A/N: Yeah, this one took a while longer than I wanted to to get out. But rest assured that I'm not abandoning this story; in fact, recently I've been giving a lot more thought about where I want to take it and I'm pretty excited about where it will go. Still, this is a secondary project at present, so I hope you all can forgive the longer wait. Anyway...enjoy the chapter!
A day passed, then another. Moon already began to feel herself falling into a routine—well, maybe "cadence" was a better word, as it was too early to really call it a routine—as the few days went by. Winter would wake up and they'd eat a small breakfast together before he'd fly off to do his work in Sanctuary, leaving her alone with Coldshock. Occasionally he might pop back in to grab something at his home, but other than that he wouldn't really return until an hour or so before sunset, eat dinner, talk a little bit, then go to sleep. Of course, Moon couldn't really say what he was doing at Sanctuary, but she couldn't help but feel like this was his average day.
For Moon, though…well, it was starting to get a little boring, if she was honest, being alone with Coldshock all day, just the two of them in a small and empty house. She'd done a few small things in the hours that Winter was gone, such as writing a letter a letter to her mother explaining the situation and where she was, but there were only so many things she felt comfortable doing in a house that wasn't her own. Really, the only productive thing she felt like she could do was go hunting in the mountains, catching a dinner for the three of them; the least she could do while living under Winter's roof was provide him a meal, after all.
And even then, she really didn't want to go out too much. Besides leaving Coldshock alone, she just didn't feel too comfortable out in the town without Winter. She was…well, she was afraid of what the other dragons would think if they saw her, if they knew she was living with Winter and their son. Winter had said that dragons in Sanctuary didn't care about stuff like that, but Moon was a mindreader, and she could tell that what dragons said regarding how much they care and what they thought were often completely different.
All the same, Moon was getting tired of doing little more than watching after her son, and so when Coldshock fell asleep on the cushion in the spare room around noon on her fourth day in Sanctuary, she closed the door to the room, then to the house as she braved the outside. She had to deliver the letter to the post to be delivered to the Rainforest, after all, and she couldn't just ignore the outside forever, even if she wanted to. Would it have been better to wait for Winter? Probably. But Moon needed to stretch her wings and, maybe, get a better sense of the town she'd be staying in without his guidance.
She walked down the city streets, the leather pouch around her neck holding the letter and a little bit of coin (she had no idea how much mailing a letter in Sanctuary costs) as she tried to remember where Winter had said everything was. Her hunting trips had taken her straight to the mountains and straight back, so she hadn't really gotten any better look at the town on those few occasions she'd left. Luckily, most shops seemed to be labeled, and she was finding her away around the town easier than she'd anticipated.
It was actually a rather nice sight to see. The town, that is. Moon actually had to stop and watch as she saw something that had been a goal of Pyrrhia for so long but only now seemed to be happening: dragons of all tribes living and working together in peace. All across the town, Skywings, Mudwings, Sandwings, and Seawings shared the same streets, greeting each other as neighbors as they went about their days, running or visiting shops and carrying supplies from place to place. There was no sense of hostility from two decades of war, just a sense of purpose and peace as they built their town and lived their lives. Moon saw some Rainwings and a couple of Nightwings that she didn't recognize in the town, too, though not near as many as the other tribes, and she'd yet to see another Icewing besides Winter.
What Winter had said seemed to be true, though. On the whole, no one paid her any mind at all. She got a few brief, questioning looks, and heard one or two thoughts along the lines of I wonder why she's here, but she also heard the same thoughts directed at other dragons and never once were they vocalized. Doing so felt taboo, and some of the dragons felt shame at even thinking the question they did before moving on.
After a few minutes of looking, Moon found the town's post office and was able to get her letter mailed without much hassle. She asked the dragon working there—a grizzled Seawing that looked old enough to be her grandfather—how long post was dispatched and delivered, and found that it was roughly every four days. Apparently, Sanctuary fell under the authority of the Skywing post, and all things were handled by them. But not technically being Skywing, they had low priority. She was informed not to expect any letters coming or going to be prompt. Which was a little disappointing, but she could manage. It did make her feel a little bit better that she hadn't written before trying to see Winter, though; who knew how long it would take for her to hear back from him?
Moon left the post office and heard a familiar voice talking not far away. Glancing around for it, she realized that the post office was right by the town hall in the center of town (which made sense, she supposed). The voice was coming from near the entrance of the town hall, and as she approached curiously, she saw it to be Riptide talking to another dragon, a large Mudwing dragoness, apparently going over some sort of large scroll that rested on a table outside.
