! Mari, get it the fuck together!

They grabbed the rice. “I have to heat it up.”

Winter flinched, and Mari blinked at him a few times. “What’s wrong? All I’m doing is sticking it in a metal box that slowly heats up on the inside,” they said.

Winter froze in place. Haha, froze. His eyes glazed over. Mari walked up to him, and he slowly backed away.

“Winter?” they asked. “Are you okay?”

“Y-y- yeah,” he said weakly. “I’m fine, definitely. Fine, yup, thats me! Fine…”

“You’re not fine, are you? Whatever, I’ll stop asking questions. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go heat up your rice.”

Mari headed over to the microwave and stuck the bowl of rice in it, then set the time for 3 minutes and headed back over to Winter. They knew that eventually they would figure out what he was hiding, but in the mean time, they had to get him to calm down, and what better way to do that then small talk.

“So… how are you?”

“Uhh, goo- oh what does it matter?” Winter took a deep breath. “I’m horrible, in pain, and exhausted. How are you?”

Sheesh, rude much? No, no. He’s just hurting, let it slide. Mari thought about that. No one had ever asked them, genuinely asked them, how they were doing. And no one had ever been this open and honest with them either.

“I’m…actually not the best right now either. My…uhm…wrists still hurt…from when I…uhm, nothing…and I’m sleep deprived. But, you know, I’ll be alright. You need my help, so I’ll be okay enough to help you.”

Mari sat down next to Winter. They had come very close to admitting they cut their wrists. No one knew about that. Not even Bluebell.

Winter looked at them. “Are you sure? You don’t have to be okay, you know.”

“I’m great, actually. Its really cool to meet a dragon. I mean, this situation isn’t good but… I still think its neat to talk to one.”

“I agree, with the talking thing, I mean. I just never thought that I would get to talk to a scavenger, and now here I am, having a conversation with one.”

Mari was a little taken aback from something he had said. “I’m sorry, a what?”

“Oh, of course, you guys don’t call yourselves that. I called you a scavenger, but it figures that's not what you call yourself. What are you?”

“A human. I am a human. Also, your rice is ready.”

Mari stood up and walked over to the microwave. They opened it and grabbed the rice out. “You want a fork?” they yelled at Winter. Then they face palmed. “Of course you don’t.”

They walked over and handed him the still hot rice. “Eat. Or I’ll shove it down your throat.”

Winter leaned forward and took a bite, then cried out. “Ah, ah! Hot!”

“Oh, whoopsies. Sorry, I’m just so used to eating stuff straight out of the microwave. One of the only straight things about me.”

Winter laughed at that, even though it was only half of a joke. Mari shrugged and stuck the rice back into the fridge for a few minutes so that it would cool down enough to be eaten by a normal being.

After a few minutes, they gave the rice back to Winter. “Let me know if it’s too cold, and I’ll put it back into the microwave.”

Winter ate it without complaining, although Mari could tell it was still a little too hot for his taste. He was forcing himself to not complain about it. That was a feeling Mari knew well.

Chapter Text

Kinkajou, Moon and Turtle were all gone. All that they left behind was a pair of chains and claw marks on the cave floor.

Oh no, what happened? Qibli thought. Where are they?

Bong! Bong! Bong!

Shoot! I don’t want to be late to class. He starts running towards the history cave.

Bong! Bong!

Dammit, I thought there was more time.

After running through the tunnels for a bit longer he made it to class.

“Just in time Qibli,” Webs said from his seat at the front of the room as the final gong went off. “Unfortunately, you are the only one in the Jade Winglet today, so we had the Silver Winglet join us.

Ostrich is in this winglet, that means I’ll have a chance to catch up with her.

Qibli took his seat next to her as Webs began droning on about something.

“Hi Qibli,” Ostrich said enthusiastically.

“Hi. How are you?” He whispered back.

“Good. Where's Winter? I thought he’d be back from his trip by now.”

Shit. She knows him. I guess I just have to play along with it. I can’t just tell her he died. Especially not in the middle of class.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure he’ll be back soon. Isn't it odd that no one else in my Winglet is here?” He said, trying to change the subject as soon as possible.

“It is odd. I wonder what happened.”

Me too.

“Qibli, Ostrich,” Webs yelled. “Stop having conversations while I am trying to teach you. Please, just save it for the prey center.”

“Sorry,” they yelled back.

Webs went back to talking about whatever he was talking about and Qibli began absentmindedly scribbling on his notes.

“Psst, Qibli,” Ostrich whispered.

“Yes?”

“Wasn’t Winter only supposed to be gone for like two weeks? It’s almost been a month! How are you not worried?”

“I dunno. I don’t really know Winter all too well.”

Ostrich looked at Qibli, concerned. “But, I thought he was your boyfriend?”

Everyone keeps saying that…but I don’t know him. Or do I?

Chapter Text

The rice wasn’t bad. It was still pretty hot, but Mari had already done so much for him. He wasn’t going to complain. He hardly even had anyone accommodate his preferences. He didn’t want to overpush it.

Winter finished the rice, which was pretty good. He looked up in an attempt to get Mari’s attention, his throat too sore to talk. But instead of catching their eyes, his gaze landed on the “microwave,” as Mari had called it.

He tried to look away, but he found it was like watching two dragons collide in midair. He was unable to tear his eyes off of the contraption. The miniature version of the box he was tortured in.

Winter wasn’t sure how long he had been staring at it, but eventually Mari returned and stepped into his line of sight. Their head was wrapped in a cloth, and they had more cloth around their body.

Winter figured that, since they had asked him so many questions earlier, a little curiosity wasn’t too much.

“What’s the cloth on you for? Like, it’s pretty and all, but is it practical?”

Mari looked down at themself. “Yeah. It’s another human thing. Clothes. We, uh, wear stuff to look nice, stay warm, and so that our, uh, bodies aren’t exposed…” they trailed off.

“Oh, I see. I guess humans get cold rather easily then, because I have never seen one without clothes.”

“Let’s hope you don’t!”

“Why?”

Mari looked a touch uncomfortable talking about this. But they still carried on. “It’s a privacy reason. Humans don’t like being seen without clothes on…most of the time.”

Winter thought about that. Even if humans were hot, they still wore clothes? But wouldn’t they boil? Or burn.

No, no. Winter needed to stop thinking about burns. His eyes inevitably traveled back to look at the microwave, and he wrapped his wings around himself.

Mari gave him a look. “The fuck is wrong with you?”

“NOTHING IS WRONG WITH ME!”

“Lies. There is clearly something wrong with you.”

“I-I’m a little tired. I’m going to find Bluebell,” Winter said as he rushed out of the kitchen.

“Bye. Don’t think you’re getting out of this conversation,” Mari yelled.

Winter knew that. He knew that eventually he would have to talk about what happened to him. What Moon and Turtle did. Mari wasn’t going to let it go. But with Bluebell, he knew he could kinda just, exist.

So he set off to find her. He wandered through the house until he realized that he was knocking a bunch of stuff over. He knew he couldn’t go farther without breaking anything, so he spun around. He really wanted to get out of there and find Bluebell, so he wasn’t really paying attention to what he was doing.

His sharp tail made contact with something. Said something cried out.

Winter recognized that voice. It was Bluebell.

Chapter Text

She had been walking around the cabin, trying to find Winter. After 10 minutes of searching, Bluebell found him. He was walking down one of the more cluttered hallways, looking for something. His tail was swishing lazily behind him.

Bluebell walked approached him and was about to say something until a few of the spikes on Winters tail scratched her upper leg. She let out a cry of pain and Winter spun around, horror in his eyes.

“Sorry, sorry! Moons, I’m sorry!” He screamed, rushing over to help her.

“Its okay. I’m okay,” Bluebell said as calmly as possible, for she didn’t want to scare Winter any further.

She took off the sweatshirt that she was wearing and wrapped it around her injury. “See? I’m okay. It was an accident.”

Winter visibly relaxed, and Bluebell got the feeling that he’d been spending more than enough time around Mari and their roughness.

Mari could be a handful sometimes, and they couldn’t keep their mouth shut for the life of them. Winter had probably been dealing with their insensitivity for quite a while, considering that he had been left alone with them.

“Follow me,” said Bluebell. She began walking towards the stairs that led to the basement. Once she got there, she looked over her shoulder to see if Winter was still following. He was.

As Bluebell began walking down the stairs, however, he stopped.

“What’s wrong?” she aksed.

“Nothing,” Winter responded quickly. A little too quickly. Bluebell shook it off and kept walking downstairs.

They headed to the room where Winter would be staying and opened the door. He peered into it and then walked in, scraping his horns on the doorframe.

“Sorry,” he whispered.

“It’s okay. Sleep, please. You need it.”

Winter nodded and layed down. It took him a few moments to find a comfortable position, but eventually, he did.

After pausing for a little while, he muttered, “Thank you.”

Bluebell nodded and said, “Of course. Sleep well,” before closing the door and walking upstairs.

I hope he’s going to be okay.

Chapter Text

“Did you put igloo-face to bed?” Mari asked as Bluebell walked into their room.

“Yeah. I think he was really tired. Hopefully he sleeps well,” she paused for a moment. “What did you call him?”

“I honestly don’t really care about how he sleeps. Also, I called him igloo-face.”

Bluebell eyed them suspiciously. “Okay… great. Why don’t you care about how he sleeps?”

Because he was being a bitch and a coward.

“I dunno, I just don’t,” said Mari. They continued working on the crochet thing they were making, but stopped when they saw the look Blue was giving them. “I guess I was a little annoyed that he didn’t tell me what was wrong with him, or how he got injured is all.”

“Give him time. He literally met us today. He’s not ready to open up yet, and we shouldn't force him to.”

Ugh, Mari hated when Bluebell was all morally uptight and shit. It really got on their nerves. She was always ‘Don’t do this. Don’t do that. If you do that you’ll blah blah blah’

“Fiiiiiiiiiiiinnneee,” Mari groaned. “I won’t.”

“Good,” Bluebell said as she walked over to her desk and grabbed her sketchbook and a pencil. After a couple of minutes she added, “Thank you Macaroni.”

They nodded and continued working on their crochet. So far, it was just a huge, pastel, multicolored square. It was most likely going to end up as a blanket that would never be used, but still, it was calming to make.

“Hey, Blue?” Mari asked.

“Yeah?”

“Should I try to make something else, like other than blankets? I want to do something a little different.”

Bluebell paused and turned around to look at them. “I think you should make a stuffed animal. Its something new, and a good challenge.”

“Oh, good idea. What should I make first?”

“A pastel rainbow teddy bear as tall as you,” Bluebell answered rather quickly.

“Okay… sure. Thanks for the suggestion. Why do you want a–”

Mari was cut off by a blood curdling scream from downstairs.

Chapter Text

After classes were over, Qibli went back to his sleeping cave in hopes of being able to think about everything that was going on. However, when he walked into the cave, Moon was sitting on his bed reading a scroll.

“Qibli,” she squealed as she ran up an hugged him.

“Nice to see you too, Moonbeam.” Qibli said as he returned the hug. After breaking apart, he asked, “Where’s Kinkajou?”

Moon seemed irritated for a moment until she righted herself and she looked up at him. “Why?”

“Oh, its just, she disappeared and I haven’t been able to find her for a little while.”

“Yeah, umm. She’s going to be gone for a long time.” She caught the look that Qibli was shooting her and said, “She said something about going to the rainforest for a while. Don’t be so nervous. She’s Kinkajou, she’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Qibli sighed. He was worried about Kinkajou, but if Moon said it was no big deal, then it was no big deal. Besides, he had Moon. Why was he even thinking about Kinkajou when he had his beautiful girlfriend right here?

Her wings were still wrapped around him, and he felt himself not wanting her to let go.

He wouldn’t have minded just staying here with her forever.

Chapter Text

Moments after falling asleep, the nightmares began.

At first, all Winter saw was a forest. A beautiful forest. Something about it felt familiar, but he shook it off, wanting to focus on the breeze and the smell of squirrels and other furry creatures instead.

He heard a muffled scream from behind him and spun around. Hailstorm was being pinned to the ground by a SkyWing guard. He was thrashing and yelling.

“Be quiet!” screamed the guard. “Before I make you.”

Hailstorm refused and kept calling out. He made eye contact with Winter and whimpered, “Let him go. He’s useless and weak and no one would care if he disappeared. I doubt anyone would even notice.”

Winters heart broke. “H-Hailstorm, i-i-is that really what you think?”

His brother hesitated for a couple of seconds and then, in a stern voice said, “Fly away, Winter. Go tell Mother and Father what happened.”

“B-but–” he stammered.

“FLY AWAY!” Hailstorm screamed.

Winter wanted to protest more, but he nodded and lifted into the air.

Don’t look back. Don’t look back. Don’t look back, he kept telling himself as he soared away.

He looked back, and saw his brothers lifeless body, lying on the ground near the SkyWing.

He knew it wasn't real. He knew this was another nightmare. He knew that his brother was living in the Ice Kingdom, and not dead in a forest. But it still felt real. So, so painfully real.

Winter kept flying, hoping that the rest of the dream would be better than what he had just seen, and he would be lying to himself if he said that it was true. It was significantly worse than he was hoping for.

As he landed on the top of a cliff, strong arms grabbed him and a gag was wrapped around his muzzle.

“Don’t even try screaming,” Moon whispered in his ear. “No one’s going to hear you. And besides, who would ever want to rescue you? It’s not like anyone cares about you.”

She led him towards the box, and he didn’t even bother to struggle. He knew what angering Moon could do, and he certainly didn’t want to upset her more.

When they walked inside, Winter’s heart sank. Kinkajou and Qibli were chained to the wall in the side room. No doubt there to witness what was going to happen to him. Kinkajou was a depressed indigo color and she had lime spots all down her back and wings.

Qibli somehow managed to look hurt, sad, brave, scared, and furious, all at the same time. When his gaze met Winter’s, the SandWing gave him a small smile, as if trying to say “It’s going to be okay” with his grin.

After glancing at the two dragons, Winter was relieved to realize that neither of them was hurt.

The chains were on the floor how he remembered them, but this time they were glowing red-hot. Dream-Moon grabbed them unflinchingly, and clamped them around Winter’s ankles. They burned, worse than anything Winter had experienced, or maybe like everything Winter had experienced all at once.

The green started to spread across
Dream-Kinkajou as Winter cried out. Dream-Qibli flinched away, seeming unable to watch.

Dream-Moon leaned forward how she’d done in real life a few days before. The kiss, the knife to his throat, all of it just like in real life, but amplified by his own mind.

The room started heating up, and everything was excruciatingly painful.

How has the pain not woken me up already? He thought to himself. How much longer is this going to take?

In an act of desperation to wake himself up, Winter began clawing at his arms. The blood sizzled when it touched the floor, and the sight was almost enough to make him sick. He closed his eyes and kept clawing at his arms, trying to ignore how much everything hurt.

Moon was laughing and Qibli was trying to calm a sobbing Kinkajou down.

He woke up to find a figure standing over him with a smirk.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.”

Chapter Text

Moon kissed Qibli on the lips, smiling down at him. Somehow she was taller than him.
Maybe it was the magic, or maybe she’d always been taller and never noticed.

She kissed him a few more times, on the head and neck. She could tell that he really liked it.

“Aww, do you like that, my love?” She asked.

“I do…” he said, slowly. His eyes almost seemed glazed over as he looked at her.

“Good. You’re a good boy, are you not?”

He nodded, gazing at her dreamily.

“That’s good. I love you, you know?”

Moon looked down at him, her eyes glinting.

“I know,” he said, softly. “I love you too.”

Moon patted his head. She had to get back to the rainforest, to Turtle and Kinkajou. But she couldn’t let Qibli, who was more suspicious of her than he let on, impede on her plans.
She snuggled him closer to her, smiling all the while.

“You feel so sleepy now, my darling. So, so sleepy. You just want to close your eyes and rest until I say you can wake up.” she whispered to him, trying to lull him to sleep.

His mind started to get foggier, and he started to doze off under her wing. She kept whispering sweet nothings to him, in a hypnotic tone. He was hers.

Chapter Text

Turtle was back in the box. But this time, instead of having Winter as a prisoner, he had Kinkajou. He liked Kinkajou a lot more than he liked Winter.

This time, there was a metal table in the room as well as several empty stone jars. Moon had set it all up herself. Turtle didn’t bother to ask why she needed all that stuff. He was happy to provide her with whatever she wanted.

Kinkajou was strapped down to the table. The muzzle around her snout prevented her from opening her mouth at all. Kind of disappointing that she couldn’t talk.

Well…Moon didn’t say I couldn’t take the muzzle off at all. So why not?

Oh right, her venom. Forgot about that for a second.

Wait, my scales are still invulnerable. She can’t hurt me.

Having made up his mind, Turtle unclasped the muzzle. It fell to the ground with a clatter.
“You,” Kinkajou hissed as soon as her mouth was set free. “Why?”

Turtle laughed. He didn’t owe her any answers, but he’d entertain the idea that he did, if only for his own amusement.

“Because,” he said, slithering closer to her. “I can.”

“Because you can? What kind of bullshit is that? You know fully well why you’re doing this!”

“Oh, really? And what reason might that be?” he asked, making a mocking face.
“Moon. She told you to do this, didn’t she?”

Turtle thought about that for a moment. Technically, Moon did tell him to do all of this, but he could have refused. It was still his choice, was it not?

Kinkajou, noting his silence, spoke up again. “You’re just as much of a puppet in her schemes as I am.”

That wasn’t true. He was her friend. Sure, he did what she asked, but that’s what friends did for each other.

“Are you telling yourself that to make you feel better? Cause that’s pathetic, Kinkajou. You’re pathetic.” he said to her.

Her scales turned bright red with fury. She opened her mouth, black venom dripping from her bone-white fangs. She hissed again before shooting her venom at Turtle.

All he did was laugh. Her venom splashed off of his wing like nothing. “Pathetic, I tell you.”

Her scales turned shades of purplish orange and lime green. Turtle only knew a few RainWing colors, so he wasn’t sure exactly what she was feeling, but there was definite fear there.

“Did I forget to mention that your venom does nothing to me? You’re not scary, you’re scared. And you should be.”

“Turtle, please. This isn’t you. You’re…you’re losing your soul.”

Turtle barked another laugh. He didn’t care if he was losing his soul. That was probably just something that dragons made up to stop animi from using their magic. Out of fear or jealousy, he presumed.

“You think that’s real? You really believe that animus magic makes you lose your soul?” he asked her mockingly.

“Yes. We’ve seen it before, with Darkstalker. You remember that, don’t you?” she protested.
“He didn’t lose his soul, he was just ambitious. Something a RainWing could never understand.”

Kinkajou opened her mouth to say something, but the door to the box swung open, and she closed it.

Moon walked in, the picture of perfection, and grinned down at Kinkajou.
“I see my dear girl is already ready for what’s going to happen next,” she said sinisterly.
The lime green shade spread across her scales. Kinkajou flinched, trying to back away from Moon but unable to.

“Oh, my sweet girl, your struggles are so futile. You’re not escaping. You’re bonds are specially crafted magic that can’t be undone by any dragon. Nor can they be frozen, burnt, or otherwise destroyed. So I’d save your energy for what comes next.”

Turtle watched as Moon threatened Kinkajou. It was rather entertaining to watch them. He laughed to himself, knowing that he was the one who’d made the bonds. They were foolproof. No dragon from any tribe could remove them, except him.

Moon held out her talons, gesturing for Turtle to hand her one of the stone jars. He complied, putting the open jar in her talons.

Moon placed the jar under Kinkajou’s mouth. “Are you going to work with me, or do you want to struggle? Struggling is a lot more work to achieve the same result, so I’d say just comply. Either way will be fun for me, though, so I don’t really care what you choose.”

Struggling wouldn’t be fun for Turtle, though. He’d rather watch Kinkajou simply give in to their demands. He looked her right in her green eyes.

Give in. Do what Moon says.

“Fine, Moon, what do you want me to do?” Kinkajou said, with a defeated sigh. Turtle smirked at her.
Moon caught his expression and grinned. “I want you to shoot your venom into this jar. And don’t you dare miss.”

Kinkajou did, probably knowing it would turn out so much worse for her if it didn’t. The jar slowly but surely filled all the way up.

The green on Kinkajou’s scales didn’t go away. If anything, it got brighter. Moon set the jar aside and started petting Kinkajou, ruffling the frills behind her ears.

Turtle found it slightly odd, but since it was Moon, he didn’t question it. He didn’t question anything she did anymore.

A rainbow of different colours spread across Kinkajou’s scales. Pinks and yellows clashing with deep purple and orange. Anywhere Moon touched lit up dark pink.

Moon smirked maliciously. “Oh, you’re enjoying that, aren’t you? Guess I’ll just have to stop. You’re not allowed to enjoy any part of this.”

Moon pulled away, tugging on the bonds again, and Turtle practically giggled at Kinkajou’s pained face.

She looked so nice all bound and helpless. Something about seeing the typically super energetic RainWing still and subdued was entertaining.

Moon rested her talons on Kinkajou’s head. “Sleep now. Sleep, my new pet. My new experiment. Sleep.”

Kinkajou’s eyes drifted shut, like she couldn’t resist Moon’s command, and she fell fast asleep.

Chapter Text

Winter shrieked loudly, seeing the figure standing over him. Whoever it was clutched their ears and glared at him.

“It’s just me, igloo-face! Calm down, damn it!” they yelled.

The lights in the room flicked on, and Winter saw it was just Mari, looking down at him.
Bluebell was standing by the light switch, looking at Winter with concern.

“Are you alright?” she asked him softly. “Was it a bad dream?”

As soon as she said that, all of last night’s nightmares came rushing back in. Winter sunk to the floor, shaking.

And of course, Mari decided to take that as an opportunity to kick him lightly in the snout. It didn’t hurt, but it brought back so many memories that did. He started crying from the phantom pain.

“Dude, what the hell is wrong with you? You freeze up when you see a goddamn microwave, and then you fucking collapse when someone tries to be nice to you and ask if you’re okay! So either tell me what the fuck is going on or deal with your bullshit yourself but either way get it the fuck together!” Mari yelled at him.

“Sorry, sorry. I’m just… Don’t worry about me,” Winter told them.

“I’m gonna worry about you whether you like it or not. That’s part of being your friend. I figured you wouldn’t know that, seeing as you haven’t had many friends.”

Friend? Winter wondered. Mari considers me a friend?

That made no sense. They were always so mean to him, and so snappish and insensitive.

Like me. He realized. That’s what I was like. Am like.

He curled into a ball and began sobbing even harder.

“Dude, even that makes you cry? You’re seriously broken. Honestly, same, but like…” Mari said with a slight laugh.

Winter thought about what they’d said, about being broken too. Perhaps they weren’t as different as he’d thought. Perhaps they could be friends, if he, like Mari said, “got his shit together.”

“I’m sorry,” he said again.

“Nah. I’m fine, really.” They shrugged. “I’ve been dealing with my shit longer than you have. I’m used to it. Don’t want you to be, though. You don’t deserve that.”

I do deserve that, though. I deserve everything that’s happened to me. Honestly, I probably deserve worse. Also, I’ve been dealing with this kind of stuff pretty much since I hatched.

“I-I deserve worse than you think. You don’t know what I was like. What I’m actually like.”

“Don’t have to. I can tell you’re a good dragon. Maybe not as good as Blueberry’s boring ass over here, but good enough.”

But I’m not good. I was always horrible to everyone in the winglet, especially Moon and Qibli.

Winter’s heart lurched at the thought of his old clawmate. He missed the infuriating sand snorter more than he would admit. Much more.

Ugh, that damned love spell.

After an uncomfortable silence, Mari spoke up again. “Winter…”

“Yeah?”

“Do you have any crushes?”

Winter choked on the breath he was taking and began to blush furiously. “N-no, I don’t.”

“Then why are you blushing so much?”

“Umm,” he said as calmly as possible. “I don’t have any crushes, nope. None…”

“What's their name?”

“Ummm.”

“You DO have a crush. I knew it. Tell me everything about them. Now.”

Chapter Text

Mari interrogated a blushing Winter for the next few minutes until they got bored and left. Winter slumped on to the ground. He looked weary, and Bluebell assumed that it was from both his earlier troubles and from Mari’s questioning. 

“Hey,” she said softly. “Sorry about Mari. They’ve always been like that. It’s really annoying, but don’t tell them I said that.”

“Why? Would they get mad? If they can run their mouth and bother anyone they feel like, can’t I bother them back?” Winter asked, frustrated. 

“You can, but they’ll keep going until you give in or pass out from exhaustion. They’re very dedicated.”

“Do they just…not give up? Not get tired? Is that a human thing?” Winter looked at Bluebell with curiosity. 

Huh. So he doesn’t know that much about humans. I guess I should have expected that. 

“No, it’s a Mari thing. They’re weird. Most humans sleep at least 8 hours a night. Mari gets by on 3 and a giant cup of coffee.”

“What’s ‘coffee’? Does it help with being tired?”

“Yeah. I think it’s disgusting, but Mari can drink it black. I’ve tried convincing them to try tea instead, but they refuse.”

“Can I try some? It sounds good.” 

“Maybe, too late for it now though. Try to sleep.”

Winter mumbled something to himself and then curled up into a ball in the center of the room. After a few moments, his breathing became slower and Bluebell knew he had fallen asleep. 

She stayed in the room for a little while, watching the dragon sleep. 

At one point, Winter began shivering and she got him one of Mari’s blankets that she knew they didn’t ever use. It was a fairly big blanket, so it covered most of him up rather easily, but she still grabbed another one just in case.

__________________

Winter was asleep for the next few days and when he woke up, he immediately asked if he could have coffee. And of course, Bluebell had said yes.

This is the worst idea in the history of the world. I should definitely not give a dragon coffee. A) I don’t know how it would affect him, and B) Mari would kill me if they found out I messed with their coffee. 

Bluebell stood up, giving Winter a hand. He took it, and his talons dug into her palm. She winced and quickly let go of her. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-,” Winter started before Bluebell cut him off.

“It’s okay. It wasn’t intentional. Lets go.”

She led him to the kitchen, and grabbed the coffee out of the cabinet. She also grabbed a white paper thing that she’d seen Mari use. She placed it in the machine, but she’d had to scrunch it in. She put coffee on top of the paper and closed the lid. She then put cold water in the other part of the machine, like she’d seen Mari do. 

She messed with a few buttons until the machine started making noises. It sounded about right, so Bluebell left it alone. She took Winter to the living room to wait, so that he didn’t break anything in the kitchen. 

“So, if dragons don’t have coffee, what do you guys have?” she asked. She wanted to know whatever she could about dragons. 

“Uh…I don’t think we really drink anything other than water.” Winter said, a bit ashamed. 

“Oh. We have a lot of things, now that I think about it. We need a lot of things that dragons probably don’t.”

Wow, humans are kind of weird. Never really thought about that. 

Before Bluebell could think on this further, a loud BANG echoed from the kitchen. Smoke came out through the doorway. Bluebell immediately stood up and ran into the kitchen. 

The coffee machine was gone. In its place were shards of hot black plastic everywhere. The machine had exploded. 

“Oh no…I’m so dead.” Bluebell said, scared. 

“Yeah. You are. Mari is gonna kill you.” Winter agreed. 

“Shit, shit, shit, what do we do?” Bluebell said, pacing around. 

“What do we do about what?” Mari said, opening the door.

Chapter Text

Mari blinked a couple of times, hoping they weren’t seeing what they thought they were seeing. 

“Was that my coffee machine?” they asked, really, really hoping that the answer was no. 

“Uhm…” Bluebell said, trying to hide behind Winter. Winter was also trying to hide behind Bluebell, so it wasn’t really working. 

“Well, it’s not the refrigerator, that’s for sure,” Bluebell hedged. They were clearly avoiding telling Mari what it was. 

“It was my coffee maker, wasn’t it?” Mari said. “Don’t lie to me, what did you do?”

“Fine. Yes, it was your coffee maker. We’re sorry.” Bluebell admitted. 

“Please don’t kill us,” Winter said.  

“You’re so lucky I have more than one. What were you even doing that it exploded?”

“I was trying to make coffee!” 

“You? Make coffee? I don’t believe that.”

What the hell were they actually doing? I know Bluebell doesn’t drink coffee.

“This is kind of weird, but…Winter wanted to try it. So I tried to make it for him.”

“And somehow you screwed it up so bad my coffee machine exploded. Here, just let me.” They stepped forward and grabbed one of their paper coffee filters. 

They placed it in their other machine and filled it with coffee grounds. Then they filled the other part with water. They messed with buttons on it until it started pouring coffee out. 

Once the cup was full, they stuck it in the freezer. 

“Figured you’d want it iced. Even I can’t drink it straight out of the machine.”

“Fair. So, you’re not mad?” Winter asked. 

I don’t know why, but I just can’t stay mad at Winter. 

“No, I’m not mad. Blue just doesn’t know what she’s doing half of the time.”

“And you don’t know what you’re doing the other half, so shush,” Bluebell chimed in. 

“You shush.” Mari laughed. 

They bantered back and forth for a few minutes, giggling all the while. After they finished (Mari had won the light argument), Mari opened the freezer, testing the coffee with a spoon. It was relatively cold, so they pulled it out. 

“French vanilla or hazelnut?” Mari asked, grabbing both creamers from the fridge. 

“Or, ooh, there’s peppermint. I think you’d like peppermint,” they said. 

Winter nodded, so Mari took that as a yes to the peppermint. They poured it into the cup of coffee until it was about even. 

“Here,” they said, holding a spoon out to him, “taste.”

He licked it and nodded again, seeming to like it. 

 “Do you want me to put ice in it? I have regular ice, milk ice, and coffee ice.”

Bluebell muttered, “of course you do.”

“No ice is fine, thank you,” Winter said quietly. Nervously. 

“Are you sure? It won't be a problem, promise.” Mari said. 

“I’m sure. Thank you, though,” Winter said. 

“Alright, well, here.” They placed the cup down on the ground. Winter blinked at it a few times, then tried to stick his snout in the cup. 

“Oh, right. Maybe a bowl would be better,” Mari said, climbing on the counter with practiced ease. 

“Mari, get down. I’ll grab it,” Bluebell said, reaching into the cabinet and grabbing a plastic bowl. 

Mari sighed. They climbed off the counter. Why did the cabinets have to be so high up? Not everyone was secretly a giraffe. 

Mari grabbed the bowl from Winter once he was done, throwing it into the sink. 

“Mari, don’t do that. You’re going to break something,” Bluebell said, annoyingly reasonable. 

“I haven’t broken anything yet, have I? Besides, all of our dishes are plastic.”

“Yeah. You’re the reason why. You’re not allowed to have glass anymore. Remember last time?”

“Last time was an accident! I didn’t mean for him to die!”

“Yeah, but still, we had to bribe authorities, which is also a crime. You being allowed to have glass dishes leads to me having to commit crimes.”

“That was one time. I’m responsible!” No, I’m not.

“No, you’re not. Also, throwing dishes is super rude. We have a guest.”

“It’s fine, he’s basically our child.” 

Oh yay. I have adopted another child.

Chapter Text

This is fine. This is perfectly fine. I’m drinking coffee while talking to two humans. Normal things. Oh well, at least I’m not being tortured anymore. 

Winter’s mind went back to the last time he had seen Moon, on the rocky ledge in the forest. She had threatened, not him, but Bluebell and Mari. At that point, he hadn’t cared about what she would do to him, but he did care about the scavengers he had taken under his wing. The humans, I mean. 

And then he thought further back, to Moon and Turtle using the image of his old pet to lure him off a cliff. And then, Moon had dropped the boulder on his wing not once, but twice. That wasn’t even evil, just plain sadistic. The way she’d laughed as she’d “apologized” for not being able to help him…

Winter tried to think of something else, but his train of thought only continued backwards, to the box, and the searing heat. But what was worse than that was the way Moon and even Turtle had spoken to him. Like he was worthless, like he was nothing in their eyes. Nothing but a toy for them, to use and discard at their whims. 

Even further back, back to when Moon held him at knifepoint and marched him through the forest. That was when she’d completely turned on him. When she’d completely lost herself. 

“Hello? Hello? Pyrrhia to Winter?” someone called. Winter blinked a couple times and saw Mari snapping their fingers in front of his face. 

“Sorry, I was just t-thinking about s-s-tuff. I-I’m gonna go lay down for a minute.”

“Alright. I’ll see you later, I guess. I’m gonna go polish my knives or something,” Mari said. They walked away, heading up the stairs. 

Winter clambered down the stairs, going back to the relatively large basement. He curled up on the floor, and went back to thinking. 

_________________________

1 Month Later~

Winter was laying in his room again.

Since he had moved in, the room had barely changed. The only different thing was that Mari had managed to raise the entryway up a little so he didn’t scrape his horns on the doorframe every time he walked in. They did so with an ax.

The room was a good place for thinking, and Winter was thinking about everything that had happened to him so far.

He traced his thoughts back to the underground lake, and to Qibli almost drowning. To the reason Moon hated him so much. 

Does she not understand that I saved him?

Does she only see me as a villain, a threat to her true love?

Even further back, spiraling further into his head, came the memory of when he kissed Qibli. Of when he was mind controlled into kissing him. By Turtle. 

Is this all Turtle’s fault? 

He was still contemplating the new revelation when he heard rapid footsteps. The door swung open frantically. Bluebell was standing there, panting and panicked. 

“Mari’s gone.”

Chapter Text

“I’d like my knife back now,” Moon said.

“Alright. Here is a good spot to summon it.”

“I know. That’s why I chose it.”

Moon laughed as Turtle cast the spell. The knife he’d enchanted for her was going to come in handy for her to pull off her next plot. Her plan: kill Tundra, who was an IceWing princess, but not a super important one.

Yes, I know she’s also Winter’s mother, but that’s not really all that important since he’s dead now.

A loud shriek echoed through the forest. Moon turned sharply to look at the trees behind her, but saw nothing. She could hear the rustling of leaves, and a sharper slicing sound, but she figured that was just her knife returning to her.

And return it did. Just with a slight complication. A complication known as a scavenger.

The scavenger was hanging on to the handle of the knife for dear life. For such a tiny creature, its grip was strong. There was dirt in the fur on its head, and scratches running up and down its arms.

The small, yellow-haired creature glared at Moon. From the emotions she could read in its mind, it was confused and angry. It didn’t want to let go of the blade, even if holding on brought it closer to its certain demise.

Although…it was rather cute. And entertaining. Moon could have a lot of fun with it. Clearly, it didn’t want to be there. So why not make it stay?

The scavenger flinched when it saw Moon, but kept its gaze focused on her. It was determined, Moon would give it that.

What if I spoke to it? I could totally do that. I mean, I should get to know my new pets, right?

“Turtle, darling, could you pretty please cast another spell for me? Nothing too major, I just want to, uhm, speak with this…thing.”

“Yes, Moon. Whatever you need me to do, just ask,” Turtle said, which made Moon feel good. Powerful, even.

All of a sudden, the scavenger’s angry squeaking made sense.

“Where the fuck am I? What the fuck is going on?” it yelled.

“You’re with me now, sweet thing, don’t worry,” Moon said, in what she thought was her most calming, hypnotic tone.

“You! You’re a bitch, you know that? Worse than that. You’re a nightmare.” it kept yelling, not at all subdued by Moon’s words.

“Cute, sweet thing…calm down. You have no reason to be afraid,” Moon said, trying again to ‘reason’ with the scavenger. Moon knew that the scavenger wasn’t scared, but maybe gaslighting would work.

“Call me a ‘cute, sweet thing’ one more time, and I’ll stab you, nightmare or not. You don’t scare me.”

Wow, it’s fierce. And gaslighting didn’t work at all. Moons, what do I do? I could have Turtle enchant it, at least for now, just to keep it subdued and helpless.

Moon looked at Turtle, attempting to convey with her expression what she wanted him to do. He understood, and started casting the spell.

Enchant this scavenger to be compliant and completely submissive to mine and Moon’s wills, no matter what.

“Alright, sweetheart, come with me. I want to show you something,” Moon said, in a bit of a sadistic tone.

The scavenger didn’t immediately follow Moon. Instead, it lunged forward, stabbing out with the knife. With Moon’s enchanted knife, the one that could slice through anything.

“OW,” Moon yelled as the blade pierced the scales on her forearm. It was sharp, and the scavenger had pretty good aim.

“Hah, that’s what you get!” it hollered at her.

Moon had had enough. She grabbed the scavenger around its tiny neck and lifted it into the air. She dropped it on to her back and flew off before it could get its bearings. Turtle followed behind her, completely ready to do as she asked.

“Whoa! What the hell are you doing?” it yelled, sounding a bit excited and a bit scared at the same time.

“Taking you with me,” Moon answered. “Since you don’t know how to not be violent.”

“Fine, but since I’m stuck with you now, you owe me some answers. I want to know everything, now.”

“I don’t owe you anything, but since you’ve mildly entertained me, I guess I’ll talk. How about this, a question for a question. What do you want to know?”
“First of all, where are we going?”

“Back to my school, until I can find a more…permanent place for you. How did you find my knife?”

“You dropped it when you killed Winter. I picked it up. That’s all. Is the green dragon Turtle?”

“Yes, he is. How do you know about him?”

“Winter told me, before you killed him. Can he really do anything with his magic?”

“Pretty much. He really only uses it for me, though. Why don’t his spells work on you?”

“I have no idea. I’ve never even met an animus before today. Is there such a thing as an animus scavenger?”

“I’ve never heard of one before, but that’s not to say it isn’t a possibility. Do you want to be an animus?”

This creature is a lot smarter than I originally anticipated. That changes things a little bit.

