A/N: Sorry this one took far longer than usual. Hopefully between me being done with school and Different Threads nearing completion, I'll be able to spend more time on this one soon. But we'll see how it goes, shall we?
Ch. 7
It was three days later when the first date that Moon had signed up to help with the construction of the new buildings arrived, and Moon would be lying to herself if she said that she wasn't a little nervous as she made her way to the edge of town. Winter had taken Coldshock off with him to Sanctuary, so she wasn't worried about that, but she was still a little uncomfortable putting herself out in the community like this. Up until now, she'd mostly stayed in the safety of Winter's house and the solitude of the forests outside the town. Now, she'd be making herself visible for anybody and everybody to see and know.
Maybe it was nothing, but it also felt like a big first step, too. Her going out and doing this was practically an official sign that she was intending to be a member of Sanctuary. Of course, she'd been becoming part of the town for a while now, so to say, but a part of her didn't quite know how to feel about that. Yes, she'd determined that if Winter was here, this is where she'd be so Coldshock could have a father, but it still didn't feel like a home, not to her. Yet here she was, about to treat it like one.
Because of that doubt, she'd almost turned back instead of asking directions when she forgot which side of town the building efforts were on. Then she almost turned back again when she saw the end of the street that she was walking on leading to an open area with a large group of dragons working, but she steeled herself and went on. Cautiously, she stepped past the last scattered homes and entered a barren area, a kind of clearing of upturned dirt that stretched forward a little shorter than the length of a block of houses in the town and was nearly half as wide. Many dragons stood or walked around on it, some dragging large branches or tools that she didn't recognize, and none doing anything that Moon could really identify.
Luckily, Moon recognized Dragonfly standing in the middle of this apparent construction area, and she approached hesitantly. The large Mudwing seemed busy, looking over a few scrolls and giving instructions to a couple of other dragons that stood by, and Moon almost thought better of trying to talk to her before Dragonfly's eyes spotted her and she waver her over.
"Oh, good, you're here," the Mudwing said, her voice a bit gruff but not at all displeased, "Your name was…Moonwatcher, right? Riptide told me to keep an eye out for you."
"Yeah, that's my name," Moon smiled, shifting on her feet, "I signed up to help today. What should I do?"
"Right now we're still clearing most of the land in preparation to actually build," Dragonfly told her, "Although one group is planning on putting in some of the posts and beginning the frame of one of the buildings. I don't know which one you'll prefer, but I'd advise finding one of the group leaders and asking them what you can help with, since if I recall correctly, you said you don't have experience. Or find someone who knows what they're doing and help them out."
"Oh…thanks," Moon faltered a little bit. While what the Mudwing said made sense, she'd kind of been hoping that Dragonfly could have been the one to point her to what she needed to do to help. Especially since now she had to ask around with dragons she didn't know to find out what to do.
But as luck would have it, as she turned around, she caught sight of the scales of one of the few other dragons she knew. "Gale!" she shouted as she ran up to the Skywing that she'd sat with at the meeting, "Hey, Gale!"
The red Skywing looked around in confusion at hearing her name until she saw her bounding over. "Moon!" she exclaimed, "Good to see you again! I'm glad to see you decided to help out."
"Thanks," Moon said as she slowed her pace and began to walk beside her, "I mean, I said I would, and I think it's probably for the best, all things considered. The only problem is, I don't really know what to do."
"Oh, well you can join my group," Gale offered, "We're just clearing a lot of the smaller trees and brush from the area, nothing too difficult. Just pull it out and haul it to a pile to be burned." She motioned with her head to a couple towering stacks of wood and plants that had been uprooted. As she watched, another Skywing approached one of them and released his fire onto it, sending smoke and ashes towering into the sky.
Looking down, Moon realized that the dirt ground they were on had once been part of the forest that was before her. Only days ago, it had been trees and plants where now it was barren, and soon there would be huts and houses. It was impressive, actually, if not a little sad to see the trees uprooted and ground torn up.
