The morning came quickly for Snowheart, he rose up from his bed around an hour before sunrise since he wanted to get to training right away. feeling better from yesterday, the young Icewing Prince opened his door quietly, poking his head out as he stared at his mother and father, seeing them sleeping peacefully. Letting out a sigh he began his way towards the double doors, his claws clicking against the icy floor when he reached the doors. Looking at the handles he gripped them, gently pulling them as they slid open. He suddenly froze when his mother turned over, letting out a grumble before she fell back into deep sleep.
"Thank the moons" He whispered, leaving the room as he closed the doors behind him gently. He started his way down the long hallway when General Icesheet came around the corner, Snowheart bumped into the female Icewing, making her gasp before looking down at him. Snowheart was abnormally large for a Dragonet his age, being a few heads taller than male Icewings his age. This allowed him to get the upper hand most of the time, loving to always give them a taste of their own medication.
He had a high level of respect circling around, ever since he joined the royal school, he had been a thorn in the bully's side, that was until things got very heated one day when he found them bulling a small Icewing female noble.
"So, you ready for this morning's training session Prince Snowheart? I won't go soft on you after the fight you had you know, you have a lot more potential than you know" Icesheet commented while holding her head high, her voice was silky, yet carried the tales of war, staring down at Snowheart before she nodded in the direction she had come. "Follow me to the training grounds, North of the Ice Kingdom, I'll fly alongside you, with a few royal guards of course" She explained to Snowheart, waving a paw around as she spoke. They had started their way down the hallway towards the courtyard area while Icesheet explained what she would teach him, their claws clicking against the cold icy floor, making their way down the dimly lit hallway that led towards where Icesheet was going. Hardly any Icewings were up this early in the morning, the first signs of sunrise weren't even there as Snowheart and Icesheet finally entered into the courtyard. Waiting for them were at least five royal guards, half were female while the other half were male.
"Good morning Prince Snowheart, we will escort you to the northern training grounds where Icewings are trained" One of the female guards spoke rather loudly over the wind, which wasn't strong enough to blow them over but blew hard enough to make it difficult to hear others speak. All the guards bowed towards Snowheart, showing him the normal respect a royal was meant to get. Snowheart had to admit, he didn't really like people bowing to him, yet didn't comment on it due to his parents and making sure he stayed high in the circles.
Looking around the courtyard, he looked to his left, seeing a few long fabrics wave roughly in the wind, he then looked out to the expanse of the Icy outside, breathing in as he watched drifting snow, which was snow particles picked up by the wind, sort of like sand in a way. Letting out a slight shiver, he gave a nod at Icesheet, stretching his wings out, but was stopped when Icesheet spoke over the wind.
"No! We go on paw, the wind will blow us off course if we fly!" Even if this was the back edge of the last blizzard, they still had to be careful as the strongest winds were always on the rear of a snowstorm. Letting out a sigh, he knew this would be a Long walk, letting Icesheet go before him before he followed, the snow crunching under his paws as he left the protection of the structures around him, the full force of the winds buffeted against him, making him struggle slightly to keep balance as he sunk his claws into the snow, trying to find grip.
"Keep your wings tight against your bodies! That's if you don't want to go airborne!" Icesheet shouted out as she turned to look back at them. The guards had made a diamond shape around Snowheart, to protect him from any threat, visibility was rather terrible since the sun was yet to start rising over the horizon, it also didn't help that snow was being slapped in his face, clouding his vision. Icesheet noticed Snowheart was struggling through the wind and whipping snow, she slowed down, letting the Prince get closer while the guards seemed less affected by the strong winds, using their bodies to shield the Prince from the icy winds that would freeze even an Icewing solid if they weren't careful.
It had been a long month of countless blizzards, causing the group to take shelter every time, which only hindered their process, causing them to slow down to almost a stop, the last snowstorm slowly started dying down, yet the winds continued to howl with intensity, whipping over the icy snow-covered plains as waves of wing racked up the top layers of snow, blocking out their view a bit, making visibility rather low. The sun had just left the horizon, giving the small group of Icewings some light through the howling winds. Snowheart was shivering with a rather intense intensity, a bit of ice had grown on his chin, horns and tail, along with a thin layer of snow covering his wings.
"General Icesheet, Prince Snowheart needs to stop again, I believe he is close to passing out and Requires another rest for the night," One of the guards said, padding up to Icesheet while she struggled to see through the gale of snow, the snow crunched under her paws while the sound of the others paws was heard behind them. Icesheet let out a sigh, who also had Ice stuck to her body before stretching out her wings and flapping them a few times, icy particles drifted from her wings like the stars in the sky, the guards followed suit as did Snowheart, freeing their bodies of the icy skin that had grown on their bodies. Looking around the hilly expanse of the snowy tundra they were in. Icesheet hummed to herself, spotting a large cave buried into the side of a rather large hill. "Over there! We can take shelter there" Icesheet pointed to the cave, looking back at the group who let out sighs of relief.
