I'd like to start by thanking everyone who has kept up with this story. I know it isn't that long but it means so much to me to actually finish a fic. Anyway, hope you enjoy the conclusion of this story.

Icicle wanted to crush her emotions down into tiny pieces that could never recover. When she was alone on the old Nightwing island, she felt her body try to give in to the darkness that surrounded her. It let her fall into emptiness so she didn't have to deal with the emotions that had been bubbling up like a steaming puddle of the surrounding lava. All of her time in the Icewing prison cells made Icicle used to isolation but this was different. At least in the cells she knew that a guard or two were just outside and someone would always come by around the same time to give her food. On the island she had no hope of that. Bugs, birds, even the plants were all gone, withered away by the inhospitable landscape, and Icicle felt totally alone.

She would rather deal with that loneliness then feel the gaze of Lynx looking down at her with the advisor's own empty expression. It was far more imposing and made Icicle feel pain worse than her aching bones. The two stood in silence as Icicle continued to look at the ground, not daring to meet Lynx's gaze. "I think conversations are better when dragons have eye contact." Lynx said unhappily.

"Yeah, like I'm going to look at you…like I'm going to look into the eyes of the dragon who gave me a chance when no one else would. Like I'm going to pretend that you should pity me." Icicle didn't want pity, she wanted the hole in her heart to stop torturing her. She hoped the flames of the volcano would burn the darkness out but all it did was make her more miserable. Yet…Lynx looked different. Not physically but, the way she held herself, the look in her eyes, the nauseous aura of determination she was filled with all the time, none of it was there. "Because I proved her wrong."

She heard the sound of ash being moved as Lynx laid down across from her, the Icewing finally taking her eyes off of Icicle and looking into the smokey sky above. "When I talked to you all that time ago while you sat alone in your cell, I didn't think we'd end up on a deserted volcano." The two heard the sound of wind blowing past them while Icicle kept her head buried. "I would say I'm glad to see that you're safe, but I'm not sure if either of us will believe I mean that, nor whether you really are safe here."

Icicle felt like a rock sinking into the ocean with no one to grab her out before she was buried amongst the sand. She heard Lynx but the sound of breaking branches haunted her every word. "I was told by everyone that I shouldn't bother, after they found out what I did that day. They kept saying it was a stupid idea, that I shouldn't waste my time trying to get you out." Icicle didn't need the reminder. Everywhere she turned in the Ice kingdom, dragons looked at her with scorn or fear, that last emotion being one she used to enjoy. "I started to believe them…when I took you out to look around the kingdom? When you lashed out at that dragonet, or when you argued with those two dragons, I saw a look in your eyes that I always saw when we were dragonets." That didn't particularly feel fair, those three dragons started it. "No, I did. One was a dragonet and the other two were dragons I treated horribly." She remembered Ridge slamming her head into the snow to prevent her from scarring the dragonet even further. "It scared me." Lynx said honestly. "It always did. You always looked ready to hurt something or someone when you got that look. But after you saw what used to be the coliseum…I saw something I never did before." Icicle felt the advisor's gaze turn back to her and it felt like needles poking into her scales. "I saw sadness. It wasn't until then that I knew you were just like the rest of us. That you could feel something other than anger. And I felt stupid for worrying that you couldn't be helped. Guess I should have listened to Blizzard. That old grouch was the only dragon that thought you were worth helping aside from me"

The two listened to the boiling liquid below them as Icicle's body ached. Hearing about one of the only dragons that truly cared about her hurt even more as Icicle couldn't bear the thought of Blizzard hearing about this…but she needed to. "You said you didn't change." Lynx said, clawing away to make her scales shine against the island's darkness. "Does that mean that if we could redo all of this, you wouldn't take me up on my offer?"

Icicle shrugged, her shoulders hurting. She didn't dare open her jaw. Her silence might as well have told Lynx what she wanted to hear, the prisoner didn't want to say it, but they both knew the answer. At least Lynx thought she did.

Lynx nodded along, her head bobbing slowly as if she was barely listening. Of course, Lynx always paid attention when she was talking to someone. At least Icicle believed so. "It seemed a lot easier to live full of hate than to face those you hurt. Or was it easier to just pretend it was someone else's fault?"

The prisoner felt her scales wish to sweat while she listened to Lynx explain just how devoid of guilt Icicle was. Icicle's mind felt trapped just as her body was. Still she thought about where in her life she could have become the dragon that could exist in the new Pyrrhia her brother and other dragons like the dragonets of destiny made. She could not pinpoint a single one. In her eyes, there was nothing about her that could match anything but the war beaten continent she was used to. The worst part was that Icicle did want to go back to that time. She still wanted to return even though so many dragons were worse off…it made her stomach hurt to think about it.

Lynx rolled a small stone across her claws in boredom. "I really didn't like you, is what I'm saying. When I saw you bullying Winter…I never had a brother or sister of my own so I didn't know how siblings were supposed to treat each other, but it felt wrong to see you taunt him. It felt worse to see you scowl at Hailstorm behind his back when he was comforting Winter. I always thought that you didn't think the two should have been so close, that you thought Hailstorm was being too soft." She flicked the stone into her other claw. "But I started to wonder if you were just jealous. I never saw him take you back and have a heart to heart. Was that what it was? Or am I completely off?" Icicle knew Lynx was looking at her once more and once again, Icicle didn't meet her gaze. Her head was consumed by the dark ash with only her ears out to listen. She heard Lynx scoff and turn her head in annoyance. "At least when Snowfall was a jerk, she had the decency to bite back when confronted."

