Wings Of Honor: Heart of Ice

Chapter 11: Rondevu With The Resistance

"HOLY SHhhh...."
Winter let out a roar and swung his claws in a large arc.
The attacking dragon stopped himself at the last moment, just out of range of Winter's talons.
He yelped in surprise and fell back with a splash. "Hey!" the new dragon shouted. "Rude! You could have taken my nose off!"
"And you'd deserve it for jumping at me like that!" Winter snarled.
"I was practicing my stealth approach," the dragon grumbled, standing up and shaking off his wet green wings. He was a SeaWing, a bit older than Winter or Turtle, but much scrawnier. "I wouldn't have actually hurt you."
"Then at least tell us first!" Grace shouted at him too, bearing her fangs. She was scared back into a sitting position, now standing angrily and looking more like a Skywing red, almost adjacent to Winter.
"That's true, because I would have ripped off your tail and beaten you with it first." Winter countered.
"Nice," Qibli said from the shore. "Not the face this time. Very creative."
Grace snorted with a laugh. Her colors shifted back to a more mellow purple and blue black. They would've thought she was a Rainwing.
"Squid!" Someone shouted above them. "Didn't you hear my orders?" I trained my rifle the next instant. A sky-blue SeaWing with dark blue horns came soaring down from the clouds, landing next to the first with a splash. This dragon was bigger, older, and was frowning.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat," Squid whined.
"I very clearly said, Nobody approach the strangers until I've had a chance to speak to them," said the new SeaWing. Stealthy and disobeying orders, I liked him already. "What you're doing? The opposite of that."
"I was being STEALTHY," Squid said, smacking the water with his wings. "Dad said I should practice. He thinks I'm really good at it. He said maybe I'll be an amazing spy one day."
The other SeaWing looked as though he had about reached the end of his rope. "Squid, take your lurking and snooping and harassment somewhere else. Right. Now."
"Fine fine FINE." Squid floundered out of the water, flapping his wings and grumbling. "You know, my dad used to be the leader of the Talons of Peace. I don't know why he lets you boss him around. When he wanted to step aside, he could have let me take over, I mean, what was wrong with that plan ..." He took off into the sky. I still could hear him muttering and whining for a long while as he flew out of sight. I already had a list of reasons why he shouldn't lead the Talons of Peace. Heck, PEACE was in the fricken name.
Winter and Qibli exchanged an amused glance. Grace still stood ready. I had cloaked the moment Squid said he wouldn't hurt Winter, neither noticed me. The blue SeaWing took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
"I apologize," he said. "Let's pretend that never happened. My name is Riptide. I saw your signal ... Are you looking for the Talons of Peace?"
Riptide? Why is that name familiar?
"Yes." Winter said, climbing out of the river onto the grass. "Deathbringer said we should come to you. We need a SkyWing to help us with something." Grace nodded alongside him.
"We don't have a lot of SkyWings," Riptide admitted. "Ruby pardoned almost everyone who'd had a disagreement with her mother, so all the fugitives who'd been hiding from Scarlet went home."
"Oh. That's good." Grace positively interrupted.
"But we still have a couple who don't feel safe going back — I can ask one of them."
He let out an odd high-pitched whistle, which did not agree at all with my tinnitus. Two more dragons emerged from the trees. One was a MudWing with a broken tail; the other... was an IceWing. He was a glittering silvery-white with pale purple underscales. But it was an IceWing Winter had obviously never seen before, judging by his own shocked expression. And he gave off a vibe he knew everybody, at least, all those who were relevant.
"Please ask the SkyWings to come here." Riptide ordered the MudWing, who nodded and flew away.
"Who are you?" Winter asked the IceWing, who was regarding him with similar cold stare. (Ha! Unconscious ice joke because Icewing. Oh my god, I'm as bad as Qibli.)
"Cirrus of the IceWings," the strange dragon hissed. "And you?"
Now Winter looked even more shocked. "I'm Prince Winter," he said slowly. He looked lost in thought for a moment, then followed up. "Why don't I know you?"
Cirrus flicked his dark blue tongue between his teeth. "It's a big tribe," he said.
"Not really." Winter eyed him from horns to tail. He sized him up, then thought of something that made him suspicious, then deemed whatever he wanted to fight for wasn't worth it.
"Cirrus has been with the Talons of Peace for a long time," Riptide said, figuring out Winter's motives as well. "Much longer than I have. He probably left the Ice Kingdom before you were hatched."
Winter looked like he was thinking about their code of honor or something. He was in disbelief that there was an Icewing with the Talons of Peace.
"Did you know my parents?" He asked Cirrus. "Tundra and Narwhal?"
Cirrus glanced up, tracking a red butterfly, as though he was considering going after it. "Perhaps," He said. "Long ago."
Winter has a suspicious look about him.
