"Hello! Welcome to your first class. Nice work finding the right cave."
Moon found herself in a large opening in the mountain that was swarming with vines on all sides. Flowers were everywhere; long blue flowers, large purple flowers, small bunches of red and yellow flowers. On the back wall of the opening pressed against the mountain, a large waterfall fell into the cave like a massive tapestry of water, which flowed down into a small strait rushing through the cave that she followed Carnelian up here from. The sky was clear and azure, with clouds running scarce in the heat of the nearby desert. Moon or anyone else wasn't hot, though; the chilled, crystal mist from the waterfall was more than enough to keep her cool, with the high humidity putting a thin, wet sheen on her scales and the scales of every other dragon in the room.
Leaf seemed to love it, holding onto her neck with his legs as he leaned back and let the mist wash over his face, his arms raised high in the air. He donned a large cloth of polar-bear furs that Moon didn't remember him ever getting. She did remember seeing it on Bandit yesterday, so she assumed he went to see him without her and got the skins as a gift.
Was Leaf already making friends here? It was a heartwarming thought.
"Carnelian, Kinkajou, and Moon, right? And I see you've brought your scavenger, I think Sunny said it was Leaf, right? Oh, be impressed, I've been practicing so hard to memorize all of you. Thirty-five new names! Easy as cows for Starflight, but a whole lot trickier for me and Clay, believe me. I mean, it helps that I knew some of you before, of course."
On a small rock rising in front of the waterfall was Tsunami, proudly standing tall at her accomplishment. It certainly seemed impressive to Moon; she hadn't even gotten as far as to ever meet thirty-five dragons, much less learn their names.
Thirty-five people to meet. Thirty-five dragons she'd never seen before. Thirty-five chances to slip up and ruin everything. The thought made her shiver.
"Like ME!" Kinkajou trilled. Tail-kisser, Carnelian grumbled in her head.
Talonsteps could be heard behind Moon and she turned around(carefully, to make sure Leaf didn't lose his balance) to see an unfamiliar Mudwing and Seawing enter the cave together.
"Turtle!" Tsunami exclaimed. "Hey, everyone, this is my brother. I mean, I have a million brothers, apparently, but I'm going to assume this one's the best, since he's here right now," she said, draping a wing across his shoulders and grinning toothily.
Turtle grinned back. "It's true, I am." He turned to the small brown Mudwing, sitting squat beside him, and said, "This is my clawmate, Umber."
"Oh! Clay's brother!" Kinkajou shouted in recognition.
"That's right," Umber said, smiling warmly at them both.
"Ooo, the Jade winglet is so cool! I wonder who we'll get for our Icewing and Sandwing. Does Sunny have any sisters?"
"Actually," Tsunami started, whipping her tail toward the cave entrance. Moon turned to look, hearing talonsteps, and her heart fell when she saw the two dragons entering. "after yesterday," she continued, "we decided to switch a couple of dragons around, since you guys seemed like a good match." She nodded at Qibli and Winter. "You've already met, you're all interested in scavengers – we think you'll fit well together."
Qibli and Winter both immediately recognized her. It's her, they both thought. Moon saw Winter cupping his arms, and was surprised to see Bandit nestled in them. He was frightened, but not petrified like he was yesterday. Apparently, Leaf had helped him get better about dragons, somehow overnight.
Speaking of which, she was still upset at him sneaking off in the middle of the night to talk to Bandit. It was hard not to notice the polar bear skins he suddenly got when they woke up, but she didn't exactly have the language to scold him for running off. She could only give him a knowing glare in the morning.
"Look, see? You even both brought your scavengers. Proof."
Leaf leaned forward on her neck, and squeaked, waving a tiny paw at Bandit. Winter, oddly enough, seemed to freeze for a moment when he saw him, his eyes widening slightly. Qibli noticed this, and gave him a sly smirk.
"Still spooked of him?"