The advisor tried to sound frustrated but Icicle guessed Lynx wasn't sure whether her fellow Icewings voice was what she wanted to hear. Icicle couldn't confront Lynx on that point, she didn't want to admit that she watched her cousins and brothers run off with Lynx and some others to play war when they were little without her, while she was studying to kill the Queen they all loved. She couldn't admit that Hailstorm was the dragon her parents always compared her to and that anytime she tried to best him, he always came out on top. Even when he was gone, she couldn't surpass his stupid shadow.

But none of that explained Icicle's biggest question. Why had Lynx lied about Snowfall approving of Lynx's first visit? It had been pecking at Icicle's mind since those words were spoken by the Queen of the Icewings. Icicle forced her head up slightly, finally meeting Lynx's cold stare of disapproval and acknowledgment of the dragon before her. Her jaw hurt to open but she forced her throat to speak despite the pain. "You lied, all that time ago." She said, hearing her scratchy voice. "Why did you go behind Queen Snowfall's back to talk to me?"

Lynx looked a little caught off guard to hear Icicle but she hid it pretty well. She looked up at the darkened sky with a look of recollection as the lava bubbled behind Icicle. "She would have disapproved. Kind of funny that our roles have reversed. She was so adamant on the idea that you had changed after your escape and I was sure that my idea really was stupid. I thought that I really should have left you to hate everyone in that cell under the palace. I thought that you were just waiting for your chance to fly out and go back to being the worst dragon I had ever met." Her voice was steady, not seeming to have the normal emotion in it that the Icewing usually had. "Then Sunny reminded me that she saw something in you a long time ago. So, here I am. Just…trying to see which part of me was right."

"Which part of you was right…I wouldn't know that feeling." She heard Lynx let out a quiet snort before the two fell silent. Only the brushing of ash hitting their scales could be heard in the barren wasteland of the island. "How exactly am I supposed to answer that…" Then she remembered that it wasn't Icicle that needed to answer it. "Is this conversation just supposed to tell you if it was worth talking to me all that time ago?"

"Pretty much. I'd like to hear what you thought of all of this." She said while rolling her claw before setting it down so she could rest on it. "Then I can decide how much of it I believe."

Lynx wanted Icicle's thoughts? Was she expecting her to say her own, true honest thoughts of what made her act the way she did? Or did she want Icicle to explain why she didn't deserve to be given that chance? "Then tell her." What was there to lose? Icicle took in a deep breath before falling into a short coughing fit. "Yeah, I didn't like how Hailstorm saw Winter differently. But it wasn't that, it wasn't the look he gave our brother that made me angry with him. It was that Winter was praised for failure and I was ignored for success." She thought darkly, recalling their families dinner conversations about school, hunting, everything. "They only used my success to scold Winter, never to help me." But the colosseum trips…those were worth it. If only on occasions, they were the spare moments she got where she felt truly happy. "But I only got those when father was the only one at home. No brothers or mother, just us." Her father wasn't great…but he loved her. At least, she thought he did. Maybe he just wanted a child that shared his view, something his sons didn't. "But I had my life set for me and he knew that. He didn't even try to change it because…because he valued our family's power more…But I still love him, and mother." She couldn't tell Lynx that, or anyone. "I shouldn't, but I can't help it."

Lynx waited for Icicle to continue but she needed a second, pining for those few hours spent where she and her father were able to cheer together. Realizing he'd rather have spent it with a child that didn't need to become Queen. She shook her head finally and continued. "I hated how unfair it was." She lashed her claw against the ash in front of her which made Lynx shrink back in surprise. "It was never fair." She griped, laying her head down in weakness. "And then Winter got everyone's pity. No, I didn't want Hailstorm's comfort. I wanted anyone to validate me." Yet that wasn't true either. "And I had it…Blizzard…s-she praised me when I passed a test…when I found the biggest animal…b-but I never-I never returned it." She sniffed, feeling the steaming water pour down her cheeks. "All I wanted was to be praised as the Queen I thought I deserved to be. Now I know I didn't ever deserve it."

She waited for Lynx to say anything but the advisor remained silent. Was that not enough for her? "What else does she want? A sob story?" Finally Lynx gave her own input which killed Icicle's thought process. "Is it fair to point out that your parents made sure to publicly shame Winter for the little things he did wrong and your complaint is that you wished they'd rather have praised you?" Icicle stayed silent which let Lynx continue. "I figured that was their dumb way of praising you and Hailstorm. They never struck me as the encouraging types." She gave her fellow Icewing a raised eyebrow with a judgmental frown. "Of course, for being so good at school, I struggle to wrap my head around how helping an ex-Queen who was insane could possibly have been a good idea."

The island's smoke was really starting to get to Lynx from the occasional coughing and rubbing of her eyes. It only grew Icicle's confusion as to why she hadn't bothered to leave yet. Surely what she was hoping to achieve with this conversation wasn't worth that. "She offered me something…something I couldn't refuse." She said quietly, the dark, twisted eye of Scarlet flashing in her head. She could still hear the nightmarish voice of the dead Queen yelling in her mind.

"So we established that it wasn't rescuing Hailstorm? Or am I misremembering?" Lynx said with a slight edge to her voice. "I figured you of all dragons would be up for kicking her out of your dreams."

