A/N: Nothing much to say for this one that wasn't said in the previous chapter's author's note. Enjoy the chapter!
Winter yawned and stretched his wings as he made his way out of his room, then out the door and outside. The sun had yet to truly break over the horizon as he took off, only a faint light in the sky as a couple of wingbeats propelling him high into the air before he leveled off and glided, his muscle memory carrying him eastward even as his mind wandered lazily on other things. Soon enough he was at his destination, a large lake that was filled with many large and tasty fish that would make a very delicious breakfast.
He gave another yawn then shook his head, focusing on the task at claw. The dim morning light didn't give much illumination, but Icewings had decent enough vision in low light environments (the Ice Kingdom got darker sooner and for longer than the rest of Pyrrhia, Winter had noticed), and so he could see what he was doing. It only took a few minutes before he spotted his prey, and silently he swooped down and in one quick, fluid motion he plucked a nice sized fish right out of the water.
Ordinarily that would be enough to satiate him, but no longer. There were two more mouths to feed, and Winter was obligated to provide for them as well. So, instead of taking his catch back home, he found a nice bank to set the fish on before going back out to get more. Luck was on his side, too, and soon he caught a second just as big as the first. He set it with the other, then went out and found a third, even bigger one just as fast. Which was nice; ordinarily he'd have needed to catch twice as many, but this morning these three large ones would be enough.
Gathering up his catch, he took back to the sky, making the short trip back home. The winds were fair, and for a moment he considered just taking a moment to go on a small flight for just the sake of flying. He almost did, but he was hungry, and so instead he made his landing outside his home, walking through the door just as the first real rays of sunlight were beginning to brighten the town around him.
Moonwatcher wasn't up yet, but that was to be expected. He'd gotten up a little earlier than usual, wanting to give himself plenty of time to prepare the fish. There was no special occasion; he just felt like adding some additional flavor to his morning meal instead of eating the fish plain. Besides, Moon seemed to enjoy it last time he cooked.
Winter set the fish on the table then left for just a moment to gather some fresh coals from one of the town's burn-pit, places where scraps and rubbish were disposed of and burned and which were almost always in some state of being aflame, courtesy of the town's Skywings. He returned and in no time had a meal cooking, the fish sizzling as he heated it and added one of his favorite blends of spices to it.
The last fish was well on its way to completion when he heard the guest room door open and two sets of clawsteps walking out. He glanced over to see Moon and Coldshock awake, the former still looking a little drowsy while his son looked filled with excitement for a new day ahead. The small dragonet bounded over the table and leaped on it, squawking out a greeting, which Winter returned by nuzzling his cheek.
"Good morning," Moon greeted, a little less enthusiastically, although her eyes lit up a little as she saw the meal he was working on. "Smells good, Winter."
"Good morning, and thank you," he greeted back, setting the final fish on a dish and sliding it to her as she sat down at the table.
Moon shook her head and huffed, although there was a smile on her face. "It's still hard for me to think of you cooking," she told him, amused.
"Yes, well, you should have seen me trying to learn," he joked, then joined her and Coldshock in eating. He'd gone ahead and filleted the fish that his son would be eating so he didn't have to worry about him choking on any bones, and the hybrid dragonet tore into the fish with what could only be described as vigor. Soon Coldshock's meal was gone, and he was looking at Winter with pleading eyes as the Icewing ate at a slower pace.
I should have gotten a fourth fish, Winter thought as he cut a piece out of his own with his claws and gave it to Coldshock, who smiled in delight. Moon gave a small laugh at his reaction as she made short work of her own breakfast. Winter noticed she didn't leave any of it uneaten; she clearly liked the flavor he'd given it.
"Oh, Winter, I forgot to tell you," she said as they finished up, him taking the last couple of bites of his meal. "It kind of slipped my mind, with how he went to buy that desk as soon as you got back yesterday. I ran into Riptide when I was out and about, and he told me that they're constructing some more houses on the edge of town."
He gave an interested hum at that, his mind more on the memory of yesterday than what she was specifically saying now. When he'd gotten back from Sanctuary, Moon had told him about a nice desk she'd found at one of the merchant stores in town and asked him about getting it. He'd said that it was fine with him if she wanted it, and so they'd gone together and gotten it just before the shop closed. The thing was heavier than it looked, though, and it had taken them a while to get it back and set up in her room, and by then they were about done for the day in terms of energy.
Still, if they were building houses, then he knew what that meant. Moon and Coldshock could get a more permanent place to live in one of them. That was…good, he supposed. Even if a part of him didn't really want them to leave, now that they'd been here a few days. But it was for the best. The closer Moon was to him, the more likely he was to repeat that night that had caused all of this.