“I mean, why not? It wouldn’t really hurt if I was, right?”

“Well, you could lose your soul…I mean, nope, it wouldn’t hurt you at all.”

Moon had a new idea. If it was possible to give this scavenger animus magic, she’d have another powerful being to manipulate. Less chance of either of them going completely insane, too.

“Alright,” the gullible creature said, “I’ll take it.”

Soon enough, they landed at Jade Mountain. It seemed everyone had heard that Winter was dead, and quite a few had started rumors that Moon was behind it, since she was the last one seen with him. But are they really rumors if they’re true?

It was easy to make it back to Qibli’s cave. Moon wanted to keep him and the scavenger close to each other, to make her life easier. She set the scavenger down on the softer of the two beds (which was Qibli’s) and started singing a lullaby. Everything would be so much easier if the creature was asleep and vulnerable. What would be even easier was to have Turtle control the scavenger with his magic, but since that was off the table, this had to do. Soon enough, the scavenger was sleeping, and the real fun could begin.

Chapter Text

Mari was pretending to be asleep. And pretending was something they were very good at. They heard chains being rattled, and then realized that those chains were now around their neck and wrists. Mari, who was the perfect picture of unconsciousness, was now restrained. 

Now, the bonds meant absolutely nothing to them. The locks on chains were so easy to break. They could leave their bonds behind and escape into the sunset in under 10 minutes. But they didn’t. They played their part, like they’d trained themself to do. Biding their time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Being an animus would change everything. If Mari was one, then maybe they’d finally be able to protect Winter like he deserved. And Bluebell, since if Nightmare found out that she was helping him, she’d probably go after her too. 

But, of course, that meant waiting, biding their time. And perhaps sleeping a little bit for real, cause, damn, getting kidnapped by dragons was exhausting. Also, they hadn’t actually slept since meeting Winter. 

And soon enough, they were fast asleep.

_____________________

The loud jingling of chains is what woke Mari up. Their eyes slowly flicked open, and they saw their captors binding another dragon to a table. Mari had to strain their ears. but they were able to hear the conversation.

“Just stay here being all cute and sleepy, alright dear?” Nightmare said. 

“mmmhmmm,” the bound dragon murmured. She was unlike any dragon Mari had ever seen before. Her tail was all curly, and her scales didn’t have a set color. They kept shifting between purple and orange and green. Her ears were fluffy, and oddly enough, the only part of her that was consistently yellow. 

“Good girl. Now then, Turtle, the plan?”

“Right, the plan. I don’t get why you want me to do this. Your scavenger is a lot smarter than it looks, from the part of your conversation I overheard. It would probably snap its chains using magic, and flee for its life.”

In that moment, Mari realized that their captors didn’t know they spoke Dragon, and could understand every word they said. That was useful. Now, Mari could eavesdrop all they wanted without being caught. 

“Then just make the chains unbreakable by magic or something! I don’t know, just figure it out!” Nightmare said, sounding exasperated. 

“Okay, okay! Geez, I’m sorry. You don’t have to yell,” Turtle replied, much calmer. 

The next thing Mari felt was a rush of energy, like they’d slammed 5 cups of espresso. It was seriously badass. And damn, it felt good.

Nightmare looked straight at Mari and grinned. “It seems the burst of magic has woken our sweet girl up,” she said. 

Mari glared back, for several reasons. One of which being that they weren’t a girl. The other being that they had been kidnapped and now one of their captors was looking down on them and being a condescending asshole. 

“So, my dear, how do you feel?” Nightmare asked, switching to English with practiced ease. Did she learn it? Or was it another spell? Mari had lots of questions, but none of them would get them anywhere, so they kept their mouth shut. 

“Darling, I asked you a question,” Nightmare said, annoyed now. Ha! That was probably a new record. 

“I know. I chose not to answer it,” they said. 

“I see. Well, you don’t really have a choice. Either you answer me or I kill you.”

You won’t kill me. I’m still useful to you. In fact, I can bet that the success of all of your new plans are dependent on me. 

“Fine, it feels pretty good. Like, I’m not really sure how to explain it, but, yeah. Good,” Mari said. 

“That’s wonderful. Will you do me a favor? I want to see if you can cast spells now.”

“Sure, I guess. What should I do?” 

“I want you to…put me to sleep.”

“Are you serious? ” 

“Completely. I want you to try. In fact, I order you to try.”

“Fine.”

I enchant the dragon in front of me to fall asleep, and not wake up until I’m long gone. 

Nightmare passed out in front of them.

Well, that should make escaping a lot easier. Now that she’s out of commission, I only have to worry about Turtle. I’m pretty sure he’s only keeping me here since Moon told him to. She seems to be the mastermind behind all of this.

And now, we wait.

Chapter Text

Moon was…interesting. Turtle was confused by a lot of the things Moon did, but he knew she always had her reasons. Like, for example, having herself put to sleep as a way to test her scavenger’s magic. There was probably a very good reason for that too. 

Turtle figured that Moon wanted him to wake her up. He walked over to her, and shook her. She didn’t wake up. So he tried to use his magic, which also didn’t work. She wasn’t dead, he knew, since she he could still hear her breathing. 

Turtle cast a quick spell to be able to speak the same language as the scavenger, then looked it right in its small eyes. “Wake her up.”

“No, you don’t get to tell me what to do. Besides, I already tried, and I can’t,” it said. 

“You can’t? You’re the one who cast the spell that put her to sleep, you should be able to undo it.”

“I may have phrased it wrong, I realize that now.”

“How did you phrase it? Maybe I can help.” Turtle didn’t know why he wanted to help the scavenger. He guessed it was just kind of fun.

The scavenger repeated its spell, and yep, it was phrased so specifically that no other magic could undo it. Did the scavenger know that? It was definitely smarter than it looked. 

“Well, I can’t really do much about it now. So I guess she’ll just have to sleep.” Turtle felt oddly…free, thinking about that. Even if it wasn’t for long, not having Moon telling him what to do would be a relief. 

“I guess. What time is it, do you know?” the scavenger asked. So it was definitely smarter than it let on. 

Turtle checked the sky, and the moons were all high in the sky. “Around…midnight, actually. Huh, I didn’t even notice.” Now knowing what time it was, exhaustion started to hit. Moon had kept him awake through the night before, so he hadn’t slept in at least 24 hours. 

“Dude, you should get some sleep too. You look fucking exhausted. I’ll be fine, trust me.”

“Alright, fine, but if you’re gone in the morning, I’m not going to be very happy. I’ll track you down and find you, and you know what’ll happen next.”

“Right, yeah, you or Nightmare will kill me. I know, I know.”

Nightmare? Is that what it calls Moon? Oh well, I’ll think about that later.

Turtle laid down on the floor. He curled up and closed his eyes. Sleep came easier than he expected, and soon enough, he was out cold.

Chapter Text

“Did Mari just…leave? Why would they..?” Winter asked, looking concerned. He said something that Bluebell didn’t understand, but it sounded like a swear word. 

“I don’t think they left. At least, not on their own. They would have told one of us. It’s not like them to just disappear.”

“Well then, what happened?”

“They got…” ugh, what was that word. Bluebell had no clue how to say ‘kidnapped’ in dragon, so instead she made a series of gestures to try and represent it. 

“Oh. That somehow makes perfect sense,” Winter said. “But who would want to kidnap Mari? Who would even be able to take them?” 

Ah, so that’s how you said that. No, Bluebell, focus.

“What are you saying, then?” she asked Winter. 

“Mari is…interesting. Unpredictable. Maybe even a bit…power-hungry, from what I know of them…” Winter said, hedging around the question.

“So you’re saying Mari left to join Moon and that’s why they didn't say anything?”

“...yes. That’s what I’m saying. It’s possible.”

“No way. They’d never do anything like that.”

“You don’t know Moon. She can be very…convincing, if you know what I mean.”

“Mari isn’t easily threatened.”

“Not what I meant. Never mind. Just, be careful.”

Bluebell trusted Mari, and didn’t think they would betray everyone like that. They’d at the very least leave a note of some kind. And if they left on their own, they would have taken their knives with them. Bluebell pointed this out to Winter, who only nodded in realization. 

“I’m going to go back to my room to figure this out. I’ll see you later,” Bluebell said. She knew she was being kind of rude, but she didn’t really care at the moment. Her best friend was missing.

Chapter Text

Mari fingered the chains on their wrists. They couldn’t use magic to break them, but they didn’t need to. They dug their middle fingernail into the lock hole on the manacle, and wiggled it around until the lock popped. The only reason they kep their nails long was to be able to do things like that. Well, and to scratch people. 

The only thing that had been chained was their arms, so they were good to go. They could just escape back to Bluebell and Winter. But at the same time, it seemed like the rainbow dragon chained to the icy bed was also a captive, and they couldn’t just leave them behind. So instead of fleeing for their life, Mari carefully crept over to the unconscious dragon. 

They shook her aggressively, trying to wake her up. It didn’t work, so they tried snapping their fingers in her face. That didn’t work either, so they tried using their newfound powers. Sure enough, the rainbow dragon woke up. She looked at Mari, her eyes still clouded with sleep. 

Once she processed what was going on, though, her scales all turned bright green. The sleepiness in her eyes gave way to utter terror. She screamed, and Mari instinctively clamped her snout shut. 

“Shhhh,” they said. “I don’t want them to wake up.”

The rainbow dragon gave Mari a curious look, and tried to open her snout. Mari removed their hand, sincerely hoping that the dragon wouldn't yell out. 

“Who are you?” she asked. “And how did you..?”

“Mari. And locks are super easy to pick. That’s not important, though. I’m rescuing you, so keep your voice down.”

“How can you…these bonds aren’t breakable…” the rainbow dragon said, slowly.

“They don’t have to be. They’re quite simple knots. I can untie you in like a minute. Although, I do want to know your name. And how you ended up here. What’s Nightmare’s problem with you?”

Mari set to work on the knots as the dragon explained her predicament. Her name was Kinkajou, and she had been talking to Turtle and Nightmare when they chained her up. Sooner than expected, the bonds fell away, and Kinkajou stretched her wings. Her scales shifted to bright pinks and yellows. 

Mari slapped her, hard, on her wing. “Put those away! And turn down those colors! We’re trying to not get caught!” they whisper-yelled.

“Sorry. I’m just, like, so happy to be free! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Kinkajou shrieked. 

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Mari muttered kind of loudly. 

“Sorry,” Kinkajou said, in a much quieter voice. 

“Better, now let’s go. You know the way out of here?”

“Yeah. Follow me, if you want.” Kinkajou rushed out of the cave and started walking down the hall at a pace Mari could barely keep up with. They hustled just to keep Kinkajou in sight. 

After lots of confusing twists and turns, the two reached a large cave. “Hey, rainbow lady,” Mari whispered, ”Follow me.”

“Wait, how do you know where we’re supposed to be going?”

Mari was silent. They did not know where they were going, but bullshitting their way through things was pretty much their best skill. 

“I just do. Trust me, rainbow lady, I know more than you think.”

“Fine, but if we get lost, it’s on you.” 

“We’re not going to get lost.”

“You say that now, tiny one.”

Mari grumbled. They really hated being called tiny. This rainbow bitch needed to be put in her place. 

“You know, I stabbed Nightmare in the arm, and I put her to sleep with magic. So don’t underestimate me, alright?” they said. They figured it was remotely intimidating.

“Wait…are you serious? I wasn’t even able to hurt her with my venom, and you stabbed her? How in Pyrrhia were you able to hurt Moon?” Kinkajou asked, looking more curious than scared. 

“With her own blade, which I now realize I left behind. Shit, I can’t go back for it.”

Mari sighed. They regretted leaving the knife, but it was too late now. They’d just have to make do without it. For now, though, they had to get back to Bluebell and Winter. And that meant getting out of this mountain. 

“This way,” they said, starting to walk towards a lit up part of the hall. The rainbow dragon followed them, without questioning it. That made them a bit nervous, but it wasn’t a big deal. They just kept walking. 

Eventually, after many twists and turns and dead ends, they made it to the entrance. “See, I told you I knew what I was doing.”

“Sure you did. I mean, it’s not like we were super lost or anything,” Kinkajou muttered. Mari rolled their eyes. Sure, it had taken them a minute, but they weren’t lost. They looked out, and saw how high up they were. Shit. 

“I rescued you, so can you do me a favor? I didn’t really think this through,” Mari said, even though they were already mentally running through their options if Kinkajou said no. They could potentially just climb down the cliff face, since they weren’t that bad at it. Or they could use their magic somehow. Maybe they could enchant a --

“Let me guess, you need me to carry you down? I’ll do it, but, what do I get back?” Kinkajou said, interrupting Mari’s train of thought. Mari grumbled a bit, not liking this dragon very much. 

“I already saved you from whatever sadistic bullshit that your captors were planning. Isn’t that enough?” they said, irritated. 

“I don’t think it is. I could have rescued myself. You can’t get yourself out of here. So I want you to do something for me that only you can do.”

Mari thought about that for a moment. What could they do that rainbow lady couldn’t? They were the only one who knew where Winter was, that was something. But they wouldn’t just throw him under the bus like that. 

“I have information that you might like. But first, you need to take me to my cabin.” they said, praying that the stupid, multicolored dragon would just do what they asked. 

“What’s the information?” the rainbow dragon asked. Aha! So Mari could trade this information they had for a way back to Bluebell. 

“It’s a surprise. But, I know you’ll like it.” they said. I’m clever, I know. 

“I do like surprises… Fine. Get on my back, if you want. And I need directions to get us anywhere.” Kinkajou said, kneeling down. She was a lot smaller than Nightmare, so it was extremely easy for Mari to jump and haul themself on to her back. 

“Let’s go, like, now. This way,” they said, pointing to the right. They flew for a while, occasionally instructing Kinkajou on where and when to turn. It took them around an hour to get to the part of the forest where their cabin was. 

“Here’s the place,” they said. Kinkajou swooped down, and Mari remembered why they hated that part of flying. The falling sensation was so annoying . 

Kinkajou landed in the most open part of the forest, about 50 feet away from the cabin. Mari hopped off of her back, landing hard. “Ow, motherfucker!” they yelled. It wasn’t even the worst pain they’d ever felt, but hey, drama beans are going to be drama beans. 

They took off, walking at a pretty quick pace. Mari didn’t realize how much they appreciated the quiet forest until they’d been away from it for a while. The path to the cabin was worn from the amount of times they’d gone exploring, but the dirt still felt good between their toes. 

They approached the door, kicking it aggressively. It swung open, and standing there was Bluebell.

Chapter Text

Kinkajou decided to stay behind as Mari ran towards the cabin. After all, she could be grabbing whatever the surprise was.

It wasn’t too long before she returned. Sadly, she was empty handed.

“Follow me, now .”

“Why? Where are we going?”

“Just follow me, bitch.”

“Umm, you’re the only bitch I can see.”

“That’s ‘cause you don’t have a fucking mirror. Now, follow me .”

Kinkajou sighed and began walking behind the annoying scavenger.

After they were a couple hundred feet away from the cabin, Mari stopped. “Stay here. I’m not going to argue with you on this, just stay .”

Kinkajou grumbled, but stayed put. Mari walked away, and Kinkajou decided to camouflage herself just to be petty. She vanished, blending in with a nearby tree.

After around ten minutes, Kinkajou heard voices. Still camouflaged, she peered around the tree. Mari was talking to another scavenger who had blue hair. She was also talking to a dragon. A very familiar dragon.

No. I-it can’t be him. He’s dead. Gone .

In a tiny voice, Kinkajou whispered, “W-Winter?”

The IceWing’s head shot up. “Hello?”

It was definitely him.

Kinkajou walked out from her hiding spot and stood in front of him. Her scales shifted into a dark gray-blue as she looked up at him.

“Kinkajou,” Winter breathed, so quiet she almost couldn’t hear him.

“Winter,” she whispered back, tears welling in her eyes.

He wasn’t dead. He was here, standing in front of her, talking to her.

She didn’t even realize that she was crying until Winter reached out a talon and wiped away a tear.

“H-how? You. B-but you. You’re-you’re d-dead,” Kinkajou stammered, looking away from him.

“No, Kinkajou, I’m not dead. I’m right here. I-I,” his voice cracked and when she looked into his eyes, she realized that he was also crying. “I’m with you. I’m okay.”

“Ha,” Mari barked. “Don’t lie to yourself. You know you’re not okay. I mean, look at you.”

Kinkajou glared at Mari for a second, but then looked back when Winter folded one of his wings around himself. Kinkajou’s gaze traveled to the wing that he hadn’t moved and gasped. It was covered in bandages and some parts looked crushed. She realized that almost his entire body was covered in bandages.

He seemed to notice that she was staring and he folded into himself even more.

“Winter,” Kinkajou asked stepping closer to him. “What happened?”

“I,” he shuddered. “It- its a long story.” 

“I can see that. I just…I can’t believe you’re alive,” Kinkajou said, still sobbing. Winter stretched out his good wing like he was inviting her in for a hug. He’d never done that before. 

Kinkajou rushed forward, and he wrapped his wing around her. He was a good hugger. That thought made Kinkajou cry even more. Tears were pouring down her face, but Winter didn’t mine. She sobbed into his shoulder, and he let her. 

“I-I missed you so much,” Kinkajou wailed, forgetting she had an audience. 

“I missed you too, Jou-Jou,” he said as he rested his head on top of hers.

She sniffled a few times, and her torrent of tears started to slow. Soon, she had stopped crying, but her eyes were still watery and puffy. 

“Well, that has to win a record for the saddest reunion ever,” Mari said. Kinkajou looked at her. Shockingly, there were tears in her eyes. Mari must have noticed her staring, cause she sniffed haughtily and said “What? I’ve never seen Winter this happy.”

Come to think of it, Kinkajou hadn’t either. Winter had always been gruff and annoyed. Knowing that he was happier made Kinkajou happy. Her scales turned bright pink with her joy. Winter flinched away, and she realized that maybe her vivid colors weren't the best for right now. 

“Sorry, I’ll tune it down.”

“Nah, its fine,” Winter said, wrapping his wing around her once again. “I just haven’t seen anything that bright since-” he shuddered, as if trying to shake away the memories. “Since everything.”

Kinkajou pressed herself into his chest and whispered, “We can talk about it, if you want.”

Winter only shook his head. Kinkajou sighed and changed her scales to a more muted pink, trying to help. “It’s alright,” she said. “You don’t have to. I’m here if you need, though.”

“I know,” Winter murmured. “Are you alright?”

“Not really. We can talk later,” Kinkajou said quietly. 

“Or we can talk now. I’d like to talk now. I wanna know everything,” Mari interrupted. Wow, she was horrible. A sweet moment really didn’t need to be interrupted like that. 

“ Mari!” the other scavenger hissed, “not right now.” Kinkajou kind of liked this one. She looked a lot nicer, and even kind of reminded her of Winter, with her blue hair. Her mismatched eyes were slightly unsettling, but they were kind. 

“Anyways, Kinkajou, did I introduce you to Mari and Bluebell?” Winter said. Kinkajou already knew Mari, but she thought it would be kind of entertaining to see how she acted around Winter compared to how she was with her. 

“No, I don’t know either of them.”

Chapter Text

Winter was lying on the ground, sketching a certain SandWing on a piece of paper. The detail was impeccable, but it was still missing something. He had too much on his mind to figure out what it was. His vision went slightly blurry, and he let it. Zoning out was preferable to driving himself crazy.

He was still zoned out when Kinkajou stepped into his room. “Oh, this is actually pretty nice. I didn’t even hit my horns against the door!”

“Yeah, that was all Mari. They’re really into crafts and stuff. And hitting things with an ax,” Winter informed her. 

“Oh, I see. So anyways ,” Kinkajou said quickly, “will you please talk to me about what happened to you now?” Her tone softened a lot. 

“Oh, right.” Winter sighed. He really didn’t want to talk or even think about what Moon had done to him, but he had to eventually. Why not now, with someone he knew would try to understand?

“I-I don’t even know where to start.” Winter said with an emotionless laugh. “So much happened.” 

Kinkajou twined her tail around his and he flinched. He still wasn’t used to being touched, much less by another dragon. In fact, the last dragon who had touched him was- was Moon.

“Sorry,” he whispered as the RainWing began to untwine her tail. “I’m just, I, I, the last” he struggled for words. “I’m not used to it is all.”  

“I’m sorry. Take your time. If it’ll make you feel better, I can go first.”

“No, no. It’s fine. Really. It's just…tricky to talk about.”

“I get that,” Kinkajou said sadly. “We don’t have to talk about this right now if you don’t want to.”

“I do want to. I want to get this off my chest. I haven’t told Mari and Bluebell yet. I think I can tell you, though.”

“Alright, I’ll listen.”

“It started about two months ago…”

___________________________

When he was done telling his story, Kinkajou began sobbing into his shoulder. He wrapped his good wing around her as silent tears spilled from his own eyes.

It hurt to think that something similar had happened to the sweet RainWing. She was one of the kindest, amazing dragons, and she didn’t deserve anything even close to what Moon had done to him. 

Luckily, she didn’t appear to be hurt, but who knew how much mental damage she had suffered.

Winter rested his head on top of hers and just held her, occasionally running his talon over the back of her neck, trying to calm her down. She held him right back.

“Kinkajou,” he whispered after a few minutes.

“Y-yes,” she whispered back.

“I-,” he took a shaky breath. “Please tell me Moon didn’t do anything to you.”

Kinkajou froze when she heard the NightWing’s name. “Sh-she did.”

Winter loosened his grip on her, and looked her dead in the eyes. “What did she do to you?” She looked away. “Kinkajou, what did she do to you?” She still didn’t answer. “What did Moon do to you, Kinkajou?” he said, his voice rising. “What happened? Please tell me, Kinkajou. You can trust me.” The last words came out as a whisper.

“I-she,” she shook her head. 

“You don’t have to tell me now, you can tell me when you feel more comfortable.”

“Winter, you know what the NightWings did, right?”

He racked his brain for something, anything, about what the NightWings had done to a tribe other than the IceWings. All he had been taught in school back in the Ice Kingdom was that the NightWings had taken Prince Arctic…

Oh.

“You were part of the group they took and experimented with, weren’t you,” he asked the shaking RainWing.

“Three weeks!” She shrieked. “I was gone for three weeks and no one noticed! Not even my best friend! Do you know how long it took me to trust NightWings again ‽ Do you know what it was like sharing a room with one‽ Even when I knew she wasn’t part of that group, I would still wake up scared every time I saw her.  And then, when I finally trusted her she- she,” Kinkajou shuddered. “She grabbed the knife that did that. ”

She reached out and lightly traced the stitched up wound on his neck and he shivered. The gash had never truly healed, and he knew that there was no way he was going to be able to cover it up.

Does it look like I did this to myself? Probably. It's not like it's not believable. I probably would do this, if I didn’t meet Blue and Mari and Kinkajou, and him .

“She hurt you. And when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, she took me prisoner and extracted my venom. Just like the NightWings on the island did.”

He felt like she was keeping something else from him. In a calm voice, Winter asked, “Kinkajou, Moon did something else to you, didn’t she?”

The RainWing nodded sadly. She gestured to herself, running her talons up and down her arms. Her scales turned a deep pink as she did. 

Oh. Oh. 

Even after everything Moon had done to him, Winter couldn’t believe that she’d go that far. He was about to make an attempt at comforting her when he decided against it.

“I’m so, so, sorry Kinkajou. If I hadn’t kissed Qibli in the first place, none of this would have ever happened. If I hadn’t angered Moon, she never would have done that to you. If I hadn’t been so stupid, so, so , stupid-”

Kinkajou cut him off with a hug. She wrapped her wings around him and rested her head on his shoulder. “You have nothing to be sorry about. You are brave, funny, handsome and most importantly, you care about your friends. Sure, you might be grumpy sometimes and sure, you might yell, but everyone has those moments. If anything, I should be sorry. I said that your family didn’t love you, even though I don’t have a family of my own. I was so rude to you and that was one of our last conversations before everything happened. I’m so sorry, Winter”

He had forgotten about that. Forgotten about what happened after Darkstalker was turned into Peacemaker. Forgotten about that conversation. 

Wait, did Kinkajou just say that I’m handsome? He brushed the thought away, praying on the Great Ice Spirits that he’d just misheard her.

“Its okay, Jou-Jou. And to be honest, you were right.”

“I was not right. Also,” she said as she pulled away from him. “ What was that you just called me?”

Winter giggled. No not ‘giggled’, more like, had a tiny laugh. Yeah. “I called you ‘Jou-Jou’ because I figured you were gonna have a weird nickname for me soon enough.”

Kinkajou laughed, and it was amazing seeing her smile again. “Alright. Lemme think of names real quick.” She pretended to look deep in thought and then suddenly yelled, “Sparkle!”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Your new nickname is Sparkle. Unless you’d like to be called Sir Sparkles,” Kinkajou said.

“No, NO. Sparkle is fine,” he said, sighing. “Any specific reason why?”

“Oh, yeah. Its ‘cause I had sparkly thoughts about…you…when…we…first…met…”

Winter blushed furiously and so did Kinkajou.

Did she just… admit she likes me? Oh no. Oh moons no. This can’t, I need to get out of here. 

“Uhhhh, I’m pretty tired. Night,” the RainWing said quickly. “Oh, wait. Where should I sleep?”

“You can sleep in here. Besides, I’m gonna be upstairs for a while, so… bye. Sleep well.”

He hurried out of his room and up the stairs, trying to forget that whole conversation.

Chapter Text

The last thing she remembered was ordering her newest pet to put her to sleep. She desperately needed a nap, and it was a genius idea to see if her scavenger was as powerful as she’d hoped. It was. 

Her sleep was dreamless, simply a black abyss. That was kind of nice. But when she tried to wake herself up, she found it impossible. She was trapped in her unconsciousness. 

She kept trying and trying until she was finally able to open her eyes. She glanced around, her eyes still glazed from sleep. She could tell she was still in the same cave, and that she hadn’t moved at all. She blinked a few times to clear the heaviness from her eyes, and she saw limp chains on the wall. Her pet was gone. And so was Kinkajou.

Maybe being put into an enchanted sleep wasn’t the best idea. But then again, wasn’t Turtle supposed to be keeping an eye on it? He’ll have to be punished.

She walked over to Qibli’s cave, praying that at least he would still be there.

Moon glanced into his room and saw that the SandWing was still peacefully asleep on his bed. Good, at least one thing went right. She walked over to him and bopped him with her snout. “Alright, my love, it’s time for you to wake up.”

His eyes slowly fluttered open, and they came to rest not on Moon, but on the bed behind her. On Winter’s bed. That wouldn’t do at all. She lightly tapped him on the snout. 

“Good morning, my love. How’d you sleep?” she asked him. He looked at her with an annoyed expression. 

“You cast a spell on me somehow, didn’t you? Actually, don’t answer that. I know you did.” he said. He knows. How does he know?

“It hit me while I was sleeping. I didn’t have any of your influence over me while I was asleep. You know I can tell when there’s a spell on my mind, right?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll just have Turtle fix that. And then you’ll be back to loving me. How you should.”

So she didn’t cast the spell herself. She made Turtle do it. Why’d he do it, though? What does she have over him? Blackmail, perhaps, or something similar. 

“No, actually. I just asked him for a favor and he did it. And he’ll do it again.” Moon told Qibli. “So there’s no reason to worry.” Qibli definitely looked worried. It was so cute, seeing him scared. She really wanted to kiss him. So she did. 

She leaned forward, planting her lips on his and wrapping her wings around him. He tried to pull away, but she held him tight. 

Everything is spiraling out of control. I can’t just leave, or else Qibli would just leave too, and I won’t be able to find him. Oh! Kinkajou’s old bonds are still here. Maybe I can…

She knew she could. After all, Qibli had no way to hurt her. She’d made sure of that. She reached out with her tail and snagged the edge of the table. She wheeled it closer to her, until it was right up against the edge of the ledge she and Qibli were on. 

She carefully pushed him onto the table and snapped her talons. The enchanted bonds quickly wrapped around him and knotted with a flourish. That’s better. 

“Alright, love, I’ll be back. Just stay here and relax.” Moon slipped off the bed and stalked out of the cave. She figured that Turtle had gone back to his cave, for some reason. Why hadn’t he stayed to watch my scavenger like I told him to?

Chapter Text

Turtle had just woken back up when he saw that both the scavenger and Kinkajou were gone. Fuck. Moon’s going to be pissed. He decided to go back to his cave and hide from her. He kind of hoped she’d stay asleep for a while. But he also wasn’t really sure what he’d do if not helping her. 

He was currently curled up in a ball on the floor of his cave. He was half-asleep, drifting off again, when Moon stormed in. She was fuming, and Turtle knew why. He curled up tighter, hoping she wouldn’t see him. Of course, she did. 

“ Why didn’t you stay and watch the scavenger and Kinkajou?” she demanded. 

“I fell asleep. Sorry. I was awake all night the night before.” he told her. He didn’t want to tell her he’d been goaded into it by the scavenger. 

“Useless, that’s what you are. You’re going to help with my other plan, then.” 

Yeah, yeah. I know I have to help you.

“I have quite the marvelous idea,” Moon said. “I think you’ll like this one.”

“Well, what is it?” Turtle asked her. She was hyping up this idea so much, and yet still hadn’t told him what they were doing. 

“We’re going to murder Princess Tundra of the IceWings.”

___________________________

They were on their way to the Ice Kingdom. According to Moon, Tundra was currently living near the southern border, near the Great Ice Cliff. That was lucky. Hopefully, they wouldn’t have to go too far into IceWing territory. 

“Cast a spell to protect us from the Great Ice Cliff,” Moon ordered. Turtle quickly cast the spell, and on they went. They flew over the cliff with a slight hesitation. But, they’d crossed safely, and were now that much closer to their goal. Turtle just wanted to be over with it. 

Soon, they were standing outside of the small palace where Tundra now lived. Moon wasted no time in breaking down the door and stalking inside, her enchanted knife in her talons. Turtle followed, half eager to watch Tundra die and half just wanting to go back to sleep. 

“Oh, Tundra!” Moon called out, in a sing-songy tone. “Is anyone home?”

The sound of a door slamming echoed from upstairs. Tundra came walking down the stairs, already yelling. 

“Who are you!? How did you get into my house!? How did a NightWing get past the Great Ice Cliff?” she shrieked. Fear warred with anger in her eyes. Good. She should be afraid. 

“Oh, darling, yelling will do you no good,” Moon said, giggling. She spun the blade around in her talons, the gesture threatening. 

“What do you want from me!? I’ve just lost my mate and my son, now this?”

Moon laughed. “Oh, yeah, I might have had something to do with that. And you’re next.” She held the knife up to Tundra’s throat, drawing a small line of blood. 

“Hmm…how shall I kill you? I’m not going to just slit your throat and be done with it, no. That’s boring. Oh, I know!” Moon giggled again. “I’ll just peel off your scales one by one! They’d make such a pretty cloak…”

Tundra flinched. Turtle probably would have too, if he were in her position. He was so lucky he was useful to her. 

She scares me. She scares me. And I’m her ally. Her enemies are probably doubly as terrified by her as I am. 

“I need chains. Now,” Moon demanded, snapping her talons at Turtle. He summoned a pair of sparkling silver chains with crescent moons engraved on them. She quickly snatched them from him and set to work, binding Tundra with an almost practiced ease. 

“Ah, that's much better. Now, we begin…” Moon said. She slipped her knife under one of the scales on Tundra’s forearm and slowly pried it off. Tundra gritted her teeth, but made no sound. Moon kept going, removing more and more scales. Turtle counted, and it took losing 34 scales for Tundra to cry out in pain. The pool of blue blood that was forming under her grew ever larger with each passing second. 

Tundra’s cries now echoed throughout the room, and they were almost like music to Turtle’s ears. He remembered now why he was allied with Moon. On her side, he got to watch the show, and not have to worry about her turning that violence and sadism on him. 

After a while, the cries ceased. Tundra was now laying on the ground, silent and unbreathing. Dead, sadly. Turtle had wanted to watch her suffer more. In a way, he did. Moon kept removing scales even after the IceWing princess had stopped moving. Soon, she’d collected all of them, leaving Tundra’s stripped body lying in a pool of her own blood. 

“Success, naturally,” she said, grinning. “I do think her scales would make a fabulous cloak. I wasn’t lying about that.”

“You want me to make them into a cloak for you, don’t you?”

“That would be lovely.”

Turtle sighed. Of course Moon wanted a cloak of IceWing scales. He cast the spell, and the pile of sparkling scales magically transformed into a long, flowing cloak, complete with a hood and neck clasp. 

“There you go,” Turtle said, handing her the garment. He watched as she clasped it around her neck. The silver scales practically glowed against Moon’s black ones. Turtle had to admit, it looked good on her. 

“Now, for our next task. Killing the IceWing queen.”

Chapter Text

Qibli stared at the wall, lost in thought. What did I do to her? Did I even do anything? She’s making Turtle cast spells all willy-nilly. Is she trying to make him lose his soul? Or does she not care?

Qibli had to find some way to get out of his chains. He tried tugging on them, but they held fast. He couldn’t attempt to saw through them either, since his talons were trapped under him. The chains weren’t locked, so picking it open wasn’t an option either. He was stuck. 

Perhaps, if I act like I love her, Moon won’t keep me chained up here. Where did she even get chains from? Why were they just here? And why was she so upset? What if she just makes Turtle recast the love spell? 

These were the thoughts that would plague Qibli for the rest of the day. And perhaps the next few days too. He didn’t want to lose any more time asleep.

Chapter Text

“Mari, do you want to talk about what happened? About where you were?” Bluebell asked. Her and Mari were both on Mari’s bed. Bluebell was sitting on the end, and Mari was curled up in a cat-like position in the corner. 

“Sure,” they murmured. “Let’s see, I was polishing my knife. You know, the one I stole from that nightmare dragon, when the goddamn blade started moving. I wasn’t about to let it go, so…”

They kept talking, raving on and on about every little detail. They sounded more annoyed than anything else. 

“...really, it was mostly a waste of time. I mean, rescuing Kinkajou made Winter happy, and I’m glad it did, but other than that, it wasn’t very helpful.”

Mari’s happy that Winter is happy? They care about him? It’s so obvious now. They don’t get mad at him, they genuinely spend their time making him more comfortable. I just never noticed. I need to get better at that. I guess I just haven’t seen anything Mari’s done as being caring or affectionate. But it was, in their own way. 

“Oh, wow. Sounds like quite the adventure.” Bluebell said. “You sound like you kind of had fun? ”

“I might’ve. Honestly, the highlight of the week is probably stabbing Nightmare. She deserved it.” Mari laughed, but it was emotionless. Cold, even. 

“You scare me sometimes, you know that?” Bluebell said lightly. She was only half joking. Mari was honestly kind of terrifying. Some of the things they said…

“Meh,” Mari responded, laughing a little. 

Do they just not care? I knew they liked violence, but I didn’t realize how bad it was. I need to think on this. 

Bluebell stood up, walking out of the room and leaving Mari alone in their room. She decided she was going to check on Winter. He’d disappeared into the basement with the new dragon, Kinkajou, and Bluebell hadn't seen him since. 

She quietly stepped down the stairs, just in case he was sleeping. She paused when she heard voices. And crying. 

Winter was saying something about Moon.

Wait, wasn’t she the one who scratched him the day we met? I have a feeling I shouldn’t be listening to this conversation. Against her better judgment, she hid near the door to eavesdrop. 

“She clasped the chains around my ankles and then slit my throat, disabling my frost breath. Then she stepped into a little side room with a window facing in on me,” Winter was saying.

He continued talking about how Moon and someone named Turtle had tortured him. How they had burned him alive and forced him to write a note saying that he was leaving so that his best friend wouldn’t get suspicious. How he was trapped in the burning box for around a month. How Moon had sliced open his wing and tricked him into falling onto the rock ledge that Bluebell had met him on. How Moon dropped a boulder on his wing, twice. How Bluebell and Mari had found him days after that and how he was so close to death before they did. How he had hidden them underneath his wing to protect them from Moon. How Moon had cut his chest and face, as well as digging her claws into his arm and twisting them around, hoping he would yell out. How he had refused to make any sounds so he could keep Mari and Bluebell safe.

She knew the rest of the story from there. She knew how she had suggested that he try flying off the cliff, how it was her fault that his wing had ripped open even more and was never going to heal properly.

“You were part of the group they took and experimented with, weren’t you,” Winter was asking Kinkajou. 

She ran up the stairs to the main level and slammed the door open, wanting to get out of there as fast as she could. She didn’t want to hear any more of that conversation. 

She ran far away from the cabin. Around a mile away, stopped and sat on a log, trying to catch her breath.

Winter didn’t deserve any of that. None . He’s nice, and cares about his friends. He didn’t deserve to be tortured by two of them. He didn’t deserve that.

Bluebell was crying. She didn’t know when she started, but she knew the knees to her leggings were soaked with her tears. She felt helpless, now that she knew what Winter had gone through. She wanted to do something for him, but what? She hadn’t known Winter as long as Kinkajou had, nor was she confident and fearless like Mari. Bluebell was just…ordinary.

Chapter Text

Mari was alone, curled up in the corner of their bed. They hadn’t exactly told Bluebell the whole truth. They’d left out the part where they acquired power beyond their greatest imagination. They wanted to use the power they now held for good. Violent good, sure, but good all the same. 

They decided to start small, find some insignificant object to enchant. They started biting on whatever was nearest, which happened to be a thin slice of wood. 

They always started biting on stuff when they were thinking. It was rather soothing, and it helped them not get agitated. They had been chewing on their wood for about 10 minutes when they figured out what they’d do. 

