"Winter?" a voice from behind him asked.

A tingle went down his spine.

"It's Snow now," he said tepidly, unsure of who was behind him. Turning around, he stopped in his tracks, seeing white serrated claws. Was it an Icewing finally come to kill him?

"Who are you?" Winter asked, tepidly. "You're not authorized to be here."

The Icewing just pulled back the cloak. A familiar pattern of dark blue dots and a smirk greeted his eyes in the fading light. "Still a bit bossy, I see."

"Lynx?" Winter asked, relief coloring his face. The last time he saw her, she matched him in size. Now he's about a head taller. Memories of her flooded back into his mind. Their final spar before Winter's march to his death against Hailstorm. The formations at the start of the week, where it seemed like Lynx's climb to the top of the rankings never stopped. Her intelligence was frightening, yet she stayed humble and kind, something Winter respected immensely. She was probably one of the few good dragons in the upper echelons of the Icewing caste.

"What are you doing here?" Winter asked.

"I'm visiting," she replied, curtly.

"Well, I gathered that much. Why? Why are you here?" Winter asked, letting his tense shoulders slouch.

"My, what a nice place you've got," Lynx said, disregarding Winter's question, shedding her cloak, before walking right past him to look around the administrative cave. He saw her flipping through papers and scrolls, opening drawers, and bouncing around like a little dragonet.

Winter was jealous of her ability to balance a happy-go-lucky attitude with serious ambition. Maybe it was her upbringing, having been the sole daughter of a minor noble, as opposed to being the middle dragonet of a deeply divided and dastardly royal family. Winter's ability to laugh, smile, and play shriveled like a half-eaten corpse, left to freeze-dry in the inhospitable tundra. Yes, his parents made him watch a half-eaten corpse freeze-dry over the course of a week as punishment for failing to meet their expectations, yet again.

Winter sighed. He beckoned for her to come to his quarters for a more comfortable place to catch up. It's been four years since he last saw the icebergs and purple skies of the Ice Kingdom. Four years since he last saw Kinkajou with her tail wrapped around a squirming human. Three years since he saw Moonwatcher and Qibli. Two since he last saw Turtle. He tuned himself out when construction of the Sanctuary started, focusing on the plans for the caves, the enclosure and the habitat, completely unaware of the happenings outside. His staff kept him insulated from the rest of the world.

Fern was his chief of staff, so to say. The old Rainwing brought joy and maturity to the location. He thanked the three moons for him. He was vaguely aware of Lynx asking him questions, but Winter was mulling over his staff. Maybe he should have taken Fern's offer to come back in four days. He had some exciting news to share. There was Gharial, who was responsible for the upkeep of the entire facility, and two Sandwing scribes, Tahini and Toast, who helped him with busy work. That wasn't to mention Petrel, the happy-go-lucky receptionist.

"Winter?" Lynx snapped her talons in front of his face. "Phyrria to Winter?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Ladies first," Winter said, beckoning to his room.

"I asked you how things have been," Lynx said.

"Sit down, then we can talk. I'm tired," Winter said.

Lynx took Winter's room in. A rock platform covered with bear pelts constituted a bed. There were shelves carved into the walls along one side, filled with small trinkets and scrolls. A desk and mat were also piled full of scrolls, but there was a large clearing in the middle, no doubt for Winter to pace in. She immediately planted herself on his bed.

"So, long time no see, Winny," Lynx quipped.

"How have you been?" Winter asked, taking off his pouch and resting it on a shelf.

"Fine as can be. Things have been dandy in the Ice Kingdom," Lynx answered.

"Good, good. How is my family?" Winter asked.

"Icicle is still angry, but I think she's accepted the fact that what she did was wrong. She'll be out in a few years," Lynx answered.

"Which circle will she be sent to?" Winter inquired.

Lynx smiled. "Funny thing. We don't do circles anymore."

Winter visibly leaned forward, eye ridges furrowing. "What do you mean you guys don't do circles anymore?"

"You didn't hear?"

"I specifically requested our receptionist prevent any news from outside that did not pertain to my research or my students be prevented from reaching me," Winter said.

"Why might that be?" Lynx wondered.

"It's distracting, and it reminds me of a life that is both filled with error and long gone. It would not do me well to remain in limbo over my past. Not that you'd know, Lynx," Winter retorted.