Making their way quickly towards the cave, Snowheart collapsed, letting out a shivering groan, Icesheet turned around, quickly moving back to Snowheart as she then nudged her snout under his neck, lifting him before dragging him onto her back. Snowheart was heavy, making Icesheet struggle as she made her way towards the cave, once she entered the cave, the guards helped to get Snowheart off her back, lying him down on the ground while the third guard grabbed some logs, which were covered in ice, yet scrapped it off as he started to place them into a small fire. "Snowcloud, start a fire, quickly!" Icesheet said with worry while Snowcloud got to work, striking the flint with the rock in her hand over and over again, embers falling onto the wood before a small fire started, soon engulfing the whole small mound, luckily there was more wood to last a few days. Icesheet gently laid down next to Snowheart, who was still shivering, yet not as much due to the cave being at least warmer than outside, yet she still felt worried her as she draped a wing over him
Snowheart slowly raised his head, giving Icesheet a genuine smile as he said gently. "I'm okay Icy, just a bit cold, I'll be okay soon" Icesheet reared her head back, eyes wide before becoming flustered slightly. "Still giving me nicknames huh? I will never understand why you do this, yet I will admit, I do think you are rather adorable" She smirked at him.
Snowheart was taken aback by this, rearing his head back before rolling his eyes. "Huh, well I'll take that as a plus, besides, the General, flirting with the Prince, shocking!" He grinned, showing his white teeth while Icesheet let out a huff, moving her wing covering Snowheart to block his view of her flustered face. Snowheart felt bad, he reached up with a forepaw, moving her wing out of the way to see her face. "I can't promise anything, though I will admit, I have admired you for a while Icesheet" She looked at him, her cheeks felt warm as Snowheart looked outside, the winds had calmed down to a gentle breeze, blowing a few particles of snow around.
It was rather beautiful, the light from the morning sun reflecting off the snow as the blizzard started to clear, letting them see a few flashes of lightning flickering through the clouds of a thunderstorm far off in the distance.
"Alright, We sleep here for tonight, Snowheart isn't well enough to continue on now," Icesheet said out, curling up around Snowheart to keep him warm while Snowheart just looked at her, unmoving as Icesheet then stared at him. "T-Thank you" He stuttered out, feeling Icesheet wrap her forearms around him, less hesitantly than the first few times she had done.
Icesheet then glared at Snowheart when he grinned at her, some ice still clinging to his chin and covering parts of his neck scales, making him look rather beautiful. Their relationship had grown slowly, yet sped up as they became best friends, laughing at a few jokes Snowheart told since he tried to keep Icesheet's spirits up.
Though she knew she couldn't express herself completely, always having to put her icy mask on around other Icewings, that didn't stop her from letting the edges of her lips curl up in a smile. They then all curled up and fell asleep as night quickly crept up on them.
Upon the first light of day breaking, Icesheet raised her head, yawning out only to find her wings still covering Snowheart, she then cleared her throat, making him startle away as he looked around the area in a daze. "Time to go Snowy" She grinned, giving him a new nickname while he cleared his mind, the guards had packed everything away as they got ready to leave since they were close to the coast now.
When they reached the coast, it was more of a sheer drop than a gentle sloping like you would find on a beach. "Woah... how far does this go?" the Icewing dragonet asked, leaning over the edge when one of the guards quickly tugged him back by the tail. "Don't go in the water! It's said a large dragon-eating worm lives in the depths" Icesheet rolled her eyes, the 10-year-old dragoness looking back at her guard, gaining him a disapproving look before shaking her head. "Okay group, you see that island in the distant Snowheart?... We need to fly over to that island, that way, we can rest our wings for a bit before landing on the northernmost large island" She explained while Snowheart listened to her explain.
Giving nods, Snowheart was the first to go, leaping into the sky as he flew over the dark icy cold ocean below him. The guard's voice echoed within his mind, causing his flight path to become slightly erratic as he thought about the dragon-eating worm, though shook his head as he continued on. Icesheet noticed this, shifting on her paws slightly, feeling the need to sly towards him and cradle the Prince in her grip, yet she held firm, keeping herself grounded while Snowheart was starting to hyperventilate, the large waves crashed against the shores of the island he was nearing, he looking back down at the dark ocean, his vision making it look like it was getting smaller, when in fact, he was panicking beyond belief. "That's it snowheart, keep going!" He heard Icesheet shout out over the waves at him, hearing her voice planted renewed power into him, making him push further before he landed, rather roughly, onto the island, panting out as his paws and whole body trembled.
After a few minutes, the whole group joined the shaking Prince, Icesheet moving up to him, lowering her snout as she asked. "You wanna carry on?" Concern bled from each of her words, yet she remained cold in front of the other Icewings. Snowheart gave a nod, getting up onto shaking paws as he looked north, seeing the main giant island in the distance. "See, no giant worm" Icesheet called out, mostly to the guard who had seeded it within Snowheart's mind, she was about to take off when Snowheart stopped her. "No! Let me go first" He appeared almost... worried for her, like he cared for her. (That's ridiculous Icesheet! He is too young for you! He doesn't even like you back!) She cursed herself, dragging a forepaw down her face before focusing back on Snowheart. She then gave Snowheat a slight smile as she watched the young Prince take off once more, flying towards the large rocky and snowy island which had an Icewing training facility on it. The island was rather large, spanning at least five miles long by two miles wide.