They went digging in their closet, tossing different things everywhere until they found what they were looking for. A relatively large rubber duck that they couldn’t remember where they’d gotten it. It was rubbery and squishy, perfect for chewing. They waved their hands over the thing, but nothing happened. 

Ugh, how did I do it last time? Isn’t all this magic stuff supposed to just happen? 

It took a few more minutes of thinking for Mari to realize that what they’d done last time, the whole reason they’d been able to escape, was their wording. They had to piece a spell together with the precise words they wanted for it to work. 

It was a lot harder than it looked. For someone who’s craftiness and wit had saved their life, it was near impossible to craft the spell the way they wanted. Eventually, though, they got it. 

I enchant this rubber duck to soothe the mind of whoever has it in their possession when they bite down on it.

It wasn’t as clever a wording as Mari’s first spell, but it was good work. Now, they just had to find a way to give it to Winter. They kind of wanted to just hand it to him to see his reaction. But at the same time, it would be funnier if he didn’t know where it came from. Also, Mari’s secret wouldn’t be exposed if no one knew what they’d done.

So it was settled. Mari would sneak into Winter’s room while he slept and leave the duck somewhere noticeable. They really wanted to wrap it up with a ribbon, but that would make it extremely obvious who it was from that, against their own idea, they didn’t. 

“Alright. Go time, midnight.” 

___________________________________________________________________

At midnight exactly, Mari crept carefully down the stairs, magic rubber duck in hand. 

They hadn’t seen Bluebell for a while, but it didn’t matter. She was probably out in the woods, drawing or something stupid like that.

They slowly stepped into the basement room where Winter slept. Almost immediately, they ran into something. Not Winter, he felt a bit cooler than whatever this thing was. Hoping Winter was a heavy sleeper, they turned on the light to see what they’d hit. 

The rainbow dragon who’d brought them home was laying there, right in front of the doorway. Mari had honestly forgotten about her. Mari quickly tried to shut the light back off, but it was already too late. The rainbow’s eyes fluttered open, and her gaze immediately came to rest on Mari.

Chapter Text

Kinkajou tensed, looking at the scavenger in front other with a mix of emotions. Annoyance at being woken up, fear that they were there to hurt her, and anger that her’s and Winter’s personal space was being invaded. 

She opened her mouth on instinct, and whether it was to scream or to shoot venom, she didn’t know. Before she could make that decision, the small creature leaned over and wrapped one of their paws around Kinkajou’s snout. 

“Shhh, don’t yell. You’re going to wake Winter up.” they whispered. The scavenger eased their paw off of Kinkajou’s snout, stepping back. 

Kinkajou thought that Winter wouldn’t really mind being woken up if it meant Kinkajou got out of a dangerous situation. And this was definitely one. The scavenger was crafty, intelligent. That much, Kinkajou had figured out during their escape. 

She yawned and whispered, “What are you doing?”

“Killing a 5 year old. What does it look like? I’m leaving Winter a gift, idiot.”

 Kinkajou peered at Mari. “And your gift is a duck ?”

The scavenger crossed their arms and huffed. “Not just any duck,” they said. “A magic duck.”

No way. They can’t mean…can they?

“Magic? Like, animus magic?” she asked, really hoping the answer was no.

“Yep, animus magic.”

Chapter Text

After his and Kinkajou's conversation, Winter ran upstairs, well, as much as he could run, and saw that the front door was wide open. He didn’t think much of it and closed it.

Probably just the wind. He thought as he walked around the house in search of Bluebell.

After telling Kinkajou what had happened to him, he felt the need to tell Bluebell. She deserved to know and it was getting difficult to keep it a secret, especially with Mari constantly asking him what happened.

Some part in his brain told him to go outside, and he did, closing the door behind him.

The second he was outside, he regretted it.

The last time he had been outside was when he had seen Kinkajou again, and that hadn’t done anything to his senses, but now that he was alone, his sensory issues kicked in.

It was like he could feel the air pressing against his sides, suffocating him. He shook his head and tried to take a step forward, but even the dirt beneath his talons felt weird. He couldn’t physically feel it–due to the burns–but mentally, he could, just by noticing the little grains and lumps in it. 

It was horrible, but no worse than anything else he’d gone through, so he pushed through it, just trying to find Bluebell.

When he stopped focusing on what he saw and felt, he could smell Bluebell’s perfume and he could hear her trampling through the forest, crying.

He went a bit faster, but still was only able to catch her once she had stopped. He found her sitting on a log, sniffling. He curled up on the ground next to her. 

“You alright?” he asked her.

“I’m fine…okay, maybe I’m not. I just…heard most of what you told Kinkajou, and I want to help you, but I don’t know what to do. I’m not special. And I haven’t known you as long as Kinkajou has and I’m not as crazy confident as Mari and I-I don't know how to help and–”

“Hey, look at me. You are special, Bluebell. You’re one of the most talented people I know. You’re an amazing healer, an amazing baker, and an amazing friend. You care about everyone and when you first found me, you decided to help me instead of leaving me there to die. You keep helping me, even if you don’t realize it. When I feel depressed, you’ll say something kind about me. When I feel sad and alone, you hang out with me. You might not be as crazy as Mari is, but that’s okay. I can’t deal with  crazy, and frankly, I’d rather hang out with you. I care about you so much, Blue. I-I,” he couldn’t bring himself to say it. Couldn’t say what he wanted to say. “Blue, I–”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, cutting off his sentence. “I love you too, Winter.” Silent tears ran down her cheeks as she squeezed him.

She let out a small yawn and Winter realized what time it was.

“Blue, it’s really late. We should head back to the cabin,” he whispered.

“I know,” she murmured. “I don’t know how to get back, though. I kinda just ran.”

He sighed. “It’s okay. Here, hop on my back. I can carry you home.”

“Thank you,” she muttered. She climbed onto his back with ease and sat near the base of his neck.

He began walking and winced. She didn’t weigh that much, or at least, she wouldn’t have before the incident, but now she was heavy and the extra weight hurt. He pushed through the pain and kept walking. He didn’t want Bluebell to have to walk the rest of the way, especially when she looked so exhausted.

At one point, it was so painful to have her on his back that he collapsed.

“Winter, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired. I can still carry yo–”

“No. It’s obvious that you’re in pain. I can walk the rest of the way. You relax.”

He nodded and stood up. They kept walking and neared the cabin, Winter wincing along the way.

When they got inside the cabin, Bluebell rushed to get him a pain killer and more bandages. She carefully removed most of his other bandages,–except for the ones on his wing– and smeared the painkiller all over his wounds. Each cut and burn numbed almost immediately and Winter barely even noticed when Blue wrapped him in new bandages.

She was working on tying up the bandages when she suddenly stopped. Winter turned to look at her and realized she had fallen asleep. He gently lifted her up and placed her on the couch,–albeit with some difficulty– and placed a blanket on her.

“Goodnight, Bluebell,” he whispered.

____________________

*Midnight*

He awoke to a shriek. Out of instinct, he sprung up into a defensive position. Panicked, he glanced around the room. Kinkajou was the one screaming. Mari was also in the room, holding something in their hand. A small yellow thing that upon better inspection was a rubber duck. 

“MARI WHY DO YOU HAVE A DUCK?! WHY THE FUCK IS KINKAJOU SCREAMING?! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO, MARIGOLD?! IT’S MIDNIGHT! IT’S FUCKING MIDNIGHT!!! I WAS TRYING TO SLEEP !”

Both Kinkajou and Mari blinked at Winter. Kinkajou looked slightly nervous, and Mari had taken a step back, observing him like they’d never seen him before. 

“Bite this,” Mari said, holding the duck up to his face.

“No.”

“Yes.

“No.”

“Yes. Bite it now or I’ll shove it into your mouth.”

Winter harrumphed. “I am not going to be biting a stupid mmhffff–” Mari had done exactly what they said they would.

“BITE! IT! NOW!”

Winter gave in, biting down on the small toy. He instantly felt a wave of calm flow through his body. It was as if his anxiety had been erased. A squeak came out of the thing. Winter thought it was the best thing ever. 

He chewed on it for a few minutes, enjoying the squeaking noise more than he ever thought he would. At one point, he must have gotten so relaxed that he laid down.

“Kinkajou, why were you screaming earlier?” he mumbled around the thing in his mouth.

“Oh, no reason. Just that this demon here,” she pointed at Mari, “has animus magic.”

Now, it was Winter’s turn to be shocked. His jaw fell and the little toy dropped out onto the floor. “Why didn’t you tell me? Mari, do you not trust me? I think I deserve to know things like this. Does Bluebell know, at least?” 

“No. And I do trust you. I was just scared that you’d react badly.”

“Uhm, yeah, I’m going to react badly! You don’t even know half of what animus magic has done to me!” Winter shrieked, angry and scared and tired and a million other things at once. 

Before Mari could say anything back, Bluebell rushed into the now crowded room. “What’s happening? Is everyone okay? I heard screaming and I was trying to sleep.”

“So, it turns out Mari’s been keeping a huge secret from us,” Winter said. “Mari, why don’t you go ahead and tell her what it is?”

“It’s not even that big of a deal, really. It’s just magic, you’re being so dramatic,” Mari said, lightly rolling their eyes. “Now, I really need to take a nap.”

Bluebell stopped them before they could reach the door. “Excuse me, you’re not allowed to go back to sleep until I know what’s going on. Alright?”

“You’re so annoying, I swear. But fine. I’ll tell you the story. Want me to start it with ‘once upon a time,’ too?”

“Just start. I want to go back to bed soon.”

“It’s not even that much of a story. I’m not recounting everything else that happened, since I already did that. I just left out the part where I made a deal for power. You know, normal stuff.”

“A deal? What deal? Please tell me you didn’t promise to do anything for Moon. She’ll offer you the world, so long as you do her bidding. Trust me, I’d know,” Winter said, looking at Mari intensely. 

“Well, it was less of a deal and more of an offer . I think she thought I was naive enough to do whatever she asked. I’m not.”

“Yes, we all know that. Still, you shouldn’t have done that. Do you have any idea what animus magic can do? Like, to your soul and stuff.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it. I’ll be carefull”

“I don’t believe that. You shoved me off a cliff once because you thought it would help. How many times have you used your magic? Don’t lie, this is super important.”

“Twice. Maybe three times. Yeah, it was three times. They were all super small spells, though. At least, I think they were.”

“Please, please, tell me you didn’t cast any spells on us,” Winter pleaded. I…I don’t know if I can trust them anymore. I hope this power doesn’t change them. 

“Of course I didn’t. What do you take me for, a sadist? A control freak? No way. I saw firsthand how Turtle and that nightmare bitch are. I’m never going to be anything like them. I’d much rather be Mari.”

“And we don’t want you to change a bit, no matter how frustrating you are,” Bluebell said lightly. 

“ Now can I go to bed?”

“Yes, go. I should go back to sleep too. So should you two,” Bluebell said, looking at Winter and Kinkajou. Winter wasn’t sure if he’d be able to sleep after the revelations of the night. 

But, he was exhausted and soon after laying down, he’d fallen back into the nothingness that was sleep. 

Chapter Text

Flying into the palace was the easy part. A few guards were killed, but that was nothing in the grand scheme of things. It was the middle of the day, and Queen Snowfall should have been in the throne room, so that’s where Moon went first. Oddly, Snowfall wasn’t there. Moon checked around the palace, but found the queen nowhere. 

Knowing that eventually Snowfall had to return, Moon hid behind the throne, the shadows concealing her dark scales with ease. After what may have been hours of waiting, Moon grew impatient. 

“I need Snowfall here, now,” she hissed at Turtle. 

“Why here? You know it would be a lot harder to kill her if she could call for whatever guards are left, right?”

“Who cares? You can just kill all of them. Easy.”

“But, the other part of your plan. You probably want as many IceWings alive as possible for that.”

Originally, the plan had been to kill every single IceWing in the kingdom, and then track down the rest. Genocide was a bit too simple, though, and with all the power she held, Moon had a better idea. She would enslave the entire tribe to her wishes, and torture them whenever she pleased. 

Coming up with the idea had been the simple part. The much more difficult task was convincing Turtle that it was a good idea. But even that wasn’t hard. He’d have his place at her side, but she’d have all the real power. 

“Oh, right. Well then, I want you to lure her to the Great Ice Cliff. We’ll kill her there. I do hope she’s wearing her crown,” Moon said, slipping out of her hiding place. 

Turtle closed his eyes for a moment, although Moon knew he didn’t need to. “There. She’s on her way now. We just have to get there before her.” 

“Let’s go,” Moon ordered, and together they flew off.

__________________________

It was cold at the top of the Cliff. Even with her new coat, Moon was shaking. Oh well. Soon, it would be perfect. She’d make sure of it. 

There was a light flurry when Snowfall finally arrived. Her crown was the first thing Moon spotted, sparkling in the cold sunlight. Perfect. 

Moon toyed with her knife. She didn’t have time to play with her prey this time. She would still have her fun, just not exactly how she’d hoped. A hemicorporectomy was one of the less brutal things that was soon to happen. 

 Once the Icewing had spotted her, she scowled and sped up, probably trying to attack Moon, although the Nightwing knew nothing could harm her with Turtle as her ally.

“Nightwing,” the queen said. “How did you get here?”

“Oh, it was nothing really, just magic,” Moon said in a cheerful voice. “Annnnnnnyyyyyyyyywaaaaaaaaays, do you like my coat?” She said, spinning around. The cloak flowed beautifully behind her and she smiled as the recognition hit Snowfall.

Those scales look familiar. WAIT, is that…

“Where did you get that?”

“Tundra’s house,” Moon said plainly.

Snowfall took as step back and said, “NightWing–”

“Yes?”

“You are under arrest for murdering a member of the royal family.”

“Mmmmh,” Moon hummed. “I’m afraid I don’t have time for that. On the other talon, I do have time for this .”

She snatched the glittering crown from Snowfall’s head and lifted her blade up, slicing the former IceWing queen in half.

With the crown placed securely on her head, Moon grinned. She turned to face Turtle, who was looking at her with a strange mix of horror and excitement. She gestured to the Ice Kingdom below them with her tail.

 “Burn it.”

Chapter Text

Why does…you know what, I’m not even surprised at this point. Of course Moon wants to burn the Ice Kingdom down. 

“This place could use a bit of a change, if I do say so myself,” Moon said, answering the question in his head. “And, I want all of the IceWings in the same place for the big announcement. Leave the central square intact.”

“Everything is made of ice. It’ll flood.”

“ Just do it.”

Turtle sighed, resigning himself to his fate. He silently cast a spell, and fire erupted throughout the kingdom. Everywhere. It took a few moments for everyone to notice, but soon the screaming began. 

Chaos ensued, dragons running every which way to escape the fire. Soon, the fires met one another and formed a slowly shrinking ring. Unstoppable flames were pretty cool. Not even the flood could put them out. 

Soon, the ring of fire had enclosed the central square –which was the only place he had enchanted to not burn– trapping everyone inside. A few had run off towards the sea, but Turtle didn’t care. They wouldn’t make it far before they melted in the flames.

Turtle watched the fire for a while, staring into the depths of the flames. Moon had called his name almost five times (or so she said) before she got his attention. 

“Let’s go introduce ourselves to our new subjects,” Moon said, grinning. “This should be fun.”

______________________

They were standing on an ice spire, the tallest one left in the kingdom. Moon gazed down at the gathered IceWings with a condescending look. She snapped her talons, and the sound reverberated, getting everyone’s attention. 

“Snowfall is dead,” she let what she had said sink in before continuing. “I’m your new queen, so either you bow to my wishes or you will be executed,” she said calmly. 

“And how will you kill us, NightWing? ” someone in the crowd shouted back. “I could freeze you before you even got the chance.”

Moon smirked, laughing slightly. “ I’m not going to be the one killing you. I have an animus for that. Turtle, show them what you can do.” 

Oh, this will be fun. 

He looked down at the crowd and picked out the dragon who’d dissented. He silently cast a spell, and the disagreeable dragon exploded. 

There was a lot of screaming after that.

“Silence,” Moon bellowed. “You don’t make any noise unless given permission.” 

All the screaming suddenly cut off. Turtle had cast a spell so that whatever Moon ordered until midnight exactly would become an unbreakable law.

Moon smirked at him like she knew exactly what he’d done. “Much better,” she said. “Now, you’re all going to rebuild the Ice Kingdom, exactly as I say.” She proceeded to describe all of the specifications she wanted met, including a palace grander than any other on Pyrrhia, made of pure obsidian.

She adjusted her crown and snapped her talons. “Get to it.”

Chapter Text

The fire started out of nowhere. Flames weren’t supposed to be able to burn in the Ice Kingdom. And yet, there they were. Hailstorm had gotten lucky since he wasn’t in one of the cities that were the first to burn. He had been patrolling the kingdom’s borders when he first saw the flames. When the fire started spreading, Hailstorm took to the air. 

He flew over the melting kingdom alone for hours before he spotted a group of dragons who’d escaped running towards the sea. He pumped his wings as fast as he could to reach them and once he did, he realized that his sister was one of them.

“Icicle, glad you made it out. What happened?”

“The fi–” Icicle tried to say, but she was too winded. She landed on a rocky outcropping that overlooked the ocean and righted herself before saying, “The fire started near the Great Ice Cliff and spread all over the kingdom. It surrounded the central square and now, everyone who’s alive is trapped in there.”

“How many made it out of the fire?” He asked sullenly.

“Not many,” Icicle replied. “I assume that the NightWing who came here is responsible for that.”

“It’s not him , right?” He asked, nightmares of the large black dragon crowding his brain.

“No. She’s smaller, younger. Probably around my age. And by the looks of it, she’s got an animus with her.”

“She killed Snowfall,” someone whispered. “She killed her, and took the crown for herself.”

Hailstorm turned to look at the dragoness. She was silver with dark blue freckles all over her wings and snout. Lynx, if he remembered correctly. Tears were streaming down her face and her eyes were puffy. 

She was Snowfall’s best friend. He realized. She must be heartbroken.

He was going to attempt to comfort her before he heard laughter up in the sky.

“Well, well, look who’s escaped the fire,” the NightWing said in a singsong tone. “It’s a shame that you won’t get to live past today.”

I know her! She’s the NightWing Winter is friends with.

Moon barked a laugh before saying, “Oh Hailstorm, you’re so funny! Me and your brother were never friends! In fact, I never even liked him in the first place. And Icicle, I’m using past tense because he’s dead. I killed him. I killed him, and then I killed your queen and enslaved your tribe.”

No!

“Oh yes! He’s dead. I didn’t kill him alone, though. My ally Turtle was a large part of his death.”

“Why!” Hailstorm shouted. “Why did you kill him? What did he do to deserve death?”

“HE KISSED MY BOYFRIEND!” Moon yelled back. “BY THE LAKE AT OUR SCHOOL IN FRONT OF EVERYONE !! HE KISSED HIM AND PRETENDED TO SAVE HIS LIFE!”

“He was performing CPR!” Lynx yelled. “He actually did save your boyfriend’s life! That's not something he deserved to die for.”

Chapter Text

Moon growled before charging at the Icewing, but Hailstorm jumped in front of her. Moon tackled him and grabbed his neck. He tried to kick her off but she was strong and held him down. 

She summoned Turtle to her and when the green SeaWing appeared in front of her, he immediately asked, “What do you need?”

“Summon the box here, now .”

Turtle bowed before closing his eyes. Her box suddenly appeared right in front of her. The door was open and she threw Hailstorm inside. She snapped the chains tight around his ankles.

 “Change the spell. Make the box electric,” she demanded as she slammed the door shut and locked it.

Turtle bowed again and handed her the remote. She raised the electricity level and heard screaming from inside the box. She raised the electricity even more and smiled. Sparks were now shooting off the outside of the box. 

She continued to mess with the remote and she only stopped when she heard Turtle think: Enchant Icicle to look exactly like Winter did. 

Moon smiled and opened the door to the box very slowly. Hailstorm was lying on the floor of the box, writhing in pain.

“Turtle dear, you know what to do.”

Turtle nodded and thought: Enchant Icicle to kill Hailstorm and then herself.

Chapter Text

It all happened so fast. One moment Icicle was standing next to her and the next moment, Winter was.

Winter jumped into the box where Hailstorm was and slit his brother's throat. He then slit his own throat. 

No, no, no. That’s not right. Winter isn’t here. 

Lynx glanced around, spotting Squall and Khione, the two other IceWings who’d escaped, flying away. They’d also seen what the NightWing had done. They were understandably scared. 

Lynx ducked behind a tree, hoping she wouldn’t be spotted. She knew the NightWing could easily catch her in the air. It seemed that the NightWing was more preoccupied with chasing Squall and Khione down than anything else. Hopefully, she had forgotten about Lynx.

Lynx watched from her hiding spot. Squall didn’t get a chance to fight back before the NightWing, who had easily caught up with the two IceWings, slashed her throat. Khione recovered quickly and blasted the NightWing in the face with her frostbreath, but the NightWing just shook it off before slashing her throat too. 

“That’s all of them,” the NightWing said, looking at the SeaWing who stood at her side. “Let’s go see how my… subjects are doing.”

Lynx grinned to herself, relief spreading through her. The two evil dragons had completely forgotten about her. This was great news. Once the pair was long gone, Lynx took to the air. She aimed her flight path to Possibility. She hoped she could find help there. 

She had to fly over the bay, passing the Ice Kingdom, in order to get there. And that's when she got her first view of the devastation. Everything was…gone. The flames had ravaged it all. There was something new, though. It was what looked like the beginnings of a castle, made of black stone. 

It’s a palace for that wretched NightWing who stole Snowfall’s life and crown. 

The NightWing and her ally sat atop the only ice spire that still stood, watching Lynx’s tribe rebuild their kingdom, with a new centerpiece. They all moved in an almost mechanical fashion, like a puppet would. 

Animus magic. They’re all puppets for her now. I have to get help, ASAP. 

Lynx sped up, hoping, praying to the Great Ice Spirits that she’d make it in time to get help. 

_____________________

She had been flying over the desert when she noticed something sticking out of the sand in one of the dunes. She swooped down and grabbed it.

“It” was a dreamvisitor. The shiny blue star shaped crystal glittered wonderfully against her silver scales.

Visit Snowfall, a part of her brain suggested. Lynx knew she couldn’t, she knew her girlfriend was dead, and never coming back, but she just couldn’t bring herself to believe it.

Visit Winter then. Her brain insisted. 

He’s dead too. She retaliated.

Just try.

No.

Yes.

Fine.

She sighed and sat down, holding the dreamvisitor to her forehead. She imagined her friend and closed her eyes.

Lynx had expected to still be in the desert but when she opened her eyes up, she was in a forest.

The trees surrounding her were thin and elegant, with white bark and bright orange leaves. Through a break in the trees, Lynx spotted pale blue scales. Lynx hadn’t noticed that they were moving towards her until they crashed into her. 

“Ow, what the he-” the dragon said, before stepping back. 

Lynx got her first good look at the dragon who’d hit her. 

“Winter…is that you?”

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry, you want me to go where ?” Mari looked skeptically at Winter. They hadn’t expected to be bothered this early in the morning. This was their alone time, the time they spent on all their projects without being bothered. 

“Possibility. It’s a dragon city,” Winter said. He’d found Mari awake at 4 in the morning, when the sun hadn’t even risen, and asked them if they’d go with him.

“Why? I thought you weren’t a fan of being around other dragons.” 

“There’s…someone there who I really want to see. I don’t want to go alone. I’m going to ask Bluebell if she wants to come too.”

“Oooh, who are you going to see? Is it your cruuuusssshhh?”Mari giggled a bit. They hoped it was his secret crush so they could pester the shit out of them. 

“NO! IT IS NOT ! MOONS, MARI! It’s just an old…acquaintance from the Ice Kingdom.” 

“Oh. I don’t like him already. Do we have to go meet him?”

“Yes. She told me to go there, in a dream.”

“Sheeee? Wow, I didn’t know you could even talk to girls, let alone be friends with them.” 

“MARI!” 

“What?”

“I’m literally friends with Kinkajou and she’s a girl.”

“Doesn’t count.”

“Ughhh, whatever. Will you go with me?”

“Is Bluebell a goody two shoes? The answer is yes, by the way. It’s not like I would pass up the chance to visit a dragon city. I mean, how cool is that ?”

“I knew you would. Thanks, Mari.” Winter turned around and went back downstairs, leaving Mari alone with their book. 

_________________________

Mari wasn’t sure how much time had passed until Bluebell came upstairs, but they were almost done with their book. Mari noticed Winter trailing nervously behind Bluebell. 

Huh, why’s he so scared? He was fine a few hours ago.

“Mari, before we go, can I ask you a huge favor?” Bluebell asked uncertainly. She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. 

Why is everyone so tense all of a sudden?

“Go on, ask,” Bluebell said, gesturing to the IceWing following behind her. Winter shook his head, looking down. 

“It’s fine, they don’t bite,” Bluebell reassured him.

“I’ve literally seen them bite several times.”

“They’re not going to bite you though.”

“Unless you piss me off. In which case, I will. ”

“See, that’s why you scare me,” Winter said, staring at Mari.

He’s scared of me… I didn’t know that. I was just trying to be funny, I didn’t want to scare anyone.

“Oh, putain de pépites, Mari, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry, I just said it. I’ll go. I’m sorry. I–”

“Shut the hell up dude and just ask me whatever it is you wanted to ask.”

“I-I can’t. I’m sorry, this was a waste of time.”

“What would be wasting my time is asking me for a favor and then not telling me what the favor is. So just ask.” Mari gave Winter a smile and waved their hand, hoping it would make him feel more comfortable. 

“Okay, I’m sorry,” Winter said quietly, flinching. “I wanted to ask if you’d, um, enchant something for me?”

“Yeah, sure. What do you want?” 

That’s it? He was scared to ask me about that?

“Uhm…can you please, pretty please , enchant something that’ll hide my scars? I don’t want Lynx seeing them.”

“Yeah, I know what that’s like. I’d just have to find something to enchant, since I figure you wouldn’t like it much if I cast the spell on you .”

Mari hopped off the couch, darting up the stairs and into Bluebell’s room. She had lots of jewellry and stuff in her dresser. Mari dug through it until they found a silver necklace with a small purple crystal attached to it. They ran back down the stairs with it, jumping up on the couch in order to dangle it in front of Winter’s face.

“Put this on your neck. It should fit.”

Winter took the necklace from them and tried to clip it around his neck, but his talons were incredibly clumsy. Mari sighed and clipped it for him. They waved their hand over it when they were done. 

I enchant this necklace to hide any scars or wounds that the wearer has, and make it feel normal if another person touches them.

“Tada!” Mari said, watching the magic transform Winter’s body. Where there used to be scars and bandages, immaculate light blue scales shone. Bluebell looked ready to cry and when she brought Winter to a mirror, tears filled his eyes. 

“Wow,” he whispered. “Thank you, Mari.” Winter bowed, which was kind of weird but also kind of amazing. “How can I ever pay you back?” 

“Don’t ever, ever , touch my coffee machine, ever again .”

Winter bowed again. ”I’m sorry, really.” 

“It’s fine. What’s up with the bowing?”

The IceWing shrugged, “Old habits die hard, I guess.”

“Hm, got it. Now, go away, I’m r

Chapter Text

When he walked over to Kinkajou with the necklace on, she began crying. He asked if she’d go with him to Possibility, and she said yes.

They were packing now, Mari shoving everything in a bag and Bluebell neatly packing everything. Winter and Kinkajou could get everything they needed in the city so they were just watching.

“I honestly don’t even know how you find anything,” Bluebell was saying.

“I have my ways, you have yours.”

“Well, I’m done,” Blue announced, placing her hands on her hips. “You ready, Macaroni?”

“Yup, let's go!”

________________________

Several agonizing days later, the group had made it to the city. Winter had carried Mari and Kinkajou had carried Bluebell for most of the way, so now Winter was exhausted. There was no time to stop and rest, though. Lynx had told him that she had some news that could only be broken in person.

If I were Lynx, where would I be..?

Oh! I know. The fishmonger.

“Follow me, okay. Don’t cause a scene.” he whispered. The ragtag group made their way to the fishmonger, and of course, Lynx was in line. Winter waited for her to finish ordering before he approached her with his friends behind him.

“Winter!” Lynx shouted. She ran up to him, not seeming to notice Kinkajou, Bluebell, or Mari. 

“Oh, hey, Lynx. You wanted me to meet you in here?” 

“Yeah, there’s something I have to tell you…alone.” Lynx looked past Winter, seeing the three others gathered around. “Who are they?”

Winter sighed. “That’s Kinkajou, Bluebell, and Mari. They’re…acquaintances of mine. Guys, this is Lynx,” he said, turning to face his group. 

Mari was, of course, the first one to speak up. “Are you his girlfriend?”

Winter leaned down, and using Human so that Lynx didn’t understand this bit of conversation, scolded Mari. “Stop that or I’ll throw you in the river!” he said sharply.

“Ha,” Mari laughed, “As if you even could.”

WInter gave them a look. “I think you may be forgetting who the dragon is here.”

“And I think you’re forgetting who has a knife,” Mari quipped back, twirling their knife dangerously. 

Moons above, why can they never be normal?

“Sorry about them,” Winter said to Lynx, switching back to dragon. 

“It’s fine. Which of your new friends are they?”

“That one’s Mari. Bluebell is the one with blue hair, and Kinkajou’s the RainWing.”

“Got it. Listen, Winter, we need to talk —” Lynx let out a shriek as both of her wings started ripping off at the part that connected to her body. They tore from the front to the back, soaking the ground with dark blue blood. The wings vanished once they had been fully removed, leaving only an open wound along both sides of Lynx’s body. Lynx collapsed to the ground, her blood still flowing from the wounds. 

Bluebell immediately jumped into action, screaming at Mari to summon bandages and gauze. They did, and a pile taller than Winter appeared. Bluebell started pressing the gauze to Lynx’s wounds, trying to stop the blood flow. 

“Mari, come hold this in place while I get the other side and wrap the wound,” she ordered. 

“Ew, no,” they replied, stepping away from the large puddle of blood forming on the ground.

Winter grabbed the gauze and pressed it against the wound on Lynx’s left side. He knew it probably hurt like hell, but it was better than her bleeding out. He could see the bone where the wing joint connected to and pressed more and more gauze onto the large gash. When there was enough, he snatched a bandage and began wrapping it around her body. Making sure to cover up the gauze that Bluebell had added to the other side.

Lynx passed out and he tried to lift her up, but he was too weak. He wrapped his arms around her waist and dragged her into a nearby alleyway, trying to get away from the crowd that had gathered around them and out of sight. He asked Kinkajou to take Mari and Blue away to try and find some water and she obliged.

When he got back to Lynx, he realized that she had woken up and was sobbing.

Winter crouched down near her and squeezed one of her talons. “Hey, look at me. Kinkajou’s gonna get you some water, okay? I’ve got you. Everything’s going to be fine.” He couldn’t help a single tear from running down his cheek. “I’ve got you. Look at me, Lynx, look at me. You’re strong, probably one of the strongest dragons I know, You’ll live through this. Everything’s gonna be okay.” He was crying now. Lynx was his only friend growing up, he couldn’t lose her, wouldn’t . Her eyes started closing and his heart lurched. “Keep your eyes open, c’mon. Lynx, stay with me. Ne meurs pas, s'il te plaît. Je ne peux pas te perdre. Je ne te perdrai pas. S'il vous plaît, ne mourrez pas. Lynx, je t'aime. Lynx, ne meurs pas. S'il vous plaît s'il vous plaît.” Lynx’s eyes began to flutter open and he smiled. “Ça y est, je suis là. Restez avec moi. Je t'ai eu. Tout ira bien. Je vais rester ici. Je t'aime. Tout ira bien.”

Just then, Bluebell, Kinkajou and Mari showed up with the water. Kinkajou was carrying a large bucket and Bluebell was carrying a cup. Winter took the cup out of her hands and poured some of the water from the bucket into it. He gently tipped the water into Lynx’s mouth and when she finished, he filled the cup again and set it down next to her.

“Merci, Winter. Je t'aime,” the IceWing whispered.

“Bien sûr. Je t'ai eu,” he whispered back.

“Okay, what the fuck is happening?” Mari asked really loudly.

“Shut up dude!” Kinkajou yelled back.

“I just wanna know what happened to her, okay? Like, one moment, she was just talking to us and the next, her wings are gone and there’s blood everywhere.”

Lynx whispered something that Winter didn’t catch, but he had a feeling that it was about Mari. The former looked up at him and said, “Tout s'effondre trop vite.”

Winter frowned before asking, “Lynx, what’s wrong?”

She shuddered and squeezed his talon harder. “She killed her. Winter, Snowfall dead.”

No. No no no no no. The tribe couldn’t handle this. Everything would go into chaos.

He had a pretty good feeling he knew who it was, but he still asked Lynx, “Who killed her?”

“A NightWing.”

“Did she–did she kill anyone else?”

Lynx started shaking and tears spilled out of her eyes.

“Who did she kill, Lynx?” Winter asked, preparing himself.

Lynx kept weeping and shaking her head, trembling all over. 

“Who did she kill?” He asked firmly, letting go of her talon.

The IceWing in front of him shook her head again and curled into herself.

“ Lynx -” Winter cried, his voice cracking and tears streaming down his face. “ Lynx , who did she kill? Lynx, please .”

Lynx swallowed hard before saying one word, “Tundra.”

Everything collapsed. It was like the world was ending, just from one, little word. One stupid word. One fucking word. With one word, he broke. One. Word.

He couldn’t breathe. Everything felt wrong. His scales, the ground, the air. He sank to the ground. Walking felt funny. He couldn’t breathe.

Mari was yelling something at him, or at least, he thought they were, he couldn’t hear properly. They ran over to him and shook his shoulders. He didn’t feel it. Everything was broken. He was broken.

The word replayed itself in his mind. Tundra. Tundra. Tundra. It wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real. His mother was the strongest, most powerful–other than the queen– IceWing in the entire Ice Kingdom. She couldn’t be dead. It was impossible.

Somehow, he managed to croak out another question. “She did something else, didn’t she?”

Lynx nodded slowly. “Now’s not the time, Winter. You’re dealing with too much already and–”

“What did she do?” Winter asked, cutting her off.

Lynx grabbed one of his talons and whispered, “You’re not going to like this.” She took a shaky breath before continuing. “The NightWing burned the entire kingdom and forced the dragons who made it out to rebuild the palace to her preferences.”

“How many did we lose?”

Squeezing his talon, Lynx whispered, “At least 20. I’m not sure exactly how many, though…I’m sorry, Winter.” 

“She killed someone else. Who was it?”

“Winter–”

“Who was it?”

“ Who was it, Lynx ?”

“I-” she was sobbing. “Winter, please promise me you won’t do something stupid after I tell you this.” He nodded and she continued. “It- it was Hailstorm and Icicle.”

He curled into himself, letting tears soak the dirt underneath him. Somehow, he had expected this, but it still shattered him.

His final question hurt to ask. “How did she do it? How did she kill them?”

Lynx twined her tail with his before answering. “She removed every single one of Tundra’s scales and had them made into a cloak.”

“And for Hailstorm and Icicle?” Winter asked, emotionless, or overrun with emotions.

“She–she put Hailstorm in a huge box and electrocuted him, but it didn’t kill him so she–” Lynx twined her tail tighter. “She had her SeaWing friend turn Icicle into you and kill him. Then she made Icicle/you kill herself.”

Winter's heart broke yet again. The last thing Hailstorm saw was me killing him. He probably didn’t even have time to remember that I’m dead and that I never would have killed him.

His family might have been toxic, and abusive, and traumatized him, but they didn’t deserve to die. If anything, he was the one who deserved death.

Winter closed his eyes, trying to escape from reality.

He didn’t know when it happened, but when he opened his eyes, his arms were covered in scratches and his talons were stained with blue blood.

Tears splattered onto the ground as he whispered, “This is all my fault.”

Bluebell rushed forward and wrapped her arms around his neck in a fierce hug. She was crying too and he could feel her tears falling on his shoulder. “I ’m so, so sorry for your loss. I know I can’t do anything to make you feel better, but I just want you to know one thing. This is not your fault. None of it. I know that you don’t believe me, and that you’re gonna keep blaming yourself for this, but it's not your fault. Moon is the psychopath behind all of this. She is responsible for murdering moons know how many dragons. She is responsible for killing your mother and siblings. She is responsible for ruining your life. You are not. You are kind, funny and you are extremely talented at art, but most importantly, you care about others and wouldn’t hurt them for fun. Right now, you’re going through a lot. You just lost three dragons that you care about, and you’re right to be sad. I think everyone would be sad if they were in your position. You’re probably feeling really broken and hurt, and I just want you to know that I will always be here for you. Always . I never want you to feel like this again, but eventually, it's gonna happen. Just please, promise me you won’t hurt yourself again. If you feel like you want to, just come find me and I’ll help you, okay? I love you, Winter.” 

Bluebell kept hugging him and for a moment, Winter felt pure happiness and felt whole–until Mari ruined it.

Chapter Text

“I love you, Winter,” Bluebell said, still hugging her friend. She could feel his tears dripping onto her back but she didn’t care. For once, Winter looked like he was genuinely happy–until Mari decided to speak.

“EwWWwwWW, there's a BUuUuUgG on my ShHoOE,” Mari whined as they furiously shook their foot around. The bug flew into the air and landed on Kinkajous snout, which caused the RainWing to panic and accidentally step on Lynx’s tail, thus ruining the moment.