"I tried." Icicle grumbled, feeling her tail twitch from the lie. "I mean…I wanted to…but she could come back at any time." She already knew helping Queen Scarlet was dumb. She didn't need Lynx reminding her. "It's good she is. Better that than thinking I don't deserve this." Icicle shook her head, yearning for the taste of Snow Crab. "And then she threatened to kill Hailstorm. I-I did want to save him…even if that wasn't…the main goal." She sighed. "But I did want to save him, yet no one will believe that now." She did want to see him again, to show him that she was stronger than before.

Lynx folded her wings in to keep her body cold. "Let me guess, she offered to help make you Queen? You didn't exactly keep that dream of yours hidden." She commented, reminding Icicle of Queen Scarlet's promise. "Kill the dragonets, and I'll make you Queen or whatever it is you want. Just get it done!"

But being Queen wasn't what she really wanted. She had admitted as much to Sora…because only Sora would believe her. As much as they hated each other, she didn't have a reason to lie then. "I do now." There were some things she wasn't willing to admit. "A secret between enemies. Wonderful." Icicle blinked away the hot air as her chest rose and fell heavily. "What does it matter? She failed. I failed. Winter and his friends stopped her."

"I think it matters a bit." Lynx argued. "Seems like a clawwave to get past how dumb of a decision that was on your part but I guess we can ignore it for now." That was fun to hear. "I'm guessing you know what my next question is going to be?" Lynx asked and Icicle had a decent idea of how much this conversation was going to twist her stomach. She made sure not to look at Lynx which told the advisor all she needed to know. "Cool. So was dropping a tree on me just for fun or did you really intend to do something to Sora? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you didn't, but it also sucks that my back hurts for no reason." If the situation wasn't so painful, Icicle would laugh at the idea of Lynx trying to be passive aggressive.

Icicle clawed through her mind to try and explain why in her most vengeful and hateful moment, she stopped. She didn't want to explain it all again but…there was a simpler version. "Because I figured I could finally do something right." It pained Icicle that had she seen herself like this a few months ago, she would have laughed at the fallen dragon beneath her.

Lynx shook her head as she calculated something in her mind. "If you go to commit a wrong action then stop yourself, is that 'doing the right thing' or stopping yourself from doing a bad thing?" Icicle didn't know how to answer that. If she cared about it, she could have tried to come up with something but she just moved her tail to the side in defeat. "I guess that's a philosophical debate for another day." She gave Icicle a…grateful? Look. "Regardless, I AM glad you didn't do anything to her…even if she kind of deserved it." She muttered that last bit with a dark look in her normally glowing eyes.

The weakened Icewing shook her head and raised her back up a bit to speak with a tone that Lynx never thought Icicle could have. "She didn't…If Winter can forgive me for the things I did…then-then Sora…I just know she didn't." Icicle said, not wanting to talk about the *thrilling* discussion she had with the dragon who wanted her dead.

Lynx didn't press her on the matter and instead looked at the pool of lava around them. The bubbles popped and sent steam into the air with a loud sizzling sound that killed the silence. "Well, Sunny was happy to hear you were ok. Well, not ok but, not dead." The advisor's eyes seemed to change when the hybrid was brought up. Despite being an Icewing, she always emitted an emotional warmth that seemed to grow slightly bigger in the moment. "Though I'm not entirely sure she can hope misfortune onto someone else. Is that surprising or did you know that particular teacher would have wished the best for you?"

The mention of Sunny made Icicle's tail shiver. She was the dragon that introduced her to the school, she was the dragon that gave her the choice to swap clawmates, yet she was also the dragon Icicle considered killing when Scarlet gave her the ultimatum. "But I couldn't…not her. Clay and Sunny were too supportive and I knew I couldn't kill Tsunami…but I never talked with Starflight." It still hurt to think that she was willing to murder a blind dragon, let alone a dragon that helped stop a war. Sure she was desperate, but Icicle learned that wasn't an excuse. "Not after I tried to kill her friend."

"I'm pretty sure those five have a more sibling-by-choice relationship but fair enough." Lynx responded, seeming to notice Icicle's shift in easiness. "If you want to just sit in silence then you can, but I'm trying to decide if I want you sent to the outposts or given community service."

Icicle was still confused at how the Icewing hadn't made up her mind. "Wouldn't leaving me here be good enough in your eyes?" She asked, staring at one of the ever growing lava bubbles that shuddered against the toxic air that filled the island.

Lynx let out a childish snicker at that proposal. "Why would I give you a punishment you want? I know this place sucks but you chose it for a reason." She looked out at the wasteland before them with a reminiscing smile which turned to a frown when she looked back at Icicle. "So, why do you think Sunny wants you to be safe?"

A shrug probably wasn't what Lynx wanted as a response so Icicle blinked back the acidic air that hit her eyes. "Because she's Sunny?" Icicle didn't really have an answer besides that. The hybrid always came off as a dragon that couldn't hold a grudge. "Shouldn't you know?"

"It may surprise you, but Sunny can be very annoying when she wants to be." Lynx muttered. "Like for instance, leaving me to figure out why she, Starflight, Clay, Glory, and even Tsunami, not only don't want anything bad to happen to you but want to know that you're safe. It gets particularly annoying when I need a good reason and she keeps it hidden but it's whatever."

