Wow, you guys are just...amazing. I can't believe this, you all have given a lot of support and guess what? Saiba's in this chapter and I've got another challenge! Whoever wins it gets to have a dragon or OC of their choice implemented into a future chapter, the challenge will be mentioned at the end. Also, I've gotten a request for Moonbli and a request for Winterwatcher...uh...oh no. Maybe I'll just make a seprate story for ships...good idea? PM me if you think so! Onto the story...happy reading!

Point of view for this story is…Winter!

I don't own Wings of Fire, Tui T. Sutherland does (why do I have to keep saying this?)

"Hey, Qibli, turn off the sun for me, would ya?" It was morning, and it was way to bright for Winter's liking. When he woke up, it was just a nice, gradual transition from dark to light, but then again, he lived in a place where the sun came up at around nine in the morning instead of six, and slowly.

"Wait, did, you just make a joke? Seriously, what's wrong with you?"

"I've got Qibli-itis! Oh no!"

Qibli chuckled, "Alright, I'll take you to the psychiatrist soon enough."

Winter snorted, "Fine."

"Now get up!"

Winter was surprised by the sudden yell, and fell out of his bed, onto the hard floor.

"Ow." he mumbled. Qibli then broke down laughing and Winter shot up and glared at the laughing teen,

"Now you listen here, I don't get laughed at, especially when it's someone as childish as you."

Qibli didn't look fazed at all, "Well, you're cured, now get changed, seeing you in penguin pajamas is tempting me to laugh again."

With that, Qibli dashed out of the room. Winter, mumbling to himself, went to check the time. It was weird for Qibli to have his backpack on when he was woken up...unless…

"(censored)!" It's ten minutes until school starts!"

Winter shot around the small room gathering his clothes from the closet, making a bit of a mess. Tidiness would have to wait for later. Eventually, at about two to eight, according to the clock, Winter had his ice blue hoodie, some jeans, and his backpack on, ready to go. Stressing, shooting out the door, track running out the dormitories, and bee lining it down the path to the main building.

Come on! I need to hurry!

"Oh, hey Winter! Come on! Bell's about to ring!" Qibli yelled from the school entrance. Oh no. No students were even at the doors, he was really late. Qibli started running down the hall with Winter. Honestly, Winter was a little touched that Qibli waited for him, but he wouldn't admit that in front of anyone else. They made it past all the rooms, finally ending up at the one they needed. Winter checked his watch, throwing open the door, and realized something…

He was an hour early…

"Qibli, anything you'd like to tell me?" Winter fumed.

"Oh, nothing, wait, I may or may not of set the clock on your desk ahead an hour, does that count as something you'd want to know." he replied, with the tone of someone who was trying to keep a straight face.

"Qibli!" Winter screamed at the top of his voice. He wouldn't be surprised if his parents back home in the tundra heard him. Qibli started running down the hall, back towards the entrance.

Come on! Why would he pull that? Grr…

Winter muttered to himself angrily about things that he wasn't even paying attention to. Walking back to the entrance of the building. Slamming the door open, he was blinded by the rising sun, but didn't really care. He stomped over to a bench and whipped out his cell phone. Dialing an old friend.

"Hey Winter, what's up?" Saiba said through the other end.

"Saiba, how are you? Your inventions selling okay?"

"Good as ever, but then again, I could use help. Bet I could get that from halfway across the country from you, heh."

"Saiba, sorry if this sounds rude, but I don't want you getting all mopey depressed on me right now. I need a bit of advice."

Saiba stayed silent for a few moments, then replied, as if he didn't care what Winter had just said,

"And that is?"

"How would you deal with someone who's wasted your time, laughed at you, and then ran away from you?"

"That's an...odd question, Winter."

"Yeah, but at the same time, I feel oddly...tempted to just forget about it."

"Wait, lemme guess, this guy's your roommate?"

"Maybe."

"Then I get the but where he ran away from you."

"Hey!"