Bluebell sighed and gave Winter one last squeeze before letting go of him and dropping onto the ground. Winter stood up and shook dirt off from his scales.

“Well,” she breathed, “there goes that nice moment.”

“Shut the fuck up, bitch,” Mari replied. 

Blue shook her head and turned to Lynx. “Are you feeling okay?” The IceWing nodded and attempted to stand up but fell. Winter was able to catch her before she hit the ground and she thanked him. Bluebell switched to Human before asking Winter, “Do you think we should bring her back to the cabin? I might be able to fix her up better if we do.”

Winter nodded. “Yeah. It’ll take a while to get back though. Especially with Lynx getting used to walking without her wings.”

“Winter, you and I both know that you’ll have trouble walking after this,” Blue said, indicating the cuts in his forelegs. He blushed and looked away. 

Bluebell sighed again and grabbed some of the bandage and gauze from earlier. She gently placed the gauze on Winter’s cuts and wrapped the bandages around his legs. She didn’t like that he had decided to cut himself to deal with his grief. Yes, he was dealing with a lot, but self harm wasn’t a good coping method. She needed to figure out how to make sure that was implanted in his brain.

“Hey, I have an idea,” Mari announced and without any warning, teleported the whole group to the cabin.

“MARIGOLD,” Winter screamed. “WHAT WAS THAT ?”

“Teleportation.”

Winter groaned and opened the door to the cabin. Leading Lynx inside carefully.

Bluebell sighed. He’s so nice to everyone. I don’t even know why Moon hated him in the first place.  

She walked into the cabin and set her bag down on the kitchen table, then beckoned Lynx and Winter to follow her.

“Winter, can you run upstairs and get some of that numbing ointment? Lynx looks like she’s in a lot of pain. Grab some more bandages while you’re at it.”

He nodded and began walking up the stairs to grab everything.

Bluebell thanked him and took Lynx into the bathroom. She carefully removed the bandages where her wings used to be and gasped when she saw how well Winter had put the gauze on. The gashes were still bleeding but a lot less than they had been earlier.

She washed Lynx’s wounds and stitched them up carefully, making sure to keep the IceWing calm all the while.

Winter arrived shortly after and helped put the numbing ointment and bandages back on his friend. When they were done, he led Lynx downstairs and helped her get situated.

________________________

Bluebell had been reading on the couch when she noticed something off about Mari.

“Hey, Mari?”

“Hmm?”

“Why are there bandages around your arms?”

“Oh, these?” Mari said, looking at their arms. “I thought it looked cute. Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

“No, I’m going to worry. I’ve never thought about it before, but you have so many knives in your room, and you’re alone so often, and…”

“What? You think I self-harm? Blue, don’t be absurd. I wouldn’t.”

“Mari, please don’t lie to me. You don’t have to lie to me.” A tear slipped out of Bluebell’s eye. 

“Fine. Maybe I do cut myself sometimes. It’s not a big deal, though, really.” Mari shrugged. They were so unfazed by the fact that they hurt themself that it hurt Bluebell. 

“Mari, no. It’s not fine . It is a big deal. My BEST FRIEND cuts themself! You could have talked to me. You should have talked to me.” The tears were now pouring uncontrollably. 

“I have told you! I’ve told you multiple times that I’m not okay! You’ve always just laughed it off!” Mari said back. Both them and Bluebell were now screaming, their emotions making their voices raise. 

“I thought you were joking! How was I supposed to know?!”

Mari had opened their mouth to retaliate when Winter walked into the living room.

“Bluebell? Mari? What’s going on?” he asked. 

Do I keep Mari’s secret? I think Winter might be able to help me get through to them, though. 

“I’ve just found out that Mari self-harms, and never even told me,” Bluebell said.

“Hey! That’s not your business to tell,” Mari said angrily. “See, this is why I never tell anyone anything. Because then all of a sudden, it becomes everyone’s business.” 

“Mari, you could have talked to one of us. If you didn’t want Bluebell to worry, you could have told me.”

“No, I couldn’t have. You were already going through so much. I couldn’t burden either of you with this.”

“Mari, you’re not a burden.” Bluebell insisted.

“Don’t. Just don’t. I can’t do this anymore. Goodbye, Bluebell. Goodbye, Winter.”

Chapter Text

Mari didn’t know where they were going, they just knew they needed to leave. They needed to be alone to think, to cry, to shatter into a million and one pieces. They took the sword off their belt and examined their reflection in the metal. 

Their eyes were puffy with tears they hadn’t known were falling. Their hair stuck to their face. They lowered the blade towards their arm, just trying to stop looking themself in the eye. 

They knew the pain was only a temporary solution, but still, it helped. They dragged the edge of their sword along their arm, leaving a thin red line. They made a few more that intersected with the first, until red stained their vision. Blood soaked the dirt at their feet, making a weird mud. 

I’m alone out here. I could kill myself, and no one would know until I didn’t return to the cabin in the next few days. Then Bluebell would come to find me. I can’t leave her without closure, though. 

But what would I even say? I don’t want her to blame herself. It’s not her fault at all. It’s mine. I know she’d blame herself, though. 

Perhaps, something like this?

‘Dear Bluebell, Winter, and even Kinkajou,

I’m sorry. You were all so amazing, and I wish I didn’t have to leave you like this. But I just can’t keep going anymore. I’ve fought this feeling for so long, to be with you. But, it’s time for me to go. I’m happier. 

Please keep on being the wonderful people you are. Please know this isn’t your fault. Please forget about me. Remembering hurts, and I don’t want to hurt you anymore than I already have. 

With all the love I have left to give, Mari.’ 

“But then what?” Mari asked aloud, hoping the trees had some sort of answer. “Then nothing. I don’t want nothing. I want something. I want to be remembered as someone who changed the world. Dying alone in a forest isn’t going to make that happen.”

Mari toyed with their hair as they thought. I’m losing control of my own fate, it feels like. I want to take it back. But how?

Whether it was the ponderous silence, or the feeling of strands of hair between their fingers, the answer soon came. Ah, I know. I can cut my hair. That’s what people in my books do when they’re trying to be rebellious or prove a point. 

Mari picked up their sword, which they’d dropped sometime during their breakdown, and looked at themself in the metal one last time. This time, instead of taking the blade to their arms, they slashed it through their hair, golden blonde locks falling to the ground. 

They only spent around 5 minutes cutting their hair, but they were happy with how it turned out. They took another look in their makeshift mirror and smiled, satisfied with the result. 

It still wasn’t right , though. There was still something off about it. Perhaps, they should try changing the color? It was most likely that, and with their power, they could easily fix it if that was the problem. They imagined the shade of hair they’d always wished they had, a light pink with darker pink tones, and poof , it was done. 

Using their magic had felt good, so Mari decided, why not use it again? It’s not like I’m going to go completely evil if I cast small spells. 

They pondered what they wanted, what they could use magic to get, and finally settled on a silver circlet that was inlaid with diamonds. 

With the circlet placed securely on their head, Mari walked back to their cabin with their head held high.

Chapter Text

Her palace was perfect. Everything was made of obsidian and emerald, and somehow her IceWings were able to start fires to keep things warm. It must have been rough for them, having to work in the heat, but who cared? Moon liked it, and everyone else would just have to deal with it. 

Now came the next important task. Choosing which IceWings would get the privilege of being her servants. She only wanted the “pretty” ones to serve in her palace. The rest were…expendable. 

She surveyed the crowd, who were now milling about after having completed their work. It was easy to pick out the ones she liked. There were 10 of them, and she had them teleported into her palace, into cages in her throne room.

The rest, well…she didn’t have much to do with them yet. She didn’t want them leaving, though, so she turned to Turtle and said: “Make a forcefield around the kingdom. Something that’ll let us pass through without problem, but kill any IceWing who tries to leave without express permission.”

Turtle bowed and cast the spell but just to test that it worked, mind controlled a random IceWing to fly outside of the border of the forcefield. Said IceWing died immediately.

Moon flew into her throne room and glided down in front of the caged dragons. They were all looking at her with terrified expressions. Perfect.

Turtle had followed her, and was now watching the IceWings intently. Moon knew he was thinking about all the things he’d do to them once he had the chance. None of them sounded like much fun for the IceWings, so they all sounded like fun to Moon. 

She snapped her talons and the cages opened. “Line up,” she ordered. 

“Yes, my queen,” one of them said deferentially. They all stepped out of their cages and lined up. 

“Display yourselves,” Moon ordered. The IceWings complied, turning around in circles and showing themselves off. “Take your pick.”

Turtle pondered for a moment before picking one out. 

“Well, have fun with her. I have some…things to get to.”

Chapter Text

The bonds had finally loosened. After struggling against them for a week, Qibli had finally gotten enough give to slip out of them. He stretched out his wings, which were sore from not moving for so long.

What happened while I was trapped? I need to know any news I missed. Something big happened, I can feel it. But who would know? Who would tell me if I asked?

Qibli thought about this for a few moments, before deciding to go find Ostrich. 

He ran down the hallway towards Ostrich’s room and crashed into something very cold on the way. When he looked at the dragon he had run into, he saw a haughty IceWing glaring at him.

“Alba,” he murmured. She’s the IceWing in the Copper Winglet, likes to stay with other IceWings most of the time.

Alba’s eyes were blue and puffy, as if she had been crying. Qibli wondered why, and if she’d tell him if he asked. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” she insisted. “Just, dealing with a lot right now.”

“What happened,” Qibli pressed.

“I just got a letter saying that my little sister and parents passed away, and that I am not allowed to stay at the school anymore,” Alba explained, her voice cracking.

He nodded and whispered, “I’m sorry for your loss. Now, I need to go find Ostrich. Any idea where she is?” 

“She’s helping Changbai pack his stuff. He also got word that his parents passed.”

Qibli frowned. He wondered as to why two students had heard that their parents were dead, especially in such a short time frame.

He was going to ask how many students had gotten said letter when Alba said, “Ermine also got one. I wonder what–” she was cut off by three bongs, and one of the teachers, probably Tsunami, yelling. 

“Everyone, if you could please meet in the great hall. We have some important information that all of you need to know.”

Qibli and Alba shared a look before running towards the great hall.

When they got there, the Dragonets were standing on top of a high platform.

“Hello everyone,” Sunny said sadly. “I’m afraid we have some bad news.”

“As you all have probably heard, our three IceWing students have gotten some interesting scrolls. These letters have said that they cannot stay at the school because their guardians have been proclaimed dead,” Starflight continued. “The answer, to your question of ‘why’, is because there has been an attack on the Ice Kingdom. Two of our students attacked the Kingdom and killed many dragons, including,” he took a deep breath, “Their queen.”

“They also killed another one of our students,” Tsunami added.

The last one to speak was Clay. “We understand if you don’t want to stay at Jade Mountain after this. We want you to know that it is completely okay if you leave, if that’s what makes you feel safer.”

Sunny started talking again. “To our IceWing students, we would like you to know that you can stay here at Jade Mountain for as long as needed for you to find a suitable home. And we are deeply sorry for your losses. Please note that you will not be returning to the Ice Kingdom. The students that attacked burned it to the ground using animus magic, and it is now extremely dangerous to live there.”

“Who did they kill?” Someone across the room asked.

“Who are they?” Someone else asked.

“The killers are Moonwatcher and Turtle. Two members of the Jade Winglet. They killed Winter, another one of our IceWing students, around two months ago,” Tsunami answered. 

No. No, they couldn’t have. They wouldn’t. Moon would never kill anyone. 

…but she could. She could kill someone, if she had the motive and the means. She definitely has the means. She’s already told me she can have Turtle do anything she wants. But the motive…I don’t know. I don’t know why she’d attack the Ice Kingdom. 

I have to stop her, before she hurts anyone else.

Chapter Text

Lynx was curled up under an orange, white, and pink striped blanket when Winter entered the room, fuming. There were tears in his eyes, and Lynx couldn’t tell if he was angry or sad. 

He flopped to the ground next to her. “Lynx, I…” He sighed, closing his eyes. A single silvery tear slipped out. 

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me anything, but I heard screaming. What happened?” Lynx asked softly. She wanted to help him open up. 

“I…I don’t know if I can tell you. It’s not my secret to share, but something did happen.” Winter sighed again, blinking slowly. 

“Oh. I wish I knew how to help. Are the scavengers okay?”

“No one got hurt, if that’s what you’re wondering. They were just arguing. Bluebell found something out about Mari and started yelling. Mari…I don’t know. I hope they’re fine but…” He trailed off, making it seem like something was going to happen to the little scavenger. 

“Are you okay, Winter?” 

“I’m…fine. I think.”

Lynx smiled sadly and laid down next to him. She snuggled against him, just like they had done when they were dragonets.

When Lynx was little, she and Winter would spend full days together, practicing fighting formations and making sure they both had gotten high rankings on the Wall. Winter’s ranking had never been quite as high as hers, but that couldn’t stop them from being friends.

Lynx could remember Winter returning back to the kingdom after something. She remembered seeing him run to his parents, and hearing him get yelled at by them. She remembered watching him run towards his room the second Tundra and Narwhal had finished scolding him. She remembered flying up to his window to talk to him, and seeing scratches all along his arms along with a talonprint on the side of his face where one of his parents had hit him. She remembered watching him cut himself because “he was a disappointment.” She remembered watching him cry as she put fresh snow on the wounds to clean them. She remembered hearing about what had happened to Hailstorm, and hearing Winter blame himself for the entire thing. She remembered laying with him, in this same position, trying to calm him down. She remembered how much pain his parents caused him and how she had wanted to help but couldn’t.

But now she could. Now, she would be able to help her best friend.

She curled closer to him and whispered, “I love you, Winter.”

“Je t'aime aussi, Lynx,” he murmured back.

___________________

It was around two hours later when Kinkajou walked in. 

Lynx was laying on one blanket and underneath two more, with Winter’s wings wrapped around her protectively. He had stayed with her when she fell asleep and she was thankful for it. She didn’t know if he had gotten any sleep, but she was just grateful for the company.

Kinkajou walked into the room and looked down at the two of them. She glared and turned a bright red.

“What are you doing?!” Kinkajou yelled, her frill flaring out.

Winter scrambled up and whispered “Kinkajou, listen. Lynx and I weren’t, we didn’t, we–.”

“I don’t care about what you did,” the RainWing hissed. “I care about why a random IceWing nobody was snuggling you.”

Oh no she didn’t. Lynx stood in a battle stance, ready to fight the stupid, talking rainbow if she said one more thing.

“Lynx,” Winter said in a warning tone. “You’re not fit to fight right now. Go sit back down, please.”

Lynx glared at him. “I am not going to ‘sit down’. I’ll have you know that I can still fight perfectly fine ,” she said the last two words through gritted teeth. She turned towards Kinkajou and growled. “I am not some ‘IceWing nobody’, you rainbow bitch. I am Winter’s best friend, and I always have been.”

“I don’t think best friends snuggle each other,” Kinkajou countered. “Looked to me like you were spooning.”

“ We weren’t ,” Lynx insisted, her voice dripping in venom. She could feel her frost breath building up in her throat and hissed a tiny bit out at the RainWing in front of her. “I was helping calm him down! Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he’s had a crappy day.”

“Lynx–” Winter tried to say before she cut him off.

“ Don’t. You. Dare. Finish that sentence.”

“Oh, wait,” Kinkajou said. “I think I understand now. You’re snuggling him because you’re his so-called best friend. Well, if you can do that , then I can do this .”

Chapter Text

Kinkajou pulled him towards her and locked their lips together. 

He pushed away from her, shaking with both anger and fear.

Lynx lunged at the little RainWing, ready to kill her, but Winter blocked her. “Stop it!” He shouted. “I’m not just an object for you to fight over. Kinkajou, what Lynx said about trying to calm me down, she wasn’t lying. She really was trying to calm me down. Lynx has been my best friend since I was, like, a year old. We have more of a bond than you and me do.”

“But- I- she- she doesn’t know what you’ve been through! And even the parts she might know, she let happen! I’ve been here for you more than she has!” Kinkajou shrieked. 

“ You don’t know half of what I’ve been through either, Kinkajou. Neither of you know everything. Lynx is my best friend. You’re more like a little sister to me. Are you happy with that?” Winter said, exasperated. He really just wanted to leave. 

“Fine. I see how it is. I’m going to sleep now, if you ‘friends’ don’t mind.” KInkajou hissed. She spat a bit of venom, like she was showing off, and curled up on the bare ground. The venom melted through the wooden floor, leaving a sizzling hole. 

“No, wait. Kinkajou, we really need to talk. Come with me outside.” Winter said. 

Kinkajou grumbled, but stood up and followed him. They walked upstairs and sat down on the porch. 

Winter opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Luckily, Kinkajou spoke.

“Winter, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you. I was just angry and–”

“You should be sorry. You can’t just kiss me because you’re mad at someone. You can’t just kiss someone because you like them.”

“Then… why’d you do that to Qibli?”

Winter blushed and stammered “I-I don’t like him.”

“Uh-huh,” Kinkajou said. “Sure. Anyways, I really am sorry. Can you forgive me?”

“No. Kinkajou, that’s pretty much assault. You need to have consequences for that.”

“Consequences meaning what ?” She asked.

“You have to spend a whole day with Mari, whenever I choose, while me, Bluebell, and Lynx do something fun.” 

“Why are you talking about me?” Mari asked, appearing from literally nowhere.

Chapter Text

Mari had used their magic to teleport back to their cabin, since they didn’t feel like walking. Of course, though, they had to teleport right into the middle of a conversation. 

“Why are you talking about me?” they asked. Winter and Kinkajou both turned to look at them. Winter’s eyes widened as Kinkajou’s narrowed. 

“What did you do? ” Kinkajou said, quite rudely in Mari’s opinion. 

“I love it,” Winter chimed in. “It looks super cool. The circlet kind of reminds me of something you’d see in the Ice Kingdom.”

“Thanks. I was going for ‘badass bitch with an elegant side,’ so I think that fit the bill.” Mari laughed. “And the hair thing, I just needed something different. Something new, y’know.”

Kinkajou blinked at Mari. “Did you seriously use your magic on such a frivolous thing?”

“It’s not frivolous, you stupid rainbow bitch. It’s just using the power you have. Not that you’d know anything about that.”

Kinkajou turned bright red at that comment. From what Mari had observed, bright red meant angry. 

“Hey! I do have power. I’ve just never seen showing you as worth my time. But, if you’re so determined, take a look,” Kinkajou said, opening her mouth. From her twin fangs came a jet of black liquid, which sizzled in the air. 

“Yeah, no thanks,” Mari said, waving their hand. The black liquid changed course and splashed into the wall instead.  “Now, I answered your questions. Will you answer mine?”

“Depends,” Winter said. “Are they going to be as personal as the last time you questioned me?”

“No. I just want to know why you two were talking about me, and why I have to spend a whole day with the rainbow bitch.”

“Oh, yeah…so, basically, Lynx and I were cuddling-”

“Oooh,” Mari interrupted. “See, I knew she was your girlfriend.”

“She’s not. She’s just a friend. But anyways, Kinkajou walked in on us cuddling and got mad. Her and Lynx were about to get into a fight-”

“That I totally would have won.” Kinkajou interjected.

“Ha. Yeah, right. I bet even a monkey bat could take you in a fight.” Mari quipped back.

“What the hell is a monkey bat?”

“Exactly, they’re not even real and yet you’d still lose to one.”

“ Mari! Kinkajou! Can you both stop?” Winter almost screamed. 

“Yeah, sorry, Winter,” Kinkajou said, quieting. 

“No way, cause I’m clearly right,” Mari insisted. 

“If you want to know why I was talking about you, you’ll shut up and listen. Please,” Winter said. 

“Ugh, fine,” Mari relented. 

“Good. Anyways, they started arguing and then Lynx mentioned being my best friend and Kinkajou got mad and kissed me, so then I had to talk to her about why that isn’t okay. So now, she has to spend a day with you as a punishment.”

“Wow. What do I get out of this? It feels like you’re punishing me.”

“You get to do whatever you want with her. You can bother her all you want.”

“Oh. That sounds like fun. Now, if you’ll excuse me, igloo-face, I’ve got to go find Bluebell. I need to show her my hair.” 

Mari opened the door and went inside. They rolled their eyes at the stack of dishes in the sink and made a mental note to deal with that later. They climbed the stairs and opened the door to Bluebell’s room, where she was bending wires into some sort of ring.

“Hey, Blueberry,” Mari said, instantly catching Bluebell’s attention. 

“Mari! You’re back, and…whoa, what did you do to your hair? I mean, I love it, but like how?”

“Magic. And a sword. Cool, right?”

“I guess. By the way, are you okay? What happened before you left was…”

“I don’t want to talk about it. Please, just forget it happened. I’ll be okay, someday.” Mari sighed, looking down. 

“Okay, well, I’m here if you do ever want to talk.” 

“I know. I’m going to be okay for now. Anyways, I should go deal with the dishes. I’ll see you later,” Mari said, standing up. They really didn’t want to do dishes, but dishes they must do. 

But when they saw how many there were, they sighed. Why am I even going to wash them by hand when I could just use my magic?

Chapter Text

After leaving the palace, Moon stalked through the crowd that was still gathered outside. She was searching for a specific dragon. Mink, the only female IceWing royal who was still alive. Only she could challenge Moon for the throne. 

Moon didn’t like that, so she had to find a way to…deal with the young princess. She knew that if she was to rule the rest of Pyrrhia, she’d have to leave the Ice Kingdom. For that reason, she didn’t want to kill Mink quite yet. So instead, she planned to plant her on the throne as a mind-controlled puppet queen until Moon could return. 

It took a few minutes of searching, but eventually, Moon found who she was looking for. She could see that the tears on Mink’s face hadn’t yet dried all the way. She giggled a bit to herself, imagining what Mink must have felt hearing that her older sister was dead. 

Moon quietly snuck up behind Mink and grabbed her by the neck. “Come with me,” she whispered, “Or you’ll be the next one dead.”

Mink complied, and followed Moon back to the palace. Turtle was alone in the throne room. 

“Where are my guards?” Moon demanded. 

“I sent them away. They’re in the courtyard now, still as statues. I figured you’d want to do this next part alone.” he told her.

“Very observant. I think you know what I want you to do now, right?”

“Of course. You want me to turn Mink into your puppet.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m sorry, what?” Mink interjected. “I’m not a puppet.”

“Hush now,” Moon said to her. To Turtle she said, “Yes. That’s what I want. Do that now.”

Turtle nodded, and Mink’s eyes went blank. Moon could see little strings of silver light that connected to her body and face. She mentally tugged on one, and Mink took a step forward. Moon knew these strings weren’t really there, but they made for a nice mental image. 

“Here’s what’s going to happen. Mink, you’re going to take my place on the throne until I return. However, none of your actions will be of your own free will. You’re simply an extension of me and my power.”

Moon made Mink take a seat on the obsidian throne. It was much, much warmer than anything Mink had felt before, Moon knew, but she made no reaction. It was like she didn’t even notice. Mink would be her mindless, motionless puppet, only useful when Moon wanted to give her IceWing subjects an order while she was gone. 

After Mink was in place, Moon left the palace again, this time heading to the courtyard. Even here, it was perfectly warm.  She found her guards waiting there, just as Turtle had said. She quickly picked out the 5 strongest, and commanded them to follow her. 

She found Turtle waiting for her in front of her palace. “A little birdie told me that you wanted to kill Queen Thorn next?”

_____________________________________________________________________

Thorn’s stronghold was bright, sparkling gold, which Moon hated. She landed in front of it with Turtle standing to her right and her royal guard behind her. She knocked on the door, and Prince Smolder opened it. 

“Oh,” he said brightly. “A NightWing. And a SeaWing. And…5 IceWings? What the…nevermind. This is all perfectly fine. I assume you’re here to see the queen?”

“You could say that,” Moon said, already plotting. She planned to have Turtle freeze Thorn in place while she sliced off her tail barb and stabbed her through the heart. It would be a cruel irony, for a SandWing to be killed by their own natural weapon. 

But what could she do with Smolder? She could just slice his head off and be done with it…or she could make him her puppet ruler. The king of the SandWings, but just as under her control as Mink. That was a much better idea. 

“Queen Thorn is rather…indisposed at the moment. I suppose you’ll have to come back later.” Smolder said, with a tragic expression. 

“I think you’re misinterpreting what I mean. I’m here to see Queen Thorn, and if that means I have to search the entire palace by myself then so be it.” 

“Oh fine, I suppose she’s not too busy right now…” Smolder said. “But she can’t take all seven of you at once. You’ll have to go alone.”

“No. Turtle comes with me. Either that or I call my army and we seize the palace by force.” 

“Ugh, okay, the SeaWing can go too. But that’s it. ” 

“Good boy,” Moon said. She stepped past Smolder, giving him a little pat on the head as she passed, turning him into her perfect puppet. She climbed the stairs up to Thorn’s throne room, where she found Queen Thorn sitting on her throne. 

She was alone in the room, not a single guard in sight. But still, just to be sure, Moon had Turtle cast a spell killing any SandWing guard inside the palace. Then, she stepped into Thorn’s line of sight. 

“Oh? What’s this? A NightWing, in my territory? I haven’t had one of you here in ages. And a SeaWing too? Today must be something special, if two tribes are sending emissaries.” Thorn quipped. 

“Oh, we’re not emissaries. I’m Queen Moonwatcher of the IceWings.”

“But you’re a…a NightWing?”

“That I am. Doesn’t stop me from being the IceWing queen, though. Nor will it stop me from being the SandWing queen soon too.”

“You can’t do that. Only daughters or sisters can participate in a challenge for the throne.” 

“Who said anything about a challenge? Turtle, you know what to do.”

“You wretched NightWing, I swear to the moons above I’ll-” Thorn cut off with a grunt. Her mouth was frozen in the same position it had been in when Moon cast the spell, as was the rest of her body. 

With a wicked smirk, Moon stepped forward, enchanted knife in hand, and sliced off Thorn’s tail barb.

_________________________________________________________________________

The deed was done. The former SandWing queen was lying dead on the ground. The Eye of Onyx was still around her neck, so Moon reached out and grabbed it. The electric shock it delivered felt like only a small jolt to her. She had Turtle enchant it so that it would show that she was the true Queen of the SandWings. 

As they were leaving the palace, Moon sent Smolder to sit on the throne exactly as she’d done with Mink. Moon had more kingdoms to conquer. She met up with her IceWing guard again, and they followed her through the Scorpion Den until she found the stage that was typically used for performers. 

Her appearance drew the attention of nearly every single SandWing in the Den. When she climbed the steps that lead up to the stage, heads turned. Perfect. 

“Hello, all,” Moon said loudly. “Thorn is dead, and I am your new queen. The Eye of Onyx has chosen me, Queen Moonwatcher.”

The crowd shifted uneasily. Moon knew she was pushing it with the Eye of Onyx thing, but she knew of no other way to get the SandWings to bow to her short of mind controlling the entire tribe. 

“Our queen,” one of the SandWings in the front said, bowing. Moon recognized her as Britomartis. 

“What is your command, Queen Moonwatcher?” another SandWing whom Moon didn’t recognize asked. 

“I command you all to paint my palace solid black. I want it blacker than the night sky.”

“Right away, my queen,” the SandWing said. He turned and flew off towards the palace, his colleagues following behind. Another dragon lead a group back into the Scorpion Den. Soon, every dragon who had heard the news was either on their way to satisfy Moon’s whims, or to tell everyone who hadn’t yet heard.

Turtle bowed before her before speaking. “Moon, I think we should destroy Possibility next.”

“That’s definitely an idea. But first, we must take Peril.”

Chapter Text

He had left Jade Mountain shortly after the announcement. He grabbed a random satchel he found on the other side of his room and placed everything he needed in it.

Qibli had grabbed a canteen that held enough water for a 3 day flight, Turtle’s enchanted bowl that he left behind, a couple talonfuls of glitter, and a small knife, before quickly sneaking out. 

He had no idea where to go. Maybe I should go back to the Sand Kingdom. Queen Thorn might know more of what’s going on. 

And so, he made up his mind. Qibli was going to return home, and hope that he’d learn enough to stop Moon.

____________________________________________________________

It had taken Qibli 4 days to fly to Thorn’s palace. But when he arrived, something was off. Quite a few dragons who Qibli had known from the Scorpion Den were there, paintbrushes in hand. They were painting the palace black. Solid black, which Thorn never would have stood for. 

Qibli decided to approach them and ask why they were painting. Perhaps they were trying to annoy the queen? Or perhaps his grandfather was back, and had put his minions up to this. 

“Hey!” he called out. “Why are you doing that!?”

The dragon closest to him turned around, and Qibli saw that it was Britomartis, one of his mother’s colleagues. 

“We’re painting the palace, idiot,” she said. “Queen Moonwatcher’s order. Why aren’t you helping?”

Qibli took a step back. “What do you mean, ‘Queen Moonwatcher’s order’? I thought Thorn was your queen.”

“Key word there, smarty-pants. Was. She was killed by Queen Moonwatcher. Moonwatcher sliced off Thorn’s tail barb and stabbed her with it. She took the Eye of Onyx, too.”

No. No, that can’t be true. Thorn was one of the most powerful queens on Pyrrhia. 

…but Moon has an animus, and Thorn didn’t. 

“I…I have to go,” Qibli said, flying away. 

He started flying towards Possibility, hoping to find help there. It took him about a day and a half’s flight, and by the time he had reached the city, he was exhausted.

He landed near the large river that flowed through the city and filled up his canteen, taking small sips from it as he walked through the town.

He began walking towards Meerkat’s house. He was friends with the SandWing and knew that he would let Qibli stay with him until he found a suitable place to live.

He arrived at Meerkat’s place and knocked on the door.

A handsome, pale yellow snout answered the door. “Hiya Qibli!”

Chapter Text

She hated herself. Hated herself for letting her anger overtake her.

Even though Kinkajou and Winter had made up, she still felt horrible. It had been around two weeks since the incident and she was sitting next to him now. There was an uncomfortable silence between them before she decided to speak.

“Winter?”

The IceWing next to her swiveled his head to see her. “Yeah?”

“I’m so–”

“Kinkajou, look at me. You can stop apologizing to me, okay? Let’s just forget about it. I don’t want things to be awkward between us.”

She sighed. All she wanted to do was forget about what had happened. “Forget about what?”

Winter laughed and playfully smacked her arm. Kinkajou smiled. He looked so cute when he laughed. She knew he was hiding a lot of his actual feelings, but she couldn’t do anything about that. All she could do was cheer him up.

She twined her tail around his and he smiled even more. “Thank you, Jou.”

“Sure thing, Sparkles.”

Winter laughed again and Mari walked into the living room, carrying a large bowl of rice. “Hey bitches!” They sat down next to Winter and closed their eyes. A moment later, a fork appeared in their hands.

They began eating their rice and staring at Winter. They closed their eyes for a moment, before smirking. Kinkajou looked away from them, not thinking much of it. Instead, she chose to watch the projections of stars that now decorated the walls. Another one of Mari’s enchantments, and definitely not one Kinkajou approved of. 

“Mari,” Winter cried. “Mari, stop!” Kinkajou snapped out of the daze that she had accidentally slipped into while watching the stars on the wall. 

She turned to see Winter with tears streaming down his face. “Winter? You okay?” She asked, placing a talon on his arm. He shook his head but didn’t blink. He seemed to be staring into space and his eyes were as big as the moons. “Winter?” She asked again. He didn’t respond.

Mari started giggling and Kinkajou turned her head towards them. “You!” She shouted. “What the hell did you do to him? Fix him now.”

“No, I’m enjoying this.”

“Stop it! Mari, please.” Winter screamed, still staring off into space. “Mari, stop. Mari, I don’t want to relive this again. Stop! Stop! ”

Mari was cackling and they wrapped their arms around themself to stop shaking with laughter. “Wow,” they said. “Someone really doesn’t like you. How was your experience in the box?”

Chapter Text

It was like he had fallen into a nightmare. One moment, he was sitting next to Mari and Kinkajou, and the next, he was being chained up by Moon.

She pulled him close to her and kissed him, then slit his throat with her knife. She stepped into the side room with Turtle and the lights flickered on, increasing in strength every second. The fires on the walls seemed to get hotter and the box began to heat up. The chains around his ankles burned him as they squeezed tighter. 

Shaking, he placed a talon over his still bleeding neck and layed down.

"Why did you do that?" He asked Moon in a hoarse voice.

"He really is dim," she said to herself. "You stupid ice dragon. You kissed the one I love, multiple times I might add."

A laugh rung out, one that Winter knew for a fact he hadn’t heard before. He immediately recognized it as Mari. He couldn’t see them anymore, but he could hear them cackling. He couldn’t hear Kinkajou, so that must mean…Mari was here, in the box with him somehow. That wasn’t actually possible, since they would have been burning too if they were actually there. The only way this made sense was…if it was a memory. If Mari was in his memories, and somehow forcing him to relive this. 

“Mari,” he cried. “Mari, stop!” He pleaded with them, trying to convince them to end whatever spell they had cast. Mari just kept giggling. 

They just laughed for a while, occasionally saying something like “No, I’m enjoying this.” Mari’s laugh in the background made the situation that much worse. It was almost like his nightmares, where he had an audience in his torture chamber. This time, though, his spectator seemed to not only enjoy his torment, but love it. 

The memory suddenly shifted to when he kissed Qibli. He wrapped his arms around the handsome SandWing and locked their lips together. 

Winter forced himself to ignore the pang of longing in his heart as the memory of his clawmate was ripped away and replaced with him flying away from a forest.

This was the day Hailstorm had been captured, the day Winter’s life had been ruined. He could feel tears running down his face in both the memory and in real life.

He kept crying until he reached the Ice Palace, where he wiped his tears away before anyone else could see them. Once he got in the castle, Winter heard his parents and ran towards them.

“Mother, Father,” He said, bowing to the two imposing IceWings. They glared down at him.

“Yes, Winter?” Tundra asked, her voice emotionless. “What did you do this time?”

“I- I’m afraid I have some terrible news,” he said, trying to figure out how to phrase the next sentence.

“Well,” Narwhal prodded. “Speak. What news do you have that is so important you had to interrupt your mother and I?” 

“I-” Winter tried. He couldn’t say it. Couldn’t.

“Speak, boy!” His father yelled. “Unless you’re just trying to be a nuisance and a waste of time. In which case, get out.”

“I-I,” he took a shaky breath and righted himself, “Hailstorm and I were in SkyWing territory. Queen Scarlet’s royal guard ambushed us. They knocked Hailstorm unconscious and took him prisoner.”

Narwhal growled and through gritted teeth asked, “And why exactly were you in SkyWing territory?”

“We–Hailstorm offered to help me catch a scavenger.”

“You’re telling me that because of your stupid obsession , our most valuable son has been taken?” Tundra yelled.

“Y-yes.”

“You putain de déception,” Narwhal mumbled. Winter could hear Mari laughing again and felt more tears pour out of his eyes.

Narwhal raised his tail and, with a sickening whoosh , brought it down against Winter’s arm. He did this a few more times, striking all along both of Winter’s front limbs. Winter flinched and stepped back, bowing in apology. 

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know I’m a disappointment, I know, but I can save him! I promise I will.”

“You idiot child,” Tundra hissed. “You couldn’t fight off the guards that took him, what makes you think you can fight off double that many?” She raised her talon, and Winter flinched again. He knew what was coming. He closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.

Tundra struck him with an ease like she’d done this time and time before, which of course, she had. Her talon left a blue mark on his cheek that he knew would turn orange with bruising. 

“Leave, you useless waste of space. I don’t want to see your visage homosexuel until you’ve made up for this.”

WInter turned tail and ran up to his room. He laid down on his floor, but before the next bit of memory could play out, his vision went dark. The last thing he heard was a cruel voice saying, “Ouch, someone’s really unloved. Nighty night, igloo-face!”

Chapter Text

It was like he had fallen into a nightmare. One moment, he was sitting next to Mari and Kinkajou, and the next, he was being chained up by Moon.

She pulled him close to her and kissed him, then slit his throat with her knife. She stepped into the side room with Turtle and the lights flickered on, increasing in strength every second. The fires on the walls seemed to get hotter and the box began to heat up. The chains around his ankles burned him as they squeezed tighter. 

Shaking, he placed a talon over his still bleeding neck and layed down.

"Why did you do that?" He asked Moon in a hoarse voice.

"He really is dim," she said to herself. "You stupid ice dragon. You kissed the one I love, multiple times I might add."

A laugh rung out, one that Winter knew for a fact he hadn’t heard before. He immediately recognized it as Mari. He couldn’t see them anymore, but he could hear them cackling. He couldn’t hear Kinkajou, so that must mean…Mari was here, in the box with him somehow. That wasn’t actually possible, since they would have been burning too if they were actually there. The only way this made sense was…if it was a memory. If Mari was in his memories, and somehow forcing him to relive this. 

“Mari,” he cried. “Mari, stop!” He pleaded with them, trying to convince them to end whatever spell they had cast. Mari just kept giggling. 

They just laughed for a while, occasionally saying something like “No, I’m enjoying this.” Mari’s laugh in the background made the situation that much worse. It was almost like his nightmares, where he had an audience in his torture chamber. This time, though, his spectator seemed to not only enjoy his torment, but love it. 

The memory suddenly shifted to when he kissed Qibli. He wrapped his arms around the handsome SandWing and locked their lips together. 

Winter forced himself to ignore the pang of longing in his heart as the memory of his clawmate was ripped away and replaced with him flying away from a forest.

This was the day Hailstorm had been captured, the day Winter’s life had been ruined. He could feel tears running down his face in both the memory and in real life.

