Glistening Icicles

Summary

Mistral has always been more... well opinionated about how she feels about the IceWing rankings and the circles, she has always thought differently then what the IceWing nobles have tried to teach her. Either way, Mistral will claw her way up the rankings using her intelligence and determination alone.

IceWing Society And Scrolls

In my opinion, I think the workings of how my tribe works is a bit strange and strict, I always thought it made us seam like cold dragons who never took time to cool off or chill out.

IceWing circles were essential to functioning society. It kept the palace stragglers in their rightful place and the elite at the top, with positions earned with discipline, hard work, self control. The ranking list was everything. Prey hunting rights, permission to live within the palace, appropriate mate choices, all the intricacies and decisions were made based on that list. The most capable and ambitious rose to the top while the weak willed, immature, ineffectual were punished effectively. The perfect meritocracy.

Although, I don't really understand the system very well, I still think the system of the circles are important. In being truthful with you, I also have to admit that I'm a bookworm and I've caused some IceWing spikes to rattle because of my many and constant questions.

I am seven but I was still stuck in the 6th circle, only a tier above the lowest dregs of palace society and being banished to a desolate corner of the continent. Avoiding that fate required discipline and strict adherence to the codes.

I stood outside of my room staring with focused icy blue eyes, a narwal spear was clutched in my talons as I scanned the hallway. My room stood next to the hall entrance, and was always the first to be inspected. The slightest twitch in ears or rattle of spikes could be grounds for dismissal so I stayed completely still, staring straight ahead at the polished ice wall of the hallway.

Most, if not all IceWings thought luck was what would help them rise to the top, but I thought otherwise. There is no such thing as luck, hard work and obedience is what should be practiced in my opinion.

'Luck is for the weak, you must take control of your life, plan 17 steps ahead of your competition. Those who don't help you, they are your enemy. Must grind them into dust, weaken them so you can rise on top. Discipline, hard work, self control.'

Just to let you know, I'm just kidding about the last part, I'm not that cruel and self centered. I still follow the rules but I don't go around acting like a jerk and I certainly don't go around saying things like, 'I'm an IceWing and I'm better then everyone, you should bow down to me!' Pfft, please, that's just ridiculous.

I didn't trust many dragons, out of my family, my father is the highest ranked IceWing, so he was the one who got to decide both mine and my sister's names, that's how it works.

'Dragons do not cooperate. They are selfish, only interested in their own personal gain. Use them as stepping stones to reach a higher level. In fact, I think I may be up for a promotion to 5th circle soon due to the reports I sent in last week.'

'I do not care, I have a promotion to worry about. Besides, Leopard will be fine, he was a little stuck up anyways, he ought to be sent off to the outpost, while my name moves up the ranking list. Then I finally won't be on the bottom any more.'

'Look around, how many actual friends could I have? None. How many useful "friends?" Few, but that would increase the burden on me. No thank you, I will stick to myself, I am the only dragon I can trust.'

"Three Moons! None of these IceWing dragonets are going to move up in the rankings at this rate!" I looked to see two 3rd Circle IceWing nobles walking down the hallway right in my direction.

I did not make eye contact with either dragon, for that would be far too impolite and awaited my inspection patiently. Everest was an efficient worker, and did her usual examination of posture and grunted her quiet approval and let the smaller IceWing approach.

The IceWing bore no jewelry, no rings, no sign of the higher classes, but clearly he was of some authority. His snout bore the strangest a strange pattern of dark blue scales, which only made him stand out more from the near pure white snout of Everest standing nervously next to him. He opened his mouth and abruptly began his barrage.

"Mistral, do you like working with math? I have an upcoming project that requires assistance. Could you be my assist-" Floe asked rapidly, but Everest interrupted him before he could finish by whispering into his ear.

Floe's snout lit up in embarrassment. "Right, formalities first. I will try again. Mistral of the 6th circle, I am Floe of the 3rd circle. Um... Everest what comes next?"

Everest looked as if she wanted to vomit and laugh at the same time. How could a 3rd circle dragon forget such simple courtesies, how did he even attain 3rd circle when his manners were as blunt as the wall in front of me.

"Sire, may I do the talking for you? Only if it would suit you better of course. I do not wish to disrespect you in any way."

"Uh sure go ahead Everest, I need to consult the beginners guide again. Ugh all these traditions, they are so confusing. Wish I could just speak normally without all this dodging around ranks and politeness."

Everest cleared her throat awkwardly. "Mistral of the 6th circle, I address you as Floe of the 3rd circle's messenger. The lord seeks a dedicated assistant in his endeavors. The applicant must exhibit strong propensity in the following categories: patience, passion and ability to learn. Do you feel as if you fulfill the requirements and wish to submit a formal application? You may respond in the form IW-392 given to the lord no later than the 2nd bell tomorrow."

