Winter was long, cold, and dark, but that was nothing to an IceWing like Crystal. Instead of staying in Magma's cave, the four stayed in the small SkyWing village during the winter, in a tiny, poorly-insulated hut only marginally larger. One of the SkyWings lit a fire for the four to stay warm in the corner on most days. Schist was slightly wary of the fire, for good reason, and would safely away from it, where Griffin would occasionally give him company. Torrent usually lay by the fire, even though he didn't particularly need it — SeaWings could handle the frigid waters beneath the ocean, a windy chill was bearable.
Crystal, on the other claw, spent a lot of her time outside the house. The SkyWings were all happy to have an IceWing around — whereas most of them couldn't brave the cold and storm for an extended period of time, the weather here was a balmy day to Crystal. She had no problem collecting firewood, or going to see the yaks, even when the most horrendous of blizzards was out. A few times during the winter months, she had even delivered messages down the mountain to the town of Aeolus, and gotten supplies in return. Being an IceWing, she had gotten a number of weird looks and suspicion, but after explaining that Bobcat had sent her, and after finding a dragon who could read and showing them a small note of proof if needed, they allowed her to make her rounds.
Flying was initially difficult to Crystal. Being asleep for so long had taken a toll on her body, and a number of her wing muscles had started to atrophy. It had been initially difficult for her to make any longer flights, and even moreso to fly during the storms, but it wasn't too long before she recovered. On the days in which she had been free, she had worked up her flying and fighting skills to get her body back up to its previous health, occasionally sparring with Kite or Torrent.
Kite had received little formal training in fighting, and didn't fight with the normal SkyWing patterns Crystal had been taught in the required IceWing military training for dragonets. She was nimble, and close to Crystal in size and weight, but Crystal quickly caught onto her technique. She preferred to patiently circle around her opponent, and strike at them with her teeth and claws when they were unsuspecting. Of course, Crystal knew how to combat this — just never be caught off guard. Crystal would feign distraction, causing Kite to rush in at the opportunity, then nimbly avoid the SkyWing's attack, and push her over while she rushed to get back.
Torrent was a little different for Crystal to fight. Not only was he larger than most of the SkyWings in the village, but he had received formal SeaWing training while in the Deep Palace. SeaWings were one of those tribes the IceWing training had glossed over — SandWings, SkyWings, and MudWings were far more common to fight. The key point of the lesson, Crystal remembered, was "don't let them drag you underwater," something even a newly hatched dragonet would know. If a SeaWing pulled you under the surface, you were dead, and were probably a worthless soldier to begin with. Weeding out the weak.
Unlike Kite's patient strikes, Torrent attacked aggressively, diving straight into the fray as soon as the battle started. At first, Crystal thought the best choice of action was to try evading him and tiring him out, but that proved difficult to work with. Unlike IceWings, who used their spiked tails only as a side-weapon, SeaWings used theirs practically as much as their claws. Wherever Crystal tried to run, Torrent was able to strike her with a frightening amount of force.
Crystal's second strategy turned out much better. Torrent tended to attack head-on, but ended up turning to the side to use his tail for major strikes. In order to counter that, Crystal nimbly dived beneath his belly as he did so. As she slid under his belly, she would lightly stroke her claws beneath his scales, simulating how she would actually eviscerate his bowels in a real fight. She would just have to do it quickly enough, or else Torrent's body might fall on her, pinning her beneath.
Crystal had tried sparring with Griffin a few times, but eventually decided it wasn't worth the humiliation. Even if he was by far the smallest of them, Griffin was probably the most deadly. The first time, the IceWing had been far too overconfident of her fighting ability, and ended up with Griffin on her back, his talons on her throat. He was much nimbler than Crystal, and if he got on her back, between her wings, she wasn't able to throw him off. He was also easily able to run under her and run his talons along her underbelly (the same move Crystal was able to beat Torrent with).
Eventually, the long winter came to an end, and the four were finally ready to head out again. When they were deciding where to go, Torrent had an answer.
"Here," Torrent suggested, rolling open his enchanted map and placing the tip of his claw on it. It landed on a small blotch of ink, a pale peach, along the Five-Tail River, not too far from its mouth. "That's the nearest animus."
Crystal looked closely, then came to a realization. "I know where that is," she exclaimed, "I went through the two cities there after I left the Ice Kingdom. My brother-in-law has a friend there, Avalanche. She owns a house with a blue-shingled roof."
"Did you see any animuses while you were there?" Torrent questioned.
Crystal shook her head. "Nope. The cities are large, and it wouldn't be hard to hide." Torrent frowned in thought.
Schist squirmed a little bit. "Maybe we shouldn't go after another animus?" he suggested.
"No!" Crystal and Torrent said in unison. They looked at each other, then Crystal spoke up.
"As long as there are animus dragons around, they're a threat to Pyrrhia," Crystal explained. "You saw what Adobe did? Well just think about it if a queen got hold of that power, and tried to control one of them. It would be chaos; genocide. We have to prevent that."
Schist looked uncomfortable; not quite sure how to respond. Crystal sighed.
"Look, I know you're worried about after what Magma did to you. You don't have to come with us. I'm sure your sister would be happy to have you back."
Schist shook his head. "No, maybe you're right. I'm not going to run away, just cause I got a little singed." He smiled half-heartedly, the fused and melted scales on the right side of his neck stretching upwards. Crystal nodded awkwardly.
"Would this Avalanche let us stay there?" Griffin spoke up. "We're talking two cities here, it might be a bit harder to find this animus than it was finding Adobe and Magma."