He kept crying until he reached the Ice Palace, where he wiped his tears away before anyone else could see them. Once he got in the castle, Winter heard his parents and ran towards them.

“Mother, Father,” He said, bowing to the two imposing IceWings. They glared down at him.

“Yes, Winter?” Tundra asked, her voice emotionless. “What did you do this time?”

“I- I’m afraid I have some terrible news,” he said, trying to figure out how to phrase the next sentence.

“Well,” Narwhal prodded. “Speak. What news do you have that is so important you had to interrupt your mother and I?” 

“I-” Winter tried. He couldn’t say it. Couldn’t. It just made things more real.

“Speak, boy!” His father yelled. “Unless you’re just trying to be a nuisance and a waste of time. In which case, get out.”

“I-I,” he took a shaky breath and righted himself, “Hailstorm and I were in SkyWing territory. Queen Scarlet’s royal guard ambushed us. They knocked Hailstorm unconscious and took him prisoner.”

Narwhal growled and through gritted teeth asked, “And why exactly were you in SkyWing territory?”

“We–Hailstorm offered to help me catch a scavenger.”

“You’re telling me that because of your stupid obsession , our most valuable son has been taken?” Tundra yelled.

“Y-yes.”

“You putain de déception,” Narwhal mumbled. Winter could hear Mari laughing again and felt more tears pour out of his eyes.

Narwhal raised his tail and, with a sickening whoosh , brought it down against Winter’s arm. He did this a few more times, striking all along both of Winter’s front limbs. Winter flinched and stepped back, bowing in apology. 

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know I’m a disappointment, I know, but I can save him! I promise I will.”

“You idiot child,” Tundra hissed. “You couldn’t fight off the guards that took him, what makes you think you can fight off double that many?” She raised her talon, and Winter flinched again. He knew what was coming. He closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.

Tundra struck him with an ease like she’d done this time and time before, which of course, she had. Her talon left a blue mark on his cheek that he knew would turn orange with bruising. 

“Leave, you useless waste of space. I don’t want to see your visage homosexuel until you’ve made up for this.”

WInter turned tail and ran up to his room. He laid down on his floor, but before the next bit of memory could play out, his vision went dark. The last thing he heard was a cruel voice saying, “Ouch, someone’s really unloved. Nighty night, igloo-face!”

Chapter Text

Mari was bored. Messing with Winter’s memories had been fun, but everything was just boring. He got tortured, abused by his parents, kissed a boy, cut himself. Boooring.

Wait… Winter kissed a boy. Oh, how… cute.  

But wait, isn’t Winter dating Lynx? Mari gasped. Is he cheating on her? 

That was definitely something to bug him about. But first, there was someone else who needed to be dealt with. 

Mari turned to look at Kinkajou with a smirk. She had seen the whole thing, and was now giving Mari a look that was half death glare and half panicked. Mari found it funny how easy scared she was. 

“Like the show?” they asked mockingly. 

“NO! NO, I DID NOT LIKE THAT! MARI, YOU ARE COMPLETELY INSANE! YOU ARE EVIL AND CRAZY AND FRANKLY, I THINK YOU’RE A BITCH! I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU JUST PUT WINTER THROUGH, BUT IT WASN’T PRETTY!”

Getting screamed at for having a bit of fun was so annoying. Honestly, Kinkajou in general was really annoying. Mari waved their hand at her. “Shut up. All I did was go through his memories and make him relive them.”

Kinkajou magically silenced, and Mari grinned. If it was that easy…

“Kinkajou, bring me a-” Mari cut off when they saw Bluebell enter the living room. 

“I heard Kinkajou yelling. Is everything alright?” she asked. “Is Winter okay?” It seemed Blue had finally noticed Winter passed out on the floor. He’d fallen off the couch sometime during Mari’s memory sweep, and they didn’t particularly care. 

“He’s fine. Kinkajou, why don’t you go ahead and tell Bluebell what’s going on?” Mari knew Kinkajou was upset over what happened, so it felt all the more fun to make her explain. 

“Mari…Mari decided it was perfectly fucking acceptable to force Winter to relive some of his worst memories.” Kinkajou said, crying now. Honestly, she was a lot prettier when her face sparkled with tears. 

“Mari, why would you do that?” Bluebell asked quietly. “ How could you do that, knowing all that he’s been through?”

“I was just having fun, Blueberry. No big deal.”

“No big deal? Mari, you can’t just do that to someone! You can’t do that to someone who risked their life to help you live. You can’t do that to a friend.”

“Who’s to say I can’t? I’m the boss of me, therefore I get to choose what I want to do.”

“Wake him up, now,” Blue whispered, her voice cold.

Mari cocked their head. “Hm?”

“I said wake him up.”

“No,” Mari replied. “No, I don’t think I will.”

“WAKE HIM THE FUCK UP, MARIGOLD!” Bluebell screamed.

Mari rolled their eyes but obliged. They cast the spell to wake Winter up and began stalking over to the stairs

Why can’t I just have some fun? It’s not like I hurt anyone. I could if I wanted to, but not yet.

Chapter Text

The moment Winter woke up, he began shaking from horns to tail. Bluebell wrapped her arms around his neck and let him cry into her shoulder. Almost immediately, her shirt was soaked with how many tears were pouring out of the IceWing’s eyes.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. I’ve got you, don’t worry.” Bluebell whispered. She turned her head towards Kinkajou and said, “Can you bring him down to the basement and explain what happened to Lynx? I need to go talk to Mari.”

Kinkajou nodded and took one of Winter’s talons in her own, leading him downstairs. Bluebell sighed, hoping Lynx would be able to properly comfort him. 

Bluebell began walking up the stairs towards her and Mari’s room. She opened the door and saw Mari sitting on the ground in the middle of the floor, surrounded by floating furniture.

“M-Mari?” She asked tentatively. 

“Yes?””

“I- we need to talk.”

“No. I already know what you’re going to say. You came up here to yell at me about what I did. Well guess what, I don’t care. I personally thought it was funny.”

Bluebell pursed her lips. It was odd that Mari was being so mean, especially towards Winter. “How, Mari?” She asked in a broken voice. “How can you think that hurting one of your best friends is funny? How can you think that forcing them to relive traumatic memories is funny? Try not to abuse your power, Mar. Power isn’t putting others in pain.”

Mari rolled their eyes and turned away. Bluebell frowned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

She walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and grabbed some butter and eggs. Then, she walked over to the pantry and grabbed a bag of flour, sugar, vanilla extract, vegetable oil, and chocolate chips. 

She began mixing the dry ingredients in one bowl, and the rest of the ingredients in another. Then, she poured the wet mixture into the dry ingredient bowl and mixed them together until there wasn’t any more flour on the side and bottom of the bowl.

She scooped out around 10 scoops of the dough and rolled them into balls before placing them on a baking sheet and into the oven. She was planning on making ice cream sandwiches in hopes that it would make Winter feel better.

I should go check on him. I think what Mari did hurt him 

Bluebell walked down the stairs and knocked on the wall by the doorway. She didn’t want to interrupt if anything private was going on, but Lynx called out that she could enter. Bluebell entered the room and found both Lynx and Kinkajou hugging Winter. 

“How could they?” Lynx asked immediately. Bluebell knew exactly what Lynx was talking about, but couldn’t answer her question. She didn’t know why Mari would do anything like that.

“I don’t know. They refuse to tell me. All they said was that ‘it was funny.’”

Winter shuddered. “It wasn’t. The memories that they had me relive were some of my worst ones.”

“Which ones?” Kinkajou asked.

“Kinkajou!” Lynx hissed. “You can’t just ask that!”

“Lynx, it’s fine,” Winter said. “I’ll tell her. They made me go through the torture chamber again. And when Hailstorm got kidnapped. And the, umm, the Qibli thing,” he blushed at the last sentence and Bluebell wondered why. 

Kinkajou looked down. “Oh,” was all she said. The energy in the room was now super tense. Bluebell heard a beep from upstairs, and decided it was the perfect time to lighten the mood. 

“I’ll be right back,” she said. She ran upstairs and pulled her cookies out of the oven. They were a perfect shade of golden-brown, without being too crunchy.  She opened the freezer and grabbed the jar of vanilla ice cream. She scooped near-perfect rolls on to five of the cookies, and topped them with the other five. She dug through the cabinet until she found the giant jar of sprinkles that Mari had gotten (read: stolen) from a vendor in one of the nearby cities. 

She rolled the sandwiches in sprinkles before heading downstairs again with them. She hoped the ice cream sandwiches would cheer everyone up. And she hoped it would get her back in Mari’s good graces enough to try to talk to them about what happened again. 

Bluebell put one of the sandwiches in the freezer to take to Mari later, and brought the other four downstairs. As soon as she entered the basement, everyone’s attention was on her. 

“What are those?” Lynx asked curiously. 

“Ice cream sandwiches. I made the cookies myself. Try them.” Bluebell handed one to each of the dragons, and kept the fourth for herself. She took a small bite, and wow, it was good. She quickly finished the rest, and so did everyone else.

“Wow, Blue, you make good cookies,” Winter said. Everyone seemed happier now, so mission accomplished. Bluebell smiled, thanked Winter, and went back to the kitchen.

She grabbed the last sandwich out of the freezer and went upstairs. She knocked on the door to Mari’s room, but got no answer. She knocked again, but still nothing, so she tried the doorknob. It was locked. 

“Mari?” Bluebell called. “You in there?” 

“Yeah,” came a muffled reply. A click sounded and then the door swung open. Mari was now seated on a floating chair made of what looked to be solid gold. They had a wine glass filled with sparkling water in one hand, and was casting spells with the other. Their circlet had changed to resemble something like what a deity would wear.

“Mari, this is too much. Way too much.” Bluebell said, her eyes widening. 

“Did I ask for your opinion? No, I don’t think I did.” Mari waved their hand and the air started to smell like strawberries. “That’s better.”

“I made this for you,” Bluebell said, holding up the ice cream sandwich. 

“Oh,” Mari said, looking down their nose at it. “Thank you, I guess. Why don’t you join me?” They waved their hand again and a silver chair suddenly appeared. Bluebell found herself compelled to take a seat. As soon as she did, the chair lifted off the ground and floated next to Mari’s. 

“Whoa,” Bluebell said. “Mari, do you even remember what I told you about not abusing your power?”

“No, I don’t think I was paying attention to you.” Of course they weren’t. 

“Well, I said that you shouldn’t-” Bluebell cut off as Mari made a zip-it gesture. She wasn’t magically silenced, she knew, but Mari had a commanding aura that made it almost impossible to not follow direct orders. Huh, that’s new. It’s not complete mind control, thank the moons. It’s still kind of unnerving how easy it is to listen to them, though. 

“I don’t care what you said. I’ll use my power however I please. I mean, what are you gonna do? Stop me?”

“Yes. I’m going to stop you from using your power for every single frivolous thing that pops into your head.”

“Ugh, now you sound like Kinkajou. Actually, can you go get her? I want to…talk to her. And while you’re at it, forget about everything you’ve told me. Forget you were ever worried about me and how I use my power.”

Bluebell could feel her memories twisting, changing shape to fit whatever Mari wanted her to remember. “Mari, don’t mess with my head.”

“Too late,” Mari said, and Bluebell felt the new memories of her recent interactions with Mari cement themselves in place. Now, all she could remember was chatting with Mari about mundane things like the weather. She knew Mari had just asked her to do something, but whatever it was slipped her mind. 

“Can you go get Kinkajou?” Mari asked. 

“Yeah, sure. Why do you want to see her?”

“I just want to talk to her, that’s all.”

Bluebell nodded and then went back downstairs. She entered the basement to find Winter and Kinkajou both asleep, and Lynx sitting near them. 

“Oh, hi, Lynx,” she said. “Would you mind if I woke Kinkajou up? Mari wants to see her.”

“Mari can come downstairs and get her themself if they want to see her. Or they can just talk to her down here with the rest of us.” Lynx said, annoyed. 

“Fair,” Bluebell conceded. “Should I go tell them?”

“No, stay down here. Let them realize you’re not going to do their bidding. They don’t deserve to have people listen to them. What they did to Winter is unforgivable.” 

“I think everyone is forgivable, if they try hard enough to change.”

“Bluebell, is that you?” Winter asked, sitting up.

“Yeah. You okay?”

“I’m fine, I think…” He took a shaky breath. “I think- I think I know what’s wrong with Mari.”

Chapter Text

It hadn’t taken very long to convince Moon to go to the Sea Kingdom before they went to Jade Mountain. It was on her list anyways, and they didn’t really have to burn down Possibility quite yet. So that’s where they went next. 

Turtle didn’t know exactly why he was so inclined to take over the Kingdom of the Sea so soon. Perhaps, he thought, I’m wishing to return home. Or perhaps it’s just that I want revenge against my mother, for all the years she ignored me. 

Whatever it was, it would soon be reality. They were already nearing the coast and would soon be going underwater. With a quick spell, Moon would be able to follow him to the Deep Palace. They’d had to leave their IceWing guard behind, but that didn’t matter much. 

Once they had reached the doors, Moon slashed them open. Turtle had always thought the French doors at the very front of the palace were heavy as boulders, and twice as thick. But now, seeing Moon rip them to shreds with nothing more than her claws, they seemed as flimsy as plastic. 

“Oh, Mother!” Turtle called out as he entered the palace. Moon followed behind him, finally letting him take the lead. He knew he wasn’t really in charge, but it felt nice getting to lead for once. 

“She may be in her throne room,” Moon suggested. 

“No, she wouldn’t be. It’s after sunset. She’s most likely in her study.”

“Let’s go then and get this over with. I still don’t know why you wanted to come here so bad.”

“I–just follow my lead, Moon.”

The NightWing chuckled but followed him. He swam through the palace with ease and by the time the two of them had reached his mother’s study, Moon looked exhausted.

He slammed the door open and Coral’s head shot up. “Octopus?” She asked. “Why are you in my study? You should know by now that this is my writing time.”

“It’s Turtle, bitch. I came in here to do this.” He stepped forward and reached out one sharp talon. He knew just how much his mother valued her claws. After all, she used them to write. So he ripped them off. One by one, as Coral stood there, paralyzed with shock and pain.

“My son,” Coral cried. “My son, what are you doing? Please, no…please.”

“Don’t call me that. I was never your ‘son’ back when you used to forget I existed. So guess what? Now you’re going to notice me.”

Turtle could feel Moon smirking from behind him. “Oh,” she said. “so this is a family matter?”

“Yes, it’s a family matter. Stay out of it. You’ll still get what you want, don’t worry.” 

Coral finally took notice of Moon. “You,” she hissed coldly. “You’re that NightWing who killed the other queens. Have you come to take my life too?”

“Wow, news travels fast. Yes, I am here to kill you. But not yet. I’m enjoying the show.”

“If you want some sort of show, why are you working with…with him?

“Wow. You’ve forgotten his name already. I’m disappointed in you, Coral. You’d think you’d remember the name of the one who removed your claw. But of course not. You’re too busy for that.” Moon sighed dramatically. 

“She’s always too busy for her children.  Luckily, though, she isn’t too busy for this.” Turtle grinned maliciously, before stepping forward. Coral tried to take a step back, but she was already nearly pressed against the wall. Turtle reached out and, with a quick movement, ripped her throat out. Blue blood gushed out of the wound at an alarming rate, staining the polished marble floor. 

“That was fun,” Turtle said, scooping up the talons he had removed from Coral. “Now, you can be queen of the SeaWings, like you wanted.”

“And you got your revenge, like you wanted.” Moon replied. She was quite observant, like he was. They made a good team. 

“How do you plan on making the tribe bow to you, though? As beautiful as you are, you’re no SeaWing princess.”

“That’s where you come in handy. Just give them a little push, make them believe I’m their new queen. Don’t completely control them, that’s boring. Just enough so that they follow my orders.”

Turtle bowed to her and closed his eyes. He cast a quick spell, and it was done.

Chapter Text

“I think- I think I know what’s wrong with Mari.” Winter said shakily. 

“Other than the fact that they’re a psychopath who thinks torturing someone with their worst memories is okay?” Kinkajou said sharply.

Winter sighed. “Yes, other than that. I think they may have,” –he took a shaky breath– “they might have lost their soul.”

Lynx wasn’t sure how true that was. She’d seen dragons go crazy before, and this was nothing like that. This was just Mari being evil. It was clear since the day they’d met that Mari cared for nothing except their own well being. 

“Yeah, no. Mari’s fine. They’re not overusing their magic. Mari’s just always been a bit…eccentric,” Bluebell said. She sounded like she didn’t really believe that, but didn’t want to believe anything else. 

“Honestly, I think they’ve always been this fucked up,” Kinkajou said. Lynx got the feeling that she didn’t like Mari all that much. “Winter, stop making excuses for them. You don’t have to.”

It seemed everyone except Winter agreed that Mari had always been a psychopath. It didn’t make sense, the idea that they’d gone mad with power. Although, it seemed like everyone felt differently about the fact. Bluebell was fine with it, which was to be expected. She had probably lived with Mari for a good chunk of her life, after all. Kinkajou hated it, and Lynx was afraid. She was afraid that Mari might do worse in the foreseeable future. 

But for now, she would keep an eye on them and make sure that they didn’t cause any more harm to anyone Lynx cared about.

Chapter Text

As they flew towards Jade Mountain, Moon grinned at Turtle. Their plans to take over Pyrrhia were coming along marvelously. But before she could kill Queen Ruby and take her throne, Moon wanted to burn down Possibility. It was one of the main cities on Pyrrhia, and she figured it would show just how strong she was. 

She didn’t want to go through the hassle of burning it all down herself. There was a better way to do it, and it would be a lot more intimidating if she could pull it off. Her plan was to have Peril simply walk through the city, setting everything ablaze as she did. 

But to do that, first she had to convince Peril to join her. With Turtle’s magic, that was easy. A simple mind control spell should do it. 

______________________________________________________________________

Once they arrived at Jade Mountain, the next part of the plan was simple. Find Peril. And maybe brainwash a few dragons into worshiping them while they were at it. 

Moon stalked through the halls, Turtle following behind. They’d sent their IceWing guard out to collect the Dragonets of Destiny, to inform them of the new changes that were to be made. 

They found Peril alone in one of the caves near the underground lake. She looked like she was trying to sleep. Moon directed Turtle to shake her awake. Peril glared at them with glazed, sleepy eyes. 

“What the hell do you want?” she grumbled. “Can’t you see I’m trying to sleep?”

“I don’t care,” Moon replied. “Either you come with us willingly, or we drag you to Possibility by your horns.” 

Peril rolled her startling blue eyes at them. “You couldn’t drag me if you tried, NightWing.” 

“I don’t have to. I just said that so you’d know how serious I was. You’ll be coming with us whether you like it or not.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I have things to do here. Like hang out with Clay, and cuddle with Clay, and teach dragonets how to be more accepting to dragons with freaky powers like firescales and telepathy.”

“Wow,” Turtle said. “Sounds boring.”

“It is. The ‘teaching dragonets’ part, that is. But Clay wants me to do that, so it’s probably for the good of Pyrrhia.”

“Yeah, well, screw that. Besides, after we’re done here, that won’t be in the curriculum anymore.” Moon said.

“No. I’m not going with you,” Peril said firmly. “And that’s final.”

“Fine, then, since you want to make things so difficult. Turtle, you know what to do.”

Turtle nodded and bowed before closing his eyes for a moment. As he did so, Peril’s blue eyes clouded over, turning a shade of milky gray. Her expression grew vacant. 

“Come along now,” Moon said as she turned to leave the cave. Turtle took his place behind her, and Peril followed shortly after him. 

________________________________________________________________________

Moon was standing in the Great Hall, with Peril on her left and Turtle on her right, facing the Dragonets of Destiny. Her IceWing guard stood behind nearby, ready to protect her should anything happen.

“So,” Moon said, spinning around to show off her cloak, “You’re all wondering why I had my guard bring you here. Well, I have an announcement to make. There’s a few changes that’ll be happening around here. Firstly, no more of this ‘proper education’ nonsense. From now on, you’ll be teaching what I tell you you can teach. You’ll be teaching your students all about why I’m the best queen Pyrrhia has ever seen, and why they should all worship me and Turtle like we’re gods. Also, teach them how to properly worship their gods. Second, this Great Hall is now my throne room. I expect a throne of obsidian darker than the night sky on this here stage by the next full moon.”

“That’s completely outrageous. You have no right to be making these demands,” Tsunami said angrily. 

“Moon, what’s gotten into you? You were so kind and sweet before,” Sunny said, in a soft voice. 

“I learned from those mistakes, and I got better. And it’s Queen Moonwatcher to you.” 

“You’re not my queen,” Tsunami said. “And you can’t make us do anything.”

“Would you rather I call my army? I could do that right now. I’m giving you the chance to submit and save your lives, but I don’t have to.”

“Fine. Have your way, Moonwatcher,” Starflight said decisively. “It is clear we cannot stop you. I’d rather not stand in your way.” 

Moon tilted her head and smirked. Jade Mountain was hers. 

_________________________________________________________________________

It was time to put the second part of her plan into motion. Moon was leading the way to Possibility. The plan was simple. Moon and Turtle would watch from above as Peril walked through the city, flicking her wings and tail and generally causing chaos. 

Moon knew that she needed to have alternative plans, just in case this one didn’t work out. Her back up idea was to have Turtle cast another fire spell. Her back up back up idea was to set the city ablaze herself. 

But hopefully, she wouldn’t need to put those plans into motion. Hopefully, everything would go as expected. 

_____________________________________________________________________

Moon and Turtle were now hovering over Possibility, their guard surrounding them. Peril had been sent into the city, and now around a quarter of it was on fire. The flames were supposed to start on one end of the city and spread to the other. But instead, something terribly wonderful happened. 

A SandWing had been wheeling around a cart of dragonflame cacti, and in his haste to escape the fire, had dropped his load. One of the cacti rolled and tapped Peril’s talons. Next thing Moon knew, the chain of explosions had completely decimated Possibility.

Chapter Text

Qibli was pacing through the city when he heard the first blasts. Buildings were collapsing, dragons were screaming, and chaos ensued. Qibli ran until he had a clear path to the sky, then took off. He flew in whatever direction he had ended up going until the sounds of the ravaged city faded out. 

He kept on flying until he reached a forest with a large cliff nearby. His wings were aching, and there was a ledge on the cliff. Qibli gilded down to rest on it and took a deep breath to regain his bearings, but ended up getting a noseful of something metallic and salty. 

He looked down at the ledge he was laying on, this time noticing that it was stained blue. Stained blue with IceWing blood. 

Now that he’d noticed it, the smell was overbearing. Cloying, even. Qibli tried to breathe through his mouth, but found that he could taste the saltiness in the air too. He glided off the ledge, trying to escape the thick scent. 

He landed on the ground a little ways from the cliff and realized that there was even more blood down here. 

Poor guy, whoever he was. I hope he’s okay. The IceWing was probably dead, considering how much blood had been lost, but Qibli still tried to remain positive, although he prepared himself to see a body just in case.

He walked into the forest and when he reached a clearing, his exhaustion hit him. He collapsed to the ground, breathing hard. He didn’t know when it happened, but sometime after that, he passed out. 

When he came back to consciousness, there was a pale blue dragon standing not too far away from him. A very familiar light blue dragon.

Chapter Text

Winter stood up. He was getting restless. “I have an idea. Lynx, Blue, why don’t we go for a walk?”

Bluebell nodded, and both her and Lynx got up. 

“Hey!” Kinkajou said. “What about me?”

“You have to stay with Mari, remember? It’s your punishment for when you kissed me.”

“Oh, right. I was hoping you’d forget about that.”

“Nope. You’re lucky that Mari’s been holing up in their room a lot more lately. Still, be careful. Mari’s not-”

“Let’s go,” Lynx interrupted. It was probably for the best that Winter hadn’t gotten to finish that sentence, since he wasn’t sure what he was going to say. He followed Lynx and Bluebell up the stairs. 

“I should go let Mari know we’ll be back. I don’t want them to worry,” Bluebell said. She was so sweet towards Mari, even after all that had conspired. 

_________________________________________________________________________

Bluebell didn’t return for at least 30 minutes. When she did, she was wearing a sparkling silver dress, and her hair was a mess. She sighed and said, “Mari thought this was funny,” while gesturing to her new outfit. “I physically cannot change out of this. Trust me, I tried.”

“Ah. Let’s just go, before they can fuck with the rest of us,” Lynx said. She seemed just as desperate as Winter to get out. They all headed out of the house, and soon reached a fork in the trail. There was a path heading left that led to a lake. Bluebell had mentioned that as one of her favorite trails. The path in the opposite direction led to what Mari had claimed was a clearing. 

“Hey, Bluebell? I think I need to talk to you,” Lynx said as they neared the spilt. “Winter, do you mind giving us a few minutes?”

“You’re good. I want to see this supposed clearing. You two head to the lake.” Winter said. Lynx and Bluebell both nodded and set off on their way. Winter took the opposite path, and walked for about 20 minutes. Halfway there, he started to doubt that there actually was a clearing. 

But then, he reached the clearing and received what he would later call the surprise of his lifetime. A pale yellow dragon, sleeping in the middle of the clearing. A very familiar light yellow dragon.

Chapter Text

“So,” Bluebell said, turning to Lynx. “What did you want to talk about?”

The IceWing paused for a moment before saying, “I was just wondering, how long have you been taking care of Winter? Like, how long has he been staying with you and Mari?”

“Umm, I think around three and a half months, why?”

“Well, I think Moon said that he had died around a month after the war with Darkstalker, and that was around five months ago…”

“...Okay? What are you trying to say?” Bluebell asked.

"I’m saying Winter’s six years old as of two weeks ago.”

“WHAT? ARE YOU SERIOUS?”

“Yeah. And I have a great idea for what we can do to celebrate. We should throw him a surprise party.”

“Okay, yeah. I’m sure he’ll love it. What did he do for his birthdays growing up?” 

“Well…he, uh, never really did anything…”

“Well, we have to do something for him then. A surprise party is a great idea. I can make a cake, do you know what flavor he likes?”

“Umm, I think he likes coffee cake, but I’m not sure,” Lynx answered.

Okay, yeah. I’ll figure out how to make that. Maybe I can borrow Mari’s leftover coffee.

Bluebell stopped when she realized that they had already gotten to the lake. She’d gotten so lost in the conversation and her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed how far they’d gone. 

“Why don’t we get him some flowers too?” Lynx asked. “There’s a lot here.”

Bluebell nodded and smiled. That was a wonderful idea. “I’ll show you which ones he likes, and how to pick them so they’ll last a while. You know, some people say that if you pick flowers for someone you love, they’ll live longer. There’s a science to it too, though.” 

She leaned down and used her nail to sever the flower stem right near the ground. She showed Lynx where to break the stem, and how. Soon, they were picking flowers of all sorts of colors. Winter’s favorites were the white daisies and the pale blue cornflowers. 

Once they had picked enough for a bouquet, Bluebell collected all the flowers and crudely tied them into a bundle. “I’ll borrow some of Mari’s ribbon to tie them once we’re back home.”

“Should we going back? It’s nearing sunset,” Lynx aksed, pointing out the setting sun. Bluebell hadn’t noticed the time. She was too caught up in the flower picking endeavor. 

“Yeah, you’re right. Should we go find Winter?”

“Yeah. I have a feeling he’s gotten into more shenanigans than we have.”

Chapter Text

Bluebell, Winter, and Lynx had just left, and Mari was finally alone with Kinkajou. Time to have some fun. 

Mari stalked down the stairs, giggling to themself. There were so many things they could do, but one in particular stood out. They’d seen it in the way Kinkajou had sometimes gone quiet, looking down at the ground. She had a secret, something dark she was trying to hide. Mari was going to find out what that was. 

They walked into the basement, grinning as they stared Kinkajou down. They waved their hand, casting an illusion to give the room the appearance of a desolate dungeon, filled with torture devices. None of it was real, so it wouldn’t leave any lasting marks. As long as they were done by the time everyone else had returned, no one had to know what they done.

Mari picked up the first thing they could, which happened to be a perfectly sized thumbscrew. They approached Kinkajou, who’d pressed herself against the wall in fear. They grinned at her before forcing her onto her knees. 

“Please,” she begged, tears already streaming down her snout. “Whatever you’re going to do to me, please have mercy.”

“Hmph. Mercy is for the weak. You don’t deserve my mercy.” Mari smirked before slipping the thumbscrew over one of Kinkajou’s talons. It fit perfectly over the joint, and Mari screwed it down until the top was resting against her talon. 

They kept screwing it down, ignoring Kinkajou’s pleas, until they heard a pop. They laughed as Kinkajou shrieked. 

“That’s only the beginning,” they said, “I have so much more in store for you. But, if you’re good, if you give me what I want…maybe I’ll be nice.”

“What-what do you want? Anything, I’ll give you anything if you stop.”

“I want your secrets. I want to prod every single recess of your mind until you have nothing left to hide.”

“Go ahead. Do whatever you want. Take whatever secrets you want.”

“Hmmm, not yet,” Mari said. “I want to have some fun first. I’ve never gotten to use a torture device before, and now look at everything I have at my disposal.” They laughed as Kinkajou’s eyes widened helplessly as she took in all the painful contraptions. 

“Ooh, I like these,” Mari said as they picked up a pair of nunchucks. They lashed out with them, striking Kinkajou in the shin. They struck her a few more times, before sighing and setting the weapon down. 

“I have an idea. Why don’t you pick the next thing I use? You have so many options, after all.”

Kinkajou shook her head. She didn’t seem to understand that this wasn’t optional. “Fine. How about I give you two options. You have to pick one, or else I’ll use both.” First, they held up a silver collar with a short leash attached. “This,” they said, “if your pretty little head hasn’t figured it out yet, is a shock collar.”

Next, they gestured to a pair of ruby studded golden headphones. “These will play a subliminal audio designed to drive you mad. So take your pick.”

Kinkajou whimpered and shook her head. “Please,” she begged, “please don’t.”

“You’re not going to choose? Fine, I guess we’ll do things the hard way. It’s more fun for me anyways.” 

Mari grabbed the collar again and magically clasped it around Kinkajou’s neck. They grabbed the end of the leash and tugged on it, forcing Kinkajou closer to the ground. They slipped the headphones over her ears and hit a button. 

While they heard a quiet beep, it was probably a hundred times louder for the ugly RainWing. A low humming sound started playing, with a hint of whispers in the background. It worked perfectly.

Chapter Text

Kinkajou thought she was ready, but nothing could prepare her for the humming. The soft, almost discernible whispers already seemed to be driving her crazy. She tried to shake the gilded headphones off her head, but they stayed snug over her ears. She whimpered and begged for mercy, but Mari only shook their head and grinned. 

“Your efforts are futile. Give up, Kinkajou. You’re pathetic.” they said, smirking down at her. 

Mari waved their hand and a small blueberry tart appeared. “Eat this. Now,” they said, shoving the tart into Kinkajou’s mouth. It tasted sickly sweet and sour. Kinkajou felt like throwing up. 

“It’ll bring your nightmares closer to the surface, and make it easier for me to see them. Have fun.”

The magic, or drug, or whatever it was flooded her mind immediately. The horrors committed against her rose to the front of her mind. All the things the NightWings had done to her on their island, all the things Moon and Turtle had done. 

For some reason, bright colors swarmed her vision. Once the glare had faded and Kinkajou could see again, she found herself looking up at Mastermind, the NightWIng who’d experimented on her all those moons ago.

Chapter Text

After the rush of swirling colors that always accompanied a memory search, Mari found themself standing on a warm stone floor, looking at a dragon with the same black scales as Nightmare. This one, however, wore glasses which reflected the reddish light making it hard to see his eyes, and a severe expression. Compared to Nightmare’s sparkling green eyes and haughty smirks, he was boring. 

Or at least, he was boring until he reached forward and forced Kinkajou’s mouth open, making her instinctively shoot her venom (Mari now knew that that’s what the black liquid was) into the stone jar he held underneath her snout. 

“Oh, so this is what you were hiding? You were experimented on a little bit? Boring.” As Mari said that, the memory shimmered and warped until Mari found themself watching Kinkajou be chained to the wall. That was so much more entertaining than before. 

The dark dragon barked out an order in a heavy accent, and another dragon stepped out of the shadows, wearing something that resembled a helmet. He stood in front of the target that Mari had just noticed was mounted to the wall opposite Kinkajou. 

“You know what to do,” the dragon with glasses said. Kinkajou flinched but nodded. She opened her mouth, causing the helmeted dragon to flinch. Before anything else could happen, the memory swirled again and Mari found themself inside the same box they’d seen in Winter’s memories. This time, though, instead of Winter being chained to the ground, Kinkajou was strapped down on a table. The same table Mari rescued her from, they realized. Is this where Nightmare originally planned to take me?

The stone jars that rested on the table next to Kinkajou’s were eerily similar to those used by the dragons in the last memory. In fact, most of this memory resembled the last one. This time, though, Kinkajou looked a lot less scared and a lot more hurt. Mari watched as Nightmare tortured Kinkajou and forcefully collected her venom. And then, they watched as Nightmare did…other things. Things they probably shouldn’t have been watching, but intrigued them all the same. There were gaps in the memory, probably moments where Kinkajou had blacked out or had forced herself to forget. 

After a few more minutes, the scene around them faded to black, and when the world came back into view, Mari and Kinkajou were back in the basement.

Chapter Text

With Turtle’s magic and Peril’s firescales, it had only taken a month to conquer Pyrrhia. With every queen except for Glory dead, Moon was now the tyrantess of Pyrrhia. She was the Queen, and she wouldn’t be giving up her throne any time soon. 

Turtle was, of course, her right hand man. Not her king, she’d never need a king. But he was useful to keep around. His magic was a vital part of ensuring her reign as queen would go unchallenged. 

Peril was her guard, her champion. She’d keep Moon safe, at the cost of her own life. She would kill anyone Moon commanded, and make sure Moon was the most feared and worshiped dragon on the continent. 

Moon had refused to kill Glory, even though Turtle had insisted that it was dangerous to leave her alive. She supposed she still had a soft spot for her former queen, as she chose to leave her on the throne as a puppet ruler instead of taking her life. She wasn’t particularly fond of Deathbringer, but he was useful to her as a guard.

At the moment, Moon and her entourage were on their way back to the Ice Kingdom. While she was away, she’d had a few ideas about what she could use her subjects for. She planned to conduct experiments, mostly just to give her subjects as much pain as they could take, and then more. 

When she was at Jade Mountain, she’d remembered the jars of venom she’d stashed away. Hoping no one had found them and disposed of them, she went back to the place she’d left them. Luckily, they were all still there, in perfect condition. She scooped them up, checking each one to make sure the seals hadn’t broken, and slipped them into her enchanted satchel. 

Moon pulled a few of the magical strings that connected Mink’s will to hers, sending her a new command. She had Mink gather a group (read: a harem) of her most loyal subjects, who’d be willing to serve her and her allies upon their return. She’d have to figure out what to do with Mink, since she wasn’t useful at the moment but would probably be later. 

But for now, as she glided into the Ice Kingdom with her guard behind her and Turtle at her side, she grinned, knowing all was well in her kingdom.

Chapter Text

There was something oddly familiar about the IceWing standing near him. It was as if Qibli knew who he was, but had never met him. 

“Qibli?” The IceWing breathed. “I-Is that you?”

Qibli slowly stood up and began backing away, his face towards the stranger. 

“How-how do you know my name? I don’t think we’ve met.”

The stranger cocked his head slowly and furrowed his eyebrows. “Qibli… are you okay?” He asked, walking towards the Sandwing. “We met at Jade Mountain. Don’t you remember? I- we were clawmates. You followed me when I was searching for Hailstorm.” The strangers voice cracked on the last word, a name, Qibli realized. “Qibli, you brought me to help find your mother, and save Ostrich, remember? You-you were there when Peril crashed into me and I–I almost died. You were drowning and I saved you, remember?”

“No…” Qibli said warily. “I don’t. Listen, I think I’m just gonna go…”

“Qibli, please,” the IceWing said with a shaky voice as Qibli turned away. “Don’t you remember any of that? Don’t you remember me ?”

Qibli shook his head, although, he did remember a lot of those things happening. It was just a few words, or blurry images in his mind, but he remembered. He heard a small ‘oh’ and turned around. The IceWing had tears running silently down his face. 

As Qibli was about to fly away, he heard the stranger whisper, “It’s me, Winter.”

A rush of memories flooded into his brain. Memories of him and Winter. There they were, talking to his mother as Qibli said, “We’ll probably end up married some day.” and Winter snorted so hard he almost fell over. Now, it was just the two of them, sitting in their shared cave, arguing. Qibli opened the gate to a small cage that had a little scavenger in it and the scavenger running away. Now, they were sitting in a group, Qibli’s tail twined around Winters as he yelled at Kinkajou for something she had said. All of a sudden, he was drowning, and his best friend saved him. Him getting the letter from Snowfall that had said Winter had died. And the final memory, Winter kissing Qibli, and holding him close as their lips collided. 

Qibli spun around and wrapped his wings around the IceWing, hugging him tight as tears poured out of his eyes. He had forgotten his best friend for five months, and hadn’t even noticed. 

He kept crying onto Winters shoulder, just happy to be back with him at last. Winter hugged him back, tears gently falling onto the ground.

“Winter,” Qibli sobbed. “Winter, I’m so sorry. I-I forgot you and you disappeared and I didn’t look for you because I thought everything was okay, and” –he took a shaky breath– “and then I got the letter that said you had died and I didn’t even care and I didn’t even feel sad. I’m so sorry. I’m a horrible friend and–”

“It’s okay, Qibli,” Winter whispered. “I’m here now, aren’t I?”

