~ CHAPTER 23 ~

"Oh no," Snow said, desperately looking for the absent scavenger as panic set in. "No no no no no."

"Snow? What's wrong?" Cliff asked as he approached.

"He's gone. Green's gone. He's not in his room. He promised he'd stay in his room until I came back but he's not there," said Snow, breathing hard and heavy. "Someone took him. S-someone… took him."

A flood of emotions washed over Snow as he processed what he'd just said. All his fears were being manifested right before his very eyes. A thousand thoughts ran through his mind as he imagined different scenarios of why Green was missing, each grimmer than the last.

Green could be dead. He could be dead because I brought him to this place. It's all my fault. How stupid do you have to be to bring a scavenger with you to a mountain full of dragons? He's gone forever because of me. Because I was too weak and afraid to come on my own. Because I needed someone to constantly comfort me. He's paid the ultimate price because of my cowardice. Because of me.

"Snow!" Cliff's voice called, snapping him out of his daze. "Take a deep breath."

Snow tried to follow his advice, but breathing suddenly seemed much more difficult than usual. He felt like he was choking on nothing, and the world was collapsing in on him. His body was trembling uncontrollably, no matter how hard he tried to stop it.

And then he felt Cliff take his shaky talon into his own, giving it a firm squeeze. The crushing pounding in Snow's heart softened a little bit.

"I'm right here with you Snow," Cliff whispered. "We'll find Green."

Snow nodded sluggishly, still feeling dizzy and faint. He finally noticed the warm tears were streaming down from his own eyes. They traveled across the side of his snout and onto the floor with a hollow drip.

"Peacemaker," Cliff called out. "Go tell the teachers that Green is missing and start a search party."

"Roger that," Peacemaker said with an uncharacteristically serious expression, before bolting out of the cave.

Snow felt a brief sense of relief that he had such reliable friends, before the dread and terror swallowed him up again.

He instinctively squeezed Cliff's talon back. It felt like if he let go, he'd be swept away to a dark place that he might not ever get back from.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," Cliff said, seemingly reading his mind.

"Cliff… I think he's g-gone for good," Snow choked out in between sobs. "I-It's all my fault."

"We don't know that for sure," Cliff said gently. He placed his other talon on top of Snow's, sandwiching the IceWing's talon between his own. "We're going to find him, Snow."

Cliff's golden eyes showed nothing but sincerity, and Snow could feel the warmth of his talons pass over to him, like an unyielding fire in the middle of a snowstorm. The warmth soothed Snow's heart, and he felt himself finally stop trembling.

"There we go," Cliff said quietly, with a smile so reassuring that Snow never wanted to look away. "You all right now?"

"Y-yeah," Snow responded, standing up and wiping the tears from his face. "This isn't the time to break down. We have to find Green."

"Atta boy," said Cliff. "Peacemaker's already out looking, so let's try to figure out what happened in here."

Snow nodded as firmly as he could, though his brain felt a little bit like jelly.

Cliff examined the cave, analyzing the scavenger room in particular. "Hmm, the door is wide open, but everything else seems to be in order. No sign of any struggle."

Still having trouble thinking straight, Snow tried to follow along with Cliff's thought process. "Y-you think he left on purpose?"

"I don't know exactly what happened, but there's no way a dragon could fit through that tiny door anyway," Cliff pointed out. "He would've had to leave by his own choice."

"But… he promised he wouldn't," Snow mumbled. "I know he can be a little rebellious at times, but he would never do something like this."

"GUYS!" Peacemaker's voice rang in the distance, as the pitter-patter of his footfalls got louder and louder until he reached their sleeping cave.

"Peacemaker?" Cliff said with a confused look at the winded dragon standing at their entrance. "Did you tell the teachers yet?"

"No," he said, taking a moment to catch his breath. "Before I had the chance to, I found my friend Pride, and she was looking for us."

Pride… that's one of Peacemaker's RainWing friends, Snow recalled. One of the ones that got grabby with Green on one of the first days of school.

"Why was she looking for us?" asked Cliff.

"She says she knows where Green is. He's in her sleeping cave."

Snow's mind reeled as a thousand new thoughts bombarded his mind. But one thought prevailed above all the others. Green's alive. He almost couldn't believe it. He's alive!

"Why is he in her sleeping cave?" Cliff asked.

"I'm not sure," Peacemaker answered. "I kinda just bolted here after Pride told me. All she said was that when she got back to her sleeping cave, she found her clawmate Frost and two scavengers. One of which was definitely Green."

"Two scavengers?" Snow echoed.

"Yeah. Apparently Frost managed to get her talons on one, and then dragged it back to her cave. And now Green is there for some reason."