It definitely didn't sound like whatever to Lynx but Icicle didn't want to push her. Though she was curious herself…wouldn't Tsunami at least be mad? "I don't know. I'd be furious."

"I figured." Lynx said without hesitation. "Well regardless, can I at least know why you decided to shove a tree on top of me? You couldn't just knock me unconscious or another, less annoying way? Like throwing a rock at my head or tying me up? Really anything that didn't hurt my wings?"

Icicle tried to think of why she did that as well. She was actually doing way more thinking then she really wanted to but that was what normally happened when you accepted a talk with Lynx. It wasn't because it was the fastest option, that hadn't really crossed her mind, nor was it because Icicle wasn't thinking straight. There was a part of her that…wanted to see Lynx get hurt. She dragged her face to look at the one dragon that actually gave her a chance and answered as truthfully as she could, no matter how much it stung to say it.

"I knew you would stop me…you had told me about how I needed to do what I wanted…that I could finally make that choice but…I couldn't. No matter what path I took, I was just doing what another dragon wanted." Her claws tightened around the ash as her head panged. "I-it was either rot in my cell like how my mother wanted…or become a dragon I wasn't, like what you wanted." She shook her head, groaning. "So I took your advice…and tried to take my life into my own claws. No one, no one in the world, wanted me to kill Sora. Just…I wanted to do something that I had full control of…and you, you would have stopped me." she muttered weakly. "You, the dragon that always got on my nerves the most. Winter brought my family down, Snowfall and Crystal were the perfect heirs, and Hailstorm was the perfect child…but you?" She had a bit of rust in her throat and coughed. "You were nothing but a noble's daughter…yet everyone, even Queen Glacier, thought you had a bright future…in that moment, I just wanted to see the Ice kingdoms precious snowdrop feel pain…" She realized her eyesight had broken from Lynx and she forced herself to look back at her. Lynx's eyes were unreadable like a dense fog. "And I-I'm sorry Lynx…I-I wish I knew how to say it in a way you would believe but I am."

What came out next from the advisor had nothing to do with Icicle's admission but only a small detail she had mentioned. It sort of hurt that Lynx didn't care to acknowledge her confession but it wasn't the prisoners place to be annoyed. At least not in Icicle's mind. "You are the only one in your family that still calls her Queen."

Icicle needed a moment to understand what Snowfall had to do with this. "Because she is?"

This made Lynx give her usual, "I'm trying not to call you an idiot" eye roll. "I meant Glacier. Why do you always call her Queen instead of aunt Glacier or something? I figured you of all dragons would drop that title the second she died. It might be the most surprising thing I learned about you during this whole odd experience."

"Why do I call the dragon that haunted my nightmares more than Scarlet ever could Queen? The dragon that I imagined killing me in a hundred different ways?" Icicle knew two Queens that would never truly be dead to her because they would plague the darkness of her sleep forever. "She never liked me. I'm sure she'd prefer I called her Queen instead of aunt."

Lynx didn't look entirely bought by that story but didn't seem too interested in pursuing it further. "Some things are best left to the grave." was an old family phrase of certain Icewing nobles and Icicle thought it was a good time to think of it. No, it wasn't important and it probably wasn't even that embarrassing. But it was something she hated thinking about, something that made her feel scared.

"Huh, guess i didn't think you not getting to kill her would eat you up that much." Lynx mumbled.

She had a tone that made Icicle feel like she was being talked down to. "If this was a few days ago, I would have griped at you for being so pitiful of me." She remarked weakly. "It wasn't not killing her. It was knowing she could kill me."

This made the advisor give a snake like hiss. "It's called empathy, great Ice dragon!" Even in this pathetic state that Icicle found herself in, it was still pretty amusing to see Lynx actually get frustrated and show it. "Why do you make everything so difficult for yourself?! Someone offers you food at lunch, you toss it back in their face and tell them to scram! Your brother tries to make you feel better for getting some questions wrong on a test? You call him a failure to the family! A dragon decides to go out of her way to not only get you a chance to see the outside more often but actually work towards FREEDOM?! YOU MAKE THEM RECONSIDER THE IDEA OF SECOND CHANCES AS A CONCEPT!"

It was suddenly way less funny as Lynx let out a sniffle and sunk as low as Icicle felt. Her chest rose and fell rapidly and her eyes were shut tight. Lynx's wings fell across her body as her tail laid limb. She wasn't crying, but this felt different. Icicle felt her heart sink but in a different way, as if she had failed her parents…but someone else instead. "L-Lynx I-" But she was cut off by said dragon before she even got to finish three words.

"Shut up, please…" Lynx mumbled, with a defeated tone. "I do believe you. I believe that you're sorry. I believe that you wished you were a better dragon. I believe all of it…but it still hurts!" She moaned sadly. "It hurts to put your trust into a dragon, a dragon you hated all of your life and finally gain respect for and consider a friend, only to have them break that trust." She sighed and slowly got up, shaking her head.

That explained the change. It wasn't that Icicle had failed, that wasn't what hurt Lynx. It was something much harsher. Even as Lynx's thoughts seemed to swirl in a dark spiral, she still had that two sided look of deciding how nice she needed to be no matter how tough it was. "Guess I CAN teach her something." Icicle thought grimly as the idea of offering advice at this time was rather unwarranted in her opinion but no one else was here to help Lynx sort out her own feelings. She cleared her throat, letting her clogged up airways get softened. "Sometimes it's fine to be mad."