"Anyway," Moon continued after a pause, "He introduced me to another dragoness named Dragonfly and invited me to help with the building. I told him that I'd go to the meeting on everything at noon today."
Winter gave a hum and nodded. "I'm not surprised," he told her, "Riptide is always recruiting people to help out with the town. It's pretty much his job around here." He paused, then tilted his head. "You know, you don't need to ask my permission for going and doing anything, Moon, if that's why you're telling me this."
Moon blinked, then shook her head. "No, it's not that, I just…well, it's Coldshock," the dragonet perked up as he heard his name, "I'm not sure what I should do with him while I'm there, or if I should take him with me, or…" she trailed off and gave a small shrug of her wings.
Winter couldn't help but be amused by that. "Actually, I was going to talk to you about me taking Coldshock to Sanctuary today," he said, "Swallow thinks we should try to get him used to being around scavengers early, so I was going to take him with me. Plus, that would give you some time to yourself, if you wanted it."
"Oh," Moon said, clearly a little surprised, but in a good way, "Well…that works out, then."
"It does," Winter grinned, then looked over at Coldshock, who looked up at him, "Are you ready to see some scavengers again?" he asked his son.
Coldshock gave a coo and wriggled his wings in response.
Only a few minutes later, Winter wished Moon a good day as he left his house again, this time with Coldshock riding on his back. The feel of the tiny claws on his scales was not unpleasant—Winter had found that he'd actually gotten quite used to the feeling after the few flights they'd taken together—and Coldshock seemed ready to take to the sky as if he knew that was exactly was coming. They did just that, Winter taking off gently and flying slowly so as not to throw his son off him.
If there was one thing to be said of Coldshock, he definitely liked flying. Winter glanced back to see him smiling widely, eyes closed and wings half-spread as the wind whipped around him. Behind him, his tail tilted back and forth, feeling the wind and adjusting as if he were the one in flight and not a passenger.
Winter grinned; he couldn't wait to give the dragonet some proper flying lessons once he was old enough.
Unfortunately for Coldshock, the flight was over after only a few minutes. Winter landed outside of Sanctuary and made his way inside the observatory. Coldshock followed behind, having hopped off as soon as they'd landed. He seemed much more confident than the last time they were here, and Winter wondered if he fully remembered it all.
"You're here early, Swallow," Winter spoke, noticing the orange Skywing sitting at his normal desk, looking out and taking notes like usual. He also saw Tulip, the pet scavenger, sitting down on his shoulder, and she gave a little wave of her paw at him—one of the tricks that Swallow had apparently taught her.
So he did bring her, then, Winter thought to himself, Let's hope Coldshock doesn't try to eat her again.
"Actually, I'm not," Swallow said, turning to him and yawning. "Today is our normal early-morning observation day, just like we do every week, or have you forgotten?"
Winter paused, furrowing his eye ridges. Was it really…? he wondered, then groaned. Yes, it was. Makes sense why he was up so early, though.
"Sorry, Swallow," he sighed, "It completely slipped my mind. With Moon and Coldshock and all, it just…"
"Nah, don't worry about it," Swallow waved a wing, "It's not like you missed anything. It was a late morning for them, too, and only a clawful have even left their huts."
"Still…" Winter huffed, upset at himself. He'd been worried about something like this happening—Coldshock and Moon distracting him from his work. So far he'd been able to make it work, but if forgetting something routine like an early-morning observation was something that they'd cause so soon after being here, then what would be the next thing he messed up? Would he forget about an important report, or be too distracted to finish it? Sanctuary was his life, and while he was looking forward to sharing it with Coldshock, he felt a knot in his stomach over how things might already be changing.
"Oh, and good morning, Coldshock," Swallow greeted his son, thankfully pulling him away from those thoughts. The Skywing stood up from his seat and took a step towards them, lowering his head and smiling at the dragonet, who gave a playful bat at his nose. Tulip, on the other claw, gave a kind of squeak at seeing Coldshock and ran to Swallow's other shoulder, the one further from him, putting some space and a dragon between her and the dragonet that had tried to make a snack of her.
Swallow noticed his pet's reaction and huffed. "Don't be like that, Tulip," he chided her, "Tell Coldshock hello."
In one of those moves she sometimes did that legitimately made Winter question just how much of what Swallow said she understood, Tulip crossed her arms and shook her head.
Unfazed, Swallow simply reached up and grabbed her. Tulip yelped and struggled as he lifter her off her shoulder and set her down on the ground. She fell to her hindquarters as he released her before standing and jabbering something at him, then turned and looked warily at Coldshock, who had taken a step towards her.