She gave an interested hum and turned to go, but Riptide saw her and called her over. Almost reluctantly, she approached, not wanting to intrude, but it was too late now. And she was a little bit interested to see what they were looking at; it looked like a map.
"Oh, Moonwatcher, it's good to see you," Riptide greeted her as she made her way over, "I've been meaning to drop in on you and Winter to see how you're doing. You're well, I hope."
Moon told him that she was. She also saw that the scroll was indeed a map. A big map of Sanctuary, no less.
"Good to hear, good to hear," Riptide nodded, then glanced at the Mudwing, "Hey, Moon, here's someone you should meet if you haven't already. Moonwatcher, meet Dragonfly."
"Pleased to meet you," the Mudwing said with a nod, being most otherwise expressionless. Her mind gave off a sense of mild indifference.
"Likewise," Moon twitched her tail, a little nervously.
"Dragonfly was a military engineer in the war," Riptide continued, "Now, she's pretty much the chief architect and engineer of Sanctuary. Most of the homes around here, and the town hall, were designed by her. Right now we're planning our next expansion."
"About a dozen huts," Dragonfly continued, pointing to the map, "Here at the edge of town. We'll have to fall a few trees, but that's the best place for 'em. Good opportunities to expand around it, too. 'Course, we'll have to get some volunteers to help build, just like last time."
Riptide gave a nod. "Most of the huts and houses are built by volunteers," he told Moon, "Generally a large crew of dragons, completing the work in a couple of weeks. Most dragons around Sanctuary pitch in at least a little. Dragonfly and I often are the ones that organize it." He paused. "You wouldn't be interested in helping out, would you? With the building, I mean?"
Moon blinked. "Me?" She didn't have any real experience with that kind of stuff. Sure, she'd seen a lot of the huts being constructed when the Nightwings moved into the Rainforest, but she'd still been a little too young to actually help out with it all. Really, she had no clue where to even begin with something like that.
"Sure," Riptide said, "I mean, you don't have to try to do much more than you can do, but every bit helps. And it will be a good opportunity for you to meet some of the dragons here in Sanctuary, if you're still planning on staying for a while. I think it'd be good for you."
She swished her tail. "Well…I don't know…." She glanced at Dragonfly, "I'm afraid I'd just get in the way…"
"Nonsense," the Mudwing huffed, "The more sets of claws, the better. The more each dragon pitches in, no matter how small, the faster we can have it all done with."
"We're having the first meeting about it in the town hall tomorrow at noon," Riptide offered, "If you want to come and see what we're looking at, you can. There'll be no pressure on you to go any further."
Slowly, Moon nodded. "Okay…" she said, still a bit hesitant, "I'll come. I'll try it."
I hope I'm not getting myself into anything I can't handle...
But, as Riptide had just told her, it sounded like a good opportunity to get to know some of her new neighbors. And it would be something for her to do while Winter was away studying Scavengers. She'd have to figure out what to do with Coldshock when she went, but she was sure something could be arranged.
Riptide gave her a smile. "Glad to hear it. I always like to see dragons getting involved. It's what really makes Sanctuary Sanctuary."
Moon returned his smile a little. He seemed enthusiastic enough about it all.
"Do you have any experience?" Dragonfly asked her, "I'm assuming not."
"Yes…well, no. I don't have experience with any of it," Moon shook her head, a little flustered, "I've never built a house in my life."
"Neither have most dragons here, before they did it," Dragonfly snorted but grinned, amused, "…But you'll learn fast, I'm sure. Just like the rest of 'em."
Moon talked with Riptide for just a moment more before departing, assuring him that she'd see him tomorrow at the meeting. She made her way once more through the streets, alone again. With no major rush to get back to the house, and suddenly feeling just a little more comfortable, she found herself walking more slowly, peering into the shops and seeing what was there in town. After all, she remembered, Winter had given her permission to add a little bit of decoration to the room she was staying in.
Soon, she found herself in one of the many small shops in the town's center, looking at paintings and desks. Of the latter, a nice one caught her eye, a simple dark oak writing desk with a couple drawers that was her perfect height for working. Nothing too elaborate, just something that looked nice and would more than serve her purposes as well as look good in the room.
"Ah, yes, I've always liked that one," she heard a somewhat hissing voice behind her and turned to see the shopkeep, a Sandwing (for a moment her mind told her it was Qibli, actually, and she almost jumped in fright) standing behind her, "Locally made too; I'm friends with the woodworker who crafted it, and he actually kept the sister piece he made out of the same tree."