"It feels awful." Her fellow Icewing said sadly, staring at the ground with a grief stricken look. She was still breathing heavily but Icicle wasn't sure if it was from the horrible atmosphere or her recent shouting.

Icicle ran her tongue along her fangs as she chose her next words carefully. "It does, but so does feeling sad and everyone thinks it's fine to cry about some stuff." That wasn't entirely true. Her own parents thought crying was a sign of weakness for a future Queen but that wasn't what Lynx needed to hear right now. "Angers like…a part of us or something."

Lynx looked to Icicle in silence for a good minute before raising a claw to rub her eyes. "I hate when you are right." She grumbled, attempting to laugh which was deafened by a cough. "Good thing it doesn't happen a lot." She began to stretch her back legs and sighed. "Fine, I won't forgive you. But I still have to make a decision."

That didn't feel like it would bode well for the ash-covered Icewing as she wondered if the outposts were as bad as her father made them sound. "Glacier didn't dislike you." Lynx said quietly. It came out of nowhere and made Icicle turn to look at her with an empty expression. Lynx shuffled her wings a bit and nodded. "Yeah, I was hanging out with Snowfall one time just after everyone heard about the incident. She was pretty upset."

"I figured." Icicle groaned, not needing a reminder of her aunt's fury when the former Queen first laid eyes on Icicle all that time ago. It was somehow worse than Scarlet trying to claw out Icicle's eyes in the dream world when she was taking too long.

Lynx gave Icicle a shrug, her attempt at talking stopped by a rush of ash in the wind leading her to sneeze. "Well anyway, she mentioned something about hoping she could convince you to be a personal guard of Mink or something after you finished your year at the school. Guess she didn't know how terrible you were with dragonets."

Icicle's stomach shifted unsteadily at the thought of being forced to hang out with Mink for days at a time. It was a very unpleasant thought. "I would have crushed myself with a tree if she made me do that." She admitted with a low growl. Back then, Icicle was a soldier, not a dragonetsitter. "She couldn't possibly have thought I would be ok with that."

"Not sure." Lynx said honestly, standing up. "All she said was how it would be impossible to do that now since she thought Narwhal and Tundra would be the only dragons fighting for your release." She had a mock grin that failed to mask her hateful look after speaking of Icicle's parents. "Guess we know how that turned out." She sat down to stare at the pathway towards the Rainforest, a distant look in her eyes. "Maybe she thought you would be good for the job. I'm not sure why she would trust you of all dragons with the care of her dragonet but maybe she saw something in you. Guess it doesn't matter now. Mink was never really in danger and I think Glacier did hate you after she found out who you were helping."

Lynx didn't take her eyes off of the secret passageway, her head completely turned from Icicle. "How did you find this place the first time?" There was no snipe or minor comment at the end, just genuine curiosity at the idea of Icicle stumbling through the secret tunnel.

"How did I find it?" Icicle thought to herself as she tried to recall the events of that day. In truth, most of it was a massive blur in her mind. One minute she was holding Starflight by his neck, ready to snap it before being convinced by her brother not to and the next minute, she was stumbling through the trees with her sight like a broken mirror. The muggy rainforest was soon overtaken by a barren wasteland of a horrible stench of death. It didn't even register in her mind that there was some red blood on her but Icicle couldn't remember how she got it unless that living tree was a dragon…"It was, I know that now…but I-I didn't at the time…" If there was one thing she hated about herself now, "It's that I feel bad for a Nightwing of all dragons. I'm sorry I don't know your name."

Great. Now she was talking to a dead dragon. "It could be worse. I could be telling Lynx all of this." Icicle could easily answer the advisor's question simply by stating how she did so by accident, barely knowing she even did it until her claws first fell into the lava to keep herself awake for days, but instead she remained silent. She watched Lynx for a reaction but she didn't get one.

"Guess it doesn't really matter how you got here, just that you did." She looked desperate to escape the island but Lynx knew she couldn't leave Icicle here no matter how much she thought the Icewing deserved it. "Or she doesn't think I deserve it at all." Lynx flapped her wings which made her wince before closing them in on herself once more. "Here's a better question. Let's say I let you go without any punishment. What would you do? Complete freedom, I'm curious." The fact she didn't turn to Icicle made the dragon disagree.

Freedom, that was something she only had once and she lost it the moment her brothers showed up. "I've already shown her what I would do with freedom. Unless she means something else." Icicle shook her head and dropped her gaze to stare at the ground as the thought of speaking was enough to make her throat ache. "I'd see how far my wings could take me across the ocean until I found a place where no one could find me. After that, I'm not sure." She already flew across the continent in about a day, who knew how far she could fly when full of energy.

This answer actually got Lynx to turn back and give Icicle a strange stare. Her eyes blinked in confusion before she shook her head and let out a small chuckle. "Well good thing I can mark that off of my mental list of punishments. No discovering islands for you." It was clear her heart wasn't in it as the comedy in her lungs dropped dramatically before she started coughing once again. "Ack-urgh, this place sucks."

"I don't think it's good for your lungs." Icicle said, looking at Lynx sidewars as she tried to keep her head down.

After another session of coughing, Lynx finally was able to clear her throat and showed her weary eyes and beaten back snout. "Great observation Icicle." Her tail twitched a bit but it seemed more like Lynx was trying to keep it from moving. "But you are the last dragon that can talk about how bad this place is for your body."

