Wings of Fire Oneshots

''I Can't Stand Him!'' | Qibli x Winter

A/N: This one is a scene from Darkness of Dragons, only written from Winter's point of view instead of Qibli's. You'll know the scene when you've read past the first few paragraphs. I mean, who's to say it's not canon?

You know how a lot of people complain that "Winter's character development does a complete 180 by entirely disappearing after book 7"? I tried to excuse that here by imagining that all his grumpiness at Qibli is mostly just banter. I can imagine it.

Enjoy :)

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Summary as written on AO3: Winter is introduced to Qibli's mother, Cobra. It goes well for everyone, as long as you're not Winter.

(This oneshot is an extract from book 10 Darkness of Dragons, only told from Winter's point of view instead of Qibli's.)

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For the most part, Winter only stood there in a kind of awkward silence as he watched Qibli talk to his mother. It was strange, the way they'd been interacting this whole time. Strained? Was that the right word for it? Like there was something Qibli wanted from Cobra, but she wouldn't hear it. It was a strange thing to admit, but it reminded him a lot of his own early dragonethood.

     Disciplining himself fiercely, following all the rules of the IceWing tribe. Not only in the hopes of climbing into the first circle, but to get the approval of his family, too. To be appreciated, to feel what it was like to have parents who were proud of you. Now, looking at Qibli (maybe looking a bit too much at Qibli), he thought maybe their pasts were more alike than he'd thought. He knew Qibli had always had a less-than-loving relationship with his mother, but when he'd first told him about it, he'd forced himself to swerve around the information, to insist he didn't, couldn't have anything in common with a SandWing.

     He ignored the pit that opened in his stomach at that memory. He'd been so ignorant, even more so than he felt he still was now. All his life, he'd been ignorant. He knew it, and part of him wanted to fight against it, but the part of him that had grown up in IceWing society still tried to drill that ignorance into his head. And yet... He almost laughed, admitting it to himself, but maybe agreeing to attend Jade Mountain Academy had been the best choice he'd ever made. Because of it, he'd finally acknowledged that ignorance. He'd spent time with other tribes, taken the time to realise that those other tribes mattered, too. Perhaps IceWings weren't unquestionably above everyone else.

     Well, maybe that last part was still a stretch.

     But he couldn't deny that he had changed since his first day at the school. He thought he was changing for the better, and he internally hoped that other dragons shared that sentiment.

     He was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by the sharp sound of Cobra's voice. "Introduce me to your glittering companion," she suggested to Qibli, her eyes moving from her son to Winter.

     "That's Winter," said Qibli, flicking his tail at him. No, his heart absolutely did not do the tiniest little jump when Qibli said his name. "I keep trying to get rid of him, but he follows me everywhere." He didn't even hear the rest of what Qibli said. He heard his voice droning, but he didn't make out the words.

     He knew Qibli was joking when he said that, but it was true. He had been on his tail quite a bit lately. Partially, he'd been doing it to distract himself from Moon - to have someone else to focus on, he told himself. Even if his family wouldn't know if he was in a relationship with a NightWing (considering the fact that they didn't know he was alive), he still had his doubts that they ever could be together. It made him an awful mixture of angry, devastated and dazed whenever he thought about it. Which was a lot.