"The bigger trees are handled by a different team," Gale continued, "So we can just work around those. A lot of them get used for building material, so try not to damage them if you can avoid it."
"Got it," Moon nodded, and again she looked around. This time she saw a group of dragons near one such large tree. They had ropes around it, and when they pulled they brought it down in one large thud. Moon actually gave a small shudder as she watched the thing hit the ground; a tree that size could severely injure a dragon if it fell on them. As could a lot of the large posts and beams that she saw here and there that were being readied for the construction portion of the project.
Gale moved towards the tree line, and Moon followed. She noticed several other dragons walking around carrying branches, bushes, and all other sorts of foliage out of the woods. Moon watched them as they took it to one of those large piles and tossed it on.
"Why don't you just burn it out?" Moon asked, "Seems like it would be quicker." Indeed, pulling out the forest root by root seemed illogical when they had fire to do the work for them.
"You'd think that would work, wouldn't you?" Gale told her, "But no, it doesn't. For one thing, it damages the larger trees, which we want in good condition. For another thing, it risks the fire spreading and catching even more of the forest ablaze, even spreading into the city. We prefer to avoid that, especially with how dry it's been recently. I'm sure you can understand."
Moon gave a nod. "That makes sense."
They stopped right at the edge of the trees, looking in on the forest. "Dragonfly set some markers at how back it needs to go, so you only need to go until you reach that boundary. It's pretty straightforward, for the most part you just grab and pull. Most of it should come pretty easy, but you may need some help on the larger stuff," she paused for a second and grinned, "And on that note, you should probably meet the rest of the group that you volunteered to help."
She waved to a Seawing who was just walking back into the forest, motioning her over. "Moonwatcher, meet Current," she introduced them, "Current, Moonwatcher. She's helping us out as part of our group today."
Current was a rather unremarkably blue dragoness, her color and scale patterns more or less resembling the "average" of her tribe. Her eyes were a bit lighter blue than her scales, though, which gave them a piercing quality. In terms of age, she looked maybe a year or two older than Moon—if that—which probably meant she'd not served in the war, at least not in a traditional capacity.
"You can just call me Moon," Moon said, a little nervous as the other dragoness looked at her sharply, as if judging her.
…But then the Seawing grinned, and an almost delighted look entered her eyes. "Hello, Moon," she greeted, "Nice to meet you. You wouldn't happen to like to read, but any chance?"
There was an energy in her voice that almost reminded Moon of Kinkajou, and she heard Gale sigh next to her. "At least give her a few minutes before you ask," the Skywing huffed, rolling her eyes.
Moon glanced at Gale at that, but nodded to Current. "Yeah, I do, actually. In fact, I just finished a Seawing scroll about a prince saving his lover from a monster. Why?"
"Here she goes," Gale mumbled.
"It's just that I have a reading club, and we're always looking for new members," Current told her, "You're new in Sanctuary, I can tell, and it might be something you'd like to check out, if you're interested. We try to meet every week, and we all read through the same scroll—but different copies, of course—and discuss it over a midday brunch or tea."
"I apologize for her," Gale spoke before Moon could, "She tries to invite everyone. It's kind of her thing. You've no obligation to—"
"Actually, that sounds nice," Moon said, and she found herself meaning it. It was something to do that would get her out of Winter's house a little more once the construction was done, and at a smaller scale as well! "I enjoy reading, and that's something I'll have to look into."
"Great!" Current exclaimed, "I'll let you know when our next meeting is. Construction always throws things off, so I'm not actually sure when that will be yet. But we did just finish a scroll, so you'll be starting fresh."
"Lovely," Moon found herself grinning along with the Seawing. Gale just rolled her eyes again.
"What's this?" a new voice spoke, and Moon turned to see that a Mudwing dragoness had approached her from the rear. Like many of her tribe, she looked big and strong and a bit intimidating. She also looked a little familiar, too, in her features and light brown scales.
