Wolf and Husky landed by Jade Mountain, running towards Mammoth's body. His eyes were still open and his neck had been weirdly twisted. Husky winced and hauled Mammoth up, supporting half of his weight while Wolf had the other half. They slowly moved to the hole Wolf had dug and dropped Mammoth into it.

The tribe had been in a state of chaos for a good hour, as dragons frantically ran around trying to find their loved ones. But Wolf and Husky moved to a quieter area and Wolf just stared numbly at the ground. There was a plague, Darkstalker tried to cause genocide, and his queen tried to restart a centuries-old war. He nodded a bit and looked at Husky, snarling softly. "If he's not dead, I'm going to kill him."

"If you mean Darkstalker, then yes, I'm with you."

"We need to get Mammoth's body first and then find Nysnö." Wolf stood up and opened his wings, looking back at his brother. Husky was still sitting, and he refused to meet Wolf's gaze, digging a claw into a small block of ice. "What is it, Husky?" Wolf growled.

"I, uh… Look, there's something you need to know before we go." Wolf narrowed his eyes at Husky and snarled, telling him to get on with it. "So, you know how we all got hit with a plague? Yeah, well, funny story about that. See, during that, several Icewings got sick and you know, Glacier, along with twenty other Icewings died, and er…"

"You're rambling. Just spit it out."

"Caribou and Mother are dead," Husky said quickly, recoiling as if though the words stung. Wolf felt like he'd been slapped in the face with a barbed tail before dread sunk its icy claws into him. How many family members were dead now? No… How many of us are left? "Wolf?"

"So there's only three members of our family left?" Husky nodded slowly and Wolf snarled, lashing his tail as he paced back and forth. "I swear, if Nysnö is dead, some Nightwings are going to die."

Now, they stood by Mammoth's grave and stared in the direction of Possibility. Nysnö could be there, or she could still be with the Talons of Peace. Either way, one of them would have to search for her. Although a more pressing matter hung over their heads.

Husky began pacing behind Wolf, staring at his brother's back. He jumped back slightly as Wolf turned to face him, eyes narrowed. "Out with it."

"Well, uh…" Husky started fidgeting with a random stick. "A-are you coming back to the Ice Kingdom? Or are you going to go back to wherever you were living before?"

"I'm not coming back. I'd love to, but there are loose ends I have to tie up here." Husky opened his mouth to say something but Wolf shoved past him. "Besides, what's left for me?"

Husky frowned and scrunched up his face. He reached out to touch Wolf's forearm, wings pinned back slightly. Wolf turned his neck to look back at his brother, eyes narrowed, and slightly red. They stared at each other for a few moments, a heavy silence hanging between them. Husky grabbed one of Wolf's talons with his own, and stared intensely into his eyes. "What's happened to you?"

"What do you mean what's happened to me?" Wolf snapped.

Husky sighed and looked down at the ground. "Ever since you and Shatter went off to be assassins, you've changed." There was a beat of silence and Wolf fixed Husky with a slightly confused look. "You don't think I noticed? I'm your brother! Did you really think that you and Shatter could go off to war, and not expect your family to notice that you've completely changed?"

Wolf's nostrils flared and he spun on Husky, baring his teeth. He went to say something but Husky grabbed Wolf's snout, sharply closing it. His eyes were narrowed, and he was bristling. "I'm not done yet," he growled lowly. Wolf blinked, taken aback by his brother's rare burst of fury. Husky started pacing back and forth, lashing his tail. "Except for anger, you show so little emotion now. I haven't seen you smile in almost ten years! Then, there's the fact that when you joined Shatter in the war, you two started to spend all your time together being secretive, and what's worse is the fact that you aren't even coming back to who you used to be. Wolf," Husky's voice grew desperate. "I don't know what happened to you, or what you've seen, but this is ridiculous."

Wolf gently felt along his nose, discovering small claw marks left by Husky. He scowled and puffed out his chest. "You wouldn't understand why I'm like this. You never saw the battlefield. You've never had to kill dragon after dragon. You've never seen a dragon impaled on a rock or spire due to a mission gone wrong! And what's more, you never saw Shatter lose her ability of flight due to fire, or saw her die right in front of you!" he shouted.

Husky huffed and poked Wolf in the chest gently. "No, I haven't. But you're so angry and irritated all the time. Do you realize that Darkstalker tried to kill our entire tribe?"

"Yes. What kind of stupid question is that?"