Qibli nodded and held his friend closer, wishing that they could stay like that forever.

Chapter Text

Qibli held Winter closer to him and Winter sighed, wishing they could stay like that forever. But, of course, he was the one to pull away from the tight embrace.

“Winter,” Qibli said, sighing. “I missed you.”

“I-I missed you too,” Winter said shyly. He was worried that if he said the wrong thing, he would admit his feelings for Qibli, to Qibli. Feelings that, as much as he hated to admit it, he had.

Qibli laughed and punched Winter in the arm playfully. “Since when have you cared about me? The lowly street rat, charming the handsome prince into friendship. A tale of drama. A tale of friendship and–hold on, I have to sneeze.” Qibli proceeded to sneeze very loudly before continuing on his stupid rant. “A tale of hardship, and love, and really bad allergies!”

Winter scoffed and turned away, trying to ignore the pitter-patter in his heart when Qibli said ‘love’, but it was so loud, he was sure the whole world could hear it. Could our story really have love in it? He wondered quietly. Even quieter, his mind added, could we have any love?

He shook his head and cleared it of those treacherous thoughts that would have gotten him beaten at home if he told anyone.

When he zoned back in, Winter realized that Qibli was staring at him. “What do you want, Sand-snorter?” He asked snarkily.

“It’s just, you’ve changed. You used to be so snobbish and rude, but now, you’re relatively kind and definitely less mean.”

Yeah, well, being tortured and then having humans take care of you really opens your eyes to the world. Winter thought grumpily. “Hey, whats ‘relatively kind’ supposed to mean? I’ll have you know that I’ve gotten a lot kinder in these past few–” He didn’t even know haw long it had been since Bluebell and Marigold rescued him, at this point he had lost time. 

“Past few months?” Qibli finished for him. “Suuure you did.”

“Shut up,” Winter groaned. He had forgotten how annoying his clawmate was. He also had forgotten how cute he was…

He shook his head again and sighed. “Anyways, what have you been up to these days?”

“Ummm,” Qibli said, tilting his head. “Well, lets see… I got a letter that you died, got with Moon, got strapped to a table by Moon for ‘bout a week, escaped from said table, found out that my girlfriend burned the Ice Kingdom down and killed you, ran away from Jade Mountain, went to Possibility for a month and then fled as it was bombed, tried to rest on a cliff covered in IceWing blood and then I ran into you!”

Winters stomach lurched at the mention of the cliff where–he tried not to think about it, but his mind began replaying the entire thing again and again, worse each time.

He began shaking as the memories flooded his vision and he felt the phantom pain from all of his old wounds resurfacing. Qibli caught him as he swayed a little bit. “Whoa, you ‘kay there, Win?”

“Yeah. Just got super nauseous all of a sudden,” he replied quietly, pulling away. “I’ll be fine.”

The handsome SandWing in front of him smiled weakly before helping Winter sit down. “If you say so, Igloo-Face.”

Winter snorted a laugh before wiping a tear off of his face. He didn’t want Qibli to see him crying again, even though he had already seen him cry before. He hated crying, and yet, he had done it so much recently that… 

What would Mother and Father think of me? Crying in front of others, crying in general. Would they see me as even more of a disappointment? Probably.

He shook his head once more and wrapped his wings around his old clawmate, pulling him into a tight hug and whispering, “I missed you so much, Qibli.”

Qibli graciously returned the hug before mentioning that it was late and that Winter could catch up with him later. Winter, of course, had agreed before saying goodbye and walking back to where he would meet up with Lynx and Bluebell.

Chapter Text

Kinkajou was crying. She didn’t know when she’d started, but now tears were pouring down her face. Mari had long since left, and Kinkajou was left alone to process all the horrific memories they had forced her to relive. She had wanted to forget about the things Moon had done to her, and she almost had, before Mari had brought all of it back to the front of her mind. 

She wasn’t sure what to feel. She knew she was just reliving a memory, so she felt strangely detached from the whole situation. That, and she had been forced to detach herself from the horrors inflicted on her on the NightWing island in order to survive all the twisted experiments she’d been put through. 

She figured a living nightmare was similar to a dream, and she thought she could escape by forcing herself to “wake up.” She’d dug her claws into her forearms in hopes that the nightmares would go away, but she should have known she wouldn’t escape Mari’s grasp that easily. She looked at her forearms, trying to see where she’d pinched herself, but not a single mark was left. She didn’t have any scars from the nunchucks either, which was odd. She’d thought Mari would have liked to leave her with something to remember the experience by. 

And then it hit her. She was still wearing the collar. The silver was cold against her neck, and it was digging into her scales. Kinkajou pried at it, but it refused to budge. She kept trying to take the damned thing off until she heard the door open. She quickly wiped away her tears, hoping that if Mari was back they wouldn’t see that she’d been crying.

It wasn’t Mari, though. Winter, Bluebell, and Lynx were back. Kinkajou heard them talking at the top of the stairs. 

“Hey, Winter, can you go downstairs?” Lynx said. “Bluebell and I need to…keep talking.” 

Winter didn’t answer, but since Kinkajou heard his footsteps down the stairs, she figured he’d nodded. She hoped he didn’t notice the collar. She knew she was going to be telling him about everything that happened, but she wanted to be the one to bring it up. 

Of course, though, the collar was the first thing he noticed. He looked at it, then looked at Kinkajou, then looked at the collar again. 

“Let me guess,” she said, “You want me to explain why I’m wearing a collar. It’s a long story.”

“Well, I have the time. Lynx and Bluebell refuse to let me know what they’re talking about.”

“Oh, fine. Remember how you were thinking that Mari’s losing their soul? I might just have to agree with you.”

“Kinkajou…what did they do?”

“A lot of things. They tried to drive me crazy, using moons know what. Some sort of scavenger technology, I’m guessing. And they forced this on me.” Kinkajou gestured to her collar. “It’s a shock collar. And…they may or may not have drugged me too.”

Winter’s eyes widened, and he wrapped his wings around her. “Please tell me they didn’t do anything like what Moon did. Please.”

“No… they didn’t. What they did was force me to relive when Moon did what she did. And,” —her voice caught— “and what the NightWings did on their island.”

Winter hugged her tighter. “Oh, Kinkajou, I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault, I shouldn’t have left you alone with them. I should have known it was too dangerous. I should have known Mari was too dangerous.” 

Kinkajou started sobbing into his shoulder. “It’s not your fault. It’s mine, for not trusting you about them sooner. It’s karma, for me denying that they’re going crazy.”

“Kinkajou, no,” Winter said sternly. “It’s not your fault at all.”

“It’s not yours either.”

“Who’s fault is it, then?”

“It’s Mari’s. They’re the crazy one. They’re the psychopath who thinks our most painful memories are funny.”

“You’re right. It is their fault. But…I still need their help. Please don’t hate me for this.” He pulled away from the hug, and turned to go upstairs. “I’ll see if I can convince them to take off that collar too.”

“Winter. What do you need them for? What can they do that you can’t ask anyone remotely sane?”

“I need to know what my family thought when they heard I was dead. Only you, Lynx, and…Qi- I mean, just you and Lynx know I’m alive. My entire family died thinking I was dead. They died thinking they’d see me in whatever afterlife there is. I need to know what they felt, knowing that. And only Mari’s magic can help with that. So I have to risk it. Stay down here. I don’t want to give them another chance to hurt you.”

Winter sighed and went upstairs, leaving Kinkajou alone with her thoughts. I hope Winter’ll be okay. I don’t think he’ll be getting anything good out of going to Mari for help. 

Chapter Text

“Alright, where are the eggs?” Bluebell said, sounding frustrated. She was digging through the fridge. She’d already handed Lynx the milk and flour. “I can’t find the eggs.” 

“Let me look,” Lynx tried to offer, but Bluebell refused. Instead, she left the kitchen. Lynx \heard her footsteps up the stairs, so she figured Blue had gone to ask Mari if they knew where the eggs were. 

 Bluebell returned a few minutes later, carrying what looked like eggs, except they were neon pink. 

“Mari refused to summon anything normal. I guess these’ll have to do,” she said. “Hopefully it’s just a harmless prank. Alright, I think we have everything. Let me just grab Mari’s coffee from the cabinet.” 

Bluebell had to stand on her tiptoes in order to reach the cabinet where Mari kept their coffee grounds. “Ugh,” Bluebell grumbled. “I have no idea why Mari likes to keep their things in such hard to reach places.”

Lynx laughed at that, not entirely sure if Bluebell was joking. She yawned, only now realizing how tired she was. “I think I’m going to head to bed. I know it’s early, but…”

“We’ve had a long few weeks, I know. You’re good. I think I’m going to finish up this cake and then take a nap myself. Night.”

“Night,” Lynx said. She left the kitchen and went downstairs. Kinkajou was alone in the basement, and she was curled up in a corner. She was a somber indigo color, and there was a diamond studded silver collar around her neck. It was rather pretty, even if it was weird. 

Before she could ask about it, Kinkajou said, “Don’t ask about the collar. I’d really rather not tell that story again.” Lynx nodded and curled up in the corner opposite hers. She yawned again and closed her eyes. 

“Gonna take a nap,” she mumbled. Kinkajou smiled at her, and her vision went black.

Chapter Text

As he walked up the stairs to Mari’s room, he began shaking. The last time Winter had dealt with the small human’s powers, he’d been forced to relive some of his worst moments in life. Now it felt weird asking them to use their powers.

But he needed those answers. He needed to know what his family thought when they heard he had died. All he knew, for now, was that his mother was the only one to know until Moon told Hailstorm, Icicle, and Lynx.

When he reached Mari’s room, he gently knocked on the door, not wanting to anger them if he suddenly walked in. 

“Come in!” they yelled from the other side of the door. Winter cautiously pushed the door open and stepped inside. Mari was lounging on their bed surrounded by pillows. Winter had never been in their room before, but he figured they didn’t have that many before. They had a purple book in their hand, but didn’t seem to be paying attention to it. 

“Oh,” they said, “it’s you. What do you want?”

Winter nervously bowed, not sure if that was the right thing to do. It seemed like something Mari would like, though.  “I, uh, I need your help with something.”

“What do you need my help with? I’d be glad to help.” Mari laughed, a giggle quite reminiscent of their usual laugh but with a dark undertone Winter had only heard when they were torturing him. 

Oh no. That’s not good. I really need their help, though. I guess I have to suck it up and ask.

“I-I need you to cast a spell for me. I need to know…I need to know what my family thought about my supposed death.”

“Oh, that’s cute. You really do still love them, don’t you? Well, I’ll do it. But when you find out the truth, don’t blame me for your heartbreak. It’s not my fault they don’t love you.”

Winter winced internally. He should have expected this, should have prepared more for Mari’s vicious insults. Especially because they were right. They didn’t have to lie or make things up to be cruel. They were good enough at what they did that they could find his deepest insecurities and take verbal stabs at them like it was nothing. 

“Let’s just get this over with, alright?” he said. 

“Alright. Have fun.” Mari grinned and waved their hand. Winter felt a falling sensation and his vision blurred. When his vision cleared, he was standing in his mother’s bedroom. She was laying in bed with a dragon who was most definitely not his father. 

“You know, now that Narwhal is dead, we don’t have to hide our relationship,” Tundra said. “And, now that he’s dead and can’t find out, I do have to tell you something.” 

The not his father dragon sighed. He was the same light blue color as Winter and spoke with a deep, gravelly voice. “What is it, Tundra? Can’t it wait until we’re both cleaned up?”

“No. I’d rather not keep this a secret any longer, especially since he’s dead too. Frost, you remember meeting Winter, right? He’s…he’s your son.”

“Oh. Oh no. I-I don’t know what I can say. I had a son. I had a son. I had a son, and he’s gone now. Did he ever know the truth?”

“Of course he didn’t, you imbecile! If anyone , even my useless son, knew we were having this affair, we both would’ve been killed.”

“Right. I just– I can’t believe you don’t even care he’s dead. He was your son.” 

“He was no son of mine. In fact, I’m rather glad he’s dead. One less disappointment for me to worry about.” Tundra laughed coldly. 

Winter’s vision blurred, and when he blinked, he realized he was crying. He blinked again, trying to clear the tears, and when he opened his eyes again, he was back in Mari’s room. They were standing in front of him, laughing. 

“I’m sorry,” they said through their cackles, “that’s just the funniest thing I’ve seen today.” They flumped back on their bed. “Hope that helped.”

Winter sunk to the floor. Mother was…cheating on Father. I’m not Narwhal’s son. I wish she would’ve told me. I’d always wondered why I was so blue compared to the rest of my family. I never would have expected that. 

An-and she didn’t even care that I’d “died.” She was glad I was “dead.”

“Wow, your mom doesn’t care about you. How tragic. Get over it, dude. Not every story has a happy ending.” Mari said. Their tone was incredibly snarky, but there was an underlying sadness and anger there. It was so faint, Winter wondered if he’d imagined it.

“I-I need to go,” he said, rushing out of Mari’s room. The cloying strawberry scent would forever haunt him. He’d never go in there again, if he could help it. 

He didn’t want to be alone, he couldn’t be alone. He was afraid of what he might do if he was. So he went downstairs. Kinkajou would be down there, he hoped. Or Lynx. He really wanted Lynx to be there. 

Lynx was downstairs, but both her and Kinkajou were asleep. Winter curled up, numb to everything he thought he was supposed to be feeling. The day had been exhausting, between reuniting with Qibli, Kinkajou’s story, and his interactions with Mari. He didn’t know what else to do, so he drifted off to sleep, hoping he wouldn’t wake up for a long time. 

_______________________________________________________________________

It was dark when he woke up. Kinkajou and Bluebell were both standing over him with a worried look on their faces. Dimly, Winter wondered where Lynx was. As soon as she saw his eyes open, Kinkajou shifted to a shade of pink brighter than he’d ever seen before.

“Uhmm, hi?” He said warily. His throat was dry and it hurt to talk. “W-why are y’all just crowded around me?”

Bluebell frowned and her eyebrows furrowed. “Winter, do you know how long you were asleep for?”

“No… why?”

“You were asleep for like, three days dude,” Kinkajou said. In a quiet voice she added, “We were worried about you.”

I don’t deserve to be worried about. Winter thought numbly. Out loud, he said, “You don’t need to worry about me. Now, umm, wheres Lynx? I need to talk to her about something.”

“I think she’s upstairs somewhere, but she might be on the porch,” Bluebell said quietly.

Winter bowed his head in appreciation as he began walking up the stairs. He eventually found Lynx sitting on the porch with her eyes closed.

“Hey,” he said softly, sitting down next to her. “How are yo–”

Lynx interrupted him by wrapping him in a tight hug. He hugged her back, but gently. He could tell that she was still in pain from her wings, and that she was trying to hide it.

“Hi,” she whispered back as they broke apart. “Can we talk?”

Winter nodded. “I came up here to do the same thing. You go first, though.”

“So, umm. There’s something really important I need to tell you.” Lynx started. “Snowfall and I were– wait, how come you're not reacting to the heat right now?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“I mean, you’re not sweating, or complaining that it’s hot outside, like a normal IceWing,” Lynx responded harshly.

“I-Lynx-what do you mean ‘ normal Icewing’?”

“Well,” the freckled dragoness in front of him stuttered. “I’ve known you for five years and you have never worn one piece of jewelry, in fact, you even said that you hated wearing it. and now, you’re wearing a necklace and like seven bracelets.”

Winter peered down at his arm where several bracelets Bluebell had made him lay, glittering in the sunlight. He regretted wearing them now, but it was too late.

“Oh, Bluebell made the bracelets for me. And the necklace is-it’s personal.”

“ AND ,” Lynx continued, ignoring him, “you’re not even fazed by the fact that it’s 90 degrees outside. Any normal IceWing would be complaining, or sweating at the very least.”

He hadn’t even known it was that hot. In fact, he thought it was a pleasant temperature. “Lynx, please,” he pleaded, trying to calm her down. “It’s a long story. I-I had to deal with a lot of heat for a while, so it’s really not that bad for me right–”

“You’re lying to me,” she said quietly. “Winter, we used to tell each other everything. Every little detail about things,” she said, the last sentence dripping with poison. Winter winced. He’d been lying to her from the moment they’d reunited.

“Lynx, this is just a big misunderstanding,” he said shakily. “I dealt with a lot of warmth for moons knows how long and–”

“YOU LIAR!” Lynx yelled again. “This isn’t like you- take off the necklace.”

Oh no. Oh moons no.

“What?” Winter asked, praying this was just a bad dream.

“I said, take off the necklace.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re not acting like you usually do, and we all know what happened to Hailstorm. The necklace is enchanted, which means Mari put a spell on it.”

Winter began backing up slowly, clutching the amethyst necklace closer to his chest. He couldn’t let Lynx see him, the true him. It would break her.

“Lynx…” He tried to say something more, but his throat was closing up. “Lynx…” He repeated. 

He backed up more and more–Lynx following after him all the while– until he was completely off of the porch and was pressed against the rough bark of a tree.

He winced as the bark scratched at one of the small burns on his back, making a small portion of it bleed. 

“Please don’t. Mari hasn’t-they wouldn’t-Lynx, please. ”

“This is for your own good,” the silver IceWing said as she grabbed the end of his necklace. “I’m sorry.” And with her last two words, Lynx yanked the necklace off of his neck, breaking the small, silver chain that held it together, and exposing all of Winter’s scars.

Chapter Text

After having a bit of fun torturing her IceWing subjects, Moon was on her way back to Possibility. She wanted to explore the wreckage and see just how much damage her little trick with Peril had done. She’d only brought Turtle with her, since bringing her entire royal guard —which now included a few SandWings, SkyWings, and MudWings— would be too conspicuous. 

She landed in Possibility after only a few days of flying. There weren’t any buildings left standing, just shelters for all the dragons who’d lost their homes during the attack. Moon landed in a barren strip of land that looked like it used to be a street. The ground was cold under her talons, and she looked down in confusion. The ground beneath her was stained blue. She took a sharp breath when she realized it was blood, IceWing blood. 

“What happened here? I didn’t think there were many IceWings in Possibility, and I’m pretty sure none of the ones who do live here got blown up in the explosions. Also, I don’t think an exploding dragon would leave this much blood in one spot,” she said to Turtle. She was genuinely curious what happened. 

“No idea. Smells horrible though,” he said, poking at the ground. 

“Well, cast a spell and find out. I want to know,” she snapped back. Moons, he could be so useless sometimes.

“Fine,” Turtle sighed and closed his eyes. After a few moments, he opened them again. “You did that,” he said.

“I’m sorry, what?” Moon asked, confused. “How could I have done that?”

“Remember that…toy you had me make for you?”

“Oh, now I do.” Moon smiled as she found herself thinking about all the fun she’d had. Back when she’d barely conquered the Ice Kingdom, she’d let an IceWing go. She’d killed all four of said IceWing’s comrades, but hadn’t been able to kill her. So instead, she’d had Turtle make a nice little doll of the IceWing. A voodoo doll, if you will. Her revenge was sweet, if short. She’d slowly undone the stitching that attached the doll’s wings to the rest of it’s body before slicing through the strings. She’d left the wingless doll hanging by it’s neck in her throne room as a reminder to all her subjects what happened if you disobeyed Queen Moonwatcher.

“So she’d made it to Possibility? She must have been a fast flier.” Moon said. 

“Do you think she died?” Turtle asked. Moon laughed. The IceWing should have died, considering that she’d lost her wings. But she hadn’t. She was lucky she’d made it to Possibility. Someone had saved her. Due to her powers of foresight, Moon knew that the IceWing had survived the attack. Still, Moon didn’t have time to go after her again, and besides, she’d be dead soon enough. And her death would be more satisfying than anything Moon could have thought of. 

“She’s not dead,” Moon said. “She will be soon, though. I can see it.” 

“Well, what are we here for? It’s clear there’s nothing but ruins left. You succeeded, Moon.”

Moon shrugged. She knew she’d won. But still, she wanted to rub it in a bit. She didn’t really care about everyone who’d made it out of Possibility alive. They’d be fun to torment, but she really didn’t need to waste her time forcing them into submission. 

“Let’s go intimidate the refugees? It’ll be fun, and maybe we’ll find our missing wingless dragon,” she said. She knew they wouldn’t find her, but maybe the suggestion would make everything more feasible. Not like it needed to be, but still. 

“Why not? I mean, do we have anything better to do?”

“Other than ruling Pyrrhia with an iron claw like we deserve? No, not really.” Moon laughed. She flicked her tail and started walking towards the nearest shelter. She knew everything was going according to plan. 

_________________________________________________________________________

When she arrived at the shelter, she flicked her tail at the refugees in what she thought was a threatening gesture. But she didn’t see the terror she hoped she would on their faces. Instead, she saw relief? She was a tyrant, a terrifying and dangerous queen who ruled over them all with an iron claw. But they were relieved to see her? It made no sense.

“Are you survivors too?” a young SandWing asked. She had a hope in her eyes that Moon couldn’t wait to break. 

“My brother, he’s still out there,” a SkyWing dragonet said before Moon could answer the girl. “Please tell me you found him. Please tell me he’s with you. Please tell me there are more survivors.” 

“We’re not from the search-and-rescue team, or survivors, or whoever you think we are,” Turtle said. “We did have to kill a few dragons who tried to stop us on our way…maybe that was them?”

“I mean, one of them was a SkyWing boy,” Moon added, grinning down at the now brokenhearted child. 

“No, no. Please, no. You…you’re evil. I can’t believe I ever looked at you with hope,” the dragonet cried, tears falling down his face. 

“Who are you?” the SandWing girl asked, her voice shaking. “If you’re not survivors, then who?”

Moon laughed before baring her teeth. “My name is Moonwatcher, and I am your queen.”  

Chapter Text

The moment that she had ripped the necklace off of Winter’s neck, Winter’s body began changing. It looked like his scales were sliding off of his body leaving… bandages in their place?

“Winter–what?” Lynx asked, stunned. The transformation was done now, and where there once stood a perfectly healthy Winter, now stood an IceWing covered in burns and bandages and scars.

“Lynx…” Winter whispered. “Lynx, I was going to tell you soon but I–”

Lynx shook her head. This couldn’t be Winter, she refused to belive it was him. But, it was him. “Winter–what happened to you? Did–how long have you been hiding this from me?” 

“Since Possibility. I-I didn’t want to draw a lot of attention to myself in the city, and I didn’t want you to worry about me, so I had Mari enchant–”

“Why would you do that? Why would you hide something so big from me? Friends are supposed to tell each other everything, they’re supposed to worry about each other when something happens, or when someone gets hurt. Friends are supposed to trust each other,but I guess if we can’t do any of that, we’re not really friends after all.” 

“Lynx-” Winter said, voice cracking. “We are friends and I do trust you, I was just trying to figure out a time to tell you about this. I didn’t want you to find out this way, and I am so, so , sorry that you did. I- I really wanted to tell you, but- I- I was worried that you wouldn’t trust me, and–”

“Well, I don’t trust you . Did you honestly expect me to, after you lied to me for two months ? You can’t do that to someone you call a friend. I sure as hell don’t want to know how you got all of those scars, and I honestly don’t care. Now take your stupid necklace and leave me alone.” She threw Winter the necklace and stalked back towards the cabin, fuming.

I…I regret what I said. But still, he shouldn’t have kept that secret from me. I was his best friend. I thought he trusted me. 

Lynx sighed, feeling tears running down her face. She hoped she hadn’t messed up and lost her closest friend. She knew she should apologize and try to make things right, but… she couldn’t. She’d always been taught that apologizing was a sign of weakness. She shook her head and stormed down the stairs, praying that Kinkajou wasn’t in the room. 

Kinkajou was in the room sleeping, but she was still in there. Lynx rolled her eyes and layed down in the opposite corner from the colorful RainWing, hoping to get at least a little bit of rest. She needed to get her mind off of Winter. Off of how he had lied to her. And off of how scared he’d been of her.

I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have ripped off his necklace. I should’ve let him tell me by himself, but I didn’t. I was just so sure Mari had done something evil to him, I didn’t consider any other possibilities.

I shouldn’t have fucking done that.

She closed her eyes and forced herself not to think. She’d done enough thinking for one day.

Chapter Text

Tears streamed down his face as Winter slumped against the tree, rough bark scraping against his scales. He grabbed the necklace off of the ground and examined it. The silver chain had snapped and he knew there was no point in trying to fix it. 

He considered asking Mari to enchant something else, but he knew he’d used up any favor they had for him when he’d asked them to show him the truth about his family.

The thought caused more tears to fall and he dropped the amethyst necklace on the ground. I can’t believe she was glad I was gone. I still wonder what Hailstorm and Icicle thought, but I doubt it’s any better. I don’t think I even want to know. I won’t ask to see the truth again. I’m not going to torture myself like that, especially not if Mari’s involved. 

They’d laugh at everything again, laugh at my pain. Moons, I hate my life… My mother never loved me, my biological father was never actually in my life, my other ‘father’ abused me every chance he could get, my brother who happened to be the only one who ever cared about me even a little bit was hurt because of me, my selfish sister never once cared about anything other than how she’d become Queen. I’ve wondered what they’d all feel if I died. I wondered who would miss me, who would even notice I was gone. Pretty fucking obvious now that none of them would. It’s fucking sad, the way I’ve thought about dying since I was a dragonet. A fucking dragonet. I should have been growing up with my siblings, learning everything I needed to know and spending all my time otherwise hanging out with them. I should have been fighting to stay awake longer, not wishing I could just go into a coma forever. I didn’t fucking deserve that. 

Or did I? What if I was the problem all along? I mean, they all seemed so much happier when they thought I was dead. Maybe there’s a reason I’ve wanted to kill myself since I was 2 years old. Maybe I deserve to die. He knew Bluebell had told him to find her if he ever felt like hurting himself again, but he didn’t want her to worry about him. Winter stood up and began walking. He didn’t necessarily know where he was going, but he knew that he had to get far away from the cabin, and Lynx.

He walked for what seemed like days, but might have only been an hour, until he reached a large fir tree and sat down next to it. 

Fresh tears fell onto the ground as he dug his talons into his shoulder, and forearms, and stomach. He deserved the pain. He had lied to Lynx, his best friend who had done so much for him, who had been the only reason he lived for four years. Four years.

He dragged his serrated claws through his entire arm again and again and again, watching the blood hit the ground. At this point, he didn’t even care if he died from blood loss. He welcomed death.

He curled into himself and collapsed into a shaking, crying mess. He sobbed so hard it felt like his tears were bloody, and maybe they were.

_______________________________________

He didn’t know how long he had been crying for, but at some point, he heard someone talking. Winter looked up to see Qibli standing a few feet away, shaking.

The SandWing walked over to him and sat down, letting Winter cry onto his shoulder. He wrapped his wings around Winters shaking body, and hugged him gently.

Qibli stayed by Winter until the sun rose, whispering sweet nothingness and holding him gently in his warm, strong arms. Winter sobbed into him, crying his eyes out for hours until he finally stopped.

“Thank you,” he whispered, turning his head away from the handsome SandWing and wiping his eyes. “I needed that.”

Qibli looked at him and smiled weakly. “Do you need help getting back to wherever you’re staying? I can walk you there if you want.”

Winter nodded and tried to stand up, but almost immediately fell down again. Qibli caught him and gently set him down on the ground. Out of instinct, Winter knocked him over and pinned him down to the ground. He had been taught to do this in battle training.

Qibli looked flustered for a moment before flipping him over and landing on top of him –sort of like how a dragonet would– and laughed. Winter laughed along with him and closed his eyes. He still felt sad, but he also felt happy. Truly happy.

When he opened his eyes he realized that Qibli’s face was extremely close to his and he blushed. The SandWing quickly clambered off of him and helped him up, letting him lean on his shoulder. “Let’s go,” he whispered. “Everyone’s probably worried about you.”

Chapter Text

As he walked Winter towards the cabin, he tried to calm his nerves. He had been so close to the handsome IceWings face and still was panicking about it.

I never realized how beautiful his eyes are , he realized. I mean, to be fair, I’ve never been looking at only his eyes.

Qibli glanced at Winter’s limping form. The IceWing had insisted on walking by himself, but he was clearly struggling. He finally realized that Qibli was staring at him and looked up. 

“What do you want, Sand-snorter?” He asked, groaning when Qibli suggested that he help him walk. “I’m fine, really. It doesn’t hurt that bad.”

Qibli looked down at Winters leg and then looked back up at him. “Then, why are you not putting pressure on it?”

The IceWing glanced down at his leg, which he was holding up and gently placed it on the ground. “See? I’m fine.” He tried to take a step forward but fell. Qibli caught him and held him up. “Okay, so, maybe it does hurt,” Winter admitted. “A lot.”

Qibli rolled his eyes and wrapped a wing around Winter to keep him steady while he walked. 

He didn’t need to ask where he got the cuts from, he had already seen the IceWing’s claws, stained blue. The other wounds he didn’t ask about either, even though he was curious.

He continued to examine his old clawmate’s body as they walked and was shocked to realize just how many wounds there were.

There was a large gash on Winters throat, a scratch that ran from his cheek down to his chest, burns everywhere, especially on his arms, stomach and talons. There were also some burns around Winter’s back ankles that looked like they were from chains. Lots of scars on his forearms, with both serrated and normal claw marks. His right wing was also wrapped up in bandages.

“Hey, I just realized something,” Qibli announced after they had been walking for about 30 minutes. “I don’t actually know where I’m going, do you?”

“Not a clue,” Winter said. “We could just go back to that clearing where I found you. I know where to go from there.”

Qibli nodded and took off into the air. He looked down at his friend and yelled, “I’m going to go see if I can spot the clearing from the air. It’ll be faster if we actually know where to go.”

Winter nodded and sat down as Qibli began winging away.

He scanned the forest until he saw a small building in the distance. He flew towards it and noticed that it was a scavenger den. There was something sitting on the steps of the building and it took Qibli longer than he wanted to admit to realize that it was a scavenger.

The scavenger had long, light blue hair that was tied up in an intricate pattern and was wearing a green top with brown bottoms. She was sitting on the stairs of the cabin, sobbing.

Qibli landed a short ways away from the cabin and walked back to it. He hid behind a large tree and looked closer at the scavenger. She seemed to be holding a broken necklace with a small amethyst crystal on the end of it. 

That’s Winter’s necklace. Qibli realized with a start. Why does a scavenger have it?

He tried to creep forwards the smallest bit to get a better look at her, but accidentally stepped on a twig. The scavengers head shot up and began scanning her surroundings.

She stood up slowly and reached for something at her side. When she drew it, Qibli realized that it was a knife. The scavenger held it out in front of her and mumbled something threateningly. He stayed hidden as she repeated what she said louder and raised the blade dangerously, ready to strike if any danger showed. She had tears running down her face but somehow still managed to look scary and Qibli had a feeling that he shouldn’t mess with her.

He must’ve breathed too loudly or something because the scavenger spun her head in his direction and began stalking over to him slowly. He stepped out from behind the tree and raised his front two talons innocently.

The moment the scavenger saw him, she froze. She looked up at his face and almost seemed to recognize him as she took a few shaky steps backwards.

Chapter Text

Bluebell had been up all night waiting for Winter to come home, but so far, he hadn’t. She had been sitting on the porch for what seemed like forever when she finally heard a noise. A loud cracking sound from a stick.

She stood up slowly and drew her knife from its sheath. That wasn’t a noise that Winter would’ve made. If he had been trying to get back to the cabin, he wouldn’t have been sneaking around.

“Who’s there?” Bluebell growled as she took in her surroundings. Nothing.

“Who’s there?” She repeated, louder this time. She didn’t bother to wipe the tears from her eyes. She raised her knife and scanned the woods.

All of a sudden, she heard a loud breath from off to her right. She spun towards the sound, dagger outstretched and stalked towards it.

A pale yellow dragon around Winter’s size stepped out from behind a large tree and lifted up its talons innocently. 

Bluebell looked up at it’s face and gasped as she realized she recognized him. From where she didn’t know, but she knew him.

Qibli. Her brain announced. That’s Qibli.

She took a few shaky steps backwards before falling to the ground. She began crawling backwards slowly, and in her haste to get away, she dropped her knife on her leg. The blade sliced through her skin and fresh tears spilled from her eyes that were still tracking Qibli.

The SandWing moved towards her slowly and she realized something. He was covered in blood. Blue blood.

“Wh- What did you do to him?” Bluebell asked in dragon, gritting her teeth as blood spilled from her wound. Qibli paused, eyes wide in horror and mouth slightly agape. “Yeah, I’m a human, talking in dragon, get over it,” She snapped. “What did you do to him?”

“To who?” Qibli asked slowly, dark eyes staring intensely at her. “Also, are you okay?”

She scoffed. “Don’t play dumb. You’ve got his blood all over you. So tell me, what did you do to him?”

Qibli looked down at himself before he seemed to realize what she meant. “It’s not what it looks like, okay? I found him and he was really hurt, so I helped him, end of story.”

A wave of panic took over Bluebell. “What do you mean by ‘he was really hurt’? Please tell me you’re joking.”

Qibli looked down at her and shook his head. “Not joking. He was hurt really badly.”

Bluebell stood up quickly and winced as she walked closer to the SandWing. “What happened?”

The SandWing thought for a moment before mumbling something under his breath. “What happened?” Bluebell repeated, glaring at Qibli. He still didn’t respond. “What happened, Qibli? What happened to Winter?” Qibli still stayed silent. “What– oh.” It had just dawned on her that there was one thing that Winter wasn’t supposed to do without talking to her about. “He-he self harmed, didn’t he?” Bluebell asked quietly.

“I-” Qibli tried, voice shaking. He nodded instead and said, “Pretty badly.”

Bluebell wrapped her arms around her stomach. She felt like she was going to puke, or faint, or both. “Is he going to be okay? How badly? Did he lose anything other than blood? Does he want to see me? Why did he do that to himself?”

“Yes, he’s strong, 8.5/10, no, I don’t know, and he’s dealing with a lot.”

“Can you bring him back here as quickly as possible? I need to treat his wounds.”

“Yeah,” Qibli said, spreading his wings. “Oh, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Bluebell. It’s Bluebell. Get out of here and go find Winter, please. I can’t lose him.”

And I won’t.”

Chapter Text

She had been up for hours with Bluebell, waiting for Winter to come home. He had apparently gotten into an argument with Lynx after she ripped his necklace off. 

Of course Lynx is the reason he ran away. She thought grumpilly, glaring at the silver IceWing in front of her. Lynx had told both Bluebell and Kinkajou what had happened and her tears had looked so fake Kinkajou had wanted to give her something to actually cry about.

She didn’t want to cause any more drama so instead she had spent the past few hours with Bluebell. When it got dark and Winter still wasn’t back, Bluebell left to go wait for him outside. She’d taken her knife out of its sheath, which was how Kinkajou knew she was worried. Bluebell didn’t like carrying a weapon. In fact, she only had one in the first place because both Kinkajou and Lynx insisted. 

They’d both wanted her to be safe, and after that one time she’d stabbed a chicken, they convinced her to carry a knife with her. She’d handmade a sheath for it and refused to take it out unless absolutely necessary. Kinkajou especially wanted her to have one now, after Mari disappeared. She figured they’d just gone out walking or something the first time Winter and Bluebell had gone looking for Mari and couldn’t find them. Kinkajou didn’t really care, but after a few days had passed and there was still no sign of them, she began to worry. Not for Mari, of course, but for whoever or whatever they’d encountered. 

All of a sudden, there was a loud commotion from outside. Kinkajou carefully slipped outside, not wanting to wake Lynx. She barely made it outside in time to see a flash of yellow scales before they disappeared.

She walked over to Bluebell, who was sitting on the steps of the porch clutching her leg. “Accidentally nicked myself,” she said. “Don’t worry.”

“Are you okay?” Kinkajou asked. “It looks pretty bad.”

“I’ve had worse. I’ll be fine.”`

“Do you want me to get you a bandage?”

“It’s fine, I’ll grab one later. By the way, I know what happened to Winter.”

Oh no. “Is he alright? Who were you talking to?”

“I hope so. Qibli told me he was hurt pretty bad.”

“Wait, you were talking to Qibli? How is he? I haven’t seen him in forever. Where is he?”

“He left to go get Winter, but you might still be able to catch him. By the looks of it, he’s really fast.”

Kinkajou thanked Bluebell before taking off in the direction she had seen Qibli fly in. He was indeed, very fast and it took a while to catch up to him.

“Qi-” she gasped for air- ”Qibs, wait up!”

Qibli spun around, a huge smile on his face and tackled Kinkajou in a hug. “Kinkajou! You’re okay! I swear, I was so worried about you! I thought Moon did something to you. I-I thought you were dead.”

Kinkajou laughed. ”Well, now you don’t have to worry any more.I’m okay. What have you been- wait, don’t you need to get to Winter?”

Qibli smacked his forehead and continued flying in the direction he had originally been flying in, his goofy expression shifting into an anxious frown. “C’mon,” he yelled as Kinkajou scrambled to catch up with him. “I don’t want him to lose too much blood.”

“What happened?” Kinkajou asked frantically, turning lime green with fear. “Please tell me he didn’t-didn’t self harm.” Qibli shot her a sorry glance and she mentally cursed. “How badly? Where? Is he somewhere near here? Were any vital organs injured? Is he-is he going to be okay?”

“I DON’T KNOW!” Qibli screamed. “I DON’T KNOW IF HE’S GOING TO BE OKAY! I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW HE CUT HIMSELF BEFORE I FOUND HIM! I DON’T WANT TO LOSE HIM AND I’M SCARED AND-AND ANGRY AT MYSELF AND A MILLION OTHER THINGS AT ONCE!” Kinkajou saw tears fill the SandWings eyes and saw him blink them away. “I don’t want to lose him…” Qibli repeated, softer this time. “Not again. Not ever again.”

