Chapter Text
He didn't know when he had dozed off, or how long it had been for- Winter didn't even remember what he had experienced in the brief flashes of images in his mind, but whatever it had been, it was enough to get him in a sweat. Or was it because of the fact that his chest felt hot? A look down revealed that the cloth from earlier was still on his chest- and had kept its warmth.
He sat up slightly, wincing slightly from the pain and looked over to see that Canary had dozed off at her desk, Winter's gaze softening slightly when he saw it. How much had she been through, he wondered, and how much more would a dragon like her endure? He sighed, unfurling his wings carefully- minding everything around him as he'd frown slightly.
More then anything, he wanted to just take off and fly somewhere. His mind raced with the possibilities... Jade Mountain Academy? No, if Snowfall found out he had been there, she'd probably punish him more harshly for it. The Ice Kingdom definitely wasn't an option... Possibility, maybe?
His thought process was derailed when Riptide came back, a nervous laugh escaping from the Seawing as he looked towards Canary, then back towards Winter. "Sorry about the wait- I got tangled up in helping some of the other dragons around the settlement!"
He laughed nervously, apologizing before sitting himself down nearby Winter's stretcher, unfurling the scroll he had- as well as putting down the inkwell.
"Okay, so, I'll let you decide what to start with first, Winter." Riptide looked past the scroll at the Icewing, giving the former Prince a friendly smile, "You want me to write the scroll first, or do you want to talk about what you know?"
Winter's head swam at the options, the Icewing's snout twisting into a grimace as his eyebrows furrowed and his wings curled back inwards into his body- something that Riptide caught as the Seawing moved to interject before Winter shook his head.
"I'll- I'll tell you what I know about everything." He'd look downwards towards his claws, taking a breath before starting his recollection. Darkstalker's unsealing, who the hybrid actually was, the Icewing Plague, and his account of what happened at Jade Mountain Academy. As he spoke, his eyes flashed with hurt, and he had to stop here and there to collect himself, as one image in particular kept repeating.
He remembered his father's lifeless body, how those eyes stared into him. He felt nauseous and ill, but forced himself to tell the story up until where he was now. Riptide looked pale in the face, his eyes widening slightly as he clutched the scroll ever so slightly tighter.
"Moons above, to think some old folktale would rise up out of a mountain and do all that... No wonder why we haven't heard much. The loss of Queen Glacier must've been devastating-" He caught himself then, fixing Winter with a soft look, "And what you've gone through isn't easy, either. No-one should have to go through something like that."
'And yet I did.' Winter noted bitterly, a grimace soon makings its way onto his features, 'I went through so much, and now I'm here. Stuck. Alone. The last thing I did was upset all of them, and left them all behind again.'
'You are good at that, aren't you "Prince" Winter?'
A deep booming voice rippled through Winter's head, and he'd clutch his head for a moment as he curled inwards sharply with a hiss; eyes wrenching shut as it burned through his mind. He knew that voice, he knew who that belonged to-
"Winter!" Riptide's voice cut through that brief moment of panic, and Winter snapped to his senses to claws on his shoulder- a shoulder Winter jerked out of Riptide's grasp immediately, the sudden movement making his chest ache. "Nnngh! I'm s-sorry, it's rough for me to recall-"
He started to apologize, but he couldn't get over what he had heard. Darkstalker's voice. That was Darkstalker, wasn't it? He had to focus, block that out of his mind- deep breaths, he told himself. Breathe in, breathe out. That deep exhale allowed pressure off his chest he didn't know he still had, and with that pressure came sharp stings of pain from how tight his chest had been.
Riptide seemed to notice the struggle Winter was going through, the Seawing quick to dip his claw in the inkwell he had brought as he prepared himself to write instead. "Okay, so that's a rough subject, noted! Let's focus on writing your letter instead, yeah? Just tell me what to write, and I'll write it."
Winter nodded his head, trying to push the pain out of his chest as he took a couple more deep, steadying breaths- In, out. In, out.
Eventually, his breathing regulated, and the Icewing nodded his head. He'd allow himself to slowly lay back down, and started to speak in a slow, measured tone.
"To Moonwatcher, or Qibli.
I'm sorry I haven't written to you sooner, things have been hectic lately.
After that battle at Jade Mountain Academy, I found myself back in the Kingdom of Ice, and I got into a kerfuffle with my cousin- who you might now know as the new Icewing Queen, Queen Snowfall. She exiled me from the Kingdom, and purged my name and rank from the Gift of Order.
This means that I am no longer seen as worth consideration- that I'm not even seen as an Icewing anymore."
He stopped then, his voice wavering slightly Riptide also paused, his expression hard and unreadable- but given that Riptide always tended to show how he felt, Winter could guess that he wasn't too pleased with this. Eventually, Winter continued to speak, and after a moment would Riptide continue to write it down.
"However, I'm in a better position now. I'm being tended to by some dragons of this settlement I found at the edges of the Sky Kingdom. The dragons here are nice, there's a dragon named Canary whose been helping tend to my wounds."
There was a hurt look from Riptide then, and Winter couldn't help but shift slightly uncomfortably- that look almost reminded him of Qibli. Yet, despite that, he decided to also add on,
"Riptide's helping me out, too, though. He's the one writing this scroll for me- trying to hunch over writing with the wound I have would be painful, so he's taking over. Try to write back to me if you can, I'll have Riptide enclose a map of where this settlement is so you can."
"Signed, Winter."
With that being said, Winter would sigh, and he felt a new ache settle in his chest. He never would've admitted it a month or two ago, but... He deeply missed his Winglet. Moonwatcher, Qibli, Kinkajou, Turtle- they had been through so much together, and yet...
He remembered Moon siding with Darkstalker, Qibli's harsh jab at the spell cast on him, and the fact that it felt like everyone was against him for not wanting to suffer at the claws of that evil dragon anymore.
"Is that all, Winter? I'll go ahead and enclose the map- thanks for asking in advance, by the way." Riptide playfully teased Winter, and as the Icewing nodded would the Seawing roll up the scroll, tucking it away and cleaning off his claws of the remaining ink. "I'll give this to our courier, and send it out tomorrow afternoon. For right now, though-"
Riptide had turned to leave the hut, and right before he could would he stop in the doorway, turning to look back at Winter with an expression the Icewing could almost swear was sorrowful in some way.
"You should get more rest- and if there's anything else you need to talk about, you can ask Canary or I, alright?"
When the Seawing lingered for Winter's response, the ex-prince would nod his head, satisfying Riptide as he stepped out of the hut, leaving Winter alone with a still-sleeping Canary. He turned his gaze towards her, amazed that she had slept through all of that, especially after the freakout he had when his mind went back to Darkstalker.
However, he didn't want to dwell on that for long. He was still tired himself, and that was something that also lingered on his mind. He felt so exhausted, so weary, and it felt like everything he thought he knew and had, had come tumbling down around him. He wasn't allowed to see his winglet again, he wasn't allowed to go back to the Kingdom of Ice- he felt like a fugitive almost as he curled up on the hammock he was on.
What would become of him? Where would he go now? He had nowhere, no-one, and that... That terrified him. It shouldn't have, he was an Icewing, he should be carrying himself with dignity and grace even despite everything that had happened, right?
So why couldn't he?
That question lingered in Winter's mind, bouncing around his head as he'd grimace to himself, tucking into his hammock more as he'd hiss softly to himself in answer to his question,
"Because I'm not a real Icewing."
And with that thought burning a hole through heart and mind, Winter forced his eyes closed and tried to drift off to sleep once more, in hopes that his dreams would give him more solace and comfort then what the real world had.