Winter shifted nervously as he watched the two, ready to jump in at a moment's notice if something went wrong. Coldshock was only a little bit bigger than her, but if he really wanted to take a bite of the scavenger then Winter was sure he very well could. Winter knew how easily claws—even the smaller ones his son had—could slice through the thin hides of scavengers. Their second-skins that they insisted on wearing didn't offer any protection, either.
But Coldshock didn't attack. In fact, he was rather hesitant in his approach, perhaps remembering the reproach he'd received last time he'd met this scavenger. His son looked up at Winter questioningly, as if asking if it was okay to go up to the odd prey creature that was under the other dragon's protection.
Winter gave him a reassuring nod, although he did add "just don't eat her" under his breath.
Coldshock took a step forward; Tulip took a step back. Coldshock cocked his head, then lowered himself down, presenting himself in a nonthreatening manner. When he took another step, Tulip did not move, although she still looked wary. Coldshock moved closer, and Tulip looked up to Swallow for reassurance very much like Coldshock had done with him. When Swallow gave a low rumble of approval in his throat, she held her ground.
Winter's son was very close now—close enough to pounce and attack if he wanted to. For a moment Winter thought he was about to do just that, as his tail lashed behind him in what looked like anticipation. But instead, he just stretched his neck forward, inching towards her and closing the gap.
Hesitantly, Tulip lifted one of her paws and reached out towards him. If Coldshock wanted to, he could have easily bitten it off, but he didn't. Instead, he allowed her to gently set it on his snout.
Tulip gave a squeaky kind of laugh like her kind was known to do. A moment passed and she stepped closer, rubbing her paw over his head and giving soft coos. Coldshock seemed content to let her do so, closing his eyes and giving a small rumble of contentedness in his throat.
Winter looked up to Swallow, who grinned. "Well, that went well," the Skywing chuckled.
The Icewing rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but grin in turn as he watched his son have his first meaningful interaction with scavengers aside from seeing them as food. Already the two of them were getting along nicely, and Winter hoped that would carry over with any other scavengers his son encountered. They'd have to see in the future; for now, Tulip would do as his son's introduction to the creatures.
Winter smiled as he turned his attention out the window and towards the other, non-pet scavengers to study. There was still work to do, even if every other moment he was distracted by the squeals and chirps of his son as he played with his new scavenger friend. It looked like it was going to be a long day for him if that continued, but in a very good way.
Moonwatcher lounged for most of the morning, with nothing pressing going on as she waited for noon to arrive. With Coldshock gone with Winter, things were quieter than normal, and for almost the first time since her son had hatched, she found herself legitimately alone. It was kind of odd, actually, as she caught herself glancing around or listening to check on him only to remember that he wasn't there.
But the quiet was nice, and Moon found herself enjoying some time to herself, even if she didn't have that much to actually do. She'd sat down at her new desk at one point and considered writing a letter to Qibli, to let him know where she was and what had been happening, but she decided against it. After what had happened, she doubted the Sandwing even cared anymore, and she didn't want to put herself through the pain of remembering either. Even though she knew that her former mate was a good dragon—one of the best she knew, actually, despite what had happened—that just didn't make up for everything else. Moonwatcher had been miserable in the desert, and right now she just wanted to put all that behind her.
She'd also thought about writing another letter to her mother, but considering that her previous one was probably still waiting to be picked up to be delivered, she chose to hold off on it. She also thought briefly about writing to the other members of her old winglet, but also determined not to. The conversation about what had happened was one that would be best done face-to-face, and if she was honest with herself, she preferred to push that off as long as possible. She didn't know how her friends would react to what had happened and what she had done.
So, in the end, she wrote nothing. Instead, she found herself reading a scroll she'd found in the spare room (now her room) tucked in a shelf with a few others. It was a fun little story about a Seawing prince that braved the deepest depths of the ocean to find and save his true love from a monster that had captured her. It was definitely a Seawing story, and Moon had to wonder if it was by Queen Coral. She also wondered where Winter had gotten it from, whether buying the thing himself or borrowing it from somewhere; she didn't remember him mentioning a library during their tour of Sanctuary.
Still, she quite enjoyed the story, and was about two-thirds through when she realized noon was finally almost upon her. She looked at herself in a mirror in her room, not sure how presentable she should make herself for something like this, and finally settled on wearing a simple silver necklace as her only jewelry. That decided, she made her way outside and towards the town hall.