Snow's mind was spinning with all this flabbergasting information, but the details weren't important right now. "I have to go and see Green."

"Follow me!" Peacemaker said, before running off into the tunnels. Cliff and Snow followed behind closely.

For once, Snow didn't care what the other dragons in the tunnel were thinking about him as they dashed around. It was oddly liberating.

Shortly after, they arrived near a cluster of sleeping caves, breathless and panting.

"It's that one," Peacemaker said between huffs, pointing at one of the caves.

Snow almost raced for the entrance, before Cliff stopped him with a talon.

"Wait!" he said. "We shouldn't go in right away. Do you hear that?"

Snow strained his ears. The distant squeaks of scavengers speaking leaked from the cave. They're really in there, Snow thought.

"Let's listen in before we enter," Cliff suggested. "Maybe you can get a better understanding of the situation."

The three of them pressed themselves up against the wall right beside the entrance of the cave. Snow listened closely in.

"I told you already! I wasn't being held captive!" Green's voice rang out. "Look at the mess you've gotten me into."

Finally hearing Green's voice, Snow's legs almost gave out as an immense wave of relief rushed over him. It took all the willpower he had not to burst into the cave right then and sweep Green into his arms.

"The mess I've gotten you into?" replied an unfamiliar feminine voice, though it was distinctly scavenger sounding. "I could've escaped fine on my own, but I went through the trouble of saving you and this is the thanks I get? We wouldn't even have been caught by this white dragon if you hadn't resisted so much!"

"I wouldn't have been caught at all if you hadn't barged into my room and dragged me out!" Green yelled.

So that's what happened, Snow thought. Cliff was right; a dragon can't fit through Green's door, but a scavenger easily could.

"Don't yell!" the female whispered loudly. "We don't want to attract the white dragon's attention. Let's just lay low until she falls asleep, then we can sneak out."

"I can't wait that long batbrain! I promised… someone that I would be waiting for him in the enclosure."

"There's someone else?"

"Well, sort of. Probably not in the way you're thinking," Green said. "But he's like a… little brother to me, and he's not great at dealing with stressful situations. He's probably losing it right now."

Despite the state of mind Snow was in, he found himself chuckling quietly. I'm the 'little' brother? Still, it filled Snow with a warm and bubbly feeling to hear that.

"We can rescue your friend on the way out too, but we can't risk angering this white dragon," the other scavenger said. "I've heard rumors that they can expel ice from their breath. We'll never make it past the entrance if we make a run for it now. Save your energy for when we have to hike down the mountain."

Green groaned in frustration.

Snow couldn't wait any longer. He'd heard enough.

He rushed into the entrance and finally saw Green, standing beside another scavenger, and an IceWing in the corner watching them intently. But nothing else mattered. Not even the fact that there was an IceWing in the room could stop Snow from galloping towards Green.

"Green!" he cried.

"Snow?!" Green responded.

Snow took the scavenger in his talons and held him tight to his chest. Tears started spilling out of his eyes, but they were different from earlier. He felt the fear and despair fade away with each tear expelled from him.

"Snow! I'm so sorry! I swear I tried to stay inside the room but Robin practically lugged me out," Green hastily explained.

"Your friend is… the dragon holding you captive?" the other scavenger said with disbelief, as she stood as far back as she could. "...Is he crying?"

Green shot her a harsh look. "No thanks to your little 'rescue mission,'" he said while stroking Snow's snout.

"I… was so scared you'd be gone…" Snow managed to sputter out in a whispered voice.

"How'd you train your scavenger not to run from you when you approached?" the IceWing said, suddenly making her presence known. She appeared to have pale white scales, similar to Snow, but somehow glossier. "My scavenger won't get within arm's length of me… did you cover yourself with honey or something?"

"Your scavenger?" Cliff repeated, and Snow was reminded his friends were right behind him.

"Oh wow, it's a pleasure to have you in my humble cave Prince Cliff." She didn't seem all that bothered by the fact that they just barged in without invitation, Snow noticed. "But yes, I got a scavenger. No big deal," she said in a way that indicated she thought it was a pretty big deal. "I'm Frost by the way, and this is Feisty." She motioned towards the female scavenger.

"You have a scavenger too? Wow, that's awesome." Peacemaker circled around to inspect the scavenger more closely, which caused her to practically glue herself to the wall.

"Well I heard there was an IceWing with a scavenger in the academy, which I can only assume is this blubbering dragon," Frost said, lazily pointing to Snow. "So I decided that I had to get one of my own. As luck would have it, this morning when I was out for some early flying I spotted little Feisty picking some berries off of a bush. I managed to snag her, but it wasn't easy. She would not stop struggling all the way until I made it into the mountain, which is why I decided to call her Feisty. Pretty cool name huh?"