"This is Moon," Current told the new arrival, "She's a new arrival in Sanctuary and will be helping us with our work today. She's also interested in joining the reading club!"
The Mudwing gave a snort, but then a small grin. "Salutations, then," she spoke in a lower and gruffer voice than Moon was used to hearing, "My name is Willow. I look forward to working with you."
Moon returned her grin and nodded, then a thought popped in her head that she looked back across the building area to confirm. "Are you related to Dragonfly, by any chance?"
"I'm her sister, yes," Willow answered. "I'm not surprised you know her. Aside from Riptide, she's one of the first dragons many new arrivals meet."
"Do you help her with the planning and stuff for building?" Moon asked, curious and trying to be friendly.
The Mudwing gave a snort and shook her head. "That's always been my sister's area. I never had much interest, but I do help out with the construction where I can like everyone else." There was a kind of monotonous tone in her voice that bespoke a bit of concealed exasperation. Moon could hear in Willow's mind that the question was one she was asked all the time.
"And is your other sister around?" Gale asked, "Salvinia, I mean. She might want to meet Moon, too."
Willow shrugged her wings. "I think she just left a little bit ago. Had something to do."
"Oh," Gale blinked, "That just leaves…Lantana. Anyone seen her?"
"She was still in the brush when I pulled my last load out," Current told her, "She should be out any minute herself."
As if on cue, a Sandwing tramped out of the woods. "Well, I would have been out a while ago," she declared in a frustrated voice, a natural hiss in her words typical of her tribe, "But I was waiting for one of you to come help me get out a tree, and apparently I didn't get the message that we were all taking a break."
"Oh, sorry about that," Gale said in a voice that didn't actually convey much sorrow, "We were just all meeting Moonwatcher. She's joining our group for the day."
Lantana just snorted and approached her, the Sandwing's sharp, black eyes piercing into her own. She gave an almost threatening-looking grin, showing off her sharp teeth as she flicked out a forked tongue. Her barb, too, curled around her sandy-brown scales but revealing its deadly tip.
"Moonwatcher," the Sandwing tested her name, her gaze not wavering, "Interesting."
"Be nice, Lantana," Current stepped forward, "Don't scare her off, not when she's interested in the club. And besides, it isn't her fault that you had to wait an extra few minutes."
The Sandwing shot Current a look, but did relax a little and lost the intensity of her gaze. "It actually is," she huffed, "But I get your point. I'll try to restrain myself."
That seemed to be the extent of her introduction, but for Gale bumping Moon's wing. "Don't mind her too much," the Skywing said, "Her temperament is typical of a dragon that was brought up in a kingdom with nothing but heat and sand."
Lantana shot her a look at that, but said nothing. Moon heard amusement in the minds of the other dragonesses. She couldn't help but get the feeling that the dragons here were closer friends than just working together on a single job.
"That's okay," she told Gale, "I have plenty of experience with Sandwings."
A little too much, almost, her mind added, with a twinge of regret. She didn't miss the Sand Kingdom, but there were some dragons there that she'd become decent enough friends with that she suddenly missed now seeing Lantana. And of course, there was Qibli…
"Well, then, now that introductions are out of the way, we can get to work," Gale said with a light clap of her claws, "Let's get that tree that was bothering you, Lantana, and with Moon's help we should be able to get this whole section clear by the end of today."
"Sounds good," Willow said, that rest mumbled agreement. The group turned back to the woods and began to get back to what they were doing. Only Gale remained behind for a moment.
"If you need any help, just let me or any of the other dragonesses know," she told Moon, "We'll all be glad to assist, even Lantana. It's all pretty straightforward, but no need to strain yourself pulling up a small tree when a second set of claws will get it out far easier."
Moon smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Gale." The Skywing gave her a grin, and they got to work.