"I mean it Winter, open up a little more to others, even if they waste your time, it's not time wasted. You might help someone, and maybe let them get all mopey depressed sometimes." that came in like a knife to the chest.

"Saiba, I'm...I'm sorry about what I said."

"That's alright, Winter."

"Well, thanks for your time Saiba, see you around."

"Or hear you around." and with that, Saiba hung up. Knowing him, he was about to go and work on another machine. He was sadly an orphan, and was getting money to but his own place. Being old enough to live on his own, and being the brainiac he is, a Winter doubted he'd have trouble. Then again, what happened a few years ago to his father, it was awful to hear. Even more awful that his parents wouldn't take a 'low life' like him into their home.

Pondering for a moment on where Qibli ran off to, Winter tried to kill some time by playing a song he liked. It was the final enemy music of an eight-bit indie game where someone stole the lives of countless others so he could become all powerful. Even though the tale of the sequence was a bit grim. Winter liked the song. It made him feel like he was more than what his parents told him he was. Life in the tundra was tough. It was be the best out of everyone you know or you'll amount to nothing.

A little barbaric for a modern society.

"Hey! Winter!" a voice piercing through the music caused Winter to look up a tree, and see Qibli sitting on a branch.

"Qibli!" Winter yelled in a halfhearted angry voice, "Why'd you wake me up so early?"

"You were really grumpy yesterday when you woke up, so I thought I'd help you get onto a school schedule, and why not pull a parang while I'm at it?" he explained, swinging from the tree branch to land in front of the bench that Winter was on.

"That prank was actually pretty good, Qibli." Qibli was taken aback by Winter's words.

"Wait, what? I was not expecting you to say that."

"It was...good job."

"Uh...Winter? You in there?"

"Yep. Just had a chat with a friend."

"Oh, alright." with everything figured out. Winter and Qibli went to have some breakfast. Winter getting cereal, and Qibli getting some bacon. It was actually kind of comforting knowing that the chef, Clay, gave all the food for free, with the limit of one entree, one side, and one drink per meal. It made funds a lot less worrying. As Winter and Qibli were walking to a table, they noticed someone they knew, Moonwatcher. In Winter's eyes, she was very graceful in how she moved, and being mysterious made her even more intriguing. It was weird, but Winter thought he had a crush on her.

"Hey Moon!" Qibli called. She looked up from her laptop, doing who knows what, and smiled, she smiled, at Winter!

"Hi Qibli, Winter, you two are up early." she observed.

"So are you." Winter pointed out. Did that sound jerky? Oh no, "I'm sure you had reasons, Qibli woke me up early for a prank."

"It was to get you on schedule!" Qibli reminded him.

"And nah, I just woke up because I prefer to be alone." Moon said.

"I get it, crowds aren't my thing, either." said Winter.

"Are you two kidding?" Qibli exclaimed, dumbfounded, "You don't like being around other people? You can learn so much about them, where they've been, what they've done, even who they've met. They could be an old friend, a family member, or even a celebrity. You don't like being around others?"

"Well, I'm just not one for others, maybe a few friends, but not too many people." Winter said, "Plus, I don't really live in an area with lots of people."

"I just…" Moon faltered, as if she was trying to figure out what to say, "They...they give me headaches." she finished, although Winter guessed that there was more to the story, and Qibli probably did, too.

"Anyway," Winter switched the conversation topic, not wanting to make Moon uncomfortable, "What are you doing on your laptop?"

"Just reading." she replied.

"Mind if we sit with you?" Qibli asked.

"Not at all." Moon said with a smile. They ate in silence for a while, Winter listening to that song from earlier with headphones. A few minutes after Winter and Qibli had thrown away their empty plates, two other people walked into the cafeteria. Turtle and Umber.

"So you just keep moving and you won't drown?" Umber asked, as if they'd been having a conversation while they walked.

"Yes, but calmly, thrash around too much, and it's dangerous...hey look! It's Winter, Qibli and Moon!" Turtle said to Umber. Waving to the three at the table. Qibli waved back. Winter wondered what they were doing, swimming? Only Umber's hair looked wet, and Umber didn't look as if he'd moved for the past half hour.

