Reunion (Qibli x Winter)

Chapter Four

     Oh boy. Rocky peaks towered over Qibli as he stood at the entrance way of Jade Mountain Academy. He took a breath of the fresh mountain air, closing his eyes. The cool wind brushed against his warm scales. Suddenly, he felt a tingle at the back of his neck, one he recognized as the tingle he got when someone was watching him. He quickly opened his eyes and turned around, but there was no one there. Probably just my nerves. Qibli turned his attention back to the school.

     In the little time he'd been there, this mountain had become a second home to him. One that he hated to leave, but there was no choice in it. He passed through the entrance into the softly lit entrance cave. The amber tinted lanterns reminded him of his room in Thorn's palace. Quickly upon arriving, he saw that there were only a few dragons at the school, mostly MudWings. The few who were there were still sound asleep with their siblings, so there wasn't much noise. Though he was already sure that neither Sora nor Umber would be here, it still felt disappointing to not see them lounging about. That was expected, of course, since it was an off-day. He still didn't like the silence though; it was never quiet when he was with his winglet, and silence in general disturbed him. The warm glow and various student-made artworks on display put him a little at ease, though. He tried to see if there was one made by any of his friends, but couldn't find any. As he wandered down the halls, he saw that none of the Jade Winglet were there, oddly enough. Did they visit their families or something?

     He stopped at the cave he and Winter had shared together. He felt.. sad, looking at it. That should've been him there, him and Winter. The space where Winter used to be was filled by a different IceWing, who was currently reading a scroll. Then, there was Qibli's replacement, sleeping surprisingly close to the IceWing, with their... were their tails intertwined? Noticing that gave Qibli an abstract sense of longing and jealousy, but he swallowed it down. The IceWing gently looked up from his scroll, and Qibli snapped his head forward and began to quickly pace forward down the rest of the hallway.

     He was excited to hear chattering coming from Anemone's cave, one of the few noises to break the silent spell. He didn't know her all too well, but he hoped it was well enough to show up randomly at her cave after being gone a week. Of course, he wasn't so sure about Pike, who was standing like a guard in front of her cave, his face serious and his chest puffed up. Qibli internally groaned. He noticed Qibli approaching and yelled, "Halt!"

     Qibli replied with "sup", walked past him, and Pike whirled around. "I said stop! What business do you have with the princess, fiend?"

     "I wanna talk to her?" He peered in and saw that Anemone and her RainWing friend, Tamarin, were both staring at the commotion. Anemone looked annoyed, and Tamarin seemed to be suppressing a laugh. The RainWing looked a bit different, but he thought the pink frills were a nice new touch.

     Pike turned his chin up. "Well, you cannot do that. Commoners are not allowed to talk to the princess."

     "Why's Tamarin here then?"

     He scowled. "She's an exception."

     "May I be an exception too?"

     "No. I do not tend to trust lowly barbarians with the finest of royalty. Do not think I don't know you and your background."

     Rude, he thought indignantly. Not like you've had to fight every day to keep yourself safe because you weren't born with that luxury. He dug his claw into the ground and exaggerated his grin. "Pretty pleeeease?"

     "Get out of here."

     "Pike." Anemone stood up and lifted her head regally. "Let him in. I trust him, and so does my brother." Then she added more sharply, "And I don't want to hear you talking to him like that– he helped save Pyrrhia; he's no barbarian."