Winter's head snapped towards him. "Shut up, Qibli!" In his head, Moon caught a brief glint of a sharp pain in his snout, and an image of a hard glare from Leaf. What exactly had happened last night?
Leaf had clambered down from atop his seat on her head, and walked over to Winter. The Icewing grew visibly tense at his approach, and jumped away from him. Qibli had to stifle a laugh as he backpedaled away from Leaf, growling violently at him. Leaf stopped for a moment, before moving more slowly, his arms out and knees buckled slightly. Winter still inched away from him, but he eventually met the Icewing's cold scales, and gave a gentle tug at his arms. Winter squinted his eyes in suspicion at Leaf.
"Uh, Winter? I think he wants to talk with Bandit." Qibli spoke up, trying not to smile too widely.
"I know!" Winter shouted back. "I'm just… not sure if I can trust him not to run away." He didn't sound too sure of the excuse himself.
Moon sighed, and took a step toward him. "You can trust Leaf," she spoke softly. "I've trusted him since I hatched. He's not going to do anything bad, I promise."
Winter gave her a look, but it wasn't one of contempt, more a look of distrust as he contemplated her words. She trust him? The scavenger? He thought. Can I trust that? I mean, she clearly does, if she lets him ride on her back. But all Nightwings are deceptive. Moon cringed. But if all Nightwings are deceptive, then they must be pretty paranoid about being deceived themselves. They wouldn't give out their trust so easily. If she can trust him, then maybe I can, too.
Moon by no means agreed with his line of thought, but smiled as he slowly, hesitantly opened his arms, and let Bandit out with Leaf.
As Cobalt slid out of the Icewing's talons(which she had lovingly named Prickface), she stumbled on the ground and took a second to regain her balance. It had been a while since she was this free; not in the arms of a dragon or within the bars of a cage. She rose her head up to meet Cedar's gaze, and drew a long breath.
"Cedar."
"Cobalt."
"Long time no see."
"Hardly," he smiled. "I just got these furs last night. Thanks for that, by the way."
"Speaking of last night," Cobalt breathed. "I never really got to register what happened until this morning, but YOU'RE FUCKING INSANE!" she screamed, her sharp change in tone making Cedar jump back a bit. Before he could respond, she suddenly rushed forward and embrace him into a rib-crushing hug.
"U-uH, CobALT-" Cedar tried to choke out, but her grip remained steadfast against his struggles.
"Dragon-fighting isn't rare where I come from, but people generally have a sword or a shield or armor or fucking anything when they go to battle! I've seen people do some crazy things when I was still with my tribe, but stars, do you take the damn CAKE!" she shouted, roughly pushing him off with the last word. Cedar tripped and fell to the ground.
"I, uh, I, was, uh, just - "
"What if you MISSED, and like, your WHOLE ARM went up his NOSTRIL-"
"M-maybe we could talk about this a bit more calmly?!"
Cobalt took a breath, and exhaled slowly. She reached an arm down to help him up. "Ah, sorry about that. I got a little excited." Cedar took her hand as she pulled him to his feet. "But, to be fair, you are fucking insane."
Cedar laughed. "Maybe I am."
Moon and Winter temporarily forgot their differences to observe Leaf and Bandit's interaction with scrutiny. They were calm, then Bandit got violent, then they were calm again?
"I've, uh… never seen Bandit act this way before." admitted Winter.
"Maybe it's got something to do with last night?" Qibli suggested, failing to hold back a laugh.
"I SAID, shut UP about that!" shouted Winter, only causing Qibli to go into a greater fit of laughter. Moon turned to them, confused.
"Wh...what happened last night?" She was almost afraid to ask.
"It is NONE of your business!" Winter whipped around to yell at her, but his flustered expression ruined any attempt at frightening her. Qibli managed to compose himself enough to laugh out:
"H-he got smacked in the nose by your scavenger!"
