Wings Of Honor: Heart of Ice

Chapter 12: Making Camp

I quickly brought Grace up to speed. It turns out, not only was Pyrite the most nervous person I've ever seen, but also the clingiest. As soon as we left Cirrus and Riptide, she rapidly descended onto Winter's tail. She became a puppy dog, or a Sergeant Major following men with stars, following Winter as closely as she could manage.
Why she chose to follow Winter over someone like Moon, Kinkajou, Grace, or even Qibli? I don't know. Maybe because she was used to having IceWings look after her? Case in point: Serious. But I digress.
But... about Pyrite being an animus. She either does not think about it at all (which would be rather strange, not even Grace does that), or she has no idea she is one. Judging by her attitude, it might be the latter.
What makes things worse, is what was Cyrius doing with her? Winter was stunned seeing an Icewing with the Talons, and it seems the Ice Kingdom doesn't get a lot of deserters, even with their amazing and fair treatment.
Winter glanced over his shoulder at where Pyrite was flying, barely a wingbeat behind him, casting fearful looks at the mountains below them. For being the first animus he "met", he was rather unimpressed.
Guess I have a standard to meet now. Grace chuckled.
Nah, you met it three times over by now.
Ha. Yeah.
"So, Pyrite." Qibli said in a friendly voice, swooping up on her right side.
Pyrite jerked away from him, and nearly bowled Winter out of the sky on her left.
He shoved her off him and righted himself. "Watch it," he snapped.
"Jesus Christ." Grace said under her breath.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry," she mumbled as he recovered. She flicked her tail at Qibli. "You startled me."
Qibli made a "what is wrong with this dragon?" face at Winter. "I was just wondering how you ended up with the Talons of Peace." He started. "You don't exactly seem like the type to desert your wing and strike out into the wilderness on your own, looking for a band of rebels to join."
"Oh, no," Pyrite said. "No, I'm not like that at all. I'm completely loyal. I would have kept fighting for Queen Scarlet as long as she needed me." She stretched her long neck and scanned the ground below them again, then twitched her wings to steer them a little more towards the setting sun. "But when Ruby took the throne, she made everyone swear an oath to her, and I couldn't do that, you know? I'm completely loyal to Queen Scarlet. Always and always and always."
She used "I'm completely loyal" twice in a statement. She was emphasizing her loyalty, either by training or coercion. I didn't know much about the Skywing Kingdom, other than that Scarlet — the Queen this dragon is loyal to — was a mass murderer; making prisoners fight for her own amusement. Not at all violating more rules of war than I can count. Queen Ruby — the new and current ruler of the Sky Kingdom — is the exact opposite. For one, she DOES NOT make her prisoners fight gladiator style. In fact, she pardoned most of them, and even turned the arena into a hospital. If memory serves me well.
I also noticed that Moon was frowning at Pyrite like she couldn't understand her either. Had she also figured out that Pyrite was an animus? Could she see it in Pyrite's mind? I wish I could be more open with her, but the timeline holds in the balance with us, and I couldn't risk her knowing things she shouldn't.
"So I left the Sky Palace and joined the Talons of Peace." Pyrite sighed. "Sometimes I have dreams about Queen Scarlet telling me to come to her. But Cirrus always says to ignore them. He says it isn't safe for me to go flapping around the continent looking for a dragon in exile, and that dreams don't mean anything." She smiled hopefully at Winter.
Wait! Dreams? Me and Grace exchanged looks.
"But this isn't a wild- scavenger chase. You really think she'll be there, right?"
"Gee thanks." I teased her for that.
"I do," Winter said, suddenly wondering if this was a terrible idea. I mean, delivering a loyal dragon with animus powers is not at all dangerous or unwise. It's not like things couldn't go horribly wrong and lead to deaths. Oh man, I really hope this goes okay. Especially considering Pyrite doesn't even know our actual mission. How would she react to that? She's a real wildcard. I just hope the play is in our favor. If not, I'm packing a few equalizers.
I hope not. Grace shared my sentiment.