She had a point, but Icicle still didn't think Lynx should stay on the island for much longer. She turned back to fully stare at Lynx, giving her a begrudging look as she struggled to stand to her full height to which her legs almost gave in and she had to bend back down. "Still, you shouldn-"

"We shouldn't be here." She locked eyes with Icicle and her eyes glared down at the Icewing as Lynx actually got to her full height. She walked over to Icicle. "We both know that this isn't a place for an Icewing, and you are the most Icewing dragon I've ever met."

The feeling of the advisor's glare was brutal on Icicle, yet she felt unable to turn away. Whether it was her guilt or Lynx's determined look, Icicle couldn't break the stare no matter how much it hurt to look her in the eyes. It was obvious she wanted Icicle to get up with her, but she just couldn't. "How am I the 'most Icewing' dragon? Most Icewings don't side with a crazy murderer."

Lynx nodded to this, not breaking her stinging gaze. "No, they don't. But something every Icewing story shares in common is a protagonist who is close minded, brash, annoying to deal with, aggressive,..." Icicle's head shifted as she felt the ash beat against her eyes. "I know what I am. I know our stories are just lessons to be learned and rarely have good dragons in them. Thanks for the remind-" "And resilient." There was a quick silence as the Icewings stinging stare lessened on Icicle's heart. "Yeah, you're stubborn. But you are also the most driven dragon on the two continents. I've always wondered what you could accomplish if you gave yourself a reasonable goal." She stuck out her claw, offering to help Icicle up as she didn't smile, but kept that inspiring aura that Lynx always had.

Icicle swallowed back her nerves and felt her tail lay still in the ash. Her head was buzzing in pain but it was nothing to the pain in her chest. "So you know what you want to do with me then?" She asked, tempted to take Lynx's claw but hesitated.

She caught this and kept her claw outstretched, a small grin being suppressed (Poorly) by Lynx. "Nope, but I do know that it has nothing to do with this foul island, so let's not keep the other's waiting. The last thing we need is Glory having a justified reason to be mad at Snowfall."

Her claw remained outstretched and Icicle knew if she took it, she would be going back to the Ice kingdom, where the faces of hundreds of dragons would be glaring at her for each step Icicle took. "Lynx, at the party, when I-" She had never felt that sting before as multiple eyes turned to her. She felt unable to speak or see. "I can't go back there. I just can't…" The emptiness inside of her was breaking apart which should have made her feel happy, but it didn't. It only let her feel fear, an emotion she wished she never had.

At least Lynx seemed to see this yet didn't drop her claw. She gave a knowing look to Icicle as despite never knowing what she was going through, she knew that just listening would help. "No one will see us return, and I promise, I won't…" She swallowed the lump in her throat as the two seemed to be remembering the same day. "I won't make that mistake again…I'm sorry for pushing you like that." She stopped for a second as her body didn't waver at all. "I guess I do have something I'm sorry for. But wanting to help you, it isn't that."

Even now, Icicle still didn't think she deserved it. After what Lynx just confessed, she had no reason to be so generous to Icicle. "But I'm getting a third chance." She wanted all of these emotions to go away, to just stop hurting her, but she knew they wouldn't. She kept her eyes locked onto Lynx's and asked a question in the weakest form her voice had ever gotten. "How do you know I won't hurt you again?"

Lynx hesitated before letting her weak grin show. "Guess it's a risk."

"Then I'll make sure it isn't a risk." This was a promise Icicle could keep, and it felt…good? It didn't make anything about this easier, but it did make a bit of light peak through her heart. She closed her eyes, feeling the air fall out of her throat before she slowly moved her claw up to grab Lynx's. She wasn't strong enough to hold on but Lynx gripped her and gently raised her up. Icicle's muscles still ached but meeting Lynx's eye level gave her a bit of strength. "Ok." That one word was racked with pain but Icicle was content with just getting it out.

The first step she took almost made her fall over and while Lynx tried to help her, the advisor wasn't in the best shape either. They only made it a few steps towards the tunnel before they both collapsed. Icicle groaned in pain and Lynx shivered before pushing the larger Icewing off. "Not entirely sure why I thought that was a good idea." and for once, Icicle let out a genuine laugh at Lynx's joke, though it hurt her stomach a lot.

It wasn't long before Icicle heard her cousin's voice whisper aggressively towards the others and padded steps walked towards the two. "Hey! I said keep it down!" Icicle figured that was directed at Hailstorm and Crystal who seemed to be scratching trees before rushing to aid Lynx and Icicle. Crystal let Lynx rest on her left just as Hailstorm got Icicle onto his left. They looked very much out of place and strange in this landscape. He flashed her a smile but Icicle wasn't in a great position to return it. Snowfall tapped her claw on the ground, still at the tunnel. "Where is he? Don't tell me he ran off to talk to Moon." Icicle could only take in deep breaths as she rested on her older brother's side.

"I'm here!" Winter said rather loudly which got everyone but Icicle to shush him and he crouched down a bit and said it again in a much quieter voice. "I'm here. Just found a bush full of berries." He set down a heavy looking basket next to Snowfall as the four dragons slowly made their way to the dark tunnel. "Oh come on, no one is even awake right now!"