Moon blinked. She had gathered that Leaf and ran off at night to meet Bandit, and had gotten a much more personal confrontation with Winter, but how did he manage to do that? Winter cringed and looked down, trying to hide his face. Moon sent a sharp glare at Cedar, who only shrugged in response. She'd have to figure out how to scold him later.
"Alright, moving on, because we can't talk about scavengers forever," Tsunami raised her voice, getting the attention of everyone. "How about we go around and introduce ourselves? I'm Tsunami, the Head of School, and pretty much the boss of everything here. And I'm running your first small group-discussion class, which was Glory's big idea, so I think we'll figure it out together. Any questions?"
"Yeah, I got one," Carnelian spoke up. "Are we stuck with this group?"
"I wouldn't say you're stuck with this group," Tsunami shrugged, "but you're stuck with this group."
"What If we would prefer to be in a group with other Icewings? Such as my sister?" Winter questioned.
"That's not how the winglets are set up," said Tsunami. "But you'll be in some bigger group classes with her and have plenty of time to make other friends as well."
"When are we eating?" Umber asked jokingly. "Just kidding. Pretending to be Clay."
Tsunami laughed. "Actually, I brought food," she said, cutting aside some vines to reveal a large stone bowl filled with a variety of fresh fish, which she moved to the middle of the floor. "Help yourselves." Turtle enthusiastically reached for a fish, while Kinkajou gagged and stepped back.
Moon stepped forward to grab a fish as well, but Winter walked in her way, and she jumped back. He looked at her, curious. She's frightened of me, he thought. Mother would be proud. I guess I did threaten to slice off her face.
Then, quietly, Am I proud of that?
Cedar and Cobalt sat under edge of the ledge that the larger Seawing stood on, huddled together against the mist. It was heavier this close to the waterfall, their pelts quickly growing damp under the oppressive humidity. Cedar raised an arm to wipe his wet face, only rubbing more water into it from his soaked clothes. He may as well run over and jump into the flowing river at this point; it'd hardly dampen him any further. The mountaintop wind whipped and whirled around him and Cobalt, sending water vapor flying at them from all directions. It made their skin tingle as they curled inwards against the rock wall, playfully hiding themselves against the mist.
His eyes were squinted to keep the mist from flowing into his eyes, and his moist hair was plastered to his forehead. Despite these rough conditions, it was still somehow comfortable down here, both for him and Cobalt; for him, it reminded him of the humidity in the Rainforest, and for her, the chill was not unlike the freezing winds from the Icewing Kingdom. These wistful thoughts of home put them both at ease as they relaxed into one another's shoulders, the proximity only deepening their relaxation, despite the water-chilled blasts of wind in their faces.
Cedar wiped his brow again, still ineffective against the misty wind. "Whatd'ya think they're talking about now?"
"I don't know, same old shit?" Cobalt laughed. "'Sides, dragon whispering isn't my thing. You tell me what they're talking about." she nudged him on the shoulder.
Cedar turned to look at the dragons circled around them, squinting his eyes further to peer though the thick haze. He took a long moment to look around at them, studying their behavior. "I think..." he started, beginning to pick up a few more subtle details. "I think they're introducing themselves."
Cobalt's eyes widened a bit, then quickly slammed back shut under the crystal spray that engulfed them. "Really? This huge, cult-like gathering and they're getting to know each other?"
"It makes sense. This entire mountain seems like it's set up as a school. The new students are going around and talking about themselves, and I think the Seawing behind us," he turned his head to look up, where they could faintly see the mirage of the dragon through the mist, "is probably the teacher."
"Huh. That's… boring."
"It's weird, too. The Seawing looks like she's only about six."
Cobalt fell on her side in surprise. She sputtered, "Wh, What, what the fuck?! She's only six?! Just a glance and you know that and she's a girl?!"
"I know, right?" Cedar offered an arm, which Cobalt pulled herself upright with. "Dragons mature a lot faster than humans, apparently. Moon's only four!"
"What? Bullshit! How do you know?"
