Ice at Midnight: A Winterwatcher Fanfic

🌑Chapter 18🌑

  Rain started to drop from the dark clouds above, Moon with her arms still wrapped around Winter's neck, his own around her waist as they kissed on this cliff, high above the academy itself. 

  This is so great...the IceWing's thoughts echoed. I feel all tingly, like a good version of when your leg falls asleep or something.

  Moon giggled, the noise slightly muffled by Winter's snout pressed against hers.

  "What's funny?" he asked, breaking the kiss for a second before resuming.

  "Just those silly, innocent thoughts of yours," she replied.

  He chuckled. "I assure you, I've done, seen, and experienced too many things someone my age shouldn't have to be innocent."

  She didn't want this perfect moment to end, but it did when a downpour suddenly started, the rain hurting a little as it connected with her scales. Moon was grateful when Winter held an icy wing over her to act as an umbrella.

  "Let's get back to our cave," he said, having to almost shout over the roar of the rain. 

  It was a little difficult to find their way back, with the rain lowering the visibility significantly, but together, they were able to find the window to their cave after about ten minutes of searching. They both climbed in through it, and not much water got in with a slight overhang of rock outside the window. Of course, there was still the rainwater from them as they shook it off, but they could worry about that later; it was nearing nightfall.

  "I'm not sure if you're as tired as I am," Moon said, "but hours of shopping with an energetic two-year-old RainWing, and playing tag, and...everything that went down back there has me pretty worn out, so I'm gonna go to sleep. You still have those necklaces, right?"

  The handsome IceWing nodded, pulling them out of the watertight satchel he'd been wearing the whole time. "We can put them on in the morning; don't want them getting tangled up overnight or anything. And I'm sapped of energy too, so I'll go to bed as well."

  Moon was more than a little disappointed when he moved away from her to go sleep on his ice ledge. She knew it would ruin them if somebody besides one of their friends saw them sleeping close together, but she already missed his icy touch. Even if it was someone in their winglet who saw, it would still be pretty bad.

  She could tell Winter noticed the look on her face.

  "Miss me that much already?" he teased with a grin.

  "Shut up," she responded, hoping it sounded playful and not like she was being rude. "But...yeah, I do."

  "Alright," he said, sighing like it would be a burden for her to share his ledge. "Come here, then."

  Moon perked up, walking over to his bed.

  Winter moved himself to the edge of his ledge and motioned for her to lay down on the other side. "This way, if someone takes a quick glance inside, they'll think it's just me here."

  She nodded as she climbed up over him. "Smart." She wedged herself between him and the wall, obviously facing him. Moon felt a shiver go down her spine at the sudden coldness of the rock; even Winter wasn't this cold, because this was actual ice she was laying on.

  The NightWing felt something cold and sharp snake around her tail, at first thinking it might've been some type of snake. So, she was happy to see that it was only Winter's tail coiled around hers, and not a venomous reptile.

  "Are you too cold?" he asked, having noticed her shivering. 

  "Yeah, a little...I didn't know ice could be colder than an IceWing," she replied.

  He smiled. "You wouldn't last ten minutes in the Ice Kingdom, I can tell you that," he muttered. "Not sure if this'll help much, but..." He then slid one wing underneath her, and surprisingly, it did relive a little bit of the cold from the ledge.

  Moon smiled at him, his face only a few inches away. "Thanks, Winty."

  After that, he placed his second wing over her, and it covered the majority of her body, as he was considerably larger than she was. He wrapped his arms around her and drew her in close to him, like a hug, only better.

  "You actually do love me though...right?" Winter asked softly, his cold breath tickling a sensitive spot where the back of her lower jaw connected to her neck.

  Moon was a little hurt by his question. "Of course, I do. Look, I know it's gonna be really hard to fully trust me again, but I would never lie about loving you...why else would I have kissed you?"

  He shrugged. "I'm just not quite sure what to think about all of this, you being able to read my mind and everyone else's...I know you can't control it, but it just seems..." he trailed off. "And what about that poem-sounding thing you said at the beginning of the year? You know, all that stuff about NightWings disappearing, two IceWings fighting?"

  Moon cringed, but she knew he would've brought it up eventually. "I think...I think it was a prophecy, Winter. It's never happened to me before, but it was like something took control of me for a moment; I couldn't control what I was saying, it was all just spewing out."

  Winter didn't seem entirely shocked, instead looking more disappointed that it was what he'd feared. "And my sister Icicle told me she hasn't seen Bigtail lately, and that was two or three days ago...do you think it's already starting?"

  Moon sadly nodded. "I'm afraid so."

  He just shut his eyes, shaking his head. "I never wanted to get wrapped up in any of this..." he whimpered. "We're gonna have to hide that we're a thing now, that prophecy or whatever else it could be is coming true...and we're the only ones who know about it." It looked like he was crying a little, but it was kind of hard to tell in the darkness.

  "Are you crying?" she asked softly. He shook his head, but she saw him wipe his eye with a claw, so she knew he was. "Look, it's gonna be okay, Winter. We'll work through this, I promise." 

  "But how?" he asked. "I don't want to feel like I'm doing something wrong whenever we do something like this..."

  "And you aren't," Moon said. "There's nothing wrong with this; it's other dragons who make everyone think it is. Just, promise me you won't worry about all this too much. I don't want you developing anxiety or anything."

  Winter nodded. 

  She grinned, gently pressing her snout to his in a lasting kiss. After a few seconds, she pulled away, but moved as close to him as was possible. Moon could feel his heart beating through his soft underbelly, and she presumed the same went for him.

  "When did you know for sure that you loved me?" she asked, nestling her head in the crook of his neck. "Actually, no; when did you know you felt something for me?"

  "For sure when you saved my hide on the first day of hunting," he said, replying almost immediately. "Nobody else I know would've been that brave, or stupid."

  "Hey!"

  "What can I say? You almost got killed."

  Moon was about to disagree, but realized how pointless it would be. "You've got me there. For me, I think it was when you saved me after I tried to save you."

  He laughed. "I guess that fat crocodile wasn't all too bad after all. Brought us together, anyway."

  Moon nodded in agreement, sighing happily. "You're the best."

  "And you're my one and only," Winter said, kissing her on the top of her head. "Let's get some sleep now."

  Just as Moon was about to drift off, she saw a faint trace of something blue close to the ceiling of the cave...almost like smoke.

  The prophecy...she thought, just before sleep enveloped her.