"I haven't seen any form of emotion from you because of this. Our mother is dead. Our brother Caribou, you remember him right? The brother you barely paid attention to? Yeah, well, he's dead too because of the plague. I'm assuming you nearly died, and neither of us knows about Nysnö's state. And then, in the war our new queen tried to restart, Mammoth died. And you haven't shown one ounce of emotion!"

Wolf snarled and without thinking, hit Husky on the right side of his face harshly, drawing blood. Husky gasped lightly, and slowly felt along his face. Wolf's chest rose and fell rapidly, breaths coming out rapidly. He looked down at Husky in shock as realization at what he did slowly dawned on him. Husky looked up at Wolf, blood dripping down from his wound, eyes narrowed. "Husky," Wolf started. "I-I'm sorry."

"Are you seriously this heartless?" Husky's voice came out small.

"I have to be." Wolf's voice was surprisingly calm and steady. "Because the last time I showed emotion in a situation like this, I got Wendigo killed." He sighed. "You're wrong about me not showing any emotion."

"Oh really?"

Wolf turned away from Husky and started walking in the direction he knew Nysnö was living in last. "Nysnö has seen me smile. Lynx has drawn emotion out of me. And Scorpion, more than any dragon, has seen me worry, and seen me vulnerable."

He heard Husky take in a sharp breath. "Scorpion?" A beat of silence. "No, don't tell me."

Wolf touched his right wing to Husky's shoulder and smiled sadly before disappearing into the horizon.

Two Icewings were hunched over some scrolls by a river, whispering harshly. The sun was rising on them, casting shades of gold and red across their scales. The biggest one flexed her claws slightly, digging them into the ground, while the other one narrowed his one good eye at her.

Wolf slunk up behind Nysnö, shoving her into the river gently. She yelped and shot her head up, flinging water in Wolf's direction with her wings. He smirked and motioned for her to follow him, silently apologizing to Winter for stealing his niece away.

Winter just turned back to the scrolls he and Nysnö were deliberating while Wolf led his niece away. She bounded after him, shaking water off her scales. "What's so important that you needed to take me away from helping Winter?"

"Not much really. Lynx just wanted to try her chances with him, and I figured I'd help her out."

Nysnö scrunched up her nose lightly and looked at Wolf as if though he'd grown two heads. He stared back at her, arching an eyebrow. "What?"

"Well," Nysnö began, scratching the back of her neck while looking off into the distance. "I just didn't take you to be a matchmaker."

He eyed her out of the corner of his eye as he continued walking. Oh, she would be surprised if she learned about half the stuff he got up to in his younger years. Wolf's smirk grew as he recalled long ago memories. "Have faith in me, I did set up your parents."

Nysnö fell silent for a moment before tackling Wolf to the ground. "Why did no one tell me this? Why am I just finding out now?"

Wolf shoved Nysnö off of him, shaking his head lightly. He'd never forget the spike of terror that ignited inside of him when he saw Nysnö laying still by the cavern she lived in. When he ran to her side, and saw that she was sleeping he'd let out a choked sob and thanked the great ice spirits for keeping Nysnö alive.

Now, he kept a close eye on her and took Husky's words into consideration. He tried to smile more, and tried to let himself relax. Pyrrhia was no longer at war. The tribes were trying to reforge broken bonds, and live in peace together. He had to let his guard down, no one was going to ambush and murder him.

Nysnö poked his chest harshly, drawing him out of his thoughts. He flipped onto his stomach and stood up, shaking the dust off his wings. "You didn't need to know, it wasn't that important. Besides, can't I have my secrets?"

Nysnö pouted but let it go, walking beside Wolf silently. He wrapped a wing around her gently, a low laugh rumbling deep in his chest. She shoved him lightly before stopping in her tracks. Wolf slowed down and looked back at Nysnö. She threw her wings over her head and started jumping around frantically.

Wolf just watched her calmly, waiting for her to make some coherent sound. "I need to go set up my stand in the market!" she screeched before flinging herself past Wolf, shouting out a quick goodbye. He watched her trip over a bush in her rush before turning the right, deciding to go open his shop.

The building wasn't that high or large. It was a soft ivory colour, and was planted near the cold lake that resided close by. After Wolf had found Nysnö, and gone back to the rainforest, Amazon had suggested that he move to Sanctuary with her.

"Come on, it'll be fun! Besides, I know how much you loathe the heat here." One of his ears flicked in annoyance but he motioned for Amazon to continue. "You could start your own business and sell food, or non-poisonous elixirs." Her scales turned a deep taupe with light grey dots across the bridge of her nose. Wolf raised an eyebrow and mulled the idea over.