Cedar leaned his head against the rock ridge, closed his eyes, and breathed a wistful sigh. "Because I saw her hatch myself."
Cobalt grew quiet. She stared at him, her eyes as wide as the fog would allow them to be. She whispered, softly, "What… What was that like?"
What was it like? Frightening? Peaceful? Sacred? Absolutely adorable? He wasn't sure, even though he remembered the night in perfect clarity; sometimes he still felt the itch of mud and sweat on every inch of his skin, sometimes he could still hear that violent roar that cut through the night.
"It's… kind of a long story," he sighed.
Cobalt leaned her head on his shoulder, much to his surprise. "I've got time."
Cedar looked down at her peaceful form, and smiled. He gently rested his head on top of hers, and sighed in content, his mind already rushing backwards through the memories, all the way back to the very beginning.
"I was running..."
"Can we get on with the discussion?" Winter said, exasperated. "What exactly is the point of this?"
"The point is to talk about whatever you want to talk about," Tsunami shrugged. She had relaxed from her proud standing position and had settled into a sphinx seat on top of the rock ledge. "To find out what dragons from other tribes think, and see things from a new point of view. I'm sure it'll be different when you have this class with Starflight or Sunny or Clay, but I, for one, think you guys should pick the topic."
"All right," Winter spoke slowly. "I want to talk about Nightwing powers."
Oh. Oh, no.
Moon squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block out the conversation, even though she knew that she probably should have been paying close attention, seeing as how it was very blatantly directed at her. Conflicted, paranoid thoughts and words rushed through her head, but for her it was in one ear and out the other. She needed a way out of this, some kind of excuse, without drawing any more suspicion on her. Winter wouldn't make it easy for her, either. Moons, she did not need a panic attack today.
"There are thousands of dragons who are still terrified of the Nightwings – they deserve to know the truth." Winter spoke with a certain firmness in his voice, one that let Moon know she was not leaving this cave easily today.
"Well, nobody's sure what the truth is," Tsunami sighed finally.
"Nobody's sure?" Winter questioned, then turned his piercing blue gaze to Moon, who shied away from his glare. "We have one right here. This is all about understanding other tribes, isn't it? Can't we ask her?"
Three moons, the eyes staring at her expectantly was almost enough to make Moon bolt into the sky and fly away. Her neck sagged as she tried to force herself to not pass out on the spot.
"Moon doesn't know anything!" Kinkajou exclaimed, jumping from her spot. "She wasn't raised with the other Nightwings, her mother hid her in the rainforest. She's been told all the same lies as everyone else."
And now Moon had to force herself from proclaiming her love to Kinkajou on the spot.
"Oh." Winter visibly deflated right in front of her for the second time since she'd met him. He gave her a look, no longer of mistrust or hatred, but some kind of… confusion? She couldn't identify the emotions in his eyes, and he seemed conflicted about it as well. Maybe I don't have to hate her after all, he thought. His brow furrowed. But… she's still a Nightwing. Can I really trust her?
"Look," Tsunami interjected, "the important thing is if that the Nightwings ever had powers, they don't anymore." She spread her wings outward rather majestically, the sun glimmering through the translucent royal pattern in her scales. "As long as everyone knows that, the Nightwings can't manipulate the other tribes ever again. So just remember that there's no mind-reading, and there's definitely no seeing the future."
Winter took a step forward. "But-"
"WHO WANTS TO GO HUNTING?!" Tsunami suddenly shouted, making everyone jump. Poor Leaf and Bandit must have had their hearts stop, sitting directly under her. "I know I do! Great idea, Tsunami! No arguing with the Head of School; off we go!" She shot off her ledge and shot into the sky and past the thin veil of the clouds.
"I guess that discussion is over," Carnelian commented with a snort.
Moon sighed in relief as she began to breathe normally again. Just as she was about to take off with Tsunami, however, Winter walked in her way. He looked inquisitive, like he somehow didn't understand her. His blue eyes held steadfast in her gaze, but withheld torrents of emotions she couldn't identify behind them.