Moon twitched her tail as she looked over both the desk and the shopkeep. Like most dragons in Sanctuary, he bore his share of scars, though he held himself well. Her first impression was that he was indeed a dragon of business first, not a soldier like a lot of the others, but of course in the War of Sandwing Succession the distinction between soldier and anything else was quite blurred, especially for Sandwings.
"Oh. Well, it's very nice," she told him, gently running a claw along the wood, "I really like the color."
"So do I," he looked at her and tilted his head. "I must ask your pardon, but I don't believe I've seen you around Sanctuary before, and I think I would have noticed if I had, what with how few Nightwings there are. Are you a new arrival, or just passing through? Please don't think me too forward, but I always like to know. Business-reasons and all. The more passers-through there are, the bigger and more respected the town is getting."
Moon looked at him, and she read in his mind that his curiosity was sincere, with no ulterior motives she could see. "I'm a new arrival," she told him, not seeing any harm in it, "I just came a few days ago."
"Ah, I see," the Sandwing smiled, "Well, allow me to welcome you to Sanctuary, then. If you need anything, just let me know. The name's Sunscorch, but you can call me 'Scorch'." He gave her a small bow, not unlike one might give to a minor noble. "I get fresh inventory in biweekly, so you might want to stop in regularly to see what's new. And, just because you're new…" he stepped aside her and rapped a claw on the desk, "I'll take off five silver. And that's a fine price for a desk like that."
Well, she couldn't disagree with that, but unfortunately it was still a little more than she had with her. She'd only expected to pay for a letter, after all. "Well, thank you, but I'll have to think about it," she told the Sandwing, "I'm just looking, after all."
"I understand, take your time," he grinned, "And the deal still stands, at least unless another buyer snatches it. But feel free to look over my stock, and let me know if anything catches your eye."
Moon thanked him and rolled her eyes a little as he walked away. She'd met enough Sandwing merchants in the Sand Kingdom, and this one was little exception in how they worked, trying to get somewhat buddy-buddy to make a sale. But all the same, it was pleasant to see a smiling face, even if it stung a bit at the same time as a reminder of that time in the Sand Kingdom. She'd spent quite a bit of time there, learning the ends and out of that home and the buyers and sellers, knowing which merchants were trustworthy and which ones to avoid. Now she'd have to do the same here.
She left a few minutes later with a small painting that had caught her eye of a waterfall under a night sky and headed back home, just a little bit less enthusiastic as when she'd entered, but resolved to return later. It was a nice desk, after all, but she figured that she'd ask Winter before buying it.
Coldshock was just waking up as she entered the house; she found him stretching and yawning on the cushion as she entered their room to hang up the new painting. She showed it to him, and he stared at it for a minute before giving a small huff of what Moon took to be approval. Smiling, she looked for the best place to hang it as Coldshock climbed on top of her like he liked to do with Winter, perching on her shoulder. He nuzzled into her neck and she gave a small laugh. Then his stomach gurgled, and he gave a small whine.
With a chuckle, she set down the painting and left the room. It could be hung later; for now, her son was hungry, and it was time for either a hunt or a trip back outside to the market. She grinned; after this morning, the latter really didn't feel like a bad idea.
Winter tapped his claws on the desk in front of him, thinking for a moment before making a note on the scroll that was sitting atop it. He wrote a few words, then looked up and squinted as he gazed out the window of the scavenger sanctuary, watching the actions of the scavengers below. He tried to look for anything unusual or particularly noteworthy, but there was nothing to be found at present. All in all, today was a normal day for the scavengers.
Snorting, he put ink to the scroll again but failed to make a mark, shaking his head at the papyrus sheet that was less than a quarter full. Normally he'd have had at least twice as much down by now on a standard observation day like today, even when not much was happening, but not today. He wanted to blame it on the inactivity of the scavengers, but if he was honest, that wasn't the problem at all. Winter was, simply put, distracted.
The past couple of days had been…well, interesting. Moon was pleasant enough, even if the two of them were on some shaky footing with the whole situation, but Winter still couldn't really bring himself to trust himself around her. So he'd left a bit earlier to Sanctuary and stayed a bit later, spending a longer time tidying up and double-checking the scavengers while sending his assistant home. When he was home, he felt almost like he was walking on eggshells, always watching her out of the corner of his eye, wary. He couldn't allow himself to get to comfortable, not so long as she was under his roof.