"I am not having any Rainwing or Nightwing see a bunch of out of place Icewings in this muggy tree nightmare." Snowfall sneered. "I'm frustrated enough that someone decided to follow me here."

Winter gave his cousin a raised eyebrow. "You followed us first. Seems like karma." Icicle felt Hailstorm nod next to her as Crystal snickered.

Deciding to get in on it, Icicle gave an exasperated look to her brothers and then cousins. "Well actually, you two followed me first so consider her following you karma." Hearing the other Icewings (Aside from Snowfall who was trying to look dignified) laugh made Icicle grin a bit.

Lynx shook her head as the last bit of her laughter died out. The six dragons stood in an odd looking circle with Icicle silently telling Hailstorm she could stand on her own and he let go, taking a step towards the tunnel. She could hear the harsh winds blow against her but she didn't care about that anymore, keeping her eyes on Lynx who kept herself leaning against Crystal. "Well I would like to say that at least I didn't get lost on my way here." She said and gave Winter a smug look.

Hailstorm nodded in approval, smiling down at his little brother. "Hey now, it's not Winter's fault he couldn't see the massive change in scenery between the marshes and treescape. Right Winter?"

Winter huffed and looked up at Hailstorm, a smirk rising from his jaw. "Oh really? I didn't see you noticing them either. Besides, weren't you the one that swore you remembered the way we entered that old cave and got us lost for hours?" This warranted a few chuckles from the other dragons minus Icicle. "Huh, was that recent?" Of course 'recent' meaning between two years.

Crystal rubbed her forehead and bent her neck a bit at the memory. "Yeah, mother was furious that we missed some social event. Thanks for that one, Hailstorm." Snowfall shared her sisters not so great memory of being scorned by Queen Glacier for that escapade.

Hailstorm raised his claws defensively as Lynx took a blueberry (Icicle couldn't remember if that was what they were called. They certainly looked more purple to her but 'purpleberry' probably didn't have the same ring to it) "Well excuse me for wanting to give us all a good time! You guys have to admit that the scavenger structures down there were pretty interesting."

That was most definitely an attempt to get Winter back on his side but it was Lynx that answered. "It was, until Snowfall slipped into one of them and broke the wooden tower thingy."

The collective laughter from the four dragons made Snowfall's face turn blue but the only other dragon not laughing was too lost in her own thoughts. "Glacier was still alive, and it was obviously before Hailstorm was captured. How could I not remember this?" But then it hit her like a bowl of walnuts. "I do remember this, but I stayed behind because it sounded lame." "As your Queen, I demand you all stop laughing before the only dragon I take back with me is Icicle."

Said dragon blinked twice to snap herself out of her trance. "What?" She of course didn't see what was so funny about that but it seemed to make the others laugh. She pretended to chuckle along and luckily for her the others were too loud to notice it was forced.

As the other's talked and ate, Icicle felt her own stomach burn but not out of hunger. She finally got a better look at all of the dragons around her and saw something she wished wasn't there. Their scales were as bright as the snow and ice that covered their home. They all shined like the castle walls and obviously looked out of place in the tunnel. Even Lynx, who had spent the most amount of time in the ash besides Icicle, looked excited and full of life. It was as if her scales resisted the island's shadow.

But when Icicle looked down at her own scales she saw the opposite. She was covered in stained mud and grass, her once beautiful claws blue and ash covered. No one in Pyrrhia looked more at home on this pitiful excuse for an island than her which only added to her pained chest as she saw the other dragons in the circle tried to keep their talons in the tunnel except for her. She could still feel the ashen ground acting like padding for her claws. Seeing them all laugh together made Icicle show a small smile, but not one of joy, but one of sad acknowledgement.

"I am a part of this family, but I'm not a -part- of this family. I didn't lose two years of being with them, I chose never to be with them for most of my life. Years of memories and jokes to laugh about, I don't have those." Snowfall made a comment about Hailstorm being a terrible actor which helped distract the others from Icicle's shivering.

Finally, Lynx rubbed her eyes and gestured her wings deeper into the tunnel. "Ok, this is all well and fun but can we go please? This place is the worst."

The other dragons shuffled to start to head out as they all nodded in agreement. Snowfall whipped her tail up and smiled. "I agree. We have a long flight ahead of us and we don't need to spend another minute here." There was a silent agreement that Lynx would tell Snowfall what she had planned for the Queen's cousin. "Come on, before the Rainwings wake up." Icicle wasn't too worried about that. Even though the sun was slowly starting to rise with the orange light, there was no telling how long the dragons would sleep in.

Winter gave Icicle a warm smile before turning to follow his cousin and Hailstorm began to follow as well. "Hey! Why don't we all go out for ice cream when we get back? I think it would help all of us a lot." Though he was probably more interested in getting some for himself given how much he loved the snack.

However before Crystal could lead Lynx out, the advisor caught Icicle's eye as she gave her a look of 'One more thing, I promise' and she turned back to Crystal. "Mind if Icicle helps me? I need to ask her about how she can sit through Blizzard's long stories."

Crystal didn't look so sure but obliged, though not before giving her own remarks. "I guess, if you feel more comfortable leaning against a dragon who flew half the continent in one day. A very sturdy foundation, I'm sure." She smiled at Icicle as she let Lynx stand on her four claws. "Just yell quietly if you need help." She joked at her sister's expense before she followed the other's out.