It would give him something to do now that he was no longer an assassin, or in the Ice Kingdom. And despite Glory letting him help rehabilitate some Nightwings, he couldn't stay in the rainforest any longer. But still, go to Sanctuary with Amazon? He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to be around more dragons.

That's when he swore he felt something hit him in the back of the head. Wolf whipped his head around but saw no one. Then, the unmistakable voice of his sister drifted into his head.

"You know I love you, but you're an idiot."

What do you mean I'm an idiot! He snarled softly.

Ghost-Shatter, or rather, Head-Shatter now since he couldn't see her, fell silent before letting out an irritated sigh. "Oh yes, of course. I forgot, you have a fragile ego," she drawled.

OI! I do not have a fragile ego. Are you here to insult me or what?

"Right, about that." Wolf imagined her laying down on her right side, lazily flicking her tail back and forth. "So, as your conscience and rational side, I want you to think about what Amazon is offering you. Of course," she let out a dramatic sigh. "Guava or Bamboo and Frey would join you two. Maybe even her girlfriend Brightfuture. Which, in the long run, may kill you because we ALL know how much you hate interacting with lots of dragons, but it'd do you some good."

Wolf screwed his face up, frowning slightly. That's unnecessary.

"Is it?" The hint of a smirk laced her voice.

I like talking to dragons! I can be outgoing, so go stick your snout in a snowmound.

A huff of laughter. "How mature little brother." Head-Shatter paused for a second, no doubt thinking. Which was rather strange, considering Shatter was technically him. "Look, she's offering you a chance at a new life, away from whatever in the three moons you're doing now. Don't turn this down."

And why shouldn't I?

This time there was another sigh, laced heavily with exasperation. "Amazon is your first friend other than Scorpion! Right now, she's the only friend you see a lot. Don't mess this up, and go live for once in your life."

Fine… Wolf smiled wryly at Amazon. "All right, I'll go with you."

Amazon's scales turned a bright pink and she began bouncing around, splashes of yellow appearing along her wings. "This will be so much fun!" she shouted before running off to no doubt tell Brightfuture or Frey the good news.

That was how he ended up in Sanctuary, running a shop with Amazon and her best friends Frey and Bamboo. Brightfuture, the only Nightwing that Wolf could stand, had reluctantly come along, but their other friend Guava had stayed behind.

He walked in and swept to the back of the building, checking on his stock, and going to prepare the vials of medicinal elixirs and sleep droughts. When he got to his back room, Wolf sat down and looked up at the ceiling, sighing. It'd been a year since the plague. Since he'd seen Scorpion, and since he'd lost Mammoth, Caribou, and his mother.

Time had crawled along since then, with long days, and even longer nights. If someone was awake at the right time, they'd often find Wolf staring at the moon and stars. One time, Amazon had to send Brightfuture out to drag Wolf back in. That had gone less than preferable, and everyone was trying to forget the incident.

Today was starting to feel just as long as the others. Dragons came in, picked up their orders and left. It was a seemingly never ending cycle that came to a halting stop when a flash of yellow-brown scales caught his attention. Wolf looked up from what he was working on and felt his heart stop.

By Frey and Bamboo's end of the building was Scorpion, looking at several tapestries. Wolf slowly hid behind a counter and held his breath. Why is she here? I can't deal with this today!

And true to form, Wolf's timing was off as Amazon walked in and tripped over him, drawing the gazes of Scorpion and Bamboo. He heard Frey let out a snort. "Wolf, what are you doing?" Amazon shot him a strange look and he winced.

"Uh, nothing?" He stood up and avoided looking at Scorpion. Bamboo bounded over, mauve scales flashing brightly. He helped Amazon up, eyes dancing with amusement.

"So, you came out alive after all?" Wolf finally dragged his gaze over to Scorpion and smiled sheepishly. She flicked her tail and just stared back at him bemused. "I thought you died."

Wolf's head snapped back and he walked out, narrowing his eyes slightly. "And what gave you that idea?"

Scorpion sniffed and turned her back on Wolf, stalking out of the building. He followed her, lashing his tail. She looked back at him and scoffed lightly before looking back at where she was going. "You never came back."

It was Wolf's turn to scoff. He never came back. What a stupid, yet reasonable explanation. "First off," he snarled softly. "I was transported back to the Ice Kingdom by animus magic. Second off, Husky and I had to go back for Mammoth's body. And finally," Wolf took a deep breath. "I needed to find Nysnö because I wasn't sure if she was still alive or not!"

