A frozen over desert

chapter 6: Umber

Quibli finally was eating, thanks to umber. That stubborn dragon starved himself so that Quibli would not die. As soon as Quibli agreed to leave his room and go to the prey  center with umber, umber smiled in this warm, comforting way.

Umber and Quibli started to walk to the prey center, striking up a conversation. "So, Quibli, you want to talk about why you didn't eat for almost a week?" Umber started.

Quibli seemed to think for a second before responding, "it's difficult to explain.. it's like, my whole life was wanting to be the perfect dragon for Thorn. And after Thorn, Moonwatcher. It's like, when you've lived for others so much, you don't know how to live for yourself."

Umber considered this. He could sort of understand what Quibli meant. But his case was different, he lived to protect his sibs. He didn't live to make someone happy all the time. Umber took a deep sigh.

"That must be really difficult for you. After we eat, would you maybe want to go flying?" He asked, being careful about what he said. Umber wanted to be there for Quibli, not make his friend's situation worse.

Umber sighed again after Quibli refused to respond. "Quibli, talk to me. Don't just tell me the situation and leave it at that. I want to know how you feel and why you feel that way. I want to be that dragon you come to when something is wrong, you know?"

Quibli glanced up at umber and gave a slight smile towards his friend. "I think I could do that. But I don't really know how to describe what I'm feeling Umber. It feels like the weight of the world is crushing my lungs and I'm unable to speak."

A long, silent pause followed. Umber and Quibli both stared at the ground, Quibli not knowing how to talk, and Umber not wanting to talk.

Soon, they arrived at the prey center. Quibli went to find a small lizard, or a goat or anything really that would feed him. Umber went to find his personal favorite food, a crocodile. While they were dangerous to have around, mud wings were trained to take them down quickly and easily.

While Umber ate, he thought about how Quibli must feel about the whole Moonwatcher situation. With Moonwatcher now out looking for Winter, and Winter missing, he must feel horrible. Maybe I should stay here with Quibli to make sure he isn't hurting. Yeah I think I'll do that. Be there for him as a friend. No more than a friend.

Umber snapped out of his fantasy of his old crush on Quibli and Winter. He let it rest and started to get tired. Umber said goodbye to Quibli and went back to his cave, collapsing on his bed. What was in that crocodile? His thoughts went woozy and his sight blurred as he passed out into unconsciousness.