Lynx wasn't struggling to stand but walking would probably be a pain. Her claws tightened on the ground before she addressed Icicle. "Again, you are not staying here. Now if that is all, can we please leave? I wasn't kidding when I said this place is awful." She glared at the scenery around them then coughed as if her own body wanted to show her distaste for the barren wasteland.

Icicle shook her head. "It isn't that…I-I don't-" She took a deep breath. "I don't belong in the Ice kingdom. I know what you said, but all of those traits…I don't want to be like that anymore, and being in the Ice kingdom…"

She stopped as Lynx raised a wing to touch Icicle's. "Icicle, you are an Icewing! Where else would you belong?" She gave off that aura the old Icicle used to hate, but all it was doing was proving to the Icewing that she knew what she was doing. "I know you want to be different, so let us help you!" Her wings fell a bit as she saw the confirmation in Icicle's eyes. "Didn't you see how much we all want to help you? Winter, Hailstorm, Snowfall, Crystal, even Mink? What about Blizzard? Ridge enjoyed your company…"

"I know, I see how much all of them cared. And you the most." She smiled at Lynx, more than she had ever smiled before, until it returned to her normal grimace. "But I also know that no matter how much blood we share, I'm not like them." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "There are so many things I missed…not because I had to, but because I chose not to enjoy the dragons I had in my life. I can't take those back, no matter how many memories I start to make now."

Lynx was silent for a good few seconds as she looked up at Icicle. She bit back her tongue and sighed, breaking eye contact with icicle before meeting it once more. "Cutting us off won't fix that. If anything, being a part of our lives will make you notice how much everyone cares!"

"I'm not cutting you all out." Icicle said confidently. "I will never do that again, but…" How could she make Lynx understand? "How could I make any dragon understand?" This was something Icicle just felt she needed to do. Not in the same way that tracking down Sora was, but…something that actually filled the hole in her heart. "But I need to prove that I'm capable of changing. Not prove to you, or to our family, or to the kingdom, but to myself." The words were getting easier to say the more she kept going. "I need to know that…that this is who I am, that it's who I can be…" Icicle remembered a snowball fight she was in years ago when everyone there were still dragonets. That may have been the most fun she had when she was little. Just goofing off with her siblings and cousins. "And I chose to never do that again." It was hard, but she grinned down at Lynx. "You weren't the sister or cousin those four had. You are that dragon for them. The dragon I should have been."

"Oh stop it!" Lynx hissed as she glared at Icicle. "You are their sister and cousin."

"And I didn't say I wasn't, just not the sister and cousin I should have been. But I do know that seeing everyone, all of the jokes and the memories…I don't fit in with all of you, and I don't think-I know being around my family…I don't think I can trust it's me doing it for myself or just doing it for all of you."

She wished it didn't sound so self-interested but thankfully, Lynx seemed to know what Icicle was trying to say. Though the advisor disagreed. "We all just want what's best for you…but Icicle, how do we know you won't…" She let her silence speak for itself. "It's her that's worried the most."

Icicle didn't think she deserved this and Lynx was the only person that could decide it for her. She also knew that what she needed to say next had to be the most convincing speech of her life to even make Lynx consider letting Icicle out of the Ice kingdom. But Icicle didn't have it in her, not now. Whatever she got, she knew only Lynx could truly be the one to decide. "It's a risk."

Lynx considered this for a while. She shifted her jaw as the two stared at each other before finally, she nodded. "If this is really what you want…ok." Her head dipped a bit as she wagered what she just agreed to as she turned back to the tunnel. She stopped and looked back at Icicle, seeing her not moving yet and nodded, silently letting Icicle stay behind for just a bit longer. "I think I have just the place in mind. I'll see you in a minute." And she limped out, leaving Icicle alone once more on the island.

Her body hurt, but only physically now. It wasn't until Lynx was gone that she realized the portraits which had been taunting her had vanished completely. She was totally alone, and she felt better than ever. Icicle made her choice, one that she had only truly gotten to make once before. "But this time, it's one I know is right." The others would obviously disagree and she didn't care. She knew they only did it because they cared about her, but none of them would understand her choice. So long as she knew why she was doing it, she would be content. "And I'll make sure they don't regret me doing it. I will be a better dragon. I'll be stronger than I ever was."

Icicle swallowed her pain and lifted her right claw, feeling it shudder as it was raised and she pressed it down onto the cold, rocky stone of the tunnel. Her first step back to Pyrrhia. "I'll be a dragon they can be proud of." She muttered, beginning to walk down the dark cave once more.

Twice, Icicle had come to this island; twice she had done so to avoid her fear of failure, and twice, she was brought back by her family. "I'll be a dragon that I can be proud of" Icicle muttered with a bit more certainty, her body shaking as she forced herself to walk towards the small light at the end of the tunnel.

For once, Icicle got to leave this island of her own free will. She gave one last look at the tortuous landscape with determination on her face. She didn't know why it brought her so much wonder to see it like this, but she found it beautiful in an odd sort of way. "So that's how it looks when you're leaving…" She bid the island farewell with her tail whipping once and turned away from the island for the last time. As she saw the light get brighter and the dew-filled air seep into her nostrils, Icicle finally felt that sense of freedom once more. The Icewing was full of energy but also more nervous then she had been in a good while. She could finally be a dragon that she wanted to be, one that could be depended on in her own eyes. "I am Icicle." She said with certainty and prepared herself as the Icewing walked into the light.