Scorpion stopped abruptly, causing Wolf to crash into her back. She looked back at him, her face softening. "Oh."

"Yeah. What made you all huffy?"

Scorpion looked around the area before dragging Wolf into a nearby alley. "I was worried about you, and when I hadn't heard any word from you for a week, I assumed you died. So you can imagine my surprise when I walk into Bamboo's shop and find you alive and well!"

Wolf rolled his eyes but the action held no true malice. "I would have gone back to look for you, but in case you hadn't noticed, you have a habit for disappearing and then reappearing at random times. I just kind of figured that you'd show up one day."

"Then why were you hiding from me?"

Wolf feigned hurt and gaped at her. "I did not hide from you?" She raised a skeptical eyebrow and Wolf sighed. "Fine. I just... " he scratched the back of his neck and looked up at the sky. "didn't want to see you today. Truthfully, you make me nervous and I don't know what to say around you because I'm afraid I'll make myself look like a fool."

Scorpion let out a huff of laughter, shaking her head playfully. She went to say something but closed her mouth as some form of realization hit her. Wolf tilted his head but Scorpion just shook her head again, muttering a soft "never mind". Instead, she just started walking down to the lake, Wolf trailing after her.

They passed by Nysnö who just smirked and winked at Wolf before turning back to her stand. After about thirty minutes, the two reached the water and sat, talking about whatever crossed their minds. Though the mood was sombre, Wolf found a spark of joy to just be near Scorpion again. "I'm no longer living in the Scorpion Den."

"Oh? Why not?"

Scorpion shrugged. "Vulture kind of took over after Thorn became the new queen and it quickly dissolved into chaos."

"Where are you living?"

"I stayed with my cousin for a bit in Possibility, but then one day, Nysnö sent me a message convincing me to move to Sanctuary."

Wolf's wings twitched and he let out a long sigh. Scorpion looked at him in inquiry but he just waved her off. "It's an… interesting place to live."

"You don't like it, do you?"

"I never said that! It's not what I'm used to, but thankfully it's not the rainforest."

Scorpion snorted, amusement flicking across her face. "You lived in the rainforest? With who?"

Wolf looked down at his claws. "Amazon. And Bamboo and Frey. Brightfuture would sometimes join us in our little corner."

"Who's Brightfuture?"

"Amazon's girlfriend."

Scorpion nodded before bursting in laughter again. Wolf looked over at her, scandalized. It's not that funny. She went to say something when a glint of gold caught Wolf's attention and he whirled around. In front of him stood Anubis, breathing heavily. On his head was a gold crown-like headpiece with a cobra's neck and head rising up from the middle, eyes wild.

Scorpion followed Wolf's lead and let out a low growl. Anubis just glared murderously at her before looking at Wolf. At closer inspection, Anubis's eyes were dead cold, and unsettling. "You had one job."

Wolf looked over at Scorpion. "Have I told you lately how much I hate your brother?"

"No, but I can imagine it's roughly the same amount as me."

Wolf looked back at Anubis calmly, and watched as the Sandwing paced back and forth, curling and uncurling his barbed tail. How Anubis had found them, he didn't want to know. Probably through Boreal, the cursed purist. But what was more important was the fact that Anubis appeared to be completely deranged.

So this was how it ended? At the claws of Anubis? Wolf sighed dramatically, drawing the gazes of Scorpion and Anubis. The former gave him a confused stare while the latter glared. Well, if someone had to die now, he might as well be it, and it might as well be in the most dramatic way possible to buy Scorpion some time to escape.

Wolf stood and flung his wings open, and slunk over to where Anubis was, throwing a wing across the Sandwing's back. He hissed lightly at the sharp contrast of the warm scales, but kept his eye contact. "All right, let's get this over with. If you must kill me, please do it quickly."

Anubis's head shot back as if though Wolf's touch burned him and shoved Wolf off of him, swinging his tail at Wolf's head. Scorpion leapt forward as Anubis and Wolf circled each other, bristling. She lunged at her brother, a blur of yellow-brown, and stopped Wolf in his tracks.

That yellow-brown blur was… familiar. No, it couldn't be. She wasn't there when Shatter lost her flight. Scorpion couldn't have been. Wolf shook his head and snapped out of his daze.

