A/N: In the style of WoF books, I decided to write To Catch A Current a prologue! I thought that Windchaser's history might need a little bit of explaining, and though that might come in later chapters, I still wanted to write this anyway and give it some backstory. Enjoy!
Almost four and a half years ago…
It was a dark and stormy night….(nah i'm just kidding)
It was a bright and sunny day, but a chill hung in the air. This was the outskirts of the Ice Kingdom, far enough north that there was no more sand in sight, but not so far into the Ice Kingdom that the temperature and the Great Ice Cliff eventually killed any dragon not of IceWing blood. Here, there was nothing to see except the craggy mountains in the distance and frozen dirt mixed with frost. Almost nothing in sight except two dragons sheltered by a slight overhang on a small cave. Safe from the cold somewhat, they conversed in hushed voices, even though there was no one else to hear. Well, one dragon was, anyway. The other dragon was shouting loud enough to be heard from the three moons. One dragon, the one that was trying to be somewhat quiet, was the colour of snow reflecting a sapphire sky, with deep blue and black patches. The other dragon, the loud one, was the colour of blood fresh from a vein. If you looked carefully, you would notice that her abdomen was slightly swollen, indicating she was pregnant.
Hoarfrost scraped the stone floor of the cave below him with his ridged claws. Regarding the slightly smaller SkyWing in front of him, he saw the blazing amber eyes that had first caught his attention were filled with fury.
"Please, Kite," he pleaded, "Why didn't you tell me you were with egg?"
"Why should I?" She shouted back, "When you were already done with me? You'd had your fun, and then you could run off with your perfect IceWing wife and leave me behind! My dragonet will live a perfect life, protected from your mistakes!"
Hoarfrost winced slightly as if she'd scratched him.
"I didn't get the chance to tell you, it's over. We never got married. She left me for somebody else."
"I'd say good riddance, but then again I don't care one way or another. I'm done with you, and everything to do with you."
Hoarfrost flicked his spiked tail in irritation.
"So, what happens now? I want this dragonet as much as you do, and I don't think you'd be so cruel as to leave it fatherless."
"I think we should both go our separate ways, and treat it like it is: a mistake. We both made our choices, and now we have to live with them. I'm going to have a tough time explaining to the other SkyWings what's wrong with my dragonet, and what about you? Will you stay in the Ice Kingdom or flee to the rainforest like the coward you are?" She snorted out a puff of flame that flared brightly in the cool air.
"Kite, it's not just a mistake any more. It's an egg.That's too much of a mistake to try to cover it up and leave it behind. It's our problem now, not just yours, whether you like it or not. As for me, I haven't been banished from the Ice Kingdom yet, but another disgrace like that and the consequences will be severe is the message I'm getting from the queen. She isn't happy that I wasn't good enough for my fiancée. If worst comes to worst, I suppose I could try to see if I could stay in the rainforest with my mother. Also, that's not 'fleeing' per se, and is wanting to stay away from the wrath of a queen cowardice?"
"In the correct context, absolutely. Anyway, you know me, Hoarfrost, or at least you think you do. I wasn't asking because I cared. I wanted to know how far I have to fly to keep you away from me. My dragonet will grow up safe and happy in the Sky Kingdom. Stay away or the consequences will be severe."
Hoarfrost heaved a sigh, scattering ice particles across the cave floor with his wings.
"Well, what if I still want to see you? And the dragonet, you can't keep the truth from it forever. It'll wonder why every other dragonet in the wingery has two parents, and it has only one. It's going to wonder why it's different from everybody else. You have to promise me that if he wants to leave when he's old enough to come looking for me, you won't stop him. Or her."
"Over my dead body," Kite snarled, "my dragonet will be so happy that it'll never want to leave the Sky Kingdom. It'll know that it's a special little snowflake, and plenty of other dragonets lose one or even both of their parents to battle and other things all the time. I'm leaving, and you can't change that. If you wanted to be a father, you should have made better choices. Heads will roll if you try to find me or my dragonet. That's final."
"Kite, wait-"
"Goodbye, Hoarfrost. I hope you make better choices in the future."
Kite spread her vast wings and leaped into the frigid air, and with a few powerful strokes she was far away. She was heading back towards the Kingdom of Sand, and from there an eastbound route would take her to the Sky Kingdom. Hoarfrost watched her form grow smaller and smaller until she was out of sight. He dared to hope that someday he might meet his dragonet, although he knew if Kite had her way the dragonet would never know anything beyond the border of the Sky Kingdom. He breathed out a wisp of frostbreath and silently wished the best for his child.
'Grow up safe and happy, little one,' he thought. 'And maybe, just maybe, one day I'll get to meet you.'
A/N: So there you have it! Hope you enjoy, and I am currently working on Chapter 2! I also might make a Windchaser reference, especially because I'm too lazy to just describe him at some point in the story. Oh, and thank you for the review on the other chapters! They are short, I know, but I am considering combining them, and trying to make the future chapters longer. They are short because i decided to post them as is, with no edits from how they were written in January. Anyway, thanks for reading and see you soon!