It was pretty monotonous stuff, pulling out small trees and underbrush, and it was hard labor as well. Moon couldn't remember the last time she had gotten her claws so dirty, nor when she'd carried so much stuff back and forth. By the end of it, she felt like her claws had gone half-dull from digging at roots and slicing through plants and that her scales had lost their shiny hue. And also, by the end, she was completely exhausted.
Yet…she found that she enjoyed it. Perhaps not the labor so much as being a part of something and being with others besides Winter. Current talked to her a lot as they worked, asking about the scroll she'd read. Gale was friendly and offered some advice not just on how to do the job, but also on different locations and shops in the town. Willow, too, was nice when they spoke, although she was quieter, and even Lantana was including her in the talk amongst the group by the time they finished for the day.
All in all, for the first time since graduating Jade Mountain Academy, Moon found herself having a legitimate feeling of belonging here among the friend group she'd stumbled into. And as she left to go back home, she was looking forward to the next day she would go to help out.
Coldshock crept slowly and quietly towards his prey, his small paws making nearly no sound as they carried him through the grass. His body was low to the ground, his wings close against his sides, making every effort to conceal himself and avoid detection. The dragonet's eyes remained intently fixated in his quarry, his claws unsheathed as his tail twitched only very lightly in anticipation. He paused, close enough now to his prey that he was practically upon it, then readied himself. Just a moment or two and the time would be just right for…
He pounced, launching himself up in the air and towards his target, claws out and ready to catch his prey as his wings half-spread to stabilize him.
Unfortunately for Coldshock, the jump was far too far. He sailed over the rabbit, which took off in the blink of the eye, vanishing from view as it found its burrow and hid. It had escaped, and all the little hybrid could do was pull himself up from the ground where he had tumbled and give a whining cry.
Winter couldn't help but chuckle as he watched his son's first hunts. Coldshock had proven to be quite unsuccessful thus far, and the latest attempt only illustrated that. So far, he'd gone after three rabbits, two squirrels, and an indeterminate number of birds, and the only thing he'd come up with was a few feathers. It was to the point where even Tulip, standing at Winter's feet and watching with him, gave a small shake of her head in pity.
"It's okay," Winter said, helping his son back up and lightly brushing the dirt off of him, "It just takes some more practice. You'll get the hang of it soon as you get bigger. And you're already doing better; that rabbit didn't even see you until you jumped."
Coldshock just gave a little sniff in response, his green eyes a little teary and disappointed. His wings sagged to his sides as he gave another pathetic whine.
Winter felt a little pang in his heart, seeing him like that, "You really are doing better," he spoke again, trying to encourage him, "You just need a little more experience. Maybe if you had a target that didn't just run off so fast, you could try some more to get it right." He paused, getting an idea. "Hey, Swallow!"
A few seconds later, the Skywing's head popped out of the Sanctuary observatory. They'd been working together, and it had been a pretty slow day, so he'd volunteered to stay inside and observe while Winter took Tulip and Coldshock outside so they could play a little, which had led to Coldshock practicing his hunting skills after they'd come across a squirrel. Since then, Winter had been trying to give pointers to his son, but with how young the dragonet was it was hard to see if they were taking, of if he really even understood that much. It felt like he did, at least.
"What is it?" Swallow asked, then opened his mouth wide with a yawn.
"Is there still nothing happening?" Winter asked.
"The only thing that's changed is that two scavengers are now swimming in the lake," came the answer, "Hardly riveting stuff."
"Good," Winter stepped back from Coldshock and unfurled his wings, "Could you watch over Coldshock for a moment? I'm going see if I can find something really quick. I should only be a few minutes."
Swallow shrugged, "Sure. Won't be missing anything."
"Thanks," Winter said simply before taking to the sky. He really didn't have far to go, just to a nearby creek. If what he was looking for was there, he should know it pretty quickly.
