Hello again and I wish all of you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I am really sorry I couldn't post this chapter last year, but I just finished it today...there was just a tiny little first paragraph of the Memory done at Sylvester and I really didn't want to interrupt the Memory just to be able to post part of this Chapter a bit sooner. Besides, university just started again and it's really making my day (like, planning all of my free time away to be used for homework...)

THANK YOU SOOOOOOOO AWEFULLY MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS!

SaphireCatElf: You liked the dream? Then don't worry, there'll be more! And yes, they do have a meaning and a reason for being there.

I think I don't want to not update this story in a month, it's just too much fun to write! And I really don't want this fic to end like my last German attempt at HP...I really have to continue that one...even tried to translate it, but me and English grammar...let's just face the facts...it doesn't like me and when I have a German original it's really been not one of my best ideas to translate it into English the direct way, maybe I should consider writing a story with the same plot but slightly different situations...thinking...I'm sue you don't have such problems with your stories, right?

AND

Survivor: Sooo, sorry I couldn't finish this last year, but after the first paragraph of the memory I just...well, lost my muse for it...I even considered shortening the memory, so there'd be only a paragraph left of it, but then I read through it today and my muse surprisingly decided, that she's back from her little vacation.

Thanks for pointing out which part you enjoyed especially. There'll be part of that part to enjoy in this Chapter (though it's a bit hidden...) and in the next one, where I'll make the part of this Chapter, regarding the same topic, known (but you can still guess about it in your Review! You know I like guesswork!) Just for the peace of your mind I didn't let Wing think anything at the end or the whole Chapter for that matter. Please enjoy!

AND NOW IT'S LUNCHTIME!

CHAPTER 14:

The next morning Wildwing wasn't even sure if he had dreamed at all that night. The Shadow was missing again, so Wildwing had to occupy himself with thoughts about Dive's and his own childhood. He was surprised by himself when he realized that he hadn't done that in quite some time. Leaning back down with closed eyes he bathed in happy childhood memories of ice-hockey playing Flashblades.

Memory

The puck flew past him and he couldn't help himself to send a retaliating glare back at his father. It was always great when he joined them in their game, but it sometimes infuriated Wildwing to no end that he always scored as he was still too slow to catch his fathers shots. Canards were a completely different matter and Wildwing wasn't really disappointed when he could catch just seven out of fifteen, but his fathers... Maybe it had something to do with the fact that a nine-year-old wasn't exactly expected to catch the shots of a first league scorer like his father, he wasn't too sure about that, but it had definitely something to do with his two-years-old little brother distracting him. Nosedive was a sweet kid, he absolutely couldn't deny that, but he was noisy as well and that's what caught Wing's attention at the most inappropriate moments.

"Let's call it quits, shall we?" his father suggested.

They'd been at it for the past six hours and he'd joined them an hour ago, it was more than enough time for his mother to get dinner ready.

"Okay." Wildwing agreed reluctantly.

"You wanna join us, Canard?"

Wildwing was in a far better mood the moment after his father invited his friend to stay with them. He nodded vigorously and was simply delighted when Canard agreed. They collected their equipment, three dozens of pucks or so, and headed inside for dinner.

"You always catch just the right moment." His mother smiled warmly from the kitchen.

Dive meanwhile had watched them collect the pucks, from that he knew they were heading in soon and so he climbed down from the windowsill at which he'd been watching them play. He'd caught a cold three days ago, so their mother didn't allow him to go out with his big brother. As some kind of exchange Wildwing had left him his mask he normally wore while playing the keeper. Mask in hand Nosedive ran towards his brother, through the whole kitchen, and flew his arms around his knees, just to look up at him with a brilliant smile. He'd really missed his brother and hugging him to give him his mask back was his way of showing him just that, because a hug for Nosedive meant giving affection.

"Missed me?" he asked his brother when he felt him collide with his knees, after he'd put away Canards and his coats.

Dive just smiled again and held Wing's mask up, so his brother could take it back.

"Thanks for taking care of it, Dive." He smiled down at his brother.

"Why isn't he talking?" Canard murmured into his ear, so as not to disturb the kid. He was already used to him babbling away nonsense and his quietness irritated him greatly.

"The doc said he lost his voice because of the cold." He murmured back, after readjusting the scarf his brother had to wear even indoors. Pulling Dive into a hug and taking him up in a practiced movement, he leaded the way to the dinning table.

"He'll get it back though." He assured his friend when they sat down for dinner.

"I was afraid so." Canard admitted.

Wildwing just smiled as he was in too much of a good mood to argue with his older friend, that a talking Nosedive wasn't that bad and quite certainly better than the currently silent one.

Memory end

Wildwing was still smiling when he got back to reality. The good mood his memory had held lingered inside him and even comforted him a little. He knew his brother was probably worried about him, but right now he wasn't in the mood to head back to the Pond. At the moment he wanted to ask the Shadow some more questions.

S: "Do you want to eat something?" a now familiar whisper asked him.

W: "Sure. What's on the menu today, slugs and ants?" he joked, still having the past lingering at the back of his mind.

S: "No, not this time. Though I could add it onto dinner if you want me to."

W: "What kind of dinner would that be then?" he asked curiously.

S: "Living salad. Complete with aggressive ants and slithering slugs."

W: "Hmm, no. They'd eat the salad and then it would be just the fed up ants and slugs for us. Not something I'd enjoy." He admitted after laughing his head off.

S: "You're probably right with that." He agreed easily and passed Wing their lunch.

W: "Not that I'm suspicious or anything, but as I really can't see a thing in here...mind telling me what it is we're having for lunch?" he asked.

S: "No ants and no slugs. Though I really don't know the difference between their IQ and this one's." He stalled time.

S: "It's a chiabata and some fish I caught at dawn." He finally told him after he'd seen Wing look at his food a bit closer, without emanating any sound of recognition.

S: "Tuck in." He advised after Wing had inspected the fish a little more closely.

W: "Okay." He agreed after he decided that the fish smelled good.

W: "What's a chiabata?" he asked curiously after remembering he had no idea what it was.

S: "Some kind of bread." He replied after swallowing down the bite of fish.

After lunch the Shadow cleaned away the dishes he had brought in and left to wash them at the nearby river. Wildwing didn't really do anything, but when he caught a glinting on the floor of the cave, just an arms length away, he carefully scanned it with the mask. Astonished Wildwing discovered it was a photograph and lifted it into his hands for a closer examination. It was a surprising picture, a nice snap shot in a moment of unawareness he supposed, but never the less it was an excellent picture. And most importantly it was of a drake.

He had snow white feathers combined with short blond hair and was lying on a couch of some kind, wearing military boots and a strange looking deep blue bodysuit, it seemed vaguely familiar as it reminded him of the one Duke wore. There was a puckblaster in his left hand, which dangled off of the couch so the weapon seemed to be aimed at the floor and his right hand was draped lazily across his stomach. There was a puckholster strapped to his left thigh and his belt had even more equipment attached to it then he'd ever seen. There were many pouches with no recognizable use and surprisingly there was a sheath attached to the belt as well. Another antiquated thing that caught his eye was the chain around his neck. It was a black chain with jewels intertwined into it, they were all in various shades of yellow and green and alternating shapes of circles, triangles or other things, there was just one jewel, a bilious green one, with a unique shape. From this one, which seemed to be some sort of pendant, the other jewels were placed in pairs of matching color and form until the end of the chain in the drake's neck. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be sleeping, though it seemed to Wildwing as if, even if the image was just an unmoving picture, that when he'd make just the tiniest of sounds the drake would wake up, just to point his puckblaster directly at his heart.