He landed once more on the shore of the island, as did the others with no problem. He had to admit, he was more than a little worried when he watched Icesheet and the guards fly over the turbulent ocean. "Were here, now, where is that Icewing which was meant to greet us?" Icesheet questioned, looking around the area which comprised of the ice beach and rocky flat plains that had the training facility on it.
"Guards, search the complex, see if you can find anyone around. And for moons sake be careful" She ordered the guards, watching them span out across the island, searching the whole island before entering the facility. Icesheet and Snowheart waited outside of the facility, waiting for the guards to come back when Snowheart suddenly questioned. "Why did you cover me with your wing and lay so close to me?" He looked to his left at her, looking slightly upwards since she was a few heads taller than him. It did help that he was abnormally large for a dragon his age, being at least two heads taller than the next largest male dragonet. This at times got the adults confused, for some of the maids still mistook him for a fully grown dragon.
"Oh, you know, just trying to keep you warm you see, besides, I wanted to make sure no harm came to you" She gave a completely reasonable explanation to his question. Holding her breath, she watched him stare at her for a bit, before giving a nod. "Alright, well, thank you" He nuzzled into the crook of her neck, making her gasp out then shuffle away from him. "Did I do something wrong?" He gave her a head tilt, ears flicking when she answered. "N-no, just something us Icewings are not allowed to do" "You mean openly express emotions?"
He let out a snort, he knew the whole emotionless charade, shaking his head in disbelief as he then spoke once more. "I don't believe in that rule, besides, we aren't technically in the Ice Kingdom anymore, are we" Once he finished his speech, he was giving her a toothy grin, his snout inches away from hers when suddenly, the guards came back. Snowheart moved away from a furiously blushing Icesheet, clearing his throat when one of the guards spoke up.
"General Icesheet, the Icewings are all in the Complex, they said that one of the worms was spotted not far off the northern coast" "Aha! So they are true u-um, sorry" the other guard cleared his throat, standing back to attention while Icesheet moved past them, Snowheart following behind her, his tail snaking about as the wind blew rather roughly.
Upon entering the interior of the complex, Snowheart looked around, countless Icewings suddenly jolted up as the leader of the complex ran up, claws digging into the ice as she seemed extremely happy. "Hello! Oh, it's been so long since a Royal has come here to train! Ah, my name is Icewave, and I'm in charge of the Complex! Please do feel free to explore your Highness!" Snowheart looked at the rather small Icewing, noticing her icy blue scales, with freckles that dotted her thighs, as well as her neck. He wondered why that was? was it a birth defect, maybe not, he felt it was rude to ask, though was pulled out of thought when Icewave clapped her forepaws together. "Prince Snowheart, you will be sharing a room with your General! Don't worry, it's a very large room, and your mother and father personally requested this since Icesheet is very good at protecting!"
Snowheart chuckled at Icewave's overexcitement. Looking around, he noticed that there seemed to be a very balanced system of male and female Icewings, a few Icewings had come out of their rooms, looking down from their floor to stare eyes wide at the royal, one male and female for each room. (Oh, this will be fun, playing with the General) He smirked, looking to his left to see a rather shocked Icesheet. He then nudged her, knocking her out of her shocked state when he then moved forwards, trotting into the massive open expansive room which appeared to be the eating hall.
"Hello Your Majesty, my name is Snowcloak, I am named that due to my ability to hide perfectly in the Snow" He was then nudged by what Snowheart could think was his mate. A gorgeous blue-white dragoness as she eyed him. "My, your rather large for your age aren't you?" She circled him, lifting his tail tip slightly and his wings, Snowheart allowed this, enjoying the attention as a few other Icewings surrounded him, asking him a few questions.
Icesheet looked at him, looking neutral when out of nowhere, a wave of jealousy erupted within her as she saw a few of the female Icewings touch him and feel his soft pampered scales. She took a step forward, yet looked down as her eyes darted about. (Icesheet! Stop this madness!) She screamed at herself, letting out a huff before she went towards the long hallway, following Icewave who led her to the large Royal bedroom.
Icesheet gave one look back towards Snowheart, her eyes having a hint of sadness in them as she kept on repeating to herself that he would never pick her. She then turned her head and continued down the hallway, following Icewave's long tail and wide wingspan.
One of the Icewings came up to Snowheart, having a rather gruff expression on his face when he asked. "You ready for training tomorrow kid?" Snowheart gave a hesitant nod, looking up at the large male Icewing as he continued. "My name is Arcticstorm, or Arctic for short" He gave a shrug when Snowheart suddenly questioned. "Aren't you named after the famous Prince Arctic who ran away?" Arcticstorm shrugged again before he moved past the Prince, being careful to not knock him over.