Luck was on his side, too. It didn't take but a minute of him flying over the water before he spotted what he was after. He dove down, scooping it up in one swift motion, then was away. Only a minute or two later and he was landing back at Sanctuary.
Swallow raised an eye ridge at his arrival. "Okay, I'm curious," he said, "What was it you found so important to go get now."
"This!" Winter said, a bit of mock pride in his voice as he held it out in a claw and showed it to him, the creature struggling in his grasp.
"A…turtle?" Swallow asked, confused, "Why do you need a turtle? The scavengers already have turtles in their pond."
"It's not for the scavengers, it's for Coldshock," Winter explained, setting the animal down. It began to crawl away, slowly. "Now he can practice hunting and pouncing on a moving target, but one that won't immediately be able to get away when he fails."
"Ah, so that's what you've been doing out here," Swallow grinned, "I should have figured you'd be giving hunting lessons instead of working."
"I'm just taking a break," Winter replied, perhaps a little too quickly, "You know I wouldn't intentionally miss out on work."
"Of course not," Swallow answered, but Winter could hear the sarcasm.
In the meantime, Coldshock had cautiously approached the turtle, which was about a quarter of his size, and hesitantly batted at its shell. The turtle seemed to pay it little mind, its focus mainly on crawling away from the adult dragons. Coldshock just stepped along with it, continuing to tentatively hit it and even bite it.
"Here," Winter said, stepping forward and picking Coldshock up, then stepping a little bit back and setting him back down, "Try what I was showing you, what you did before. Creep up on him, and then pounce."
Coldshock tilted his head, confused for a moment, but then began to follow Winter's instructions. Slowly, he approached the turtle like he had the rabbit before, keeping low and stealthy. Then, once he got close, he leapt.
Tulip laughed as he missed again, this time falling far short of the turtle. Swallow's pet scavenger had found the whole process rather amusing, and she seemed to get a kick out his failure. Swallow swatted her for it with his tail and told her not to be mean, but it didn't stop her giggling.
"That's okay, try again," Winter urged Coldshock when he looked his way, and the little hybrid ran off away and repeated his approach. This time, when he jumped at the turtle, he got much closer, getting a claw on its shell but mostly overshooting and not holding on. "Better!" Winter called out, "Keep trying!"
He settled back to watch as Coldshock did just that, coming at the turtle from different angles as he began to hone in his attack. It wouldn't be much longer, Winter was sure, and he'd have it.
"He's quite the little dragonet," Swallow observed from beside him, "I'd say you're pretty lucky, Winter."
Winter started to snort but didn't. It was true that he hadn't necessarily expected Coldshock, nor had he been wanting him before his arrival, and in truth his son existed for a reason that still cut Winter deeply. But watching him now, Winter couldn't imagine him not being a part of his life. Coldshock was…well, he was a very special dragonet. "Yeah, I guess I am."
He sighed a little contentedly as he watched Coldshock. He had his Sanctuary, and he had his son here learning and growing. It felt…nice. And in that moment, fatherhood really didn't feel so bad, or so hard.
"Well, I'm going to go back in and see if the scavengers finally decided to do anything interesting," Swallow said, "How are the reports for this week coming?"
"Reports?" Winter asked, drawn back into reality, "Oh, yeah. They're…they're coming."
"Falling behind any?" Swallow asked, his voice knowing.
"Yeah, a little," Winter admitted, trying not to make it sound like anything serious. In truth, he still had quite a bit of work to do on them that he'd normally be done with by now. But between Moon and Coldshock, he'd been considerably more distracted than normal. He'd just have to find time to squeeze in the work when he had the chance. "Don't worry, I'll get them done."
"Good," Swallow nodded, "But Winter, if you need any help, I'm more than willing to assist. I can take some of the load off…"
"I'm fine," Winter snapped, a bit harsher than he meant to, then he growled more at himself than at his friend, "Look, Swallow, I appreciate it, but it's nothing that I can't handle."
