The next morning Winter woke up, sun was already shining through the blinds in his room. His body was completely exhausted still, his body finally resting after the weeks of walking, if anything he should be throwing himself out of bed and reprimanding himself for his lack of discipline. Instead the Icewing just slowly slid out of his bed and gingerly placed his talons on the ground.

He remembered his dreams if only vaguely, impressions of a massive viney plant oozing sap and some horrific figure at the center. It was probably the exhaustion catching up to him but he shook it off and began to remake the bed, he didn't even remember crawling under the covers, the last thing he remembered was collapsing on top of the bed. His talons felt swollen and heavy as he walked out of his room and down the stairs and into the common area of the inn. He ate a quick breakfast that was surprisingly cheaper than in Possibility, and with a check on his coin pouch he found he'd have sufficient funds for the few days he'd be staying here.

Today he was supposed to meet Riptide, and from there Winter wasn't really sure. He left the plate to be cleaned up by a waiter and walked out into the growing village. The streets were rather empty as he walked deeper into the town, passing mostly homes as there wasn't a large enough population for stores to be everywhere like in Possibility.

He arrived at the half finished town hall, a few dragons already bustling around, he found a receptionist desk where a Nightwing sat. She looked up, him standing there. She was black and gray in coloration, sitting there at her desk. There was a tension there that only spiked as he saw faded silver scales at the corners of ice blue eyes.

She neatly cleared her throat and introduced herself. "I am Dawnbringer, the receptionist here for-"

She was abruptly cut off as Riptide stepped into the room, the Seawing looking remarkably haggard but cheery.

"Ah, Winter. You made it," he said and smiled.

Dawnbringer looked back at Winter, she seemed to relax and said, "So you're his pen pal, I didn't believe him when he talked about an Icewing coming to visit."

Riptide dragged him along and soon they were seeing the town and meeting the new tribes to Pyrriha. Silkwings and Leafwings. It is incredible in it's own way, as he got some more information about what happened on the other continent but not very much, not enough to know what happened on the other continent. However he did get to see how much the Silkwings added to the small town, their silk weaved into all sorts of items with some dragons creating tapestries and just giving them to neighbors, others creating strong rope or nets.

The Skywing mountains were much colder tham Possibility and and less humid, it felt nice, but the Silkwings and Leafwings were both used to much hotter climates, their homes padded with silk to insulate them. The Icewing saw the rest of the town and as they walked the two talked more and more about the town. Winter found himself giving his own thoughts, mostly about leading, diplomacy, trade, and so on. The knowledge to build and maintain a community or a kingdom. He never had the knack for it but he still learned like his sister and older brother, princes acted like the hands of the Queen and were expected to know almost as much as her.

By the end of the first day his paws were sore and aching even more, they stopped one last time at the town hall. Dawnbringer tidied up her work space as she prepared to go home, Riptide however had more work yet to do and left them alone. The NightWing stopped and looked him over and asked simply, "You're paws are sore from walking aren't they?"

Winter was about to answer when she continued to speak. Her stare was rather intent, evaluating him even.

"I can see the way you shift around from side to side, there's a river to the west of the town, it's run off from the mountains and is very cold this time of year. It'll help with the soreness," she said.

Winter felt surprised and turned his head but she was gone before he could voice his thanks. He walked outside a few moments later but with the encroaching twilight she was gone. With a rather uncomfortable leap aloft that left a dull throb in his paws he was in the air, and a quick flight later he found himself at the river bank.

The sun dipped lower and lower, painting the skies in a scattering of orange, yellows, and reds that danced on the river's surface. The thick smell of the pine trees filled the air and Winter found himself taking a deep breath. If he closed his eyes he could almost imagine himself in the southern districts of the Ice Kingdom, Among-the-Evergreens probably or Pinegrove. His thoughts turned towards Lynx, Hailstorm, and his sister Icicle. His eyes opened and he was once more greeted by the Claws of the Sky, this wasn't the Ice Kingdom. He looked back down at the river and waded into its frigid depths. It felt so nice to feel the cold on his scales. Something about Sanctuary called to him he couldn't help the feeling, he could just stay but that didn't quite sit right either.

Tomorrow was a new day and Django had asked him to meet some friends, and something about some better paying work. Being poor felt so strange to the ex-prince and his understanding of value was poor, he needed a great deal of resources just to start the scavenger research he planned and dreamed of. He caught a few fish, enjoying the act of hunting for himself once more. This is the best he's felt in a long time, even his aching paws didn't bother him and he didn't feel like the humidity was suffocating him.

Tomorrow will be a new day.


Sorry for the long wait I got caught up in life and I've gotten back into this, sorta. After this we should begin to pick up speed and I'm looking forward to it.