"You say you don't know anything," Winter asked. He almost seemed to sound… Three Moons, was he feeling shy about this? "But you know other Nightwings. You can find out the truth and come back to tell us. Right?"
Moon looked away from his frosty cold eyes, too afraid to look him in the eyes. "I, uhm..." The Nightwings were more likely to trust Winter with their secrets before they'd trust her, so she didn't see the point in his request. "I, uh, doubt they'll tell me anything, honestly, but I'll try?" she offered.
Winter's eyes narrowed. Moons, he was awfully close. "What do you mean? Why not?"
Oh, and there she goes again, talking too much. "It's, um, hard to explain."
They wouldn't even trust one of their own? Are they that paranoid? Something darker lingered in the depths of his mind, something Moon couldn't make out. Or is it something different than that? He shook his head. "I want to know everything about their powers. Were they ever real?" Apparently, yes. "How do we know they're gone?" They're not. "What else are they lying to us about?" You have no idea.
He turned his head and coughed. If I'm scary enough, she'll do what I want, he thought to himself. "I mean you. What else are you lying to us about?"
Qibli stepped in. "Hey, igloo-face, that's not cool."
"Yeah, Moon's in our winglet!" Kinkajou jumped up to support her, the ever-loyal friend she was. "We're supposed to support each other!"
"Well, I'm with igloo-face." Carnelian rose and spread her giant orange wings, the sun shining through them like, glowing deep like fire. "If we're supposed to get all snuggly with each other, there shouldn't be any more secrets." Her gaze fell on little Moonwatcher, violence flashing through her burning orange eyes.
"Let's make her tell us everything."
"Uh-oh."
Cedar leaned forward to get a look at what was happening. Moon looked terrified; Prickface and Snarl had her cornered. Clown and the Seawing – he'd pick a name for him later – were trying to help, but couldn't do anything against the stronger dragons. He placed a hand on the ledge behind him as he rose to his feet. Cobalt snapped out of her relaxed stupor, and looked at him.
"Uh-oh? What's uh-oh, what's going on?"
"I..." Cedar paused for a minute, trying to process the events before him to find the right words. "...I think Prickface is being a bully?"
"To Moon?" Cobalt snorted. "About expected of him. Go slap him on the nose again, if it's bothering you." She leaned back against the wall again and relaxed. Cedar deadpanned in silence. Cobalt began to feel that his silence, combined with his disapproving expression, maybe meant that she said the wrong thing.
"What?! I can't do anything about it, you're the dragon-expert, go help your sister or something!"
Cedar closed his eyes. "Cobalt..." Again, he was at a loss for words. This seemed to be happening often recently. Maybe it was because he hadn't spoken to another human in years? Or was it just Cobalt's unwaveringly stubborn personality that was going to give him gray hair before 25?
He, eventually, found the words he was looking for. "If you ever want to be seen as more than a pet to Prickface, then you have to show it."
This time, the silence came from Cobalt. She stared up at him from the cave floor, her eyes fighting against the ever-present mist, her mouth hung open. She blinked. Her mouth closed as she firmly tightened her lips. Cedar closed his eyes and sighed again. Aaaaand…
"Of all the stupid shit you've said since yesterday, that was the first thing that made any sense... and it's still insane."
Cedar's eyes shot open as he heard her stand up. What?
"If I'm going to be living with dragons for stars knows how long, then I'd better be the one to put them in their damn place. Gimmie a minute."
Before Cedar could say a word, she had already shot off towards Prickface and Moon. He stood behind, stunned for a few moments. Cobalt willingly going anywhere towards a dragon? Considering her (entirely irrational) fear of them, maybe she'd lost her mind by now.
He shook his head and began to run after her.
"Ack!"
Everyone turned to Winter, who had suddenly shouted in pain. His head was low, and he was shaking one of his talons out, glaring at Bandit, who had managed to sneak up on him and kick him in the paw with his small feet. He was a lot stronger than they gave him credit for, apparently.
