PROLOGUE

"I still don't agree with this idea."

"Relax, Winter, Moon and I will be fine. Snowfall hasn't banned us from the kingdom, yet."

Three dragons perched on a rocky outcrop. One was as white as the snow beneath him, another was black with a faint greenish tint, and the last one was the color of the sand where he grew up. Winter was standing next to Moon and Qibli, who were wrapped in thick blankets. The SandWing rolled his dark eyes. "I did my homework. A former soldier from Blaze's army recommended these blankets."

Winter huffed. "How will you be able to fly?"

"Stick our wings out" Qibli replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You won't get cold?"

"Aw, you DO care about me! I knew it!"

"It would be too much paperwork if you froze to death."

"Eh, don't worry. Brightsting said it wasn't a problem. We should make it there."

Winter wasn't very convinced, but he relented. "Fine. We should get going. You brought firewood?"

"Yep" Qibli patted a bundle wrapped in fabric and tied to his back. Moon nodded, also carrying a pack.

"Alright, let's go."

One by one, they all lifted off into the sky.

Three sets of talons landed on a reflective snowbank.

"GAH! It's cold!"

Winter looked over his shoulder to give Qibli an annoyed look. Moon was also wincing.

"What did you think it was going to be? Warm and fuzzy?" he grumbled.

"That would be preferable," Moon commented.

That was too much for Qibli. He burst out laughing.

Seeing his chance for revenge, Winter padded up to the hysterical dragon and tore off his blanket.

"ACK! IT'S FREEZING! WHY, WINTER, WHY!?" the now-naked SandWing screamed.

"Get used to it. It was your idea to come with me. Now take this and shut up." Winter flung the blanket back at Qibli.

"You suck, Winter." Qibli wrapped the blanket around himself and huffed indiginatley

Winter allowed a faint smug expression to form on his face.

Looking over at Moon, he saw that she also was smirking.

"Well, I suppose we should set up camp. Moon, get the supplies organized.. Qibli and I will make an igloo." Winter ordered.

"How respectful of you to ask," Qibli, still miffed about the recent incident, grumbled.

Sighing, Winter turned his back to him, and dug his claws into the snow. After a minute, he noticed Qibli hadn't joined him. "You helping or what?"

"Fine" was the response.

Qibli walked up to Winter and began to dig. The heat generated by the SandWing would make the snow easier to remove. After about ten minutes of shoveling the snow, there was enough space to serve as a temporary shelter.

"This thing isn't going to collapse on top of us, is it?" Qibli inquired skeptically, drying his talons and inspecting the "ceiling". Winter thought for a moment. He didn't know if lighting a bonfire would hurt one of these things. However, it shouldn't take too much to heat it. The snow would hold heat inside, and the other dragons had thick blankets. "I think we're good. The snow is actually very insulative. A very small fire would suffice." He explained.

"So, like a candle?" came a voice from behind them. Winter turned around. Moon was dragging a bag of firewood into their hole.

"I don't... think that's what he had in mind," Qibli said.

Winter ignored him. Picking up a log from the bag Moon had left against the "wall", he turned it over in his talons. Being an IceWing, he knew very little about fire. After doing this a couple times, he passed it to Moon. "Can you do a very small one,Moon? Just enough to keep you and Qibli from freezing to death." She nodded, and wedged her sharp claws into the cracks and started prying the wood apart.

Nothing left to do, Winter sat down across their hole from Qibli. Looking at the SandWing, he noticed that Qibli seemed a little edgy. He had never seen Qibli look so unsettled. Winter decided to say something.

"Are you alright, Qibli?" he asked.

Qibli gave him a smile that looked forced. "Nah, I'm fine. Everything's good. Heh." He obviously sounded nervous. Winter raised an eyebrow. It was strange for Qibli to not tease Winter about liking him. Winter thought about pressing further. He wasn't going to say it out loud, but Winter was genuinely concerned.

After mulling over this for a moment, he came to a decision.

Knowing that he would never hear the end of it, Winter stood up and slunk over to Qibli's side of the cave and sat down. Qibli gave him an odd look, but relaxed and did not say anything. They both sat in silence as Moon carefully arranged a pile of thin wood sticks that she got from the firewood chunk in the middle of the room and ignited it with her firebreath. Her job done, she reached into the bag and pulled out a bit of dried fruit and a scroll.

She proceeded to eat and read in silence, her ebony scales flickering in the orange glow of the firelight.

The rest of the night continued like that for a while. Moon occasionally looked up from her scroll, while winter continued to stare into the fire. It was significantly warmer in the hole than it was outside, and when he looked at Qibli, he had a drowsy expression. Winter also felt tired.

