Winter had started to hear some interesting rumors. Ones that interested him in particular. But they were not good rumors. No they were not.
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And everyone knows that rumors spread quickly.
Especially the bad ones.
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The traveling claims were about lights that appeared the night before and in the morning they just simply disappeared. It was very strange.
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The story was told by a passing Skywing on his way to the Kingdom of Sand. Nobody believed him about the things he saw. Winter was different.
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He saw them by the SilkWing Kingdom's Towers. Apparently he too was interested in the lights and he went to go take a look at them.
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Winter did not blame the Dragon.
He would have looked too.
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When he came with the news he did not seem to be too interested in them but he was happy to talk about them before he left. And he was around here in Sanctuary. He had to be.
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From what he knew the Skywing was bragging about it to everyone.
Typical….
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But none the less he was eager to hear what he had to say.
Even if the dragon was a Skywing.
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Winter got the things he needed to do as quickly as possible so he could meet up with the big red dragon.
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He saw him in the center of town.
Obviously telling about the things he quote on quote Saw.
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He had a pretty good crowd around him and it made it hard to see him. Great…now how was he supposed to inquire about those lights?
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Winter did not believe half the things he was saying that he could hear but he did not care. What was important to him is that he might have seen this dragon before.
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Somewhere…
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And to make him less in the mood to even go near him he was making them all pay for information of the whereabouts of where the lights had been.
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The price was cheap but it was still quite scummy of him.
He did not expect much more from a Skywing.
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But hey he was probably being a little too harsh wasn't he?
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The dragon broke away from the crowd and was heading off.
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There was his chance!
He got over there as quickly as he could.
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The Skywing was outside of the town when he finally got his attention. He was greedily counting up his prize as he walked.
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"Hello?" Winter called.
The Skywing had a smug grin as he looked around.
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When he saw Winter his expression faded into fear.
That was odd…
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The Skywing was big and orange with warm scales. He had lockets around his chest. He could have sworn he had seen this dragon before. Except he had though he remembered a sheath around his neck from somewhere.
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"You are the Skywing that has been telling all those things about the lights, right?" Winter asked him. The Skywing promptly nodded though he was still fearful.
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" Could you tell me where they are?" he asked.
The Skywing told him. " S…Sure…but it is going to cost you." he said.
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Winter knew he was probably going to do this.
He sighed.
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" How much do you want?" he asked.
The Skywing thought for a moment.
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" I will tell you for two scales," he said.
Two scales? He was giving the information out for one before.
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He begrudgingly gave him the payment out of the small pouch he had around his neck.
It would have most likely been better for him Just to go find them himself.
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The Skywing greedily took them and looked over them scanning his prize.
" Now can you tell me where they were?" he asked impatiently.
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The big red dragon looked up at him. " In the flats, over by the mountains," he said.
"Just a couple miles past Jade mountain," he added.
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What was he doing over there?
The Icewing quickly brushed it off.
It was none of his business where this dragon goes and flys.
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They parted ways and Winter headed over to Amber pass.
He had a bit of trouble with the winds up there.
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It had been a while since he flew anywhere.
But he got there ok.
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Embarrassingly he almost hit a cliff.
If Qibli were here he would have teased him about it.
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He had to admit he did miss his buddy quite a bit.
Along with his other friends, Turtle, Kinkajou, Moon And Peril.
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He might just go visit as soon as he was done here.
That would make his week.
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But for now there was this.
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It was right where the odd dragon had said it was. He had not lied.
Down in the fields. There was a crudely built wall made of wood facing the river.
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And to his luck there was so much stuff left behind.
Just his day?
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The grass was matted down. He could tell there had been tents there.
Small ones too. This piqued his interest.
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He had to admit he was still interested in anything that had to do with " Humans".
And here was a good opportunity to learn more about them.
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He carefully landed down to the ground with a thud.
Winter took care not to destroy anything underfoot.
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There were signs of burnt out fires and cot having been laid on the ground.
It really did seem like they left in a hurry.
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But where do they go?
For what he could tell they headed off somewhere west.
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Perhaps to the desert?
He would go and see later.
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For now he was much happier to look around her for anything.
There was not much here.
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But it looked like they had a small scuff.
With something…or someone…
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A trail dragged into the trees out in the distance.
He got a little nervous.
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It might have been another dragon for all he knew.
It might have happened very recently too.
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He was starting to see some things around the place.
Entire wagons left behind. And left behind in a hurry as he had thought earlier.
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Cookfires were still burning.
Like…they were frantically getting the heck out of there.
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Then something caught his eye.
A large wooden thing sticking out of the ground.
Just over by the makeshift wall.
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He headed over. He really hoped it was not what he thought it was.
To his horror it was.
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It looked exactly like what had tried to kill him and his friends so long ago.
He could still smell the oil that had been used to light it.
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The ballista looked menacing.
This was not a good thing. This was a war party that moved through.
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And it had been a big one too.
He was starting to get a little scared.
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" Hello?" A voice called from behind.
He whipped around to an unexpected surprise.
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It was Clay And Sunny.
What were they doing here?
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Sunny laughed. " Hi Winter!" she said.
Winter could not help but smile back. Her warm personality was infectious.
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They landed before him and seemed to look around for something.
" What are you doing out here Winter?" Clay asked.
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" Um I was here to look around, I heard about some lights" he admitted.
He tried not to think about what he just discovered.
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" Well we are here because of a different reason…" Sunny said, her face darkened.
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That did not look good.
" Startflight and Tsunami Are Missing." Clay said.
That sent a shiver down his spine.
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Where could have they gone?
And where were they?
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If they were even still alive right now.
He tried not to think about it.
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" Do you think they went to see the lights too?" he asked.
" Maybe…I don't know." Clay said.
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They all heard a noise come from the woods behind.
Winter turned around in a defensive pose.
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Out of the bushes came a really battered looking Dragon.
He almost fell on the
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A silkwing?
Tsunami recognized the dragon.
So did Winter.
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It was Blue!
She ran over and grabbed him.
He looked really bad. His antenna singed and his face blackened with soot.
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He looked dazed.
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"Blue! Where did you come from?!" she asked.
He was having trouble speaking.
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" I…I…." he stammered.
She noticed his dragonets in the trees keeping a distance.
There were also others keeping back from them.
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She was getting impatient.
What was going on?!
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He then pointed behind him with a stiff talon.
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Clay looked at an orange light.
His face without emotion.
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The towers were burning. Both of them. The third one started to smoke. The thing he had helped make was in golden flame. And he had to watch it.
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The poor silkwings were gathering in the field to get away from the flames.
They had no home, yet again…
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He could not bear it any longer.
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Then it hit him. He knew who that Dragon was.
He was not even a Skywing to begin with.
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He leapt up and flew away.
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"Winter?!" Clay called.
He did not look back.
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"Where are you going?!" he called.
Tsunami looked worried too as she tried to calm the stricken Silkwings.
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Winder did think it would be rude not to answer. Even if he did not want to be around the fire any longer.
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"I have someone to see!" He called as he flew out of earshot.
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"Someone I have a bone to pick with…" he said to himself.
Someone he had not seen in a while.
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A certain Rainwing…