She looked far too impressed with herself; even the scavenger was rolling her eyes.

Snow looked to Cliff and Peacemaker, clearing the sniffles out of his throat. "Hey guys, can you… entertain Frost for a minute?" He hoped they'd be able to tell he wanted a chance to speak with Green and the new scavenger without Frost noticing.

"Sure," Cliff said with a knowing look, before turning to Frost. "I've got a couple questions anyway. How did you manage to capture a slippery scavenger so easily? You must tell me every detail."

Snow gave Cliff a silent thank you as Frost launched into a dramatic retelling of how it all happened. He took the opportunity to pull Green aside, and Green gestured to the female scavenger to come over to the corner with them. She seemed… extremely hesitant to get close to Snow.

"Robin, this is Snow. Snow, this is Robin. She got captured this morning and attempted to escape, before she had the bright idea of 'breaking me out' to go with her."

Now that Snow had a better view of her, he noticed Robin had long auburn fur on her head (or hair, he remembered Green calling it) and fair skin, along with similar fur coverings across her body that Green wore. She also appeared to be older than Green by a fair bit… or maybe just taller. It was hard to tell. At the very least, she looked as if she carried herself with that same conviction that Snow saw adults carry themselves. He wished he had the chance to ask this new scavenger a bunch of questions, but he knew that it was incredibly unsafe to keep her here any longer than she needed to be.

"Why are you talking to the dragon, have you lost your mind?" Robin asked Green with genuine concern in her voice.

"He hasn't lost his mind. I can understand you both." Snow tried to give his least threatening smile (don't show any teeth, he reminded himself). "It's nice to meet you Robin."

Her jaw dropped so intensely that Snow was worried it would break. She looked to Green with her eyes wide open. He responded with a smug grin.

"Wha– how?" she stammered, looking more dazed than Snow had ever seen a creature look, scavenger or otherwise.

"I don't really know how either. Has something to do with a comet," Snow said briskly. "There's no time for that though. I'm here to help. Do you want to escape?"

"Y-yes," Robin stuttered back, still bewildered. "But I can't let you keep the boy as a pet. He's coming with me."

"Oh come on you dunce," Green said, looking increasingly agitated. "Do you really think I'd be resisting this much if I wasn't happy with Snow? We'll help you get out but you have to promise to leave me be."

"But… don't you want to go back to the settlement?"

"Settlement? Wait, there's a scavenger den nearby?" Green asked.

"Wha– of course there is. Isn't that where you're from?" Robin gave him an expression of puzzlement that rivaled his own. "And why are you calling it a scavenger den? It's a human settlement."

Human… that's what Green told me scavengers call themselves, Snow recalled. But Green said he thinks the word 'scavenger' sounds way cooler.

"Er, right. Human settlement. Sorry, I've been living with dragons for a while. I'm sure you understand."

"Not in the slightest," she said.

"I had no idea there was a den– er, settlement anywhere near this place. I definitely didn't come from there, but I am very curious about where it is."

"It's–" Robin paused and glanced sideways at Snow. "…Never mind. All right, just get me out of here and you can go back to your cage."

There's something she doesn't want me to know, Snow realized. It was only fair; anyone would have trouble trusting a dragon after a lifetime of being terrorized by them.

Green seemed more bothered by her reluctance to share whatever she's hiding, but he knew time was of the essence. "Get in the bag on the Snow's back. It might be a tight fit since you're taller than me, but it should do the trick. He'll walk you out and take you to the base of the mountain."

Robin was more than a little hesitant, but eventually she hopped into the bag. Snow slung it over his shoulder with some difficulty. She's heavier than Green too.

He looked back to Frost, who was still very absorbed in her theatrical tale. Cliff's feigned interest was impressively convincing, while Peacemaker looked genuinely captivated.

She seems like the kind of dragon that loves to hear her own voice, Snow observed. I thought all IceWings would be like Shiver, but I guess they've got a lot of diversity too…

Snow carefully shuffled over, inconspicuously inserting himself into the group. Green stood beside him as they waited for Frost to finish.

"…And that's how I snuck her in without anyone noticing. Of course, as soon as I went out of the cave to get her some fruit, she tried to escape. Luckily I found her squabbling with this other scavenger a few caves down. I suppose that was your sleeping cave then. Guess she just wanted to explore."

"Mmmm, fascinating," Cliff commented.

"Yeah that's really interesting," Snow added.

"Hey wait a minute! Where did she go?" Frost jumped up as she finally noticed.

