The World Turning

Chapter 3: Catastrophe

The morning sun had shown its full form by the time Winter and Qibli had arrived at the mess hall run by the Talons of Peace. The large building was made of wood, and was partially crafted into the side of a cave. Within the hall was a spacious area filled with small stone tables. Dragons sat next to the tables with bowls of food, as they ate and chatted with their fellow towns members. Inside the cave was a stall where a couple of dragons with aprons on had been serving and handing out food to whoever would walk up to them.

Winter and Qibli had each accepted a medium sized bowl containing stew made with roasted vulture and various vegetables grown and gathered from the local area. Together, the two young males found an unoccupied table to sit at and to place their bowls down on. Qibli looked down at his bowl of stew with an excited look before he picked up an eating utensil and started to take bites out of his meal. He smiled while eating, and Winter noticed that he actually did look quite famished.

I hope he didn't go to bed hungry. If he wanted, he could have just asked me to catch him something to eat last night. Winter pondered the actions of his friend, but decided not to say anything about it. Winter then looked down at his own food, and realized he wasn't actually that hungry himself. In fact, he actually felt a little sick. His thoughts started to sway to his dream about Lunae and how the mysterious crystal actually turned out to be real. The dread that was forming from within his gut had become hard to ignore. He then took a single small bite out of a vegetable from his stew, and then started to absentmindedly gaze at his food.

"Winter? Are you okay?" Qibli must have noticed Winter's gloomy mood as he started to speak to him. "You look down. Like, really down."

"What? Oh... I'm fine." Winter was now trying to hide his discomfort.

Qibli looked thoughtful for a moment before replying. "You're going to miss this place, huh?'

"Err? Well... I suppose. But it's nothing I won't get over. It wouldn't be the first time I had to leave someplace I enjoyed living at." He thinks I'm upset about leaving Sanctuary? Well, he's not completely wrong. I really am going to miss this place.

Qibli smiled faintly at Winter. "Yeah. You've been moving around a lot these past couple of months, huh? Sorry you had to go through all that." The SandWing said with a gentle tone. "And if it'll make you feel any better, me and the other Jade Winglet members have been missing you a whole lot. We all can't wait to have you back at the academy with us."

These words did actually make Winter feel a little better. "Do you think I'll be placed back into the Jade Winglet?"

"Heh. Of course! We still haven't actually had a replacement IceWing join yet, so something tells me Tsunami made sure the spot stayed open in case a certain pouty prince ever got his learning privilege's handed back to him." Qibli said with a glowing smile.

"That's... great to hear actually. I'll have to make sure to thank Tsunami when I get back." Winter looked a little reluctant as he continued. "Although she might not be the easiest dragon in Pyrrhia to give thanks too. Knowing her, she'll probably act like she single handedly gave me all the treasure on the continent."

Qibli laughed a little. "Yeah. She definitely does enjoy her accomplishments a little more than everyone else. But I guess that's probably a good trait to have as the headmistress for the academy. Makes her seem more like a leader."

Winter was now smiling alongside his friend. "Oh yeah? I guess if boasting non stop is what you consider a good trait in a leader."

"Ouch. Winter, wouldn't even guess you were an IceWing with that burn just now. Hahah!"

The two friends laughed together in front of their meals before Winter had started to speak with a subdued voice. "I should probably thank you too, for coming here and all."