WINTER

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I can't believe I did that. Winter thought in dismay. He would never, ever hurt Moon. His thoughts then turned into well she deserved it. That arrogant, stuck-up dragon. He walked to the garden, where blue flowers glowed in the dark. These remind me of Moon, he thought. Behind him, Qibli made a disapproving noise.

"Well, Winter, well done." He said, grinning. "Thanks to that act, Moon officially hates you. She would never choose you in a million years."

"You enchanted me, didn't you?" Winter spat out. "How could you do this, you were my best friend, Qibli."

Qibli shook his head. "Were. You don't deserve anything."

Qibli muttered something, and before Winter could react, four vines held his wrists and legs apart, slowly ripping him. His wolf pouch that held everything, including his skyfire, fell. Winter roared. He thrashed and tried using his frostbreath on the vines. No use. Qibli rolled his eyes.
"Oh, three moons! You are making this impossible."

Vines then suddenly wrapped around his snout and the vines wrapped around him even tighter, making him unable to do anything.

You evil monster, Winter thought bitterly. Qibli laughed.

"I'm not evil, Winter. Trust me, I know what evil is. You're the evil one here. Trying to control Moon into doing what she wants. All I did was prevent you from continuing, and showing her the right path."

Winter blinked. Is he right? Am I the evil one here? Qibli nodded. "Yes, indeed you are. And now that Moon is convinced that you hate her, she's going to choose me. The right choice."

Winter tilted his head. Qibli rolled his eyes again.

"I showed her a projection of you criticizing her. Of course, it was fake. But she believed it. And luckily she did, otherwise, she would have gotten a lot worse with you around." Qibli scanned Winter. Just before he was about to do something, his head shot up and strained his ears. He turned around, and said,

"All right, come out. What are you doing spying on us?"

Behind him, Winter could see three dragons emerge. Those being Foeslayer, Kinkajou, and... Moon. Qibli's expression was horrified. I bet he didn't expect it to be those three. He thought triumphantly.

Winter realized it was those three. Including Moon. MOON! For a second he felt relieved. Then his thoughts turned into bitter thoughts about her. Gosh, will she ever just leave me alone? Moon shook her head.

"Never. Winter! Are you all right?"

Well, what do you think? Winter thought. And how can you hear my thoughts? Where's your skyfire? Moon just shook her head once more and looked at Qibli.

"Moon, listen, I- I can explain."

"Explain what? Kinkajou already told me everything. What you're doing here is pretty obvious to me." Moon waved her talon at Winter.

STOP DOING THAT, NIGHTWING. Winter couldn't help but think. Qibli looked at Moon, hurt.

"Release Winter. And take off all the enchantments you gave him. Including the spell you put on my bracelet." Moon demanded.

Qibli curled his tail. He exhaled long and slow. Eventually, the vines loosened and Winter fell to the ground.

"Winter!" Kinkajou cried.

Moon quickly ran up to him, hugging him. All of Winter's real thoughts about Moon were coming back. The bitter ones were fading. I can't believe I would think those things, he thought. Moon tightened her hug.

"Winter, it wasn't your fault. It was Qibli's." Behind her, Qibli winced.

"Look, Moon, I- I'm sorry for what I've done to you," Winter confessed. "I should have never tried making you come with me. I promise I will try to be less... controlling. Moon, I love you." Winter felt embarrassed as to why he would say that last sentence. Moon didn't seem to mind, as she said,

"Winter, I forgive you. I should have known you would have never hurt me. I had always had a perfect you in mind. But that isn't possible."

Winter winced. Moon quickly continued her sentence by saying, "Because we all have flaws. We just have to accept them and deal with them. In a smart way." She smiled. "And... I think I love you too." Winter's head shot up. He didn't expect Moon to say that last sentence either.

"You... love me?" Winter asked.

Moon nodded. "I think I do. You have demonstrated that you can be an amazing dragon. I was blind to fall for Qibli's tricks." She glanced at him. Qibli shuffled on his feet, trying to say something. But words wouldn't come out of his mouth. Kinkajou interrupted the scene by saying,

"Yowch, that was mega-romantic." She grinned at them. "But we have a BIGGER problem over here, helloo? Is Qibli just going to get away like that? Shouldn't we save the day and stop him?" Kinkajou waved her wings. Qibli narrowed his eyes, and said "Teleport me away from here right now." With that, he was gone.

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