Although, before Wimter could question Cirrus further, I heard something rummaging through the brush. I recognized Moon's mind in a quick glimpse, before my mind collapsed into mush. They emerged from the vegitation a ways behind us. Kinkajou was carrying a small pile of peaches and plums between her talons, while Moon had a pair of rabbits dangled from her jaws.
"They're with us," Qibli said quickly as Riptide and Cirrus both bristled at the newcomers.
"Really?" Riptide said. "Never thought I'd see a couple of NightWings and an IceWing traveling together. Or a RainWing outside the rainforest, for that matter. How did you all come together?"
Winter glanced over at Cirrus again, I did as well. I found glaring at Grace, Moon, and Kinkajou with an expression of absolute hatred. Wessly hatred. So much so that Winter tensed up, and Iunconsciously trained my rifle towards him. Cirrus had left the IceWings, but definitely still hated the NightWings.
If he makes a move towards you Grace, I'm putting a round straight through his heart.
"We're from the Jade Mountain Academy," Qibli said to Riptide. "I'm Qibli, and that's Moon and Kinkajou. Guys, this is Riptide and Serious."
"CIRRUS," the IceWing snarled.
"That's what I said." Qibli smiled disarmingly. Grace smirked. But it was obvious the SandWing was deliberately trying to annoy someone, and bolster someone else.
"Jade Mountain?" Riptide echoed, his whole face lighting up at the name. "You must know Tsunami. How is she? Did she send you? Was there a message for me?"
"No." Winter started. "I mean, Deathbringer sent us. Tsunami doesn't know we're here."
"Oh." Riptide's wings drooped slight.
Moon took a nervous step toward him, opened her mouth, closed it, and then blurted, "But she thinks about you all the time." She and Grace made a face at eachother. Yeah, she shouldn't have said that. Get everybody's hopes up.
"Really?" The SeaWing's fluorescent scales flashed as he turned to look at her.
"Yeah." Grace picked up the slack. "She wants to hear from you."
"I'm not so sure about that." Riptide said. "I should probably wait until she contacts me. Oh, here's Pyrite and Avalanche."
There was a rustling in the trees, and then the MudWing was back, this time with two SkyWings trailing behind her.
The bigger SkyWing had red scales, smoke rising from her ears, and a felling that she was bad-tempered. There was something about the way she glared at us that made Winter's spine prickle noticeably. He followed her gaze and realized that her hostility was directed more at Qibli; she almost looked as though she wanted to rip the barb right off his tail.
What is the backstory with them? Qibli doesn't seem to recognize her. Maybe that hate is more for Sandwings in general?
Winter let himself be amused for a second — but he also found himself joining me in hoping she wouldn't be the one who would end up helping us. She was liable to kill him the moment she had an advantage.
The second SkyWing was smaller and her wings twitched constantly, as if she wanted to take off at any moment. More nervous than Gossing. Her scales were an interesting orange color that was closer more to yellow — a peachy color — but her eyes were an even darker shade of orange, more like the amber earring Qibli was wearing. The one thing I noticed was the small brown leather pouch on a gold chain around her neck. It was strung tight around her neck, making me worried it was choking her. She also had a gold nose ring on one side of her snout, which was a jewelry decision I had never seen on a dragon before, not even a human I don't remember.
"Hi," she said, and then launched abruptly into a nervous and rambling speech. "Listen, whatever it is you need, I don't think I can help you. It's not that I wouldn't like to. I would like to, really, I wish I could do all kinds of things, but the truth is I'm not very good at anything and I'm sure I'm not the dragon you're looking for, so ..." She trailed off, staring at them and twitching. I just blinked.
"We're not asking much," Winter said. "We just want you to look at a sketch and see if one of you recognizes it — and if you do, maybe you could give us directions on how to get there."
"Why should I help you?" The red SkyWing demanded with venom in her voice.
"Because we're at peace now," Riptide scolded her sharply. "And dragons at peace help each other. That is kind of the entire premise of the Talons of Peace."
She growled deep in her throat, sending more smoke from her nostrils. But it didn't look like she would be very helpful, even if she did know something.
The other SkyWing touched the little bag on her necklace, rolling it anxiously between her claws. "I don't know, I mean, I have a terrible memory," she said. "And an awful sense of direction."
"Just give it a try, please, Pyrite," Riptide pleaded. There was something in his manor that gave me the impression he had spent a lot of time managing this particular dragon. Like my Mom did as a counselor, occasionally one on one with kids.
Moon took the mini-scroll with her sketch out of the satchel around her neck and spread it out on a flat boulder, revealing the odd mountain shapes she'd drawn.
The unnamed Skywing stomped over. I had to duck out of the way. She angerly stared at the picture for a moment.
"Doesn't look familiar," she muttered.
"All right," Moon said with a sigh. "Thank you anyway." I think she had a similar opinion of this dragon.
"Can I go now?" She demanded, squinting at Riptide. He nodded, and she leaped into the sky, flapping away with noisy, powerful wingbeats.