After a while, Moon put the scroll back in the bag, and laid down on her side to sleep, her blanket keeping the snow from touching her.

Winter waited, and when Moon looked asleep, he turned to Qibli. The SandWing still had a twitchy aura

"Qibli," Winter said softly.

The dragon in question looked up at him, and gave him a weak, anxious grin. "Y-yes?"

Winter looked him in the eye. "Are you okay?"

Qibli seemed to be caught off-guard. "I-I'm fine, I'm fine" he said, shaking his head.

Winter was not convinced. "Tell me what's wrong, Qibli" he inquired in a level voice.

Qibli gave in. "The t-tunnel. I just feel t-trapped."

Winter understood what he was saying. Qibli's claustrophobia was getting the best of him.

There wasn't much that he could do right now, so Winter just unfurled his wing and wrapped it around Qibli. "Just try to tolerate it. Just for tonight."

That seemed to calm him down a little.

"Thanks."

They sat like that in silence, until Winter could hear Qibli slowly breathing in a calm manner. Might as well get some sleep as well.

Winter laid his head on the packed snow ground next to Qibli, letting sleep overtake him.

"Hey, Winter, can we stop? My wings are starting to ache." Qibli's voice shouted over the flurry of snowflakes

"Yes. That spot looks good. Lets land there. " Winter shouted back. He drew his wings in closer, and dived. The other dragons followed suit. As the ground drew in nearer, Winter unfurled his wings, slowing his descent. He angled his wings to land, and touched down on the snow. Crunches behind him told Winter that Qibli and Moon also landed.

"Alright, if we take off again in ten minutes, we can get there before nightfall." Winter said, turning around to face them. Qibli was shivering, and Moon looked exhausted. He felt a little bad for them. To be honest, he was also tired.

They were almost there.

"I'm not feeling enthusiastic about the return trip," Qibli remarked, breaking Winter out of his thoughts.

"me neither," panted Moon. She blew a spurt of fire to keep them warm. "I can't see very well through all the snow."

"Having second thoughts?" Winter asked Qibli.

Qibli was about to say something, but then Moon suddenly collapsed, clutching her head. Winter rushed to her side, alarmed. Standing over her, he realized there was nothing he could do. Feeling like an idiot, he just stood there, letting the vision run its course.

Qibli was more helpful. He bent down next to Moon, and put a talon on her neck. "I'm here Moon, I'm here," He spoke calmly.

Moon stayed tense on the ground for a few more seconds, then her eyes flew open and she started gasping for air. Winter backed away. Qibli reached his arms out and embraced her."You're right here, Moon! It's not real! You're here with me!" He said in a calming tone. Moon's breathing started to slow it's pace. Once she calmed down enough to speak, she started rambling. "V-Vulture, he sent someone to k-kill us! Icewing-"

"MOON! It hasn't happened yet! Calm down!" Winter barked. Moon, startled by his outburst, went silent. Winter took a step closer to Moon, still in Qibli's arms. "You're alright. We won't let him get us." He put an arm around her. Qibli looked up at him, his face unreadable. "Nothing's going to happen." He brought his wing around them, shielding them from the snowstorm.

He heard the snow crunch behind him. Qibli took a defensive stance. "Someone's here. SHOW YOURSELF!" He roared.

Somewhere behind them, a voice cursed, and them a flash of silver flew past, leaving a gash on Winter's neck. "HEY!" he yelled. Qibli gave a growl of fury, threw off his blanket, and threw himself in the direction the chakram came from. A Winter heard a muffled "oof", signifying that Qibli hit his target.

Their would-be killer screamed as Qibli hit them with a blast of flames. Winter got a good look at them. An IceWing was facing-off Qibli. The SandWing swung his venomous tail, the IceWing grabbed it, and yanked it, flinging Qibli a good distance away. Qibli hit the ground hard, and didn't get up. With him out of the way, they launched them at Moon and Winter.

Winter was prepared, he shot a blast of frostbreath at the attacker. They yelled in pain, but did not stop. The dragon body-slammed Winter, and landed between him and Moon. Moon stood up, claws outstretched. She hurled fire at them, and they ducked. When Moon ran out of firebreath, the IceWing assassin lept at Moon. They knocked her down, and wrestled, clawing at each other. Winter scrambled to his feet as Moon gave them a good slash across the face. The IceWing yelped, and jerked their head back, blue blood running down their face, before raising their arm to strike back.