________________________

It didn’t take long for them to reach Winter, and when they did, Kinkajou immediately felt bile rise from her throat.

Winters entire left arm had deep scratches running up and down it, and his shoulder and torso were also torn up pretty badly. She doubted that he could even walk to the cabin, let alone stand on his own. With all of his other scars now present, his body looked like a mosaic of injuries.

Both her and Qibli rushed toward him and when she got close, Kinkajou realized just how deep the cut’s were. “Winter,” she whispered, examining him. “Why?” Her question came out shaky and almost like a breath.

“I-everything kinda came crashing down on me and I-I needed a way to cope,” Winter whispered, folding into himself the smallest bit. He wrapped his wing around himself and began crying. “I’m sorry.”

Qibli silently wrapped his wings around Winters body, gently enough so that he didn’t hurt his friend anymore but also firmly enough that the IceWing would still feel him. Winter, to Kinkajou’s surprise, nudged his head underneath Qibli’s and pressed against him.

Qibli’s eyes widened as he blushed and stared at the IceWing snuggling him before directing his gaze to Kinkajou. His eyes shot down quickly at Winter and then back up to her as if he was asking, “ What just happened?”

Kinkajou shrugged and giggled quietly to herself. Winter looked over at her, and seeing her giggle must have made him realize he was snuggling Qibli. He blushed furiously and pulled away from the SandWing, looking away. Kinkajou laughed again and both dragons in front of her blushed even harder. Winters entire face was a deep blue and Qibli looked like he was cosplaying a tomato.

Winter looked like he was about to say something before he clutched his head and whispered, “I don’t feel so good.”

Kinkajou ran towards Winter’s other side and wrapped one wing over his back. “C’mon,” she whispered. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

“Let’s go,” Kinkajou whispered to Winter, who was clutching his head with his good talon.

The IceWing had nodded and tried to take a step forward but was so shaky he immediately collapsed. Qibli caught him before he could hit the ground and looked into his gorgeous blue eyes. “You alright?” He mumbled so only Winter could hear him. “What’s wrong?”

Winter shook his head and whispered, “I feel really dizzy. I-” his body shook violently “I don’t- I-” he collapsed to the ground. 

Qibli wrapped his arms around Winter’s torso -being careful not to touch the deep gashes in it- and hoisted him onto his shoulder. The IceWing was surprisingly light and Qibli felt bile rise in his throat. He had known Winter didn’t eat much food (or at least he didn’t at Jade Mountain) but he didn’t know he starved himself.

Kinkajou rushed over to Qibli’s side and helped put Winter in a more comfortable position on his back. She made sure that he wouldn't fall off before letting Qibli walk forward a few paces. When Winter didn’t fall off they continued walking towards the cabin, Kinkajou flying above the trees every now and then to see where they were.

________________________

By the time they had finally reached the cabin, Qibli’s entire body was sore and he felt like collapsing. Bluebell was waiting on the steps of the cabin again, and when she noticed him, she rushed forward to examine Winter.

“Oh moons,” she mumbled, inspecting the scratches on his body. “Do you think you can bring him inside? I need to get him cleaned up.”

Qibli nodded and walked towards the stairs slowly. He carefully climbed up them and opened the door to the cabin.

The room he walked into was spacious and had an extremely tall ceiling, with stars on the walls, lamps, and a large fireplace lighting it up. He barely had a moment to realize that an IceWing was sitting on the couch before Bluebell began instructing him on what to do. 

“Set him down in the bathroom, Kinkajou can show you where it is. I need to go grab something.”

Kinkajou led Qibli into what he supposed was the bathroom and showed him where to place Winter. Bluebell ran in about a minute later with a large flower in one hand and a bag in the other.

She held the flower up to Winter’s nose and the moment he breathed in, his eyes opened. He looked at his surroundings for a moment before seeming to remember that he was supposed to be in pain and groaning.

Bluebell had Qibli half carry half walk him into a glass corner before turning something on the wall and instructing Winter to sit up. The scavenger turned another dial before water came shooting out of a faucet and at him.

Winter watched the blood wash off his body and fall into the drain for a moment before looking at Qibli. “Th-thank you,” he whispered, seemingly unable to speak clearly. “I-OWWW! Bluebell, what the fuck?”

“Sorry,” the blue haired scavenger said, removing the soapy towel she had pressed against Winter’s shoulder. “I need to clean this off. I don’t want it to get infected, but if It hurts too much, just let me know.”

Qibli was surprised at how soft her voice sounded as just a few hours ago she had almost stabbed him. “How’s your leg?” He asked quietly, getting tired of not talking.

“Good,” Bluebell responded. “It was a small but deep scratch so I just stitched it up. I honestly don’t care if it scars. I feel like scars show strength.”

Winter scoffed as he looked down at his arm, which, now that Qibli looked, was almost completely clean. “There’s nothing strong about self harm,” he mumbled. “Or getting abused.”

Bluebell looked up at him for a moment before whispering something that only Winter could hear. When she finished whatever she was saying, she grabbed the showerhead off the wall and continued washing Winter’s wounds.

When she was finally done, and Winter had been dried off, she asked Qibli to grab her bag which she had left on the counter next to him. He grabbed it and was astonished to realize how heavy it was for such a small bag.

“What the-” he mumbled as Bluebell grabbed it, stuck her entire arm in it, and pulled out several rolls of bandages, gauze, needles, and medical thread that most definitely didn’t fit in it. “How? Wha-”

“My friend Mari bought it from a vendor at a city we visited once. The vendor seemed pretty chill, and barely looked up from her book as they bought it.”

(if ykyk what that bag is and who the vendor is) 

Qibli looked at Bluebell for a moment, questioning if he should believe her or not, and decided that he would. She didn’t seem like the type to lie. 

He watched in silence as she carefully stitched up the scratches on Winter’s arm and wrapped his stomach in gauze and bandages. The IceWing in question barely winced the entire time and Qibli considered asking him why but dropped it.

After Bluebell was finished, she sent Winter downstairs to get some rest and began packing up. Qibli wanted to ask her if he could stay at the cabin but decided against it. He really didn’t feel like inviting himself over and didn’t want to be rude to Bluebell. But he also didn’t want to leave Winter alone.

He’s not going to be alone, he reminded himself. He’ll have Kinkajou and Bluebell and Mari -whoever they are-. I should just leave, its pretty clear I’m not needed here and I don’t want to inconvenience anyone.

As he was about to leave, a small paw touched his arm. He spun around to see Bluebell looking up at him with her strangely beautiful eyes. One blue, one brown. 

“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for being there for him. He seemed calmer around you, happier.”

Qibli’s heart swelled. If he made Winter happy, that meant Winter trusted him and that made him happy. “Of course. Anytime.”

“You can stay here, if you want,” Bluebell said, gesturing to the cabin. “The basement’s a little crowded but I’m sure we could find a place for you to stay. And I know Winter would love it. You seem to cheer him up, and he’s had a lot of hard things happen to him as of lately. He deserves to feel happy.”

If Qibli’s heart could grow anymore, it did. “I would love that.”

“Follow me then. You and I need to talk about how y’all met.”

They spent the next few hours talking about they both met Winter and Qibli was happy to hear that Bluebell had not only bonded with him, but gotten him to open up about a lot. She loved Winter almost as much as he did.

Chapter Text

He hadn’t been able to sleep and, against his better judgment, he had gone upstairs. He was shocked to see Qibli and Bluebell talking to each other, as he hadn’t thought they would get along… for some reason. But that was stupid, both of them got along with everyone they met.

“Hi,” he whispered, walking up the rest of the steps and taking a seat next to Qibli. “I couldn’t get to sleep.”

“Is anything hurting too bad?” Bluebell asked, walking over to him and examining his wounds again. “I can give you some pain killer, unless… do you want me to make you some sleeping tea? I can, if you want.”

“I’m okay,” Winter reassured her. “I just have a lot on my mind at the moment.”

“Okay. Just let me know if you want anything,” Bluebell said, and then paused. She switched to human before adding, “Or if you’re feeling like you want to do something.”

“I think I’m going to be okay for today, don’t worry. Besides, I’m in too much pain to hurt myself again.”

She looked at him with a broken expression before saying, “I’m getting you the pain killer. I don’t care if you don’t want it, your in pain and you need to sleep,” and walking upstairs.

Winter sat next to Qibli in silence for a few minutes before the SandWing asked, “Can we talk?” Winter nodded and Qibli continued. “Why did you, hurt yourself?”

“I-I found out a lot of things recently and I needed a way to cope. I needed a way to get rid of my mental pain so I hurt myself to-to feel better, if that makes sense.”

Qibli paused for a moment before asking, “Do you want to talk about it? I’ll respect your boundaries if you don’t but I don’t want you to have something this heavy on your chest.”

Winter nodded slowly and quietly whispered, “I-I found out Moon murdered e-everyone in my family and she-she she turned my mother’s scales, that she ripped out one by one, into a cloak. She electrocuted Hailstorm but when that didn’t kill him she had Turtle enchant Icicle to look like me and kill him and then kill herself.”

The SandWing in front of him reached out and wiped away several tears he hadn’t know had fallen before whispering, “So, the last thing your brother saw was you?”

“Murdering him,” Winter whispered back. “And he probably didn’t even have time to realize that I was ‘dead’. Mari showed me my mother’s reaction to my death and she-she didn’t even care. The only one who remotely cared about me was Frost, my father. My biological father. Narwhal, who was supposed to be my dad, abused me every chance he could get and I always thought that was normal but it’s not. I’ve always wanted a real father figure to look up to and now I’ll never get that, because Frost is in Moon’s clutches now and if she sees me trying to find him, I’m as good as dead. I hate my life.”

Qibli wrapped his warm, strong wings around him and hugged Winter close and it was as if, at that moment, a dam broke in him. He sobbed into Qibli for the second time in a row and Qibli held him close again. He would occasionally stroke the spines on his back and whisper something but Winter barely payed attention to what he was saying. Or-at least, he didn’t until the SandWing murmured: “I know that you’re not paying attention to what I’m saying,  but I want you to know that you’re loved. Everyone in this cabin loves you with all of their hearts and I’m no exception to that.”

He said something else after that but Winter didn’t pay any mind to it. There was only one thought circling through his brain. Qibli loves me. Qibli loves me. Qibli loves me . I’m loved by someone. Qibli loves me!

He pulled away from the warm wings that had been holding him and quietly said, “Thank you.”

“Anything for my Winty,” Qibli murmured.

“Hey, Qibli?” Bluebell called from upstairs. “Can you come here for a second? I need your opinion on something.”

Qibli glanced at Winter for a moment and when he nodded yelled, “I’ll be there in a second!” got up and walked towards the staircase.

Winter wiped his eyes and leaned against the soft fabric of the couch, trying to breathe. He felt like his stomach was being tossed and turned and he wasn’t sure if he was going to puke or faint…or both. Every time he thought about Qibli, his stomach did another weird flop thing and made it feel like he had butterflies in it. I know I have feelings for him but for the love of all three moons get those bugs out it feels funny and I don’t like it.

He closed his eyes and for just a second, he felt calm, and happy, and whole… until Kinkajou whispered, “You like him, don’t you?”

“I-I,” Winter stammered, looking at the bright pink RainWing who had appeared in front of him. Flushing furiously, he whispered, “No I-I don’t.”

“You do,” Kinkajou murmured, twining her tail around his and turning a solemn blue-gray color. “How long?”

Winter couldn’t lie to her, so instead he mumbled, “Si-Since we kissed. I think Turtle put a love spell on me but if he didn’t I-I-I don’t know. In the Ice Kingdom, we were always taught that boys can only like girls and girls can only like boys, and that there were no exceptions to that. You couldn’t date a boy if you were a boy and if you even tried, you would either have been exiled or murdered.”

He vividly remembered walking through the halls of the prison with Tundra, watching dragons of all ages be tied up. He remembered his mother pushing him into a room and leaving him there. He remembered that a gay couple was being held on trial, and having to watch one of the dragons be decapitated via guillotine while the other watched. It was at that moment that he had realized just how cruel IceWings could be, and he had been forced to watch several of those for the next few years. He hated seeing dragons, sometimes even dragonets his age, be murdered like criminals. Or locked away like they were animals.

“I’ve already been exiled, Jou. I don’t want to die yet and I-” he took a deep, shaky breath and continued. “I like girls and I like boys. Is there something w-wrong with me?” The last words came out as nothing more than a whisper as he folded into himself. Winter knew there was something wrong with him, he had always known but he had refused to acknowledge it.

Winter glanced at Kinkajou and regretted everything he had just said. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, burying his face in his talons. “I’m sorry.”

Kinkajou reached forward and gently peeled his talons away from his face. He looked at her as she whispered, “You have nothing to be sorry for. I’m so glad you were brave enough to come out to me, that you were able to trust me with something you’ve obviously never told anyone else. I want you to know that I fully support you and, if you want, I can play matchmaker with you and Qibli, see how he feels about you.”

Winter stared at the little RainWing, who was bright yellow and pink again. He could feel that he was blushing furiously and he wanted to curl into himself again. I’m not actually considering she asks him, am I? I mean, it would be satisfying knowing how he feels, but if he doesn’t feel the same way I feel about him… I’ll just force any feelings for him away.

Should I really ask her to do that?

No.

Yes. 

No.

Yes.

Yes. She offered and frankly, I really do want to know.

“I-what if he says he doesn’t feel the same way about me? What if he doesn’t want to be friends with me after this? What if he hates me? What if–”

Kinkajou placed one of her talons over his mouth and firmly said, “Stop the ‘what if’s’. Whatever happens happens and there’s not much I can do about it, but promise me you’ll try to be strong. And that you won’t do anything stupid if it’s not the answer you want.”

Winter nodded and the small RainWing sighed before hugging him and whispering, “I have a strong feeling that everything will play out just how you want it to.”

Chapter Text

Mari had just gotten back to the cabin when they heard voices. The conversation sounded important, and Mari had interrupted enough conversations to know that whatever the conversation was about would be dropped until you left. So instead of going inside right away, they lingered by the door. One of the voices was distinctly Winter’s, but the other was hard to make out. Mari thought for a minute before casting a quick invisibility spell. Nothing too major, just enough to get into the house without being noticed.

The second voice belonged to a pale yellow dragon. A SandWing, Mari recalled. Wait, that’s the one I saw in Winter’s memories! Ooh, this is perfect.

Mari quietly snuck through the living room before taking a seat on a chair that was quite conveniently already pulled out. They just barely caught the end of the conversation.

“Thank you,” Winter said.

The SandWing gave a smile that was halfway between a cunning smirk and a cheesy grin, and very obviously gay. It was clear that whoever this SandWing was, he cared a lot for Winter. “Anything for my Winty,” he said, confirming Mari’s suspicion that he was the gayest motherfucker on the planet.

He opened his mouth like he was going to say something else, but before he could, Bluebell called for him from upstairs. Damn it, Bluebell. Couldn’t you have waited a few minutes? I was about to probably hear Winter confess something scandalous.

“You like him, don’t you?” a disembodied voice whispered. Kinkajou appeared on top of the couch. Mari startled for a moment, not realizing there was another eavesdropper. Whoa, how long was she there?

Winter denied her claim, turning blue around his cheeks. He stuttered his answer, making it clear that he was lying.  Kinkajou must have noticed the same thing, as her scales darkened. Is she…jealous? That would definitely spice things up a bit.

Mari spaced out most of the rest of the conversation, only catching bits and pieces. There was something about a love spell, which Mari definitely wanted to cast at some point, just to stir up some drama. There was also a mention of being put to death for being queer, which made Mari want to punch whoever made that law. In the face. With a brick. Or just with their bare knuckles. Their knuckles would probably hurt more.

There was one piece of the conversation that caught their attention, however. “I like girls and I like boys. Is there something w-wrong with me?” Winter whispered, the last words so quiet Mari had to strain their ears to listen. Winter folded into himself, and seeing him so hurt broke Mari’s heart. Especially since it was over something they’d dealt with a lot before. They wished they could comfort him somehow, but they weren’t supposed to be listening to this conversation.

Luckily, the topic of the conversation switched back to Qibli. Kinkajou offered to try and set the two up, and reassured Winter before leaving the room. Mari took that as the opportune moment to undo their invisibility spell.

They appeared on the chair, causing Winter to jump off the couch. “Where did you come from?” he asked, trembling.

“Nowhere,” Mari said, which was kind of true.

“How much did you hear?”

“Not much. Just Kinkajou saying that she has high hopes for you and your SandWing.”

Relief flashed on Winter’s face before Mari added, “And you admitting you’re gay.”

“Wha-what? I’m not-I can’t-I like girls!”

“You don’t have to lie to me. I heard you. You said you like boys and girls, and I’ve seen your memories. Winter, do you know that there’s this thing called being bisexual?”

It was obvious Winter had never heard the term before. “In the-in the Ice Kingdom, no one was allowed to be that open about their sexuality.”

Mari rolled their eyes. Not because of Winter, but because of the stupid rules in the stupidly cold Ice Kingdom. Was…was Moon in the right, burning the Ice Kingdom down? Honestly, after hearing everything I have, I probably would burn it too.

They must have said that out loud, because Winter took a step back, fear evident in his eyes.

“Are you alright?” Mari asked, attempting to make a placating gesture. That only made Winter take another few steps back until he was almost pressing against the wall.

“Winter. Are you okay?” Mari asked again. The IceWing tried to back up more but the wall blocked him from doing so. Mari reached out tentatively as he began hyperventilating and shaking.

“Y-you would bu-burn the Ice Kingdom down? You would side-side with Moon an-an-and burn one of the only homes I’ve ever ha-had?”

“Home? You called that place your home? You hated it there and we both know it. Home isn’t somewhere where you get abused 24/7 or yelled at or-” they took a deep breath, “Or want to kill yourself when you’re there. Yes, I would burn that shit to the ground if I could, and kill off your family again, but I wouldn’t hurt any other IceWings unless they had hurt you. It doesn’t matter if you were raised there, because this is your home now, and I’ll make sure it’s nothing like your previous one. No matter what I have to do.”

“Mari, I…I appreciate it, but…please don’t do anything stupid. I’m not worth it.” Winter said. “And, honestly, you already scare me enough. I don’t need you actually killing anyone.”

“You are worth it. And I will hurt anyone who even thinks about hurting you.”

Winter tried to back up again, but he was already pressed against the wall. Mari stepped forward, offering a hand. Winter flinched and recoiled, acting like Mari had slapped him. They definitely had not slapped him.

“Let me help you,” they insisted. “You let Bluebell and Kinkajou and Lynx and Qibli all help you. Why won’t you let me?”

“A lot of reasons. I-you-we-I can’t. I can’t talk about this.”

“Just tell me!” Mari snapped.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I just…after you did things with my memories, I just can’t trust you. I’m sorry. Please don’t hurt me.”

“Oh, you mean that very enlightening experience? That was just harmless fun! Don’t be so uptight.”

“Harmless fun? Mari, that was…not harmless. Just go away. I need to think. Alone.”

“Okay. When you realize I’m a great person to know, just find me.” Mari turned around and started heading out of the room, but stopped at the doorway. “I think,” they said, “I’m going to go talk to your lover boy.”

________________________________

Bluebell and Qibli were in the middle of an animated discussion when Mari entered the room. The conversation was so intense that neither of them seemed to notice that Mari was there.

“...so, coffee cake then?” Bluebell asked. “I can try to ask Mari if we can use their coffee grounds.”

“Yeah, sure,” Mari said, taking a seat. “I mean, anything for Winter, right?”

Bluebell jumped up from her seat and stared at Mari for a moment before rushing over and hugging them. “Where have you been? I was worried about you.”

Mari reassured her that they were fine before turning towards Qibli. “Hi, I’m Mari. You’re Qibli, aren’t you? I’ve heard a few things about you from Winter.”

The SandWings face it up for a moment when they said Winters name but his expression quickly shifted to something more worried. “Is he-is he okay? He seemed really upset when I left.”

“I think he’s fine. I can go check, if you want me to.”

“No, no, just let him be,” Qibli said. “He should try and sleep.”

“Alright. So, I heard something about a coffee cake? What’s that all about?”

“I’m not sure we should-” Qibli trued to say, before Mari cut him off.

“Tell me, damn it!’ they said, a bit too loudly.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. Didn’t you say that we should keep this a secret?”

“We can tell Mari. In fact,” Bluebell said, “It’s probably better we tell everyone in the house who isn’t Winter. Lynx already knows and I’m sure Kinkajou would love to help.”

“Help with what?” Mari asked angrily. “Just tell me.”

“We’re going to have a surprise birthday party for Winter!” Bluebell announced in a whisper-yell. “We were going to make him a coffee cake but we’ll need your coffee for that.”

“I thought he doesn’t like coffee. Actually, I think he hates it, doesn’t he?”

Bluebell smacked her forehead and whispered, “Fuck, you’re right. What should I make instead?”

“Hey, don’t say the fuck word in front of Qibli!” Mari yelled. “Also, make him a chocolate cake.”

Bluebell nodded and began walking towards the door before she stopped herself and turned around abruptly. “I almost forgot to get the numbing ointment, fuck. Sorry Qibli.”

The SandWing laughed and said, “Don’t worry, I’ve said fuck before, you’re good. Umm, can I go with you? I just want to keep him calm while you put he ointment on.”

“Okay. Yeah, he still gets really nervous when I rebandage his wounds.” Bluebell said. “I hope he’ll be okay after this…”

“After what?” Mari asked, not really caring but adding a hint of worriedness in their voice.

Qibli and Bluebell gave each other a look, as if communicating through facial expressions and eventually, Blue said something. “He-he cut himself. Lynx ripped off the necklace and-” she took a shaky breath “it was just too much for him. He was already hurting and he snapped.”

Mari paused for a moment before asking, “So chocolate cake then?”

“MARI!”

“GIVE HIM FUCKING CHOCOLATE CAKE!”

“WRONG TIME!”

“PUT RAINBOW SPRINKLES ON IT!”

“MARI!!!”

Qibli was shaking with laughter at this point and Mari flipped him off before saying, very loudly so Winter would hear them, “GO FIX YOUR BOYFRIEND!!!”

The SandWing blushed furiously and Mari laughed as his faced turned as red as a tomato. Bluebell glared at them before leading Qibli downstairs with the ointment in her hand.

Chapter Text

The sun was high over the Ice Kingdom by the time Moon returned. She had been flying all day and night for the past 2 days. She was exhausted, and definitely ready for a good day’s sleep. She’d already sent an order through Mink for her loyal palace servants to prepare for her return. 

When she landed in the courtyard, she was immediately greeted by her favorite guards. Frost, whose handsome face she wanted to slice off half of the time, and Polar, his friend who was significantly less attractive, but was still one of her strongest guards.

They both fell to their knees in deference. “My queen,” Polar said, “Welcome home.” 

“Stand up,” she ordered as she strode past them. “I’m exhausted and I’d rather not waste any more time on frivolous things. Just, take me to my room already.”

Her guards bowed and opened the door to the palace. They followed her to her room and when she reached it, she ran inside and collapsed onto her bed.

The bed was incredibly large and soft, lined with dark green satin sheets. Frost lifted her head and placed a pillow underneath it. 

“Sleep well, my queen,” he said, draping a silk blanket over her. He placed a light kiss on her forehead, a sign of affection and admiration for his queen. His cold lips felt nice against her scales, making her realize just how hot it was. 

“Lay down,” she ordered, snapping her talons and patting the mattress next to her.

“Your-Your Majesty, I-I’m sure I misheard you, but it-it sounded as if you wanted me to lie with you?”

“Yes. You heard me correctly. Get over here.”

Frost sighed before laying down next to Moon. His scales were refreshingly cold against her back. Moon sighed happily before drifting into an uneasy sleep. 

_______________________________________________

Moon found herself standing in a forest, surrounded by large pine trees. There was a moistness in the air that indicated she was somewhere near the Rainforest Kingdom. She was having a vision, she knew. Her dreams were never this vivid.

All of a sudden, she heard voices from behind her. She spun around and saw the wingless IceWing talking to someone, although Moon couldn’t understand what they were saying, nor could she see the dragon she was talking to. The vision seemed to follow the dragoness through the forest while she talked. 

When they reached a large clearing, the IceWing walked into the middle of it and spun around for a moment before grabbing a large blanket and a basket from whoever the mystery dragon was. She was setting up a picnic by the looks of it when Moon heard a whistling sound coming from the foliage. 

The IceWing must’ve heard this as she looked up frantically, right as a dagger dripping in what looked like poison stabbed her square in the chest. She cried out, crumpling to the ground. The poison spread from it’s point of contact outwards, and Moon saw the veins of the IceWing turn black as the poison spread.

The vision abruptly ended as she startled awake. She glared at Frost, who had screamed and woken her up. The IceWing guard was clutching his chest and snout, which were bleeding from a long scratch. He was also sitting on the floor.

“Q-Queen Moonwatcher,” he stuttered. “I-you attacked me in your sleep.”

“Yes, I can see that,” Moon said grouchily. “Well, you deserved it. You woke me up.”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. It just hurt quite a bit.”

“Well, now there’s blood in my sheets. I guess I have to have that dealt with.” Moon snapped her talons, and a pair of servants materialized at the door. She ordered them to clean up the mess before stalking out of the room. Now I have to find somewhere else to sleep. Great.

Chapter Text

“GO FIX YOUR BOYFRIEND!!!” Mari yelled from their room as Qibli walked out. He felt heat creep up his face and he scrunched his eyes shut. He’s not my boyfriend. He’s probably not even remotely interested in me, romantically at least…

He opened his eyes and kept walking down the stairs. When he reached the bottom, he ran towards the couch he had last seen Winter. The IceWing was blushing furiously and had wrapped his wings around his body, as if attempting to hide.

“I’m sorry,” Winter whispered when he noticed Qibli was there. “I-I didn’t know they were going to do that.”

Qibli rolled his eyes and whispered, “That wasn’t your fault. You’re just sitting here, being tragic and Mari wanted to cause problems. You have nothing to apologize for.”

Winter blushed more as he mumbled something and looked away. 

“I have the numbing ointment,” Bluebell announced as she walked over to them. “Sorry it took so long.”

“It’s okay. You really didn’t need to. I’m fine.” Winter said quietly. He glanced down at his arm, tried to move it and winced. “Maybe I’m not.”

“I’m going to get you some sleeping tea, okay? Qibli, can you put the ointment on him?”

Qibli nodded and grabbed the ointment from Bluebell. He opened it up and squeezed some onto his palm. He reached out, attempting to spread it on Winter’s arm. The IceWing flinched, pulling his arm away. Qibli looked into his eyes for a moment and saw nothing but pure terror. “Whats wrong?”

“I-I-it’s just…memories. Not good ones.” Winter stuttered. It was clear he was trying to explain, but still being intentionally vague. He fidgeted anxiously with his talons, avoiding Qibli’s gaze. “My-my parents they–” he shuddered and curled his claws in. Qibli saw tears fill his eyes and realized what his best friend was doing. He snatched Winter’s talon and examined his palm, which had a huge burn scar on it and was bleeding from four small cuts exactly where his claws would have dug into.

“Winter,” he whispered, feeling tears rise in his own eyes. “You can’t keep doing this to yourself.”

“I know.”

Qibli sighed and put some of the numbing ointment on his friend’s palm. When he tried to put it on his arm, the IceWing flinched back again. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he whispered and carefully twined his tail around Winters. “Not ever. I promise you that, okay?” Winter nodded and watched as he smeared the ointment all along the long gashes in his arm. 

When Qibli was done, he grabbed the sleeping tea from Bluebell and gave it to his friend, who took it graciously and slowly drank it until it was finished. “Thank you,” he whispered as Qibli hugged him. “I feel a lot better now.”

“Anything for you, Winty,” Qibli mumbled, placing his head comfortably on top of Winter’s shoulder. “I’m glad. Now, go to bed.”

“Mmmfh,” Winter groaned as he snuggled into Qibli. “Thank you so much. You’re the best boyfriend ever.”

Did he…did Winter just call me his boyfriend? I-I…yay!

“I’m not your boyfriend yet silly.”

“DID I SAY THAT OUT LOUD?” Winter screamed, pulling away from Qibli’s grasp. When Qibli nodded, he covered his bright blue face with his talons and wrapped his wings around himself. “Fuck. I’m sorry Qibs.”

“I-it’s okay.” Qibli stammered, blushing furiously. “You-you… I said that out loud too, didn’t I?”

Winter nodded slowly. “You did. Did you...mean it?”

YES , Qibli’s brain screamed. YES YES YES YES YES! I WOULD LOVE TO BE YOUR BOYFRIEND!

Out loud, however, he said, “If you want me to.” 

“I…I have to go,” Winter whispered, running towards the basement.

Chapter Text

Yet. Yet. Yet. Such an insignificant word, but so powerful. People use it all the time, whether their saying “I’m not dead yet” or “I can’t do this yet” or ”I’m not your boyfriend yet.”

The words kept repeating themselves in Winter’s head. I’m not your boyfriend yet, silly. I’m not your boyfriend yet, silly. I’m not your boyfriend yet. Yet. Yet. YET.

He shook his head, trying to breathe. Did he want Qibli to be his boyfriend? Did he want to be Qibli’s boyfriend? He didn’t know. He didn’t know yet.

He was still a bit giddy from accidentally calling Qibli his boyfriend, and from the rush of euphoria he got when Qibli reciprocated. That should have been a sure sign that he loved the SandWing, but Winter was more oblivious than he liked to say he was. 

“Winter, are you okay?” a soft voice asked from the top of the stairs. It wasn’t Qibli, for better or worse. It was Bluebell. Her footsteps echoed as she walked down the stairs. 

“I’m fine,” Winter reassured her when she went into the room. “Just…I’m feeling so many things I don’t know how to deal with them all.”

“I get that,” Bluebell whispered. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Winter shook his head. “I don’t. I’ve done enough talking for one day and I said some pretty stupid shit. I just-I-” he felt a tear run down his face and wiped it away quickly. “I just told Qibli-” more tears were flowing down his face and it was useless trying to get rid of them.

 “I-I know what happened, Winter. I was there, and I have really good hearing,” Bluebell mumbled. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have been eavesdropping, I should’ve been upstairs.”

“Blue, that isn’t your fault. You don’t need to say sorry for anything, okay?”

“I-I-I love you, Winter,” she whispered, walking over and hugging him. “I love you so much. And I’m proud of you. I hope you know that. Now go to bed, or at least close your eyes. I don’t want you to be up for much longer.”

__________________________________________

Darkness enveloped his vision, and Winter felt like he was falling. He could hear wind rushing past his ears at a hundred miles per hour. Once he could see again, he saw he was falling from the cliff in the forest. He looked down, hoping he could aim for the ledge that had been there in real life. He wasn’t sure what happened when you died in a dream, but with his luck, he didn’t want to find out. Instead of the solid rocks he remembered, there was a pool of crystal blue water, 

He aimed for the pool and dived into it, the water overtaking all of his senses. When he tried to swim back to the surface, it was gone. He was trapped underwater. A light flickered at the bottom of the pool. It looked like it was close enough for him to reach out and grab it, but it felt like it was a million miles away. But it was his only hope of salvation, so he swam towards it. He swam until he felt like he was running out of air, but the light was no closer than it was before. 

I’m dreaming, Winter realized. Does that mean I can just will the light towards me? I know controlling your dreams is something some dragons can do. It’s worth a try, if I don’t want to drown. 

Winter started swimming, and this time the light neared closer with every thrust of his tail. Once he reached it, he saw it was a door. His lungs burning like he’d inhaled the sun, he pushed through it and found himself standing in the Ice Palace. 

He nervously looked around, wondering  why he was back here. He stopped when he spotted a too familiar face. Why is Qibli here? 

He walked over to the handsome SandWing and tried to say something, but he couldn’t talk. Qibli leaned over and kissed him and everything felt okay… until Winter felt a presence behind him, one he knew all too well. He spun around and, sure enough, his parents were standing there, watching him and Qibli make out.

“Winter,” his mother hissed. “ What. Are. You. Doing? ”

“I-I-Nothing,” he stuttered, avoiding Tundra’s icy glare. She whipped him with her tail and he saw Qibli wince from the corner of his eye. “You’re lying. What have we said about lying? Do you remember, or is the only thing you care about being a disappointment to your family?”

“I’m sorry, mother,” he mumbled. It was Narwhal’s turn to hit him now. His tail spikes dug into Winter’s chest and he felt tears rise from his eyes. 

“Now you’re mumbling,” Narwhal growled, still striking Winter with his tail. He paused for a moment and asked, “Now, what were you doing?”

“I-I was,” Winter stuttered again. He looked in Qibli’s direction as if to ask him what to say but the SandWing was nowhere to be seen. “Qibli? Qibli where are you?” he screamed, spinning in every which way to try and find him. 

He heard Qibli scream from behind him and he spun around. There was no one there. He heard the scream from behind him again and whipped his head around. No one. Now the screams were coming from his left, and then the right, and above him, below him. They were surrounding him.

Winter yelled Qibli’s name again and again but he never showed. He could hear his parents laughs mixed in with the screams and covered his ears, still shouting his old clawmate’ s name.

He saw something black in the corner of his eye and spun towards it, but whatever it was stayed out of his direct sight path. Shapes danced around the room and he tried to close his eyes, but it was as if they had been glued open.

He ran down a random hallway, hoping to get out of the bubble of screams that he was trapped in. When he reached the end of the hallway, he tried to turn down another path, but it was a dead ending. Winter spun around and, to his horror, saw that the short corridor had had run through now stretched out as far as the eye could see.

He turned and found a door off to his left. In a rush, he opened it, but it just led to another passageway. He opened the door and ran down the length of the hall that it had led to. Right when he was going to get to the opposite end, he fell into a pit.

Almost instantly, his vision went dark and as he scrambled around, trying to find a way out, he realized he was in Moon’s box. He could recognize the feel of the metal anywhere. 

As he tried to stand up, it dawned on him how much smaller the box was than the original. He stretched out his wings and they both immediately touched the opposing ends. Winter reached up and his arm was barely even extended when he touched the ceiling.

A plume af flames was lit in front of him and he tried to back up but couldn’t. The fire enveloped his face and body along with Qibli’s screams and Winter felt like clawing his snout off.

Warm talons touched his shoulders and he looked all around for the source but couldn’t find it. Someone was shaking him, and screaming his name. He opened his eyes right before a certain SandWing kissed him. On the lips.

Chapter Text

It had been a few days since Lynx and Winter had fought, and everything was finally ready for his hatching day party. Lynx was determined to make it the best party he’d ever had, to make up for what she’d done. Although, considering how he’d never actually had a hatching day party, that wouldn’t be too hard. She’d sent Qibli downstairs with Mari to distract Winter, while she, Kinkajou, and Bluebell set up. Lynx was setting the table, Kinkajou was getting the cake from the fridge, and Bluebell was trying to find a lighter.

“Ugh,” Bluebell muttered, “I know Mari has one. There’s no way we have candles and no lighter.” She dug through one of the kitchen drawers before cheering. “Found it!”

Kinkajou set the cake down in the center of the table and Bluebell stuck the candles in it. She carefully lit each one ablaze before returning the lighter. She set her gift down near the cake. Lynx wasn’t sure what Bluebell had gotten him, but she knew he’d like it. She wished she could have done more than just get him flowers.

“Is everything ready?” Bluebell asked.

“Almost,” Kinkajou replied. “We’ve just got to set up the confetti cannons.”

I forgot we had confetti cannons.

“Can you go let Mari and Qibli know we’re almost ready so they can blindfold Winter?” Kinkajou asked Bluebell.

“I have a better idea. I’ll just text Mari when we’re completely ready. Gives us an extra few moments to prepare to surprise Winter.”

“You’ll what?”

“I’ll text Mari. Do you not…oh. Right, I guess you don’t know what that is. I don’t think I have time to explain the whole mechanics of it, and Mari knows a bit more about them than I do, but the basic gist is that we have devices that can communicate across long distances.”

“I see,” Lynx said. Huh, that’s actually kind of cool.

When they had finished setting everything up, and had lit the candles for the cake, everyone got ready for Qibli and Mari to bring Winter out to see his party.

__________________________________________

They had been waiting for a good 5 minutes before they heard Winter’s footsteps. He must have ran into a wall on the way up, since Lynx heard a thump followed by a lot of cursing and giggling.

Once Kinkajou –who had chosen to camouflage herself against the curtains instead of hiding behind the table– gave the signal that Winters blindfold had been taken off, Lynx and Bluebell both jumped out from behind it and cheered, “Happy birthday!”

Winter blushed, turning deeply blue. Lynx noticed an oranging bruise on his shoulder, which she assumed was from him hitting himself while trying to walk up the stairs blindfolded.

He couldn’t keep himself from smiling as he stammered, “You guys really didn’t have to-have to do this for me.”

“Uh, yeah we did!” Kinkajou said brightly. “You deserve it!”

It seemed her elation was rubbing off on him, as Winter couldn’t help but grin even wider and say, “Thank you. All of you.”

“No need to thank us yet,” Mari said, smirking. “You still haven’t seen the real surprise.”

“Should I be scared?” Winter asked Lynx quietly.

“I’m not sure. I don’t even know what it is. Although, considering that it’s Mari’s surprise…yes, you should be a little bit scared.”