I hated serving others, but to a 3rd circle elite, that was worth considering. 'What you think Walrus?'

Sounds interesting enough, if all you want is a promotion, I can think of far worse ways, like reporting your fellow guards for petty infractions.

"Hello Floe, hello Everest." I greeted, with a curt bow to the two IceWings. They both turned to me and surveyed me with a cold gaze, well Floe did anyway.

"Good morning Mistral, I see your room is neat and tidy as usual, and I informed the Queen of your report from the other day. You might even get promoted to the 3rd circle." Everest replied, with a flick of her tail and a nod of approval.

"Thank you Everest, I Appreciate it. I'll be sure to be there for the summit later this afternoon." I replied, with a curt nod and a twitch of my tail.

I waited until they left, disappearing down another hallway before I made my way to the IceWing Library where I could find some scrolls about the history of the IceWings.

Being in the 6th circle, the only glimpses I saw of the palace came from the long an arduous guard inspections in the courtyard, with the long ice slate of the rankings dominating everyone's attention. That list made careers, it destroyed lives, but as long as my name stayed out of the 7th circle, there was still a chance to rise to the top.

Soaring over the eastern spires of the palace, I could see the busy dragons flitting about the place, probably with their own ambitions of rising the ranks. To the north, the great ocean sat still, the glistening surface reflecting the magnificent design of the palace. But I was no fool, the ocean still roared and raged during storms, it just had mild restraint today.

The library was about three stories high, dragons come here to look for all sorts of varieties of different scrolls. There were scrolls about the Diamond Trail, scrolls about how the system of the circles worked, scrolls about medicines and herbal treatments for all sorts of wounds and many many more. The library was my favorite place, I was a very frequent visitor. The library was one of the few places that was open to the public.

The central desk was shoved between two massive shelves stacked high with the most interesting scrolls and ice pads. Bering sat deep in a pile of scrolls, his snout furrowed with thought. Upon hearing my steps however, he swept all of the parchment under his desk and beamed brightly at me, grinning stupidly like he just won a promotion to the 1st circle.

"Are you here to submit your application?" He asked jovially.

I plopped the scroll in front of him and unfurled it and his cheerful expression turned somewhat sour but not as much as I had hoped. The scroll might not had been as valuable as I thought.

"I see you found my proposal. I assume you didn't get the application form then?"

"That is correct sir." Bowing my head in deference to his rank.

I heard him awkwardly shuffle his talons before tapping me gently on the shoulder. "Three moons this is embarrassing. Auster, please, stop bowing. Just treat me like a normal dragon alright? Here, I found the proper form if you still wish to apply." He passed me a much thinner scroll.

Grabbing the form, I gave my thanks, without bowing this time, and made my way to a private corner of the library to fill out said form. The form was fairly straightforward, containing only basic fields and an entire section of asterisks, due to IceWing bureaucracy I presume. It only took a moment to fill out and this time when I brought it back, Bering wore an even more ridiculously cheerful expression, his eyes sparkling with expectation.

Leaning in close, Bering whispered to me like he had confidential information to share. "Did you like my proposal? I know you read it, so can you give me your thoughts?"

I was not curious, merely slightly interested, but I decided to humor the higher ranked IceWing purely to gain his favor. "Yes, I did take a quick peek. I am not quite sure why you are planning spear attacks or assassination in the eastern mountains, but that is none of my business

As I was browsing through the shelves of scrolls, I caught sight of an IceWing dragonet that I despised. She was one of the lower-ranked IceWings, she always picked on me for being weird and for the way I thought about certain IceWing matters.

But that is none of her business, she always gets her little group of friends and they all tease me for always reading in class instead of doing all of the pointless work and writing notes. To be honest, I could care less about that stuck up IceWing named Skylark.

As I walked around the Library looking for a good scroll to read, I caught sight of two of my friends. Husky and Glaze. I smiled and waved them over with a wing. They both smiled and bounded over to me.

"Hay Mist, whatcha lookin for?" Husky asked, tilting her head with curious stormy blue eyes. I sighed and shrugged my wings.

"Need any help?" Glaze asked, with a warm smile as she swept her gaze over the scrolls that were lining the shelves. I nodded with a smile and a grateful look to my friends.

"Yes, if you don't mind. I'm looking for a scroll about when the circles and rankings were first developed." I replied, and Glaze walked over to another shelf with me and Husky following her.

"I think I found something similar to what you were explaining to me. Here check it out it might be the one your looking for." Glaze replied, with a smile of pride on her face.

As the three of us walked up to the librarians desk, a small IceWing with silver blue scales and wings was organizing the many scrolls that were on top of the desk.