The walk there was brief and familiar, and she quickly found that she wasn't the only one attending. There was a stream of more than a few dragons entering the large building as she came up on it, and she felt a ping of nervousness in her stomach as she began to have second thoughts while seeing all the unfamiliar faces. In a way, it almost reminded her of her first day at Jade Mountain, being afraid of everyone and what they'd think of her, expedited by hearing the thoughts of all the dragons. But Moon had made it through that; she could make it through this. She pushed on, following behind a couple of Sandwings through the door into the hall.
The building was, she noticed upon entering, both very large and very empty of practical contents, with two rows of several massive support beams running across the length of the place. On the far end from the entrance, there was a raised platform that held a table and a kind of podium, and aside from a few paintings and other décor on the walls, that was pretty much all the town hall contained. Well, except for the large number of dragons that were filling that otherwise empty space, of course. Moon winced as the sounds of all these dragons talking reverberated off the walls and pounded into her ears, made worse by the cacophony of thoughts assaulting her mind.
There was a reason Moon hated large gatherings like this.
Aware that the dragons around her were moving forward before sitting down in semi-orderly rows, Moon tried to do likewise and find a place to sit. Naturally, her eyes scanned for a familiar face, but she couldn't find any, which wasn't surprising. Aside from Winter, Swallow, and Riptide, who all here should she know?
Mercifully, though, another dragon saw her and seemed to recognize her plight.
"You look lost," a female voice spoke, coming along Moon's side, and it took her a second to realize through all the other conversations and talking that the voice was addressing her.
She looked to her side to see a bright red Skywing dragoness tilting her head at her. Moon blinked, somewhat surprised and a little embarrassed at being singled out as lost and confused, but she nodded. "Yes, I…Riptide told me to come to this meeting, but I'm not sure what's going on," she explained, a little flustered, "Do I just sit, or…?"
"Oh, yeah, Riptide probably won't start talking until we're all here, so just find a place a good place to sit," the Skywing told her with a shrug, then noticed that this really didn't seem to help her much. "Here, you can sit with me," she offered.
"Uh…" Moon hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Thanks, I'd appreciate that."
The two took a seat in a row, facing the raised platform at the front of the room. Moon shifted and tapped her claws, glancing around her at the other faces. Nobody really seemed to be paying her much mind at all, nor where there any judgmental thoughts sent her way, and she was able to relax a little bit more.
"I'm Gale, by the way," the Skywing introduced herself, looking far more at ease than Moon felt.
"Moonwatcher," she responded in turn, "You can just call me 'Moon', though. Everyone does."
She looked over the Skywing a little more now that she was a little more comfortable. The Skywing looked pretty average, as far as her tribe went, with little immediate distinguishing features aside from the brighter-than-average red hue of her scales. Gale was older than she was, although not by too many years, and even though she had no obvious scars from what Moon could see, she was probably old enough to have served in the war. Winter had said that many of the dragons in Sanctuary were in the town because of stuff that happened in the war or because of some other dark past, and Moon wondered to herself what the Skywing had done to land her here. She looked normal enough, but that didn't mean the other dragoness hadn't been a killer or criminal or done any other manner of distasteful things.
Immediately, Moon chided herself for that thought. Here she was, worried and hoping that nobody would be judging her yet immediately doing just that to others, even one that was being kind to her. Whatever path in life led Gale—or any other dragon—to Sanctuary was none of her concern.
"You're a friend of Winter, then?" Gale asked, and Moon almost jumped at that, not expecting such a question. Did everyone already know about her?
"I…yes, you could say that," Moon answered, trying not to have any emotion in her voice. "How did you know?"
Gale shrugged her wings. "I saw the two of you out together a couple of times. I figured from that you knew each other well enough."
Moon nodded. "And do you know Winter?" she asked.
"We've talked once or twice," the Skywing shrugged again, "But everyone knows Winter, with how much he helped build the town and his scavenger project and all. With that, he's one of the very few Icewings here, so he's quite recognizable."
"Ah," Moon said, a little relieved at the response. Gale apparently wasn't calling her out or anything, just making an idle observation. She was interested, too, about there being other Icewings; she'd yet to see one in the town. She'd have to ask Winter about it later.
Moon tapped her tail as a silence fell. "So…do you help with these things often? The building, I mean." she asked, trying to keep the conversation going.
"I try to help out where I can," Gale answered, "It kind of comes with living here. I'm not one of the construction overseers like Dragonfly is—have you met Dragonfly?—but I can do my fair share of work." She paused and looked Moon over for a second. "If you need any help, I can show you how we operate, when the time comes."
Moon smiled faintly at the offer. "I may have to take you up on that, if it's not a problem for you."