Winter jumped at them just as they swept their serrated claws across Moon's throat. Winter knocked them over and pinned them to the ground. Winter sank his teeth into their neck, causing his victim to scream. They started swiping at Winter's face, leaving a good deal of scratches. He paid no attention to the pain.

The assassin brought their fist on Winter's head, stunning him and causing him to release his hold on their neck. Taking advantage of him, the IceWing threw Winter off of them, and jumped on his back, snapping a bone in Winter's wing and mashing his body into the blue-stained snow. Winter struggled, trying to shake off his attacker. In response, they sank their claws into his neck and raised their free arm to deliver the killing blow.

Suddenly they threw their head back and screamed, before falling over dead. Groaning, Winter rolled over on his back, covered in gashes and deep-blue blood. Qibli stood over them, his tail barb still in the assassin's neck. He was breathing heavily, and scarlet blood dripped from a head wound. He pulled his tail from the body, and turned to Winter. "Are you alright?"

Winter thought that was the dumbest question ever. "I... I think my wing is broken. Where is your... blanket... you'll freeze to dea... Moon... MOON!"

He looked at Qibli, and he shook his head. "She... she's dead, Winter."

Winter's heart stopped. "What!? Moon!" He shot up, and sprinted towards the still, dark lump, embedded in red-and-blue-stained snow.

Winter dug his claws into the snow to slow him down, and bent down to inspect the black, lifeless body. Her chest was still. Winter put a talon on her neck, to feel for a pulse. Then, he saw the slash in her throat. "Nononono..." Winter whimpered. There was no pulse.

He picked up Moon's head to look into her eyes. She was limp, and there was no life in her eyes; she was gone.

It finally began to sink in, and Winter gently set her head back in the snow, and he picked up her talon in his.

Winter cried, something that most IceWings would never do.

Winter sat there, tears streaming down his face, when he felt a wing wrap around him. Qibli stood next to him.

"She's g-gone, Q-Qibli. S-she... gone."

Winter lifted his head enough to look at the SandWing, and saw that he was unnaturally pale, and shivering. "Yo-you're freezing." Winter sputtered through his tears."Get your blanket."

Qibli did not move.

"Please, Qibli. I don't want to lose you, too."

Qibli withdrew his wing, and moved away to find his blanket, leaving Winter alone.

He thought about how, in the Ice Kingdom, if a soldier dies in battle, and can not be taken home, it is common to freeze the body and cover it with snow to preserve it.

Winter knew what he had to do.

Letting go of Moon's talon and letting it fall to her side, Winter inhaled. He paused, giving Moon one last look, and sprayed frostbreath all over Moon's corpse. It only covered part of her chest, so Winter inhaled again, letting the arctic air fill his lungs.

He blew frostbreath over Moon's chest, arms, legs, tail, wings, and waist. Winter stopped to breathe. Footsteps told him Qibli was back. He stood on the other side on Moon, gazing mournfully at Moon's lifeless face. Winter also looked at her head. He mumbled one last goodbye, sucked air into his lungs, and covered Moons's head with a last spray of frostbreath.

Her frost-covered face held a peaceful look, as it would for all eternity. Winter started brushing snow over her body. Qibli understood what he was doing, and helped.

A half-hour later, Moon's body was completely buried in snow. Qibli had stuck a piece of firewood into the mound, marking her grave. By now, night had fallen, and Winter looked at the sky. It was clear tonight, and Winter could see all three of the moons.

The moons she was named after.

Winter stood in silence, staring at the moons, when he heard a growl from Qibli. He swiveled his head, and saw that the SandWing was standing over the body of the assassin, a piece of paper in his talon. He had a look of pure hatred on his face.

"This was Vulture", he said, his hand shaking. "Vulture hired this dragon."

He paused, and growled "I am going to kill him."

Winter slunk towards him, and wrapped his good wing around him. "We will, Qibli, we will. But right now, let's head to a village. We need help with our injuries."

Qibli sighed, but nodded reluctantly.

Winter withdrew his wing, and parted from Qibli. He then turned, and began walking in the direction of the nearest village. Qibli didn't move at first, then he looked up at the sky, gazing at the moons. Winter called him, and only then did he move, following after Winter.

Under the light of the three moons, a mound of snow sat, a chunk of wood sticking out.

It's creators had long since left, leaving it alone in the vast stretches of the tundra. They left under the assumption that the body that it guarded no longer held life.

They were correct to a degree, of course. The body did not hold life at the moment.

However, thanks to the IceWing's choice of burial, it would not always be that way.

For Moonwatcher, life had only just begun.