"SQWIBBLE SKRABBLE SKOOL! WAB WOBBLE!" he squeaked, somehow even more angry than Winter. Moon spotted Leaf running to catch up before Bandit did anything that would get him eaten. Not that he would; Winter wouldn't let the culprit live.
Qibli snorted, before breaking into a full laugh. "Y-you have a tendency for getting scavengers to attack you, huh?" Winter stared death into him, but any retorts he had were overshadowed by another punch to his already abused talons.
"Ow! Quit that! What's wrong with you?" he tried shouting. All Bandit did was back up towards Moon and stretch his arms out protectively, as though trying to shield her. Leaf caught up and did the same at his side, both of them trying to protect Moon from both him and Carnelian.
Oh. That's what this was about.
Even the scavengers know I'm being a jerk. But at the same time, it's all I've ever known.
Have I been wrong this whole time? Have we been wrong this whole time?
His thoughts were interrupted by Carnelian's snort. "Arrogant igloo-face can't even control his own pets." Before he could respond, Carnelian jumped as Bandit ran over to her, too, just barely missing her with another swing. "If you don't get your rodents away from me, Winter, I will eat them!" she snarled, barring her fangs at the two scavengers. Leaf remained steadfast in his defense, but Bandit faltered at the sight, his earlier fury having been crushed at the sight of the violent Skywing, whose sharp jaws grew closer and closer until -
"NO!" Moon cried, and quickly scooped up Bandit in her arms(with no small amount of complaint from the small scavenger). She held him against her chest, not unlike how she did yesterday, and sent a silent glare towards Carnelian. The two shared a threatening staring contest for a minute, before Carnelian snorted and flew off with Tsunami wordlessly. She wasn't worth her time.
Moon sighed in relief, before turning to Winter. "You should be more careful to protect Bandit," she spoke softly. Winter only stared back. Moon held out Bandit to him, which he slowly, carefully accepted.
"Hey," Moon broke the silence between them. "I'll try to ask the other Nightwings about our powers. But I want you do do me a favor in return."
Winter was immediately on guard. He knew he couldn't trust this Nightwing. "And what," he hissed, "might that be?"
"Stop trying to scare me," she stated simply. Winter blinked, needing a moment to register what she had said. "You are not as terrifying as you think you are," she clarified. There was no malice, sarcasm or pride in her voice. She spoke honestly, as though she were just stating a simple fact.
As she turned to help Leaf climb on her back, Winter kept staring, dumbfounded. Stop liking her! He screamed to himself. She was dangerous. She couldn't be trusted. He had to remain vigilant. Strike first. Nobody could be trusted. Especially not a Nightwing.
Even if that Nightwing shared his hobby and had pretty teardrop scales.
No! Stop that!
"Is that alright with you?" Winter shook his head to clear his thoughts; Moon asked him a question. Her vibrant green eyes gazed upwards into his deep navy-blue ones. He'd never seen that shade of green before in his life. It was bright and brimming full of life, yet held a certain wisdom behind it, something he couldn't understand.
"Winter?"
"O-oh, ah-" Winter staggered backward. Three MOONS, STOP that! NOW! "Oh, u-uh, sure. Y-yes, that's alright."
She continued to hold eye contact a moment longer. Her radiant emerald eyes gleaned with mirth, but didn't look to mock him. She closed her eyes and smiled, before lifting her wings and launching herself into the sky, Leaf on her back.
His eyes followed her until her dark scales completely vanished from his view, and even then, he stared upwards through the open cavern ceiling. All alone, with every other dragon haven taken off by now. The thunder of the waterfall roared behind him, and the thin mist floated over his scales, but the room seemed oddly quiet all of a sudden. He blinked, and gulped. Who was that Nightwing? Why couldn't he get his mind off of her for the life of-
"OW!"
Bandit had punched him in the talons again.