"So, can we join the early bird club?" asked Umber, joking.

"Sure, what about Carnelian and Kinkajou, anyway?" Qibli replied.

"Carnelian is not a morning person, and Kinkajou just said she was building up enthusiasm for the day." Moon answered.

"Does Kinkajou even need any more enthusiasm than she already has?" Winter asked. They all just stared at him. Winter shrunk back in his seat, trying to make himself look small. Why was he embarrassed? He didn't know these people!

"Oh hey! Would you look at that, it's ten to eight!" Qibli said, saving Winger from their stares. Winter let out a quiet thanks. Everyone gathered their things, and as Moon walked off to check on her roommates, Winter, Qibli, Umber, and Turtle walked to class. Students were heading into the building, unlike an hour ago, when Winter thought it was eight. Classes started, with everyone being on time.

Nothing too interesting happened during the day, except for another small outburst from Carnelian when she found out that she was the only one who hadn't read her history chapter yet. Eventually, they reached the end of the day. No new homework, no impending tests. Winter suggested going to get something to eat. Having some cash with him, and everyone agreed. Instead of going to the coffee shop, like yesterday. He took them to get some ice cream. Winter also offered to drive everyone in his seven person car, which they agreed to as well. When they got there, Winter ordered a plain vanilla, Turtle got some cotton candy flavored. Qibli got mint chocolate chip. Moon get red velvet. Umber got chocolate. Carnelian got strawberry, and Kinkajou got mango with sprinkles. They ate their frozen treats outside, cooling them off from the late summer/early fall heat.

Heading back, they also stopped at a retro arcade, where Carnelian showed that she was really good at pinball, and then stopped at a park, just walking around for a bite sharing jokes, having a good time. It was so weird, everyone barely knew each other, yet it seemed as if they'd been friends since grade school. Completely different people. Blue clashing with orange, white clashing with black, tan clashing with brown, and rainbow clashing with...everything. The oddest group, and all friends. Eventually, they got around to going back to the school, and Winter waved the others goodbye, going to park his car. Walking back into campus, he was stopped by a couple of other students.

"Hey, if it isn't that quiet icy kid who's mushy around others." a group of rather muscular teenagers walked up to Winter, with obvious ill intentions.

"Hi there, can I help you, I know that you can help me, by going away." Winter said, trying to keep fear out of his voice. The guy in the lead was wearing all black, looking as if he could knock Winter out in one punch. Sure, Winter was tall, but nowhere near as tall as this guy. Following him were a girl wearing blue and green, and a guy in orange and red. All of them were wearing leather, and looked menacing.

"You're gonna regret saying that to us, you know." the girl said.

"Look, what do you want from me?" Winter asked, almost pleading.

"Don't play dumb with us," said the lead, "We know you're related to top ranking officials in the tundra area-"

"How'd you know that?" Winter asked accusingly, then slapped himself in the face, realizing he'd just blown any cover he had.

"Look, we want money, and maybe a little power, and you're gonna give it to us." said the orange boy.

"No I'm not." Winter said honestly.

"If you don't, we'll hurt that girl you're eyeing, what's her name, Moonwatcher? Or what about your roommate, Qibli?" Winter froze at the words of the lead, they had him right where they wanted him, in a place he never thought he'd be.

"Alright, fine, I'll come with you." said Winter, putting his hands up, "I won't run."

"Oh, we'll make sure that doesn't happen." said the blue girl, jerking her head to the left. Winter turned around to see a flash of brown, and then a painful blow to the head. Blinding white light filled his vision, and then, everything went black as Winter lost consciousness.

What? I wanted to give it a story! Leave a review if there's something you want me to change. Have a request for a story? PM me and it might happen! Also, try and guess what's gonna happen, oh, and sorry for the cliffhanger. I'll update soon (I hope). Anyway, the challenge is to guess what song Winter was listening to. Happy searching! Until next time!