"You think my life was perfect?" Lynx asked.

Winter sighed. "That's not what I meant."

Lynx looked him over for a moment, before continuing. "It's not important right now. Things have changed in the Ice Kingdom. Snowfall destroyed the Gift of Order after the war for Pantala."

"Snowfall? What happened to Queen Glacier?" Winter asked. Queen Glacier was the one dragon beside his brother and maybe Lynx that cared about him.

"She died from Darkstalker's plague," Lynx said. "I know she meant a lot to you."

The silence weighed heavy. Winter should have known, but after Darkstalker's defeat, he completely cut himself away from the rest of Phyrria to focus on his project. Winter sighed, and the two stared at each other for a bit in the silence. He averted his gaze from her piercing blue eyes.

Why was Lynx here? To catch him up on recent happenings? There must be more than her just showing up one day, especially now, when she should be in the Ice Kingdom, or at one of the other kingdoms as a foreign dignitary.

"How did you find me? I thought I completely erased myself from the collective consciousness of the Ice Kingdom," Winter muttered.

"I kept pestering your brother. I think he eventually realized that I wasn't going to stop, and there wasn't really a threat to you anymore, now that the war is over and Snowfall's reforms have had time to settle," Lynx answered.

"I'm not going back. I literally just accepted the fact that I don't want to go back and that my new home and family are here," Winter said.

He thought for a moment. He wanted to shed the secrets and hiding and lying, but that would only happen if his reappearance didn't threaten Hailstorm. Fuck his mom though. Tundra can go drown herself in a seal hole. If Hailstorm wasn't in the equation, he'd show up just to say fuck you and worsen her position in the rankings. But there are no more rankings, so maybe he should go back. He bit back the train of thought.

"What do you mean you just accepted the fact that you don't want to go back? You've been gone four years, surely you must miss the Ice Kingdom," Lynx said. "Your family and home will always be the Ice Kingdom."

"Yeah, sure. It didn't feel that way when my father arranged for my death because he preferred Hailstorm. It didn't feel that way when the bullshit my parents fed me led to irreparably fucked relationships with my winglet. It didn't feel that way when the entire fucking Ice Kingdom doesn't even give thought to how I feel, to what I want!" Winter shouted.

"On the off-fucking chance that I go back to the Ice Kingdom and things are better and I've seen it and heard it myself, I'll fucking believe you. Because the caste system almost made me fucking kill myself today!" he continued, tears welling up.

"Forgive me if I offended your preconceptions of how I should feel," Winter snarled, burying his face in his talons as his shoulders started to shake from the sobbing.

The pain was fresh again, but there was no anger. Lynx gingerly laid a claw on Winter's shoulder, before drawing him into a hug.

"My family and home are here now, with my staff, with my research subject, with my students. I don't belong in the Ice Kingdom," Winter said with a tone of finality.

"I didn't know," Lynx whispered.

"I know. I just wanted to get it off my chest. A lot of problems have been caused by me hiding things and not telling others, no thanks to Narwhal and Tundra," Winter sighed. "You probably think I'm pathetic, probably think I haven't changed."

"No, no. I um…" Lynx trailed off.

"There is no excuse for weakness. But I don't believe it's a weakness anymore. Weakness is giving up and killing myself, and I am still here. But that's enough about me. So, what have you been up to the last four years?" Winter asked, wiping away the last of his tears. "Last I saw, you were going to get cleaned up from our sparring match."

"Ah, before your fateful match against your brother. I remember," Lynx said, looking above Winter as she reminisced.

"Well, after the match, Hailstorm actually confided in me that you were alive, but swore me to secrecy. But that's beside the point," Lynx answered. "Queen Glacier's untimely demise thrust Snowfall into that position, and try as she might, she could not get rid of Hailstorm and I so easily once we entered the adult rankings. I think the only dragon she hated more than us was in fact your mom."

"I can see that," Winter chuckled.

"The war for Pantala happened. The Gift of Vision did weird things to Snowfall and she's actually pretty respectable now," Lynx continued. "Hailstorm handles administrative work, and I became a diplomat, specifically to Pantala. Things have been good and those set in their old ways have begun to see the merit of Snowfall's reforms."