He sent a murderous glare down at him, but the scavenger crossed his tiny arms across his chest defiantly. After a moment of standoff, the scavenger hollered loudly, before dramatically gesturing towards the hole that Moon had flown out of.
Right, he ought to catch up with the rest before Tsunami chewed him out. As he raised his wings, he felt Bandit's tiny paws on his talons again, but they didn't pound violently. They looked at each other in silence. He couldn't leave Bandit here alone. But at the same time, if he held Bandit in his arms, he wouldn't be able to hunt effectively…
Winter looked to his left. Nothing.
He looked to the right. Still nothing.
He was completely alone here.
He crouched down and offered a talon for Bandit to climb on to. "Get on."
"This happens when I'm happy. But if you'd prefer something more sedate..."
Moon had to cover her mouth when she nearly began to choke on the goat she was eating. Kinkajou's scales, upon her being asked about them, had shifted into the most violent shade of lime-green and magenta Moon had ever seen, and she hoped to never see it again. Qibli yelled and covered his eyes, almost falling backwards at the sight. Leaf, who was sitting in the middle of the circle formed by herself and the rest of her winglet, quickly looked away from the eye-searing sight, looking at Moon with a "what-on-the-three-moons-did-I-just-see" expression.
Kinkajou laughed at their repulsed expressions. "No, I'm just kidding. I can be totally ordinary and boring, don't worry." Her scales shimmered and rippled into a dull, simple brown, similar to Umber's scales, who smiled at the sight. Kinkajou suddenly looked up, spotted something, and shouted-
"Winter!"
Moon whirled around at the same time Winter did. He was in the middle of regally sweeping past them, and paused to growl at Kinkajou. When his eyes crossed with Moon's, however, he stopped, and his anger almost seemed to vanish. His royal blue eyes, dark and void like a starless night sky, and her jade green ones, glistening like the rainforest canopy under the moon, bore into each other for a long moment. Winter's mouth hung open a small crack, as if he didn't know what to say. Strangely, his mind had gone quiet, eerily, reflecting his silence.
They only snapped out of it when Bandit had clambered up Winter's nape to holler at Leaf from below. Winter blinked and jerked backward, causing Bandit to fall forward onto the top of his head, which he was gently smacked for.
"Ow! Y-yes?" he asked, trying to maintain his regal composure.
"Don't you wanna sit with us?" Kinkajou asked, her scales turning into the same shade of arctic blue and pale white as Winters with a gleam. "I mean, since we're your winglet now, and everything."
Winter looked over everyone in the Jade winglet. But he wasn't sizing them up, as Moon noticed him look towards a group of other Icewings on top of a ledge nearby. He looked conflicted.
"Besides," Moon quickly added, "we wouldn't want Bandit and Leaf to get lonely." she wasn't sure what she was thinking saying that, but for once, it actually seemed like the right thing to say. A first for everything, she supposed.
"They won't get lonely." Right? "Leaf has you, and Bandit has me." Is that right? Do scavengers get lonely? Maybe that's why Bandit was so quiet those first few days, and now she's almost - no, is violent. How many times is this Ni – Moon, going to make me feel like I've been doing this wrong the whole time? Moon cringed inwardly; she just wanted to teach him how to properly take care of a scavenger. Making him feel terrible wasn't a part of any of this.
"Please?" Moon asked, trying to ignore the suspicions running through Qibli's head. She'd wanted to avoid the frightening Icewing since she first saw him, but now, for some reason, she wanted to make this work. She'd, courtesy of Leaf and Bandit, seen a side of him that was more humble, a side of humility.
Look at her, fighting to make friends with a frigid Icewing. She wasn't very well-educated on tribal relations, but she knew for a fact that Icewings and Nightwings were not friends. Moons, she'd be bullied about this for years to come if the other Nightwings found out.
Mother would be proud.
In her thoughts, she didn't notice that she and Winter were back to staring at each other again. What was that? What was going on? She'd have to figure it out later. Winter closed his eyes and sighed.
