A/N: Hi! I know I've got Flight of the Valkyrie going on, and it's terrible, but I felt like writing something, and this idea came to mind as I was reading Winter Turning, so, here is a, well, a short story, I guess.
Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire, it's too awesome a series. I do own my OCs and, things here, though.
"Icefire! Come on, get up!"
Icefire groaned, I don't want to! Grr, fine. The IceWing heaved herself off of the ice slab she slept on, unfurling her wings to greet a new dawn. Why is it always this early? Is it because Queen Glacier always wakes up around now? That's horrible. Not that I'm against it or anything. Icefire blinked open her eyes, expecting her brother to come barging in, but he did not. In fact, she could see his tail down the hallway, heading towards the Royal Dining Hall. Growling, Icefire leapt down from her bed and followed her brother.
Arriving at breakfast was the same every time. She and her brother would bow to the Queen and everyone else in greeting and respect, and they would take their places around the ice table. It was pretty much a slab, much like their beds, lined with food and ice globes.
"How is your gift going, Icefire?" There it was. The question that was repeated without fail every morning by either her mother or father.
Same reply from herself, too, "Fine, it's not done yet, though."
A nod, then silence. Every morning. Except for this one, apparently. Queen Glacier decided to ask her another question. Her regal, powerful voice carrying throughout the entire hall.
"What are planning, Icefire?"
Icefire nearly leapt out of her scales. The Queen had never really addressed her before! A nod, something of the sort, but this?! Well, it was going to happen eventually. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her parents swelling up with pride and about to answer, "The gift of stealth," she cut in.
All eyes shot to her, and it took all of her willpower to nod shrink down in front of the calculating gazes.
"Explain," Queen Glacier spoke.
"They're five snow leopard statues I'm going to carve." Icefire started, when no one reacted, she continued, "They can all move like a snow leopard, but stealthier and specifically for combat or killing,"
After the word 'combat' all heads turned away, back to their food, or the majority that started whispering amongst themselves. Queen Glacier turned away as well, satisfied with her answer. Icefire let out a breath of relief, nearly freezing her seal in the process.
An hour later, Icefire could be found in one of the inner courtyards, dragging her serrated claws over a lumpy piece of ice. A few aristocrats from breakfast could be seen observing her. Three moons, are they trying to make me fail? She was desperately trying to ignore their judging stares and focus on her carving.
Eventually, she managed to ignore them, taking pride in her surprisingly accurate snow leopard ice carving. Three down, three to go. The current three were average-sized, the way most dragons would think of when they heard 'snow leopard'. But the last three she would make differently. The next one would be small, fast, and cunning, fit for assassinations. The fifth would be battle worthy, large and powerful. And the last would be an IceWing sculpture, leader of the other five, faster than the jumpiest fish, but more powerful than the strongest MudWing. Agile and strong. The perfect weapon.
As she stood there planning her next sculptures, she failed to notice the dragons from before carefully stalking up to peer at the previous three. Suddenly, a leopard statue careened onto its side, producing a quiet but noticeable tink! Icefire's head snapped towards the dragon's direction, glaring at the possibility of her hard work being shattered. The aristocrat was frozen on the spot at being the target of her freezing glare. His face was sheepish, with a claw frozen in midair. No doubt the one that tipped over the sculpture.
"Get out. Now," Icefire couldn't help but pour her freezing ire into her words.
The aristocrat seemed frozen in place, until a female IceWing shoved him hard, causing him to stumble towards the exit.
Icefire caught their small, quiet argument they left, "What did you do that for?" That was the male.
"Because, Winter, you're a blundering mess who can't help himself! And kind of to save you," came the scathing reply.
"Why in Pyrrhia do you need to do that?"
"Cough, cough, Winter, that's Princess Icefire! An animus!"
"We're royalty too…" There the conversation drifted away.
Prince Winter and Princess Icicle, I presume? Shrugging to herself, she picked the sculpture back up, and left to find more ice for the rest of the sculptures.
A/N: And there is chapter one! Hope you enjoyed, it was kind of short, but this is a rather short story…so, yeah. Am I the only one that noticed that there is no Glacier on the Wings of Fire character selection? What the hell?
Bye! -Leafy