“Winter, Lynx,” Qibli yelled from next to the table. “C’mover here. It’s cake time! Winter, put this hat on -don’t argue with me, just put it on. YES I AM THE BOSS OF YOU NOW PUT THE FUCKIN’ HAT ON- and sit over there.”

Lynx giggled. Qibli seemed like a really good person and he seemed to love making people happy, especially Winter. He seems so much happier around Qibli. I wonder if he likes him… I-I need to stop assuming things about him.

Chapter Text

I’m bored. I don’t think Moon would mind if I finished what we started in Possibility. Still, I should ask her first. 

Turtle climbed the stairs to Moon’s quarters, hoping she was in the right mood to let him do what he wanted. For once. 

It turned out that she was in the mood for violence. She’d stained her sheets with blue blood, and was now very grumpy. Turtle was planning on being gone for a little while, so he offered her his room for the day. 

Once Moon had gotten settled in, Turtle left the room. Once he was far enough from the palace, he cast a spell to summon Peril. She wasn’t allowed in the palace, for obvious reasons. 

“Follow me,” he said. “We’re going to Possibility.”

Peril sighed but followed obediently. They flew to Possibility rather quickly, aided by Turtle’s magic. They landed a mile or so away from the refugee shelters. Images of the destruction that was about to occur flashed through his mind. It was beautiful, in a sadistic sort of way.

“Go,” he commanded Peril. “Set everything you see ablaze.”

Peril walked obediently towards the shelters. She left a trail of flames in her wake. But when she got near the shelter, she stopped. She collapsed to the ground, mumbling to herself. 

Chapter Text

Obey your orders. Burn everything that you see. Obey your orders. Burn everything that you see. Obey your orders. Burn everything that you see. 

Disobey your orders. Stop in your tracks. Burn nothing. Disobey your orders. Stop in your tracks. Burn nothing. Disobey your orders. Stop in your tracks. Burn nothing. 

Obey your orders. Burn everything that you see. Obey your orders. Burn everything that you see. Obey your orders. Burn everything that you see. 

Disobey your orders. Stop in your tracks. Burn nothing. Disobey your orders. Stop in your tracks. Burn nothing. Disobey your orders. Stop in your tracks. Burn nothing. 

Obey your orders. Burn everything that you see. Obey your orders. Burn everything that you see. Obey your orders. Burn everything that you see. 

Disobey your orders. Stop in your tracks. Burn nothing. Disobey your orders. Stop in your tracks. Burn nothing. Disobey your orders. Stop in your tracks. Burn nothing. 

The conflicting thoughts were going to drive Peril insane. She wanted to burn everything. She wanted to stop. 

The thoughts placed in her head by Turtle’s animus magic were so strong. But the semblance of free will she had left fought against it. It hurt her brain. She needed to find a way to just stop thinking all together. Or at least, to have something new to focus on. She needed to sate her destructive urges, without hurting anybody else. 

She brought her talons up to her forearm. It would be better if she tore herself apart, rather than risking anyone else. She was trying to be a good person. She wasn’t going to hurt anyone. She didn’t want to hurt anyone. 

She dug her claws into herself. It hurt, it hurt so much. But that was good. The pain consumed her thoughts, driving away the urges to burn. She was so focused on her own pain, however, that she didn’t notice when Turtle appeared behind her. 

“ What, ” he hissed, “ are you doing? ”

Chapter Text

Winter didn’t like the hat Qibli had forced him to wear. Didn’t like how the string was digging into his neck, or how he could feel it sitting on his head, but he also didn’t complain. He didn’t want to hurt Qib-anyone's feelings so he just sat down at the table respectfully.

Someone switched off the lights and he had a moment of panic before realizing that was supposed to happen and relaxing the smallest bit. He only realized Bluebell was missing when she called for Mari from the kitchen. The pink haired human stumbled through the living room towards the kitchen, cursing along the way.

When they came back, Winter considered asking them what had happened when he heard singing. He spun around and saw Bluebell walking out of the kitchen, singing and carrying a two tiered brown cake into the room. The cake was almost completely brown but there were little rainbow dots all around it along with a small glowing… dandelion? at the top.

“🎶Happy bir-hatchday to yoooou! Happy hatchday to yoooou! Happy haaatch day deeaar Wiiiiiiinter! Happy hatchday to yooooooooou!🎶” everyone sang, turning towards him.

Winter blushed and smiled awkwardly. “Thanks, you guys.”

“You’re welcome!” Mari yelled. “NOW BLOW YOUR FUCKING DANDELION!”

Qibli raised an eyebrow “D-Dandelion? I’m sorry, what? Isn’t there supposed to be candles?”

“Yeah, there used to be six,” Bluebell said, indicating to the six small holes on the top of the cake. “But candles are supposed to be lit on fire and I remembered Winter doesn’t like fire so I grabbed a dandelion and had Mari enchant it to glow.”

“Ohhh, thats so smart! I can’t believe you thought of that!” Kinkajou and Lynx said at the same time. They glared at each other before saying, “Jinx” and glaring at each other again. “Say the most random thing you can think of! Fuck! Peanut butter! Cow! Duck! I HATE YOU! CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH RAINBOW SPRINKLES! YOU BITCH!”

Qibli burst into a fit of laughter and tried to cover his snout but was cackling too hard to stop. The sight made Winter’s heart swell and he forced himself to look away, forced himself to ignore the loud pitter-pattering in his chest and the flip-flopping in his stomach.

Instead, he chose to look at Bluebell, who was attempting to place the large cake on the table. “Happy hatchday, buddy,” she whispered so only he could hear as she set the cake down. “I love you. Now, blow your dandelion and make a wish.”

Winter smiled and thought for a moment before deciding what his wish was going to be. He leaned forwards and blew on the small, fluffy flower. I wish- I wish that everyone I love stays safe and lives long, healthy lives. He watched as the small seeds from the dandelion lifted into the air and floated towards the open window and caught a gust of wind, flying away from him.

Bluebell handed him a large paper plate with a slice of cake on it and he took it graciously. “Thanks, Blue. I-this looks amazing.” Winter grabbed a fork from the table and took a small bite from the cake. “It tastes even better than it looks. Wow.”

She smiled. “Thanks. Now please, dig in. I don’t want any of the cake to go to waste… Qibli I-I have never seen someone eat a slice of cake so fast.”

Winter turned towards the SandWing, who had chocolate smeared all along his lips and a empty plate. “What, I like cake. Can I have another slice?”

“Of course. Just, slow down. I don’t want you to choke, or get a stomach ache.”

Winter rolled his eyes and looked down at his plate. He took another bite of the cake and smiled. He was so happy that Bluebell had made it for him, and that she remembered he didn’t like fire. She was amazing .

When everyone was full, Mari declared, “It’s present time!” from their perch on top of a counter. They led the group towards a huge pile of presents, sitting on the coffee table. They picked up a large cardboard box from the pile and handed it to Winter. “That’s from me. If you don’t like it just know there will be consequences.”

“Okay… thanks?” Winter said warily. He opened the box slowly and peered into it, praying it wasn’t anything dangerous. 

It was not.

Mari’s gift was a penguin. A pastel rainbow crochet penguin. He reached down tentatively and picked it up to examine it. It was absolutely adorable and something about its weight in his talons felt… perfect. “Mari-I-what? I mean this is amazing but what the ever loving fuck?”

“It’s a cuddle buddy,” Mari answered. “You keep having nightmares and when you woke up this morning and told me-okay well technically you told Qibli but that’s not important- but you said you had another bad dream so I enchanted this thing to get rid of nightmares if… you snuggle it for an hour.”

Qibli laughed. “I’m sorry,” he wheezed. “That mental image is just amazing.”

Winter blushed and looked away, thanking Mari again. Lynx was next. She handed him the gorgeous bouquet of flowers that had just caught his eye and whispered, “Happy hatchday. I’m sorry my present is just this. I-I wanted to get you something more but-”

“I love them,” he whispered. “Thank you so much. How-how did you know I love daisies and cornflowers?”

“Bluebell knew. I’m glad you like them.”

“My gift is going to be better,” Kinkajou sang, snatching a pink box from the table. “I also have a second gift.” She grabbed a second, smaller box and handed it to him. “Open this one first.”

Winter carefully untied the ribbon from the smaller box, and the walls fell open to reveal a bracelet. It was silver, and it had small charms dangling from it. Kinkajou lifted one of her arms to show him a matching one. 

“It’s a friendship bracelet,” she said, “since you’re my best friend. ”

Lynx opened her mouth to say something, but Kinkajou immediately cut her off by saying, “Now open the second one! You’re going to love that one.”

Winter smiled apologetically at Lynx before opening the pink box. Inside was a thick book with a simple cover, a pencil, a palette of watercolors, and several brushes. 

“Kinkajou, wow. I love these. Where did you get them?” Winter asked, looking at the paint with awe. 

“I had a bit of…help,” Kinkajou said vaguely. She shared a glance with Mari, the friendliest interaction Winter had ever seen between them. “Let’s just say this gift is going to be magical .”  

“I…see,” Winter said hesitantly. If there was one thing he knew, it was that animus touched objects always came with their own price. He’d gotten two that night, and the more he thought about who had enchanted them, the less sure he was he wanted to pay that price. 

“Of course you had to have someone help you figure out what to get Winter. At least I got him something from the heart!” Lynx snapped. She was obviously jealous, and Winter had no idea why. 

“Hey!” Kinkajou shrieked back. “I put a lot of thought into his gift. It was my idea and I’m the one who convinced Mari to help me.” 

“So what if it was ‘your idea,’ you still didn’t do any actual work. You had to have your little animus do it for you.”

Mari’s glare could have struck down the moons themselves. “Shut your mouth,” they said, “Or I’ll shut it for you.”

“You wouldn’t do anything,” Lynx taunted. “You’re too scared. You like to act like you’re all big and bad, but at the end of the day, you’re still just a scavenger. ” 

 Oh no. She didn’t. Does Lynx have a death wish?

“Call me that again and I’ll remove your vocal cords,” Mari threatened. “Or I’ll just kill you.”

“What, you’d use your magic to make them disappear? Is that how dependent on your power you’ve become?” Lynx teased. 

“No, I’ll pin you down and cut them out one by one with a dull knife. I’m a lot more skilled than I seem.” Mari pulled out a small gold blade from their sleeve. 

“CAN WE PLEASE STOP FIGHTING?” Bluebell yelled, louder than Winter had ever heard her. “AND MARI, PUT THAT DAMN KNIFE AWAY!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Mari said, not sounding sorry at all. They slipped the knife back into their sleeve. 

“Winter, do you want to open my present now?” Bluebell offered. Winter gladly accepted, grateful for the distraction. He’d have to talk to Mari about their habit of threatening everyone. And he’d have to talk to Lynx about being rude to Kinkajou. But all that could wait. Right now, he was with his best friends in the world, and he was happy. 

Bluebell handed him the last two boxes box from the pile, and Winter pulled the ribbon off of the smaller one. He opened the box to reveal a pair of earrings. They were silver, with a blue teardrop jewel hanging from them. 

They were…stunning. They reminded him of something, but he couldn’t figure out what. 

“Wow. They look like mine,” Qibli said, immediately getting Winter’s attention. He examined the earrings more closely, realizing that they were almost identical, save for the color. He blushed, and Bluebell must have noticed, because she pointed to the box that was still in his talons. 

“There’s another pair in there. I think you’ll like those ones,” she said. Winter pulled the second pair of earrings out of the box and saw that they were mini penguins. They looked almost identical to the penguin Mari had given him, as they were also pastel rainbow.

“Blue,” he whispered, examining them closer. “These are gorgeous. Both of them are. Thank you. Now, can I ask why I’ve been given two penguin gifts? Like, what’s up with that?”

“I just thought you would like penguins,” Bluebell admitted. “Actually, on the first day you were staying with us I kinda figured that out.”

Mari shot her a look before asking, “Is that why you wanted me to make a pastel rainbow penguin? Actually, that makes a lot of sense. You’re smart and like, waaaaay too nice. What’s in the other box?”

Bluebell grinned as she handed the last present to Winter. He opened it carefully and saw, to his confusion, four pink socks. “Bluebell, what?”

She laughed as she said, “You kept complaining that it was uncomfortable to walk on your burns so I made these socks for you to be, well, more comfortable.”

 “I’m a dragon, I do not wear- they’re soft. Yes I do wear socks.”

“I’m glad you like them,” Bluebell giggled. “They might not be the best for outdoors, but you can always wear them around the house.” 

Winter smiled before jumping the smallest bit as a talon touched his shoulder lightly. “I have a gift for you too, but you gotta follow me, okay? Don’t worry, I already told Kinkajou to tell everyone not to follow us.” Qibli whispered in his ear.

Chapter Text

Today was the day. Qibli was going to ask Winter to be his boyfriend. He was already in a good mood and that typically meant he was more open to stuff.

Qibli was leading the Winter to a cherry tree that he had found. It sat near a cliff with a gorgeous view of the forest below, and he was pretty sure that the view of the sunset would be spectacular.

“C’mon Winty,” he whispered to the IceWing next to him. “I really want to show you this but you gotta move faster.”

Winter shot him a glare. “I’m going as fast as I can, Sand-Snorter, calm down.” Qibli glanced at his body and realized he was holding up his left arm, being careful not to let it touch the ground.

“Are you feeling okay? We can go back if it hurts too much, actually… I have an idea.”

“Oh moons. That’s never good.”

Qibli laughed and lifted the IceWing up by the hips. “W-what are you doing,” Winter stammered, blushing furiously.

“Hang on!” Qibli yelled, placing him on his back. “I’m just gonna fly there!”

Winter stammered something Qibli couldn’t hear before saying, “No. No no no no no. I can’t-I-I the height-I-no.”

“Yesssssssssss. And calm down, I got you. If you haven’t noticed, I am quite strong and I’m really hot, so just hold on to me.” And with that he took off.

“How is you being hot relevant to this?” Winter asked, clinging onto him tightly.

“Ah, so you don’t deny it!” He shouted, smiling to himself. “No need to worry Prince Grouchy Face, I think you’re almost as pretty as I am.”

From the corner of his eye, Qibli saw the IceWing blush again and scrunch his eyes shut, no doubt trying to rid of the blue creeping up his face. Or, maybe he had just looked down and realized that they were hundreds of feet above the forest floor.

__________________________________________

By the time they had landed on a hill near the tree, Winter looked like he was going to puke and it was almost sundown. Actually, that’s perfect. I can ask him to be my boyfriend while we watch the sunset. It would be so romantic!

Qibli led the shaking, limping IceWing up the hill and closer towards the cherry blossom tree. When they reached it, Winter failed to stifle a gasp. “Qibli is-this is gorgeous. I’ve never seen a tree this beautiful before. I-when did you find this?”

“Ummm. The other day I think,” Qibli answered. “Anyways, the view from here is like, amazing. Look.” He turned towards the cliff edge and pointed. Winters gaze traveled towards the mountains in the distance and his jaw hung slightly agape. Blushing, Qibli stammered, “I-I figured this would be a nice spot to watch the sunset…” with someone you love, his brain finished for him.

“I bet it would be spectacular. In the Ice Kingdom, I only really got to watch the sunrise since my bedroom was facing the east. I really only started watching them because my parents forced me to wake up before dawn every day and I needed something to look forwards to in the mornings,” Winter said, staring off into the distance. He looked back at Qibli and blushed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to dump that all on you.”

Qibli smiled sadly and sat down next to the tree, motioning for the IceWing to join him. “It’s okay. I-uh-can we talk?”

“Uh, sure,” Winter said hesitantly, furrowing his brow and taking a seat next to him. “Is everything okay?”

Qibli took a deep, shaky breath. “I-nevermind. It’s not important. Lets just watch the sunset.”

Winter looked like he wanted to say something but he stayed silent and watched the suns first rays disappear behind the mountains. Occasionally, he would shoot Qibli a nervous look before continuing to watch.

It’s now or never, Qibli realized. If I don’t ask now there might never be a chance for me to. He turned towards the IceWing and blushed when they made eye contact. “I-I need to tell you something, and it’ll probably change our friendship and I really don’t want it to and-and-” he took another deep breath “I was wondering if you-I think you’re really- will you be my boyfriend?” He said the last five words so quickly that it sounded like a jumbled mess.

Winter blushed furiously and looked back at the sunset. He looked back at Qibli before whispering, “Qibs, I-I can’t-I-” he took a shaky breath “Qibli…”

Qibli turned away, he could already feel tears rising in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I-I shouldn’t have asked. I’m so sorry.” He folded his wings into himself and wiped away a tear. “I-” his voice trembled and he flushed even more.

“Qibli, look at me,” Winter murmured, reaching out his good talon and gently placing it on his shoulder. “I-I-look, there’s so much I want to say to you and I can’t and I’m worried that I’ll fuck it up somehow but there’s no point in even saying anything to your back.”

Qibli felt a tear run down his face and squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t cry in front of Winter. He was supposed to be strong for the IceWing, supposed to be strong for the one he loved. But instead he was being weak, and useless. He didn’t even notice when Winter walked in front of him, or wiped his tear away, or hugged him. He felt too numb to notice anything at all. I shouldn’t have asked. He-he doesn’t feel the same way about me. I guess I just misread his signs.

Winter hugged him close and took a shaky breath before whispering,“Qibs, I-I-I would love to date you but if we ever had a falling out or-or had a super bad fight I-I can’t lose you. You’re too important to me. You’ve had such an impact on me and I-I I lo-I lo-”

Qibli kissed the IceWing and held him close before breaking apart and whispering, “I love you too, Win-win.”

Winter blushed and gingerly touched his lips before looking into Qibli’s eyes. “Why?”

“Because,” Qibli murmured, “you’re kind and amazing and pretty and gorgeous and you care a lot about loved ones and- have I mentioned you’re very hot?”

“Several times,” Winter replied, laughing to himself. “And… if you asked me, I’d say you’re not too bad looking yourself.”

Qibli blushed and kissed the IceWing on the bridge of the nose lightly. “So… does this mean-” he was interrupted by Winter nudging his head underneath his and snuggling against him.

“Mhm,” his boyfriend mumbled into him. “See, I told you I was your destiny.”

His body froze and he added, “Can we-can we keep this between us and not tell the others? I-I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.”

Qibli pulled away from the IceWing and looked him in the eyes as he whispered, “Of course. Anything for my Winty,” and wrapped his wings around his boyfriends body. Winter folded into him and sighed happily. “Y’know,” Qibli said, tracing small circles on Winter’s back, “this means that you’re going to have to tell me why you have all of those scars sometime, right?”

“I know,” Winter murmured. “Not now though. Now we can just be happy. Together.”

Chapter Text

Qibli had instructed Kinkajou to tell Bluebell, Mari and Lynx that he was showing Winter his gift and to not follow them. She had a sneaking suspicion that she knew what said ‘gift’ actually was.

It was obvious the two were smitten for each other. The way Qibli looked at Winter, the way Winter seemed to light up like a firecracker every time he spoke to Qibli, or when Qibli spoke to him. Who wouldn’t be able to tell?

Kinkajou wasn’t sure how she felt. She was happy for them, yes, but there was something else too. Something that made her feel dark. She thought it might be anger, but anger was bright red. This feeling was more like a dark blue, tinted with gray and green.

_______________________

A couple hours had passed, and the sun had already dipped behind the horizon. Kinkajou was beginning to worry. What if it hadn’t gone over well? What if, what if, what if? Does it make me a bad friend if I kind of hope it didn’t?

She sighed and walked over to the fireplace, curling up in front of it. The flames crackled and popped and she found her eyelids drooping. Maybe I can just lie here until they get back…

_______________________

Kinkajou didn’t know how long she had been asleep for, but when she woke up, Qibli and Winter were just entering the cabin.

Both boys were blushing slightly, although it might have been from the sudden warmth of the room or something else. Kinkajou tried not to think about that.

“Thank the moons,” she said, sitting up and stretching her legs. “I was worried you two would never come back.”

Qibli grinned. “Nah, we just…lost track of time.” He gave Winter a look that sent Kinkajou’s heart sink before he looked back at her. “Then again, with Mr. Handsome here, it’s easy to lose track of time.”

“Fuck off, Sand-Snorter,” Winter grumbled, a blush creeping up his face. “Before I claw your face off.”

“Oh no,” the SandWing said flatly. “I’m soooo scared.” He grinned as Winter’s scowl deepened and Kinkajou barely stifled a laugh.

His gaze turned on her and she clamped her jaw shut to stop laughing. “Think that’s funny, do you?” Winter asked, a huge smile on his face.

Kinkajou’s heart skipped a beat as his bright blue eyes met hers. She smiled back at him teasingly. “And if I do?”

The handsome IceWing smirked before walking closer to her in a few limping strides. Leaning down, his mouth right near her he whispered, “Then you’re it. Tag!” He lightly tapped her arm before quickly backing away from her and closer to the door.

“Oh fuck yes,” Qibli said, grinning madly before opening the door and shooting out of it, Winter following closley behind him.

Kinkajou dashed out the door and took off after them. “No fair!” she shouted. “You got a head start!”

Qibli cackled and sped off farther away from the cabin, pulling Winter along with him.

Kinkajou spread her wings and took off into the air, trying to catch up to the two boys. “Get back here!”

“You can’t fly! It’s not fair!” Qibli said back to her. “You know Winter cant!”

Her heart sunk and Kinkajou slowed down. She quickly landed and caught up to the two boys, both were panting loudly.

“Sorry Winter,” she called to the IceWing. “I don’t know how I forgot you can’t fly.”

Winter glanced at Qibli, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Well… I can’t fly by myself.” Qibli took a moment before his face lit up, seemingly understanding what Winter was implying.

“Not without help,” Winter said before walking over to Qibli. Qibli knelt, scooping Winter up and dropping him on his back. Winter grinned at Kinkajou.

“Catch us if you can!” Qibli cajoled before taking off, his expression mirroring Winter’s.

Kinkajou grinned as Qibli took off into the sky with Winter on his back, the IceWing's talons digging into the SandWing's scales. "You're going down!" she shouted playfully, spreading her wings and shooting after them.

The cold night air whipped against her face as she pumped her wings, slowly gaining on the two boys. Winter glanced back at her and yelped, "Faster, Qibli! She's catching up!"

Qibli whispered something to the IceWing on his back that Kinkajou couldn’t hear.

“QIBLI!" Winter shot back to whatever Qibli had said, smacking the SandWing’s shoulder.

"Ow! Okay, that's it, no more flying for you, princess!" Qibli said. He suddenly flipped upside down, and Winter shrieked as he started slipping off.

"Qibli, what the fuck! Put me back up!" Winter yelled, scrambling to get a grip on Qibli's neck as he dangled hundreds of feet in the air.

Qibli just cackled and rolled back upright. "That'll teach ya to hit me, handsome."

Winter grumbled curses under his breath, clinging tightly to Qibli again. "I hate you so much."

Kinkajou laughed loudly, finally catching up to them. "Wow, and here I thought you two loved each other!"

Both boys froze for a second before Qibli stammered, "W-we're just messing around! Don't go reading too much into it!" He shot an anxious glance back at Winter, who looked away quickly.

Kinkajou raised her eyebrows knowingly but didn't press the issue. "Suuuure. Anyway, you're still it, Winter!"

She reached out to tap him but he swatted her hand away. "No way! You have to actually catch us first, rainbow girl!"

"Oh it is so on now!" Kinkajou growled playfully, putting on a burst of speed. The three dragons wove through the trees, shouting and laughing as they played their wild game of tag long into the night.

Eventually, Qibli started shivering, the cold night air seeping into his desert-accustomed scales. "Alright, I'm fucking freezing my tail off here. Can we go back?"

Kinkajou nodded, rubbing her own arms for warmth. "Yeah good idea. I'm getting tired anyway."

They circled back towards the cabin, touching down lightly outside. Qibli knelt so Winter could slide off, the IceWing landing gracefully despite his injured arm.

"Good thing you're so light, otherwise my back would be killing me after carrying you all that way," Qibli remarked, rolling his shoulders.

"Are you calling me skinny?" Winter said with mock offense. "I'll have you know I have plenty of muscle under these scales, thank you very much."

"Oh believe me, I know," Qibli said suggestively, waggling his eyebrows.

Winter's face instantly flushed bright blue. "Qibli!" he hissed, shooting a mortified glance at Kinkajou

She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from laughing.

Qibli just laughed and threw an arm around Winter's shoulders. "What? I'm just saying I bet you could totally top me if you wanted to-"

"That's it, I'm leaving!" Winter squawked, ducking out from under Qibli's arm and rushing into the cabin.

Kinkajou couldn't hold back her laughter anymore. "Aww, did you embarrass him?" she teased.

Qibli snorted. "Worth it to see him blush like that. He's cute when he's flustered." He gazed fondly at the door Winter had disappeared through.

Kinkajou smiled softly. "You really like him, huh?"

"Yeah," Qibli said, smiling shyly. "Don't tell him I said that though."

"Your secret's safe with me," Kinkajou said with a wink. They walked up the steps and into the cabin silently.

When they got into the cabin, Qibli quickly said goodnight to Winter and her before heading downstairs.

Kinkajou sighed and walked back to the fireplace which was still crackling cheerfully. She let the warmth of it envelop her and smiled. It felt like the sun. It felt like home.

She opened her eyes and saw Winter out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head and saw that he was fidgeting with his talons anxiously, looking conflicted.

He met her gaze and looked at the fire before glancing back at her and then back to the fire again. His eyes stayed there this time, watching the flames twist and pop.

Kinkajou blushed as she realized just how gorgeous the IceWing looked, bathed in the firelight, scales shining as his bright blue eyes reflected the flames.

And then her heart sunk. She finally knew what was going on in the beautiful brain of his.

Winter was scared.

Kinkajou stood up and stretched her wings. "Hey Sparkles, want to go sit on the porch for a bit?” she asked, hoping to distract him. “It's a beautiful night."

Winter glanced at her gratefully. "That sounds perfect, Jou-Jou."

They made their way outside, leaving the warmth of the fire. The night air was crisp but not too cold. The sky was midnight blue and littered with glittering stars. Kinkajou settled down on the porch, patting the spot next to her. Winter sat down carefully, lifting up his left arm gingerly.

For a few moments, they sat in comfortable silence, gazing up at the stars. Then Winter spoke softly. "Kinkajou, I..." Winter took a deep breath. "I wanted to thank you. For everything you did to make this day special. The presents, the party...it meant a lot to me." His voice was soft. "I haven't felt truly happy in a long time. But you've helped change that."

Happiness bloomed inside her like a flower. "Really?"

He gave her a small, genuine smile. "Really."

"You know something?" Winter murmured, his warm breath tickling her ear. "I think this is the happiest I've ever been."

Kinkajou nudged him playfully. "Don't go all sappy on me now, Sparkles."

Winter let out a snort of laughter. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Overcome with emotion, she threw her arms around him in a warm hug. To her delight, he hugged her back without hesitation.

They held each other under the stars for several heartbeats before slowly pulling apart. Kinkajou shyly tucked her head against his shoulder as they sat gazing up at the glittering sky. After a moment, she felt the gentle pressure of Winter's head coming to rest atop hers. Her heart sang.

Ever so carefully, he unfurled his injured wing and draped it around her shoulders. The gesture filled her with indescribable joy. She nestled closer against his side, wishing this perfect moment could last forever.

Chapter Text

“Hmm, how should I punish you?” Turtle asked, glaring down at Peril. “Killing you wouldn’t do it. You deserve to suffer for your disobedience first. I think I’ll kill your ‘true love’ first.” He turned his back to her, lifting into the air with a powerful flap of his wings. “Follow me back to the Ice Kingdom,” he commanded. “I’d like to ask my Queen’s permission first.”

Peril did as she was told, following a respectful three wingbeats behind him. She knew the consequences of defiance, and she was in enough trouble as it was.

Defying my orders? Mine? Queen Moonwatcher’s right hand? That will not go unpunished.

“You will learn your place,” Turtle threatened. “Queen Moonwatcher and I will make sure of it.” Peril rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything. Turtle took her silence as a sign of submission.

  __________________________________

Turtle swept to the ground in the grand foyer of Moon’s palace, Peril waiting outside. The Queen herself was still in his chambers, but hopefully she was already awake. He stalked through the dark halls of the palace until he got to the double doors leading to his rooms. He entered, finding Moon with a scroll in her talons. She was curled up on his bed, her striking green eyes intensely focused.

“Moon?” Turtle called. She didn’t look up. Her brow furrowed and she curled her claws into the silk beneath her, but that was it.

“Queen Moonwatcher?” he tried again. That got her attention.

“What do you want?” she asked, flicking her gaze on him for a moment before turning back to her scroll. “You interrupted my musings.”

“The matter concerns Peril, Your Majesty. She’s somehow managed to disobey my orders. I’ve come to request permission to punish her.”

Moon looked up from her scroll once again, her green eyes meeting his gaze. “And how would you do that?”

“By killing her loved ones,” Turtle replied. “Perhaps she was too focused on thinking about Clay to obey my commands.”

“Yes, perhaps.” Moon paused for a moment, considering. In a dismissive tone, she said, “Fine. I have no more need for them. But be back soon. I might have use for you.”

“Yes, my queen.” Turtle bowed and left Moon to her reading. He shut the door behind him quietly, as to not disturb Her Radiance any further.

“This,” he muttered when he thought he was out of earshot, “will be fun.”

_________________________________

Turtle and Peril touched down on the ledge of Jade Mountain Academy’s entrance. Turtle turned to Peril with a malicious grin. She glared back. Turtle rolled his eyes and stalked away, forcing her to follow him. He cast a spell to bring all 4 Dragonets of Destiny to the main hall where Moon’s dark throne sat. He and Peril walked in a moment later.

“Kneel,” he commanded. All 5 other dragons in the room collapsed to their knees. “Good,” he said. “Here’s how this is going to work. You’re all going to die. Except you, Peril. My queen might still need you alive. Now” —he bared his teeth in an imitation of a smile— “who wants to die first?”

“Me,” Tsunami said. “But please, let them go. Torture me all you like, but don’t hurt my friends.”

“Trying to spare their lives? How naive. I want to savor your death, sister dear. How about I kill the SandWing first?”

He turned to face Sunny, who’d shrunk back when he’d arrived. “Thorn’s daughter, isn’t it? Your mother is dead, her throne having long since belonged to Her Majesty, Queen Moonwatcher. Would you like to join her?”

Sunny didn’t answer, only squeezing her eyes shut. “I think,” Turtle said, stepping closer, “I’ll break every bone in your body until you die. Sounds fun, right?”

He gave her a deranged smile before snapping his claws. The bones in her talons snapped, causing her to cry out in pain.

She’s weak. That makes this easier.

He continued snapping the bones in her front and back legs until she’d collapsed to the floor. Tears were streaming from her green eyes, pooling on the stone in front of her.

The ribs next, I think. Let the shattered fragments puncture her lungs. Let her choke on her blood before I make her skull cave in.

Turtle could hear the crack of Sunny’s ribs cracking and splintering one by one and her breathing getting more labored. She started coughing up blood, still sprawled painfully on the ground.

Time for the final blow.

With a final snap, the sharp fragments of Sunny’s skull stabbed into her brain. Death would follow soon.

“Who’s next?” Turtle asked. He was enjoying himself now, using his magic to cause suffering. His next idea was something he’d done before, for Moon. He was going to make Starflight kill himself.

“NightWing,” he snapped, power flowing through his words. “Come here.” Starflight obeyed, stepping forward and kneeling in front of Turtle. “Good. Now rip off your own scales. Starting,” —he tapped a claw against Starflight’s chest— “here.”

Starflight did as he was told, digging his claws into his chest and wedging them between his scales. His expression was deliciously pained as he tore them off. Blood pooled around his feet.

Turtle laughed to himself. It was so easy, getting someone to do your bidding. The rush of power he felt emboldened him. With a quick flick of his talons, he made Starflight rip out his own throat. Blood was gushing faster now, staining the dark sone floors. Starflight collapsed in a heap, no longer breathing.

“FInally,” Turtle muttered. “It’s your turn.” He looked up at Tsunami, who was giving him the most defiant glare she could muster. “Drowning, I think. A cruel irony.” He cast a teleportation spell and the world shifted around them, leaving the siblings alone near the underground lake.

“Get in the water,” Turtle sneered coldly. “Or I’ll flood the entire school.”

Tsunami flinched but stepped into the lake. “Now what?” she demanded.

“Now dive to the bottom. Slowly. I want to watch the fear in your eyes when you realize you can’t breathe. And remember what will happen if you don’t.”

Tsunami dove, slowly pushing her way deeper. After a minute or so, fear flashed across her face. She started thrashing, trying to swim back up to the surface. A quick spell held her down, rendering her fight ineffective.

Turtle watched as the light left her eyes, watched as her movements slowed, watched her body fall to the lake floor.

A slight smirk curved his lips as he turned away.

Now, it was time for the main event.

Chapter Text

He’s going to kill them all, and I can’t do anything about it. The realization hit Peril like a paralyzing wave. She couldn’t move, couldn’t think. She stared numbly at the bodies in front of her. It was her fault they were dead. 

She heard wingbeats behind her. Turtle was back. He was back and he was going to kill the only one she’d ever loved and she wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop him and-

She felt her thoughts stop. Not a gradual slowing, but a full stop, like they were an arrow flying and someone snatched them from midair. 

Burn him, the voice in her head whispered. And watch his face as he dies by your talons. 

No. No, I can’t! But Peril found her talons moving of their own volition, reaching out, clamping around Clay’s wing and burning holes through the membrane. She tried to pull away, succeeding but ripping completely through his wing.

His other one was next. She was choking on the smoke, she couldn’t breathe, she didn’t want to breathe if it meant breathing in the charred remains of her beloved.

Her claws burned their way across his tail, his back, his neck. Peril knew that he would die, that she would be the one to kill him, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t offer him a final mercy. 

SHe wrapped her wings around him, giving the first and last hug she ever would. 

It took hours, it took seconds, each moment felt like a million years. She felt him go limp, his breathing slow and ragged. She was scared, so scared, but at least it would be over soon. At least he wasn’t suffering for long. At least she was able to spare him more torture. 

A tear slipped down her cheek, sizzling and evaporating almost immediately. Peril never thought she could cry, but she must’ve not ever had a reason to. 

She closed her eyes, a whisper in her ear and in her throat. 

“I love you.”

Chapter Text

To celebrate having been writing for a full year, we’re posing the playlist we’ve created for this story. All current songs and artists will be listed. 

Moon Falling Playlist:

Achilles Come Down - Gang of Youths

Birthday Cake - Dylan Conrique

Blank Space - Taylor Swift

Blow - Kesha

Boy in the Bubble - Alec Benjamin 

Boyfriend - Dove Cameron

Bubblegum Bitch - MARINA 

Burned - Grace Vanderwaal 

bury a friend - Billie Eilish

Choctaw County Affair - Carrie Underwood

come out and play - Billie Eilish

THE CONTORTIONIST - Melanie Martinez

COPYCAT - Billie Eilish

Dark Horse (feat. Juicy J) - Katy Perry

do all my friends hate me? - Mckenna Grace

Don’t Lose Ur Head - SIX

EVIL - Melanie Martinez

Feed the Machine - Poor Man’s Poison

Friends on the Other Side - Annapantsu

The Great War - Taylor Swift

the grudge - Olivia Rodrigo

Happier Than Ever - Billie Eilish

Hell’s Comin’ With Me - Poor Man’s Poison

Hide and Seek - Lizz Robinett

High School Sweethearts - Melanie Martinez

hostage - Billie Eilish

I Did Something Bad - Taylor Swift

I Didn’t Change My Number - Billie Eilish

I Know Places - Taylor Swift

I’m Trying (Not Friends) - Maisie Peters

INFERNO - Bella Poarch/Sub Urban

Journey to the Past (Anastasia’s Villain Song) - Lydia the Bard

Killer Queen - Mad Tsai 

killing boys - Halsey

Labyrinth- Taylor Swift

Lead the Way - Jhené Aiko

LEMONS (feat. Cavetown) - Brye

logical - Olivia Rodrigo

Look What You Made Me Do - Taylor Swift

Love Me Like You Do - Ellie Goulding

Mad Hatter - Melanie Martinez

Mind is a Prison - Alec Benjamin 

Monster - Jorge Rivera Herrans 

Mother Knows Best (Reprise) - Donna Murphy

Must Have Been the Wind - Alec Benjamin 

my boy - Billie Eilish

my strange addiction - Billie Eilish

NYMPHOLOGY - Melanie Martinez

Out of the Woods - Taylor Swift

Oxytocin - Billie Eilish

Partners in Crime - Set It Off

Peasant’s Throne - Lilith Max

please don’t - mxmtoon

Poison - Blake Roman 

Primadonna - Marina and the Diamonds

Prom Queen - Molly Kate Kestner

Puppet Boy - Devo

Red Flags - Tom Cardy/Montagine

Reign - Derivakat

Rise Up - TheFatRat

Rockabye - Clean Bandit

S&M - Rihanna 

A Soulmate Who Wasn’t Meant to Be - Jess Benko

Stand By You - Rachel Platten

Stay Alive (Reprise) - Lin-Manuel Miranda

Tag, You’re It - Melanie Martinez

Teeth - 5 Seconds of Summer

There Are Other Ways - Jorge Rivera Herrans

Therefore I Am - Billie Eilish

This Is Home - Cavetown

The Underworld - Jorge Rivera Herrans

Unstoppable - Sia

 Villain - Annapantsu

watch - Billie Eilish

What Have I Become - Lydia the Bard 

Wwbk - Chloe Ament

Yes I’m A Mess - AJR

you broke me first - Tate McRae

The 30th - Billie Eilish