"Fine."
"They seem to be getting along a bit better than before." Cedar mentioned. He and Cobalt were in the middle of the circle formed by the group of dragons. They'd taken the time to name them all now. There was Moon, Sunshine, Snarl, Prickface(Cobalt insisted on the name), Clown, and they had named the Seawing Mist, and the Mudwing Ribeye. "In fact, he seems nicer in general. He even let you ride on his back now!"
"Yeah, what changed? He was about to claw her earlier."
"I think we were the ones that changed him."
Cobalt laughed, and took another bite from the blueberry she was holding. "I guess we did beat the shit out of him. Poor bastard."
Cedar frowned. "I wouldn't say we went that far, but you've got a point. They at least look like they're friends now." He turned to smile at Moon, who was sitting next to Prickface in their group. She noticed his grin, and sent a warm smile back his way. She was the best.
"Friends?" Cobalt snorted. "Prickface clearly has the hots for her." Cedar gagged on the mango slice he was eating from.
"Wh-what?! How could he-"
"Oh come on. You're the dragon-expert. He's about to rip her face off, and now he's all cuddly? And did you see the way they were staring at each other for a solid minute!"
"I-I-I just assumed-!"
"Don't worry about it, they're perfect for each other anyway. It's adorable! Big tough Prickface has a wittle cwush! It's fuckin' amazing!" she laughed, rearing her head back.
Cedar stared for a minute, his mouth open before he closed it and sighed. Not once in the four years he'd been with Moon had he considered the prospects of dragon romance. Not that he had to; the only other dragon around for miles was Mother. But now that Moon was attending a school and meeting other dragons, relationships became something important to consider.
Before he could stop it, the image of Moon, his sister, acting like a flustered schoolgirl with a crush popped into his head. He shook his head violently, desperate to never see it again.
That last line makes me want to die but I'm putting it in anyway because why not
This chapter, which is shorter than the last one, took damn near two weeks to get out. And I'm sorry about that. I'd say that I'd try to make it shorter next time, but we know how that would go by now. These chapters take so long to get out that I feel like my writing style at the top of the chapter is different from at the bottom.
First of all, some of you have been asking about whether Cedar and Cobalt are eventually going to be able to communicate fully with Moon, Winter and the other dragons. Rest assured, while it will take a long time to reach that point, I am planning on it. How I'm specifically going to deal with the language barrier, well, you'll have to find out yourself. I think you'll like it~
Next, the poll about who to ship Qibli with has been up long enough. I'll keep it up until, say, sometime tomorrow, but then I'm taking it down. I kind of regret putting it up at all, actually, 'cause now I can't really surprise anyone with who Qibli hooks up with. Oh, well.
On the matter of Carnelian. I'm conflicted on whether I should save her from the history cave bombing or not. On one hand, I really really really like the idea of a grumpy, war-hardened Skywing being thrown into all this. But on the other hand, if she lives, then there won't be a vacancy for Peril to take up when she joins the Jade Winglet. I could probably figure something out for all of this, but I need to make a final decision on this soon, because… you know what's going to happen.
Hailstorm. It's way too early to even think about him. I want to say that I want to eventually use him later anyway. I don't know how. I'll probably ship him with someone. I don't know who. No, there won't be a poll this time. Moving on.
Finally, I feel like my chapters get worse with every new installation. One one hand, "you are your own worst critic" and all that, I get that if anyone's going to see this as bad, it'll be me. But on the other hand, I genuinely feel like my writing quality has deteriorated since I've had to start relying on the books. The idea is that as I go on, the prompt of this story will have a snowball effect on how everything unfolds to the point where I'll eventually be able to rely on the books less and less. Until then, here we are with this… shit.
Eh, maybe I can edit this chapter to be better later on.
I gotta stop with these huge author's notes, man, it's way too much. Anyway, thank you for reading, and I'll see you again when I update again, possibly before the end of the month!