Ice at Midnight: A Winterwatcher Fanfic

🌑Chapter 4: Twin Visions🌑

  Moon was already regretting what she'd just said to Winter. They weren't on friendly terms to begin with, and this would just make things worse. She said what she meant, though, and she meant what she said, so she wasn't going to go back and apologize. If she even wanted to, she couldn't; after she had angrily walked away from him, she'd gotten lost before she had even realized it. 

  Just keep walking...I'll get back to my cave eventually.

  The thoughts of other dragons became closer after a few minutes, but they were unfamiliar, just like the rest of this place. Why did her mother make her go here? She just wanted to go back home, even if she had to clean their hut every day for a year. This school was full of strange dragons, and smells, and noises, and rude IceWings, and a SeaWing who was somehow able to block her mind reading seemingly without knowing it.

  Moon's head throbbed as she approached the scene of an argument between three students, their loud words and even louder thoughts like a hammer to the skull. As she walked past them, they were too busy to even glance at her.

  The pain didn't subside, even after she was many feet away from the fight. She decided to just keep wandering through the tunnels.

  After a few more minutes, more thoughts gradually grew clearer in her head. These weren't angry, sharp ones though, which was a relief. The dragons producing them seemed very relaxed at the moment. 

  She quickly found where the thoughts were coming from. She saw what looked like the entrance to a cave on her right, but when she looked inside, it turned out to be a large cavern. A blue-green lake took up almost all of the floor space, and four SeaWings were swimming about in the turquoise water. 

  Maybe going for a swim would help clear my head. That sounds kind of nice right now, especially after what just happened during hunting. I'm not exactly the best swimmer, but I can stick to the edge of the water.

  The NightWing walked over to the edge of the lake, where warm sunlight was pouring in through a hole in the cavern's roof. She thought that this would be a nice spot with the sun warming the water and prepared to lower herself into the lake, when a SeaWing slightly smaller than her popped up from beneath the surface.

  "Sorry NightWing, but this is my spot," the female said in a tone not at all apologetic. "I got here first, and I picked here."

  Moon was startled by her sudden appearance. "But, there's a lot more space over there," she said, pointing to a section of the lake farther back. "And since you've been here awhile, maybe you could...go over there?"

  The pinkish-blue dragon glared at her. "I told you, this is my spot. None of the other spots have the warm water like this spot does. It's dark and cold in the rest of the lake."

  "B-but..."

  The SeaWing rolled her eyes, hoisting herself up onto the cavern floor and standing almost level with Moon. "How about you go to a different spot? I'm a princess, Princess Anemone to be exact. And I'm not about to leave my spot and let some NightWing have it. So either go somewhere dark and cold, like where you belong," she snarled, pointing to the shaded part of the lake, "or scram."

  A second SeaWing, this one green, appeared where Anemone had been just moments before. "Princess, why don't you let her have your spot? You have been here the longest, and-"

  "Shut up, Pike!" the small SeaWing growled. "Mind your own business." Turning back to Moon, she said "so what's it going to be? And don't try to trick me with some stupid lie about mind reading; everyone knows you NightWings are nothing but fakers."