"You still find the longest way to say the simplest things, Lynx," Winter sighed, turning to the scrolls. He picked one from a first-year student at JMA, an Icewing dragonet named Shiver.

"You see this? This is what I do now. I'm not accountable to anyone but myself and the school. I teach the dragonets and I research scavengers." Winter tossed the scroll to Lynx, and she caught it deftly, opening it.

"A research project on scavenger mating behaviors, by Shiver," Lynx read, a tinge of blue reaching her face. "He was such a presentable young dragonet when I interviewed him for nominations to JMA."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. I haven't read or graded any of these scrolls," Winter yelped, yanking the scroll from Lynx. "Three moons, the point is my life is here now and I'm not going back! If you're here to convince me to go back to the Ice Kingdom, your plans are dead in the water! Or at least they should be dead in the water. Fuck."

"Fine, but I'm staying here until the dragonets come back," Lynx said. "Particularly to have a word with Shiver."

"If we're all caught up, what do you have to get out of this? I don't recall you being that sentimental of a dragon," Winter said.

"Well, I've always been curious about what you've been up to ever since Hailstorm told me you were alive. After I found out your location, I figured I wanted to pay you a long overdue visit."

"Snowfall is just going to let you be here for two weeks? Does she even know I'm still alive?" Snow asked.

"Your brother has kept silent with her. As far as Snowfall knows, you're just a deviant who received permission from JMA and the Sky Kingdom to study scavengers," Lynx answered. "And yes, Snowfall is going to let me be here for two weeks because…"

"Don't tell me it's because Snowfall is actually NOT a walrus face," Winter groaned.

"She's not a walrus face anymore," Lynx continued with a smirk. "You're going to have to trust me on this one. I just told her that I wanted to tour the continent for a while, clear my mind."

"Three moons, I hate Snowfall. Always that snottier than thou mindset," Winter sighed.

"Surely you of all dragons know the power of time on someone, especially looking at you now compared to how you were way back when," Lynx replied.

Winter looked to a scavenger carving one of his more artistically inclined students gave him. He didn't anticipate things would change this fast. He didn't want to leave, but he also wanted to see what was going on with his family. Should he go back to the Ice Kingdom, if not to just see the views one more time? He had a responsibility to his students, to the scavengers.

If things really have changed so much, perhaps he should take the initiative on the academic front and introduce Lynx to the scavengers while she was here, but that could wait till tomorrow. Maybe Hailstorm could visit him. Or his friends.

Deep breath in, deep breath out. What he did his life is still his, but the dragonet that snarled at Nightwings and espoused the glory of the Icewings is long gone. Does changing his name at this point even matter, now that the rankings are a non-factor?

"I'm going to bed. Don't touch anything," Winter grumbled. He'll ask her about it tomorrow.

"Give the offer some thought. I'm sure you'll come around," Lynx said, before leaving his room.

Winter hated how convincing Lynx could be sometimes. Worse, he didn't have any reason to not pursue that train of thought. Maybe he's just tired. Yeah, that's why. Probably. He hoped. He extinguished the candle in his room. No more light for the next two weeks, until Gharial or Petrel came back and lit it back up for him.

Winter sighed and settled in for what would probably be a restless night, but it was morning before he knew it. He ran his talons gingerly over the still healing gouges on his face, the tender blue spot where a scale had yet to harden.

Lynx gestured to Winter's scars, startling Winter briefly before he gathered himself.

"I don't want to talk about it," Winter said, before leaving his room, with Lynx trailing behind.

"I want to go to the lake today, before interacting with the scavengers," Winter said. He leaped off the cliff, landing a short way away, in the forest, before continuing his walk through the still lightening day.

"What kind of interacting?" Lynx asked.

"Observation, and…" Winter trailed off. Should he reveal it?

"You know, I read the list of staff, and one of the names caught my eye," Lynx said.

"Really now?" Winter asked.

"Gharial," Lynx said.

"What's so special about him? He handles maintenance," Winter replied.

"Ah but riddle me this. Is he around often?" Lynx pried. Winter thought for a moment.

"No, not really. He's around like maybe two days a week?" Winter started.

"Ever wonder why?" Lynx asked.

"Nope. It's his business and he gets the job done," Winter replied.

"He cares about his mate, Crystal. That is why he is not around often," Lynx said.