Snow tried his best to pretend to look around convincingly with the rest for Robin, while simultaneously keeping her balanced in the bag.

"She must've escaped while you were distracted, let's go look for her!" Cliff suggested with a dramatic flare of his wings.

Frost rushed out of the cave with conviction.

Peacemaker was about to rush off after her before Cliff stopped him with his tail. "We're not actually going to help her retrieve the scavenger she kidnapped. I was just getting her out of the cave."

"Oh," Peacemaker said. "Right. Obviously."

"Thanks for keeping her busy," Snow said to his friends. "I'm going to help the other scavenger escape. She's in my bag right now, and I'm taking her down the mountain."

"You're not allowed to leave the mountain alone," Cliff reminded. "Remember the missing dragons? They disappeared at the base of the mountain. Tsunami very explicitly banned leaving the mountain by yourself."

"It'll just be for a second," Snow insisted. "Do you know how long and dangerous descending a mountain is for a scavenger?"

Cliff looked hesitant, but gave in when he saw the steadfast expression on Snow's face. "…All right, fine. But I'm coming with you," he said. "And make it quick!"

Snow nodded, and then turned his attention to Green. "…I can't fit you and Robin both in the bag, so you'll have to stay with Peacemaker."

"I'll be fine Snow," Green said. "There's no time for your indecisiveness. Go before you start thinking!"

As Green tried to shoo him away, Snow couldn't help but smile at the scavenger. "I'm really glad you're okay."

"Don't get all mushy on me," Green said. "…But I'm sorry for making you worry. I promise I'll be safe until you're back. For real this time."

"I'll see you soon… big brother," Snow said, nuzzling Green's head affectionately.

"Gah! You heard all that?" Green said, visibly flustered as he tried to push Snow's snout away. "Oh man, that is so embarrassing."

"Whoa, I've never seen a scavenger's face turn red," Peacemaker said.

"Just go already!" Green yelled at Snow, who finally let up with a chuckle.

"I'm counting on you Peacemaker," Snow said, lifting Green onto the dark dragon's back, who looked extra pleased to be carrying him.

"You got it pal!" Peacemaker responded. "This is perfect, I've been working on some new jokes. What do you get when you…" He drifted off as he turned his attention to the scavenger, chatting away as if he were just another friend.

"This…" Robin said from within the bag, "is something else." Although he couldn't see her, her voice conveyed all the astonishment in her expression.

"Dragons and scavengers… living together in harmony like this," Snow said. "It's what I want more than anything else."

Robin remained silent.

"Come on Snow," Cliff called from the entrance. "There's no time to waste."

"Right," replied Snow as he sped out of the cave and towards the closest exit of the academy, which was fortunately rather close.

He flew down to the base of Jade Mountain with Cliff in tow, landing on the grassy surface. He gently pulled Robin out of the bag, placing her lightly on the ground beside a blueberry bush.

Cliff stood behind him, looking around vigilantly like a watchdog, swerving his head around in every which way for any indication of danger. "All clear for now. Wrap it up quick, Snow."

"Is this a good spot?" Snow asked Robin.

The scavenger seemed even more stunned than before. "Y-yes. Wow, I just flew on the back of a dragon…"

"I hope it wasn't too uncomfortable," Snow said apologetically. "I would've made it a smoother ride for you but I had to get down here quickly."

"No, it was fine," Robin said. "The stranger thing is that a dragon is being so polite and accommodating. I'm so used to running at the sight of one of you… this is really messing with my internal instincts."

"Well, hold on to those instincts and try not to get caught again okay? Frost meant well… probably… but you could've easily been caught by someone who would've hurt you. Or worse. Most dragons don't realize that scavengers have families and lives of their own."

"You realize it though," she said. "And you really care about that kid too. I've never seen a dragon cry before."

Snow shuffled his talons in embarrassment. "Sorry you had to see that…"

"To be honest, I don't think I would've been able to leave Green with you if I hadn't." She sighed. "If only all dragons were like you…"

The world would be a mess if all dragons were like me, Snow thought.

"Well I better get out of here before anyone else spots me. And sees me talking to a dragon. Like a lunatic," Robin said. "There is no way anyone is gonna believe this," she muttered to herself, as she began making her way into the forest.

"Bye Robin, hope to see you again someday!" Snow called after her.

She gave him a confused wave of her hand, before disappearing into the thickets.

I really do hope I see her again. In a future where she doesn't have to be afraid of dragons. A future where no scavenger has to be afraid of dragons. Where I don't have to fear for Green's life whenever he's out of my sight.

Snow let out a wistful sigh. It might be a long way away, but that's a future worth fighting for.