"Still," Swallow said, "You don't have to handle it all alone if you don't need to."
Winter frowned, not upset at his friend so much as the implication that he couldn't handle Moon and Coldshock while doing everything he wanted at Sanctuary. Mainly because he feared it was true. He'd been able to have a one-track mind focused on his research for so long, and now there was another major thing vying for his attention. How many other times had he left Sanctuary to just sit outside instead of observing the scavengers? He'd almost never done that, even on the quietest of days. Now he was distracted even at work, distracted at home, and falling behind on everything. And even though there was a part of him that been enjoying that just moments ago, he was equally terrified of it.
Why does everything have to always be so difficult? he wondered to himself miserably, Why can't I ever just get to enjoy anything without it hurting myself and those around me?
"Winter?" Swallow asked beside him, "…You okay?"
"I…" he sighed, "Yeah, I'm fine."
Swallow gave him a look that said he didn't believe it, but was distracted by a loud squeal of delight before he could say anything. They both looked to see that Coldshock had successfully pounced on the turtle and was on top of its shell scratching at it. With a look of triumph in his eyes, Coldshock hopped off and ran behind it, then quickly stalked it again and leaped back on the shell effortlessly.
"Good job, Coldshock!" Winter called out, his spirits suddenly feeling a bit higher at seeing his son succeed. Coldshock just gave him a wide grin in response, then went back to trying to dispatch his prey.
The unlucky turtle by now must have been feeling the assault that they hybrid was giving out, and it tried to get rid of him. But the turtle was built for the water, and Coldshock had the mastery here on land. Satisfied with his pouncing abilities, the dragonet's mind was now on a snack, and he began biting in earnest. The turtle responded by drawing its head and limbs into its shell as much as possible, but it wasn't enough. Coldshock had found out that the shell was harder than the rest of it, and he targeted the soft flesh. Soon enough, his teeth found the head of the turtle, and it was all over for the aquatic reptile.
Coldshock only took a few bites, though. Then he grabbed it by the tail and began tugging on it. Winter cocked his head as his son dragged it through the grass towards where he and Swallow were standing. With how young Coldshock was, it took a minute or two, but finally he brought the carcass over and set it in front of him.
Winter's son looked up at him expectantly, bright emerald eyes looking up at him. There was a wide smile on his face as his wings flapped a little excitedly at his sides.
"Da!" Coldshock cried, excited. "Dad. Dada!"
Winter's eyes brightened. Were those…words?
"I think he's trying to say 'dad'," Swallow said, nudging his wing, "Has he done that before?"
"Never," Winter answered softly, not looking away from his dragonet. He slowly reached his head down and nuzzled his son's snout, who quickly leaned into the embrace. He purred against him, a deep rumble in his throat, and Coldshock responded with one of his own, albeit a bit higher-pitched.
"Da!" Coldshock said again once Winter had raised his head up, and he pushed the turtle more towards him.
"For me?" Winter asked, pointing to it, and his son nodded enthusiastically. "Thank you, Coldshock. Thank you." He picked up the carcass and ate. It was only a mouthful or two—for him, at least—but it was pretty good. It had been a while since he'd had turtle, and he had to say that this was a pretty tasty one for its kind. Soon, all that remained was the shell, and he gave it back to Coldshock. A moment later the little dragonet was playing with it like a new toy.
Winter watched him, his heart warm. Not only had his dragonet said his first word (which was naming him "dad"), but he had given a hard-won meal to Winter. As Swallow had said, he was quite the little dragonet. Already, Winter could tell he had a lot of his mother's heart in him.
Swallow nudged him again, then motioned that he was going back inside. Which was fine; it was wise not to go too long without checking in on the scavengers in the middle of the day. But before he, left, the Skywing added one more thing.
"Remember, Winter. Some things are more important than watching scavengers."
In that moment, Winter could honestly say he believed him.