"No problem at all," Gale grinned, "It can be hard, but I'm sure you can catch on fast. In fact, you can probably…"
She trailed off, not finishing her thought, and her gaze left her. Moon realized the other voices were quieting as well. She followed her new friend's eyes (if she could consider Gale a friend; she was at least friendly) to the platform at the front of the room, where a familiar blue Seawing was standing behind the table. To Riptide's side was Dragonfly, who set a few scrolls down on the table before sitting down herself.
Riptide glanced over whatever she'd placed down and nodded, then cleared his throat and started as the room quieted.
"Thank you all for coming," he began, his eyes sweeping the room, "I know that it's odd for this call for construction to come so soon after the last one, but we're a growing town. The housess we finished just last month have already been filled, and even now we have dragons waiting on new homes to call their own. Demand continues to rise, which is a credit to all of you and your hard work making this town the way it is, but with that demand comes a need for more frequent projects like this one. I understand if, so soon after the last one, some of you aren't able to pitch in like normal, but I'm pleased to see so many of you are still interested and willing to help, including some of the newer faces in the town."
Moon shifted at that and looked down, hoping no one was looking at her in particular at that. Why did Riptide have to call her (or other dragons like her) out? Luckily, there were only a few semi-interested thoughts that she could hear, and none pinpointed at her.
"We will be operating in the same kind of system as our last few projects," she heard Riptide continue as she raised her head back up, "So I won't bore you all with going over all the specifics. Dragonfly has created a rough schedule detailing everything we need, all the preparation, materials, and construction along with the expected times of work for the duration. We'll display those and you can all sign up for a job and for when you know that you'll be able to show up and help. And, of course, if you're not sure, you can always show up when you're able regardless of if you specifically said you'd be there. It's always better to have more claws than expected then less."
He gave a nod to Dragonfly, who took the scrolls back from the desk and made her way to the side of the platform, where she began unrolling and displaying them, as well as providing ink and quills for dragons to use.
"That said," Riptide went on, "We'll let you get to it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask myself or Dragonfly, or any of the other senior workers. The buildings are the same basic design as the last ones with only a few very minor changes, so everything should look familiar to you. Aside from that…" he glanced over to Dragonfly, who nodded, "That's pretty much it. Thank you all for your willingness to help."
Light applause filled the room as Riptide made his way off the platform and dragons began to stand, making their way towards the front of the room. Moon stood with them but held back, partially because she wasn't sure what she'd be able to sign up for and partially because she didn't want to get squished in the crowd. Gale stayed with her, watching as the crowd formed into a more orderly line.
"Anything in particular I should sign up to do?" Moon asked the Skywing, "It's not like I have any experience."
"Most dragons just sign up for 'general assistance' or something like that," Gale told her, "It's best to let the dragons like Dragonfly who know what they're doing handle the difficult stuff."
That kind of helped. "So, what would I be doing?"
"Really, anything they need," Gale shrugged her wings, "Carrying materials, helping to hold up walls, doing basic tasks…they always find use for dragons."
"Okay…" Moon still wasn't super convinced that she'd be able to actually help, but she followed the Skywing as she began walking towards the sign-up scroll.
It took them a while to get to it, as there were quite a few other dragons waiting as well, but eventually they got their turn. Moon looked over the parchment, her eyes roaming over the different jobs and days they'd be done. She really didn't know what she should say she could show up for, or even if she'd actually be able to. After all, she didn't like the idea of trying to help while also looking after Coldshock, as there was no guarantee that Winter would be taking him with him to Sanctuary in the future like he was today.
In the end, though, both at Gale's insistence and because she could hear the minds of the dragons behind her growing impatient, she signed up for a few dates that the Skywing was also working. She made a mental note to remember to ask Winter if he'd be able to take Coldshock those days; if not she'd have to talk to Riptide and tell him she was unable. Of course, if she enjoyed it and Winter was okay with it, she'd be able to help out on other days, too (a point that Gale was keen to point out).
Overall, Moon felt good about things as she made her way out of the town hall with Gale, who assured her that it would be no trouble if she had to change things. She bade the Skywing farewell as they parted ways to go to their respective homes, with Gale saying that she looked forward to seeing Moon when work started. If Moon was honest, she was kind of looking forward to it, too. It was nice to have a friend, or at least a friendly face, in a town she still wasn't completely familiar or comfortable with.
With any luck, helping to build the houses would be fun. If nothing else, it was something to occupy herself with.
But that was for later. Right now, she had a nice scroll at home to finish reading. She could worry about figuring the rest of it all out later.