"Hello Polaris. We have some scrolls that we wish to check out." I explained, and the IceWing looked up from her task to check out our scrolls.

"You three are my most frequent visitors, you all must love reading, am I correct?" Polaris asked, with a grin on her face. I nodded and Polaris made an hmm sound and handed us our scrolls. I bowed to her and with that, Husky, Glaze and I flew out of the Library and flew to where I lived.

We flew in through my bedroom window and just as we landed on the carpeted floor, a knock was heard on my door. I ran to open the door with Husky and Glaze following close behind.

I swung the door open and standing on the other side was my mother, Seal. She smiled warmly when she saw me standing there, I smiled at her as I walked over to my shelf and retrieved another one of my scrolls.

"Ah, Mistral, your back. And you brought Husky and Glaze to visit." I looked up to see my mother, Seal. I nodded and went back to reading my scroll. My mother laughed quietly and left the room.

"Hay there kiddo!" I sighed and twitched my tail in annoyance. Can't I just read in peace. I sighed and looked up to see my father, Subzero. I then smiled brightly and looked up at my father.

"Hay father? Where's Peppermint? How was school for her today? Do I need to freeze anyone?" I asked, anyone who knew me also knew that I was very protective of Peppermint, she's a hybrid and she gets picked on because of it. She's a SkyWing/IceWing hybrid like me. Peppermint's only friends are her Clawmates at Jade Mountain, and in the IceWing kingdom her only friend is an IceWing named Lynx.

"Oh Mist. Violence isn't always the answer." My father gently scolded me, I sighed and nodded with a slight frown.

"She'll be going back to Jade Mountain in a few days, so you should spend some time with her before she leaves. She's missed you Mistral." My father said, and I nodded and rolled up my scroll. Peppermint was only one year younger then me.

"I don't mean right this second Mist. You can keep reading your scroll, I mean spend time with her tomorrow." My father remarked, with a small laugh, I paused what I was doing and smiled sheepishly.

Husky and Glaze were just watching us with amused smiles on there faces. I then hugged my father and he hugged me back before he turned and left the room.

"Well that was interesting." Glaze replied, with a small laugh while Husky and I just shook our heads in amusement. I then unrolled my scroll and continued to read its contents.

"I guess you could say that Glaze." I replied, looking up breach to glance at Glaze with a raised eyebrow, then I dived instantly back into my scroll.

"Three Moons! Your such a bookworm Mist." Husky commented, with a small laugh and a teasing grin on her face. I just nodded and laughed quietly at my friend's observation.

"Your observation is correct Husky, I am a huge bookworm, I mean, just take a look around my room." I replied, gesturing to my many small shelf's to prove my point.

"Ohh... Hay, Mist? Don't you have an important meeting to go to?!" Husky asked, I looked up from my scroll and my eyes widened in alarm.

"Three Moons! I almost forgot! Thank you sooooo much for reminding me Husky!" I exclaimed and gave my friend a tight hug.

"No problem Mist, I just know how important this meeting is to you, and I would blame myself if you were late." Husky replied, with a smile and a small laugh. I grinned and put my scrolls and other Itami that I would need inside of my pouch.

"Thanks again! See ya later Husky! See ya later Glaze! I'll be sure to tell you guys what happens when I get back!" I called as I flew out of my bedroom window.

HUSKY

I smiled and shook my head at my friend. She's quirky, a bookworm, sweet, a scatterbrain and a klutz. But she's awesome. I wouldn't want Mistral any other way because then she wouldn't be... well... she wouldn't be Mistral.

I then turned to Glaze who was drawing on a scroll. Oh, and I forgot to mansion, Mist also loves music and drawing. If her walls don't give it away... her room is filled with all of her drawings and paintings.

"Hay, where are Tempest, Ermine, Shadowslayer and Lightseaker?" Glaze asked, briefly looking up from her drawing to stare at me with questioning stormy blue eyes. I just sighed and shrugged my wings.

"I'm not sure Glaze, I think they'll be here soon." I replied, after a moment of silence. If Mist were to move up in the rankings, she'd be able to live in the palace with Snowstorm, Blizzard, Silver and Sapphire. Oh, and with the Queen and her daughters as well. Yeah... I know... we have a lot of friends.

Even though Glaze, Mistral and I are all in the 6th circle, we were really popular in school, Mistral was the bookworm and the dragonet who made sassy and snarky remarks, Glaze was the artist and I was the one who people came to if they needed help with homework, yeah I'm the smart one in the group.

A/N

Do you guys like it so far? I hope you guys like it. Who's your favorite character so far? Let me know in a review, I'm curious.

On another note, chapters for this story will be written whenever I have time or when I get a great idea. I will be writing up chapter three tomorrow, but it won't be posted until tomorrow evening, I'n going to be visiting a College.