Of course, Moon had not given him any real reason to fear, at least not so far. She'd obeyed his rules, keeping a respectful distance from him and being careful with his things. And she'd been obedient to some of the other instructions he'd given her since then, such as ensuring the door to his office stayed closed and keeping herself from his bedroom. So far, she really hadn't done anything that might make him regret letting her stay.
All in all…it was actually rather pleasant to have her around, in a way. Yes, she'd taken to hunting which saved him some time and made for a good meal, but that wasn't everything. It was good to just see her, as odd as that sounded, to have her there with him. If he was completely honest, it was what he'd been wanting for a long time.
And that terrified him just as much as it pleased him.
Winter shook his head. He wasn't doing it for him, though. He wasn't even doing it for her. He was hosting Moonwatcher for one reason: his son. Coldshock. The dragonet that he'd never been expecting. The dragonet that looked to be so much of himself and Moon. He couldn't just abandon them, not now. Yet at the same time, now that they were here, that they were staying with him, he had no idea what to do. How was he supposed to play the part of the mate and father under these conditions? How was he supposed to integrate them into his life? After all, he couldn't just hide in Sanctuary forever.
He sighed, looking outside again to try to distract himself from his distracting thoughts. Again, he saw nothing of note, just a few scavengers lounging around outside of their hut-like homes. A pair of them walked to the small lake and began to swim idly, casting off their second-skins as they submerged and played. Winter shook his head, jotting down a short note on that, not that it was anything really noteworthy.
Beside him, at the second desk, Swallow yawned as he made his own record. Winter frowned as he saw that his assistant had so much more jotted down than he did, but then again, the Skywing had no deep distractions like Winter did. Not even non-imminent ones. Unlike almost every other dragon in Sanctuary, Swallow was clean of any checkered past or horrors. He'd come to Sanctuary because he wanted to work with Scavengers, not because he was forced to due to something that happened in the war. He was just an ordinary drake, doing what he loved.
In that moment, Winter really envied him.
Swallow caught him looking at him and gave him a glance, tapping his tail. The Skywing had been quieter and given him a little bit of space in the past few days after meeting Moon and Coldshock, but Winter could see the curiosity bubbling in him. Swallow knew him very well, after all, having spent so much time together building Sanctuary, and it was only a matter of time before the topic of his situation was breached.
"Slow day," Swallow commented, looking out, "It's hot outside, though. Think that might be making them lazy?"
"It's possible," Winter told him. In truth, it wasn't that warm, not enough to matter, at least.
"Yep, possible," he nodded, and a silence fell. Swallow shifted slightly, then looked back at him, hesitating. Winter had a feeling he wanted to ask a question about his personal life, and after a minute he did. "So…how's Moonwatcher adjusting to Sanctuary?"
"She's adjusted well, as far as I can tell," Winter looked out, away from him, "No problems so far."
"Good," Swallow paused again, another awkward silence descending. "I…err…" he started again, "How is it, being a father?" he asked. "Forgive me, but I never took you to be the type."
Winter snorted. "It's…" he sighed, trying to find words, "Complicated." He looked back at the Skywing. "Especially since I wasn't exactly planning on it."
"Oh," Swallow tapped his tail, "I see. I…I know it isn't my place, but if you want to talk…" he offered.
"There's not too much to say," Winter shook his head, before finally looking back at him, "I visited her and her mate, and when he left on business, we mated behind his back. Now we have a son." He growled, mostly to himself. "It's as simple as that."
Swallow looked him over. "I'm sorry, but it doesn't feel as simple as that. You've talked about Moonwatcher quite a few times since I've known you, and you've always spoken with such affection and care. It takes a special kind of dragoness to coax that out of an Icewing, let alone it being a Nightwing doing it."
"Yes, I care for her," Winter huffed, "So what?"
"It's just that, knowing that, I thought that you'd be a bit more…pleased to see her. That you'd be happy to have her here. Instead, since she's come, you've looked like you burned your tail in a firepit. Multiple times, too."
Winter sighed, setting his scroll aside, "Look, if the circumstances were different, then maybe I would be. In fact, nothing would have pleased me more than if she would have been with me when I first came here. But she didn't. She chose a different life instead. But I couldn't let her go, and now I've ruined it for her."
"For her?" Swallow questioned, raising an eye ridge.
Winter gave him a warning glare. "The situation is unidealfor all involved," he admitted, his tone a little harsher than he intended, "For her as well as me. I didn't want this to happen. I never expected it to happen."
"But it did," Swallow observed, "Now, what are you going to do about it?"