"Odd name for a Mudwing," Winter snorted.

"You don't know who Crystal is?" Lynx asked.

"No. Should I?" Winter retorted.

"Three moons, you took the exile thing way too seriously. Crystal is Snowfall's older sister. YOU, mister royal prince, should know who is in your family," Lynx said.

Winter stopped, causing Lynx to run into him.

"Really?" Winter asked. "Well, I guess that does explain why he's not around often. Is Snowfall okay with it or something?"

"More than okay. She pardoned her sister and said she is welcome back at the Ice Palace. I was there when she ran into Crystal providing aid to the Silkwings and Leafwings," Lynx said.

"Where are we walking to?"

"There is a lake at the center of the Sanctuary. You probably saw it flying to the administration cave. I want some fish today," Winter said. Maybe there would be a real chance for him to return home to visit. He still wanted to talk to the scavengers though. He still hadn't thought about how he would broach the subject with Lynx. She's the first dragon to visit him since he made his discovery. He brought his left wing over to the pouch around his neck and felt the seashell inside.

"Did you come to convince me to return to the Ice Kingdom?" Winter asked. He didn't like the feeling of hope blooming in his chest. If you expect disappointment, you can never really be disappointed. Good words to live by. He kept walking forwards.

"LET ME GOOOOOOOO. I KNEW THE ICE DRAGON WAS A LIAR. MEANT NO HARM MY ASSSSSSS. GET ME OUTTTTT. LET MEEEE OUTTTTTTTTTTTTT," a human shrieked.

"I caught us something. Don't really know what it is. Quite loud though," Lynx poked Winter in the shoulder.

Winter stared dumbly between the human and Lynx for a moment.

"Scavengers are OFF LIMITS!" he roared at Lynx, who shrunk back a bit. Even the scavenger stopped screaming. Lynx quickly put down the human, who just collapsed to his knees.

"Scavengers are off-limits, Lynx. It's not the Scavenger Sanctuary for no reason. I thought someone as reasonable as you would know that," Winter said more calmly.

"Wasn't going to eat him. You really think I'd just waltz into your Sanctuary and start wolfing down your precious scavengers?" Lynx asked.

"Well, not really," Winter replied. He dusted the scavenger off gently. "Run along now, no harm no foul."

"I've worked hard to build trust with them," Winter added, turning back to Lynx. "By the way, I've been wanting to explain something to you, but let's get to the lake.

"Just show me, Winter," Lynx said.

He turned to her, staring at her momentarily, before continuing the walk. He could see the glimmering surface of the lake through the branches. He loosened the pouch around his neck and gave it to Lynx, before diving into the water and coming out with a talonful of fish.

"There is a conch shell in the pouch that is enchanted to help its holder or wearer speak with humans, or scavengers, as you call them. Yesterday was my first time communicating with them," Winter said, tossing some fish to Lynx.

"They're incredibly intelligent and sentient and should be respected," Winter added. He was completely ad-libbing his monologue and it's possible he could be ruining any possibility of a proper meeting between the tribes of dragons and humans, or at least between Lynx and the humans. "I've made friends with a few of them, and they actually invited me to partake in some of their cultural events, such as Christmas, their equivalent of the winter holidays. They have names and quirks and dreams, so pardon me for lashing out at you earlier."

Lynx just stared at him. He took the fish he threw to her earlier and ate them.

"What? You want me to prove it?" Winter asked.

She nodded, then looked at Winter expectantly as he walked away.

"Well?" she asked.

"I'm going to get you another shell. Feel free to observe FROM A DISTANCE and do not disturb them," Winter shouted. Lynx shrugged.

She figured four years away from the Ice Kingdom would make him less uptight and while he has gotten more carefree in some respects, he's still quite prudish. Though, it was kind of jarring, watching Winter go from tired to tears in a matter of seconds because of a question she asked. She was also surprised by his ability to overcome his tears and shift focus. In hindsight, she should have spent more time getting to know him.

Lynx is still a top-ranked Icewing noble, and she was determined to prove to Winter that the Ice Kingdom has changed.

She walked in the direction the scavenger from earlier ran towards, and it wasn't long before she happened on a small collection of scavenger huts. Crouching down in the ferns and slowing her breathing, she watched as the scavengers started to trickle out of their huts.