Crystal grimaced. "It depends how angry she is. She sort of told me she'd knock my teeth out if I came back."
"That bad?" Griffin asked in surprise. "Well, maybe she was just joking?"
Crystal shuffled uncertainly. "Maybe. A very large maybe."
"It's our best bet," Torrent interrupted. "And if she doesn't want us, we can find somewhere else. I've still got some jewelry from the Sea Kingdom left, so I'm sure we can find an inn if we need to."
"If you need to," Griffin protested. "I doubt an inn would turn a blind eye to me."
Torrent nodded. "We can sort it out when we get there. For now, I just want to get out of the Sky Kingdom."
"Leaving so soon?" a creaking voice interrupted. Bobcat walked into the house smiling, led by Kite. "Our village not good enough for you?"
"Oh no, we mean no disrespect!" Schist quickly apologized. "Your hospitality has been nothing but wonderful! Torrent just meant he's nervous being in enemy territory, and it's a bit . . . cold."
Bobcat chuckled. "No need to be alarmed. You can leave anytime you want. You're not slaves or captives. Where do you plan on heading, I might ask?"
"The pair of cities on the Five-Tailed River," Crystal answered. "Neutral territory, so the war shouldn't be an issue there."
Bobcat nodded. "Yes, I believe I've heard of the place. If you want a route, I would suggest going along the northern coast rather than the south. We have no enemies on that side, so there will be fewer patrols. Kite has volunteered to guide you through the mountains to the northern coast."
"Thank you," Schist said in gratitude. "You've done so much for us."
Bobcat smiled. "No worries!" the elderly SkyWing grinned. "You have all done plenty to repay my favor. Now, good luck!" She waved a claw goodbye, and exited through the doorway.
Kite scanned over the four matter-of-factly. "Are you planning to go now?" she asked. "The weather is pretty good at the moment, but I don't know how long it will stay that way."
Torrent nodded in reply, and glanced around. He didn't see much reason to wait any longer. "Yeah, I think we're ready." The four of them quickly got their belongings together. They didn't have much, which would be good for a long flight. Torrent quickly strapped on his dagger and sheath.
Kite motioned with her wings for the four to follow, and exited out of the doorway. The snow outside was finally melting, and the spring sun was peeking through the cloud cover. Without a glance back, Kite spread her humongous wings, and jumped forward, taking off into the air. Torrent, Crystal, Schist, and Griffin quickly followed suit, struggling a little more with the take-off than the SkyWing they were following.
By the time the four made it to the northern coast, just west of the eastern term up Pyrrhia, Schist was frigid and shivering from being out in the open for so long. Kite dove down, and landed on the edge of a cliff by the edge of the ocean. Looking down off the cliff, cold white waves crashed furiously into the rocks.
"There's a cave down there," Kite notified the four sternly. "You might want to sleep in there for the night. It will help keep Schist warm, and will keep you hidden in case a patrol flies by."
Torrent nodded. "We need a fire, and Schist can't light one when it's this cold." In truth, Torrent wasn't sure if Schist would be willing to light one, even if it was summertime temperatures. "Can you light one for us? I can find some dry firewood."
"I'll go too," Crystal suggested.
Kite agreed, and waved a claw, beckoning Schist and Griffin to fly into the cave on the edge. Schist took a quick look back at the mountains they had left behind. Somewhere in there was the village that had been their home for the winter. He quickly followed Griffin, and landed in the cave's mouth alongside the other two. It was damp, and dark enough he couldn't see much beyond the entrance.
Suddenly, Kite opened her mouth, and let out a burst of flame into the cave. Schist jumped back in alarm, and staggered on the edge of the cave's mouth, drawing a nervous glance from Griffin. He quickly took a couple steps forward from the cliffside.
Kite continued on into the cave a little further, then stopped moving. "We need to wait for Crystal and Torrent."
After a few more minutes, the IceWing and SeaWing returned, and the five continued on into the beckoning chamber. The cave twisted upwards for a short amount, then stopped at an dead end, with a large slab of flat rock that could be used for sleeping on. Torrent and Crystal set down the firewood they had gathered, and shuffled back. Kite opened her jaws, and a bright stream of flame came out, setting wood aflame. Schist nervously moved closer to it, desiring the warmth it gave off.
Kite looked around at the others with a frown. "I'll be taking my leave now. Don't get killed." She whipped her tail around, and headed towards the entrance without another word.
"Bye!" Griffin called after her. "Thank you too!"
Crystal looked around at the other three. Schist had moved to the other side of the cave in order to rest, so not to accidentally roll into the fire as he slept. Griffin and Torrent were closer to the flame, and had already set down their belongings.
"Well, I'll be glad to get out of the Sky Kingdom," Crystal announced. "Not really a fan of knowing we could be arrested and sent to the the arena at any time. I've heard way too many stories about Queen Scarlet."
Torrent snorted slightly. "We're not out yet. We still have a ton more flying to do. Are you doing good after today's flight?"
Crystal snorted. "Of course." It was true that long flights had been harder after waking up from using the Darkstone, but it wasn't too much to complain about.
"Schist?" Torrent asked.
He shuffled his wings uncomfortably, the right wing membrane healed, but his scales along it still scarred. "I'll survive."
Torrent nodded, and glanced down towards the cave entrance. The sun had just barely set, and the glow of dusk was peeking in. "Good," he responded inattentively, his ears too focused on the sound of the crashing water below.