Lashing his tail, Winter growled and shook his head. "I…I don't know. I'm trying to figure it out."
Swallow opened his mouth to speak, but Winter cut him off.
"Swallow, I know you're trying to be helpful, but I don't want to talk about it," he told him, "Not now. I just…I need a little more time."
The Skywing gave a small nod. "Okay, Winter. But if you need anything, just let me know. I know you've never been the most touchy-feely dragon when it comes to this stuff, but…well, I'm here if you need me."
Winter looked back out the window towards the scavengers. "Thank you," he said softly.
A few moments passed in silence as Winter tried to get back into the swing of taking notes, but between the scavengers doing nothing and his continued thoughts of Moon and his son, he really couldn't. All he could do was drip a few drops of ink on the scroll and watch as they slowly dried without ever taking form into words. It was only a little passed noon, but already it felt like the whole day had dragged on.
Down below, a female scavenger left one of the dwellings, making her way out towards the lake. Another scavenger approached and gently patted something in her arms. She shifted, and Winter saw that it was a baby scavenger that she held, one of only a few young ones in Sanctuary. Winter smiled as he watched another one or two scavenger approach; he'd noticed this kind of behavior similar to that in dragons where young seemed to be adored and protected by the whole little scavenger society. It seemed that that kind of care towards young was almost universal.
Beside him, Swallow chuckled as he watched the same scene, a grin on his face.
"What's so funny?" Winter asked.
"Nothing," the Skywing said as he twitched his tail, "Just thinking that you're not too unlike the scavengers down there. With a young one of your own."
Winter's smile faded a little, but it didn't disappear. "Yeah, I guess not."
"He's a cute little guy. Coldshock, right?" he asked for clarification, and Winter nodded, "He has his mother's scales, I could tell that, but he reminded me of you already. Think he'll be interested in scavengers?"
"He might be," Winter shrugged his wings, "Too early to say, really, but I hope so."
"I was going to suggest you bring him here again, but then I remembered what happened with Tulip. Don't want him trying to eat any more scavengers, do we?" Swallow snickered.
Winter shook his head but laughed along a little. "No, we don't, but we'll see. I don't know what Moon has been doing with him, but it might be nice for him. At the very least, if he gets closer to scavengers, he's more likely to learn not to eat them," he paused and looked around, "Speaking of Tulip, where is she?" Come to think of it, he hadn't seen his assistant's pet scavenger the past couple of days.
"Oh, I left her at home," Swallow told him, nonchalantly, "Just in case you did bring Coldshock here to work. But it's fine, she has food and water and…what?" he paused as Winter gave him an incredulous look.
"I thought that you just suggested I bring him," Winter said, shaking his head slowly, "And yet you hide your pet in fear that I do."
The Skywing rolled his eyes. "Well, I don't want her to get eaten. I like Tulip, after all. If it was that brute you caught that seems to rule down there, then maybe it would be a different story."
The mention of the scavenger that Swallow had dubbed simply "the brute" made Winter snort. That particular scavenger was the largest in sanctuary and tended to be the leader of the bunch, appearing to give out orders and instructions to others, almost like a queen bee. He was a mean one, too; Winter had seen him getting physical with more than one of the weaker scavengers, and he'd actually fought against Winter and Swallow on some of the few occasions that they entered the sanctuary and interacted with them.
"But fine," Swallow continued, "Here, tomorrow I'll bring Tulip and you bring Coldshock, and we'll try to reintroduce them without anyone getting eaten. Sound good?"
Winter thought for a second. If he was honest, he didn't really want to bring Coldshock, as the dragonet was apt to distract him even more than he already was, but he supposed he probably should. After all, what better way was there for him to be involved in his son's life than spending time with him, even if he would be working during that time? And doing might also allow Moon to get out and do something, if she wanted to.
He nodded, slowly, "Okay," he said, "We'll try it."
"Great!" Swallow grinned, an odd gleam in the Skywing's eye as he poked Winter with his wing "And it'll be nice for me to interact with him early, you know. Maybe I can keep him from being as grumpy as his father."
Winter narrowed his eyes and snorted, "I'm not grumpy," he huffed, "I'm just an Icewing."
Swallow flashed his teeth, "You say that like's there's a difference."
If there had been something convenient to throw at his assistant, Winter would have thrown it, even if it meant proving him right. As it was, all he could do was roll his eyes and look out once more to see if the scavengers were doing anything as Swallow laughed. Unfortunately, they weren't, and Winter had a feeling that the long day was just going to get longer.