Before him was Scorpion and Anubis wrestling, throwing sand into the air. Wolf jumped backwards as Anubis threw Scorpion's body in his direction. Scorpion just stood up, shook herself out, bared her teeth, and ran headfirst into Anubis's side. He bit into her neck harshly and Wolf winced before rushing to help Scorpion.

But just as he was about to dig his claws into Anubis's ribs, Scorpion brandished her tail at him while attempting to pry Anubis's jaw loose, causing Wolf to jump out of the way. He backed off and watched helplessly as the siblings began to tear at each other. After all, this was Scorpion's fight, not his.

It seemed like hours had gone by, with the sun setting behind the mountains. Wolf had been sitting on a rock, outwardly calm, but inwardly a mess of nerves. There were specks of blood on the sand near his rock and both Anubis and Scorpion were panting heavily. There was a loud roar from Anubis as Scorpion drove her barb into his chest and dug her talons into his eyes.

Wolf's head shot up and a heavy silence fell upon the both of them. Anubis thrashed for a few minutes before falling still. Wolf leapt down from his rock and walked over, his wings dragging in the sand. When he reached Scorpion, she leaned against his shoulder, breathing heavily.

"He's dead. My brother is finally dead."

Wolf slowly twined his tail with Scorpion's and wrapped his wing around her. "You can finally rest now." Scorpion gave a tired smile and stood up, walking back to Sanctuary, Wolf trailing after her.

Wolf had sworn he'd fallen asleep, so why did he feel awake? "Because this is a dream of sorts," a voice answered for him.

He turned around and was met with Shatter. She was younger than when he last saw her, and she didn't have any burns along her wing. And more importantly, she was smiling at him. "Hello, Wolf."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "I haven't seen you, ghost or alive, in a long time. Where did you go?"

Shatter let out a laugh, eyes dancing with mirth. She walked up to Wolf and took one his talons in hers. "Wolfie, you needed me back then. Back in the war, everyone was under a lot of stress and pressure." She took a deep breath. "But now? You're at peace, there is no danger anymore. You don't need me anymore."

"What do you mean I don't need you?"

Shatter flicked her tail, grazing his nose. "You've healed. You've grown from the trauma of war, made friends, and found love. I was only showing up to you because you weren't ready to let me go, and the wounds were still fresh."

Wolf took her words into consideration. He'd tried not to think about his time during the Great War. But now he did, and memories he thought he'd buried came flooding in.

Seeing old friends die, getting Wendigo killed, being stranded on an island in the Sea Kingdom for days on end, running from Burn's soldiers, being thrown off a cliff by a Skywing that caught him, and spending a week in Moorhen's dungeon with Shatter. Starvation, death, injury. It all blurred by, and Wolf realized Shatter was right.

His sister smiled sadly at him. "Let me go Wolf, and go live your life."

Wolf looked up at Shatter, his eyes widening as her form started to fade. His eyes flew open and for the first time in years, Wolf's chest and head felt lighter.

Epilogue

Two Sandwing-looking dragonets bounded through the streets of Sanctuary. One had pure white scales with swirls of grey the colour of mist surrounding her wings like wisps of clouds. The other was a soft gold with ice blue flecks across his entire body. The first one had a spiked tail, although it was slightly more whip-thin at the end compared to a normal Sandwing while the second had a barbed tail. But both of them had spikes rising along their spines, going down to their tails instead of the regular crests.

"Come on Erosion!" the first one called to her brother. "Auntie Nysnö wants us to help her with her shop!"

Erosion glowered at his sister but kept running through the streets, ducking between dragons' legs. "Remember what Mother told you, Gobi? Nysnö isn't our aunt, she's our cousin."

Gobi rolled her eyes and flung herself into a stand, Erosion barreling in behind her. Nysnö looked down at the three year-olds and smiled. They grinned back up at her in response. "Does Wolf know you're with me?"

"Yes, and Mother swore to make sure he didn't come out here to check on us."

Nysnö laughed softly and shook her head. "Uncle Wolf has always been protective of his family." She looked down at her cousins and motioned for them to start helping her with food preparation. "Come on, I get you for the whole day." Gobi looked up at Nysnö and swore she'd seen her cousin smirk a little bit.

Gobi wasn't entirely sure why Nysnö liked causing havoc for her father if she and Erosion were involved, but she never asked questions. Mainly because her mother would snort and start teasing her father how he "asked for this". Whatever that meant.

Beside her, Erosion sneezed as he inhaled some of the flour for the bread, causing Gobi to shove him off of the stool he was on, sending Nysnö into giggles. Three moons, Gobi would never understand her family, but she loved them anyway.