"Pyrite?" Riptide said, indicating the scroll.
The thin, nervous SkyWing edged up to Moon, glanced quickly at the paper, then shook her head, saying, "Sorry, sorry, sorry. All trees look the same to me."
"It's not a tree," Moon said firmly, pinning Pyrite with her gaze before she could retreat. "It's a mountain, and you do recognize it. Tell us where it is."
And from her attitude, she knew something. Grace and Moon were sure of it.
Pyrite gave her a surprised, guilty look. Grace circled round to intercept, should she try and flee.
"Oh ... I suppose it's a bit familiar," Pyrite said, squinting at the sketch again. "I'm sorry, I don't usually, um, do anything useful, so ..."
I already wanted to smack this dragon. A dragon, Winter's brother, was out there somewhere, alone and trapped. If Pyrite thought she was going to be the one thing standing in me or Winter's way, I warmed up my drill sergeant voice and rubbed my hands, ready to convince her otherwise.
"It's all right, don't be nervous," Kinkajou said, her scales shifting to a warm golden color similar to Pyrite's. "Anything you can tell us would be helpful."
"Well — I suppose it's not too far away," Pyrite admitted. "If I remember right, it's southwest of the Sky Palace. -Ish."
"Sky Palace?" Me and Grace both thought of the same thing.
"Hmm," Qibli said. "Can you be any more specific?"
"Maybe you could help us find it?" Kinkajou suggested.
"Oh dear, no." Pyrite shot it down instantly, stammering and shuffling backward into Grace. "I couldn't, I'm sure."
"Why are you looking for this place?" Cirrus suddenly demanded. He'd crept around until he could see the sketch as well, looking over Pyrite's shoulder. He was suspicious, suspicious for a different reason. "What do you really want?"
"It's a fair question." Riptide pointed out. "If you want Pyrite to go with you, we should all know what she's flying into."
Qibli eyed Winter. This was his responsibility, he was the PIC. Person in charge.
"We think this is where Queen Scarlet is hiding." Winter said cautiously.
Riptide sucked in a startled breath. Cirrus sank lower to the ground and hissed, his tail lashing furiously. Anything more, and he was liable to attack Winter or Grace nearby. And why was he so triggered at that?
But Pyrite turned shining eyes towards Winter. "Queen Scarlet? She's all right?" She picked up the drawing and held it close to her chest. "And you think she's here? I'll take you there if she's there."
"I'm not sure that's wise." Cirrus growled.
"Why would you get a vote?" Winter demanded. "She can help us if she wants to."
Although, I was personally against someone who wanted to kill a dragon as happy and peaceful as Sunny, nor the other Dragonetts of Destiny. And also one of which, Glory, is quite literally the fabric that is keeping war from breaking out between at least three tribes. And my entire point of being here was stopping war from breaking out in the first place. No, this was a bad idea.
"I can try," Pyrite said. "I mean ... I might get us lost, but ... I'll do my best, for Queen Scarlet. I always do my best for her. Did, I mean."
She let out a little sigh, settling her wings. I was as uncomfortable as her, but at least we had a lead.
"Thank you." Winter said.
"I don't like this," Cirrus interjected. "What good could come of finding Queen Scarlet? What are you planning to do if she is there?" He suddenly gave Winter a sharp look. "Did you say Prince Winter?"
"Mind your own business." Winter snapped.
"It's all right, Cirrus." Pyrite said. Twisting her claws together, she gave Winter an apologetic smile. "He kind of takes care of me. He's just being protective."
Add that to the pile of mysteries about this IceWing. Although, neither I or Grace could discern anything out of him. He wasn't like any of the tribe IceWings like Winter, Icicle, or their colleagues.
And he was very protective of Pyrite, and he seemed very interested in Moon's picture. SERIOUS here was definitely more interested in us than he should. My gun resting on him now.
Winter glanced across the clearing in my peripheral, but I kept my eyes on the other Icewing.
He finally yanked himself from thought and stepped over to Pyrite, reaching for the drawing in her claws. As she held it out, they briefly made contact. He eyes widened.
He froze, staring into the SkyWing's innocent amber eyes. He'd felt something strange.
In his shock, I advanced towards him, making sure to keep eyes on Cyrius.
Marvin stop.
I froze, Grace knew something.
What is it?
Pyrite. She doesn't... feel right.
She was right. There was something about her, her aura. The way her mind went, I wasn't able to parece out any specifics with Winter and his Skyfire so close, still casting a "glare" on my mind. But what I could discern, it was strangely the same. The same things. Over and over again.
I walked up closer, trying to make contact as well to see if I could figure anything out.
When I did, a cold, electric shock ran through my fingers. I got the same, unnatural feeling I got at the tunnels in the rainforest. But it wasn't anything I recognized... except... once.
Travers' compass, my jacket, the Springfield, the enchanted rations, even... Grace. There wasn't any doubt.
Either she was animus touched, or... Pyrite is an animus herself.