Dark Snow

27

     A small shaft of morning light shone right into Blackice's snout, waking her from her deep sleep. She had half-expected to wake in the middle of the night with Nori looming over her, or Breaker with his fish hook claws wrapped around her neck. But he didn't seem dangerous when I met him. He seemed like a normal dragon, trying to scrape his living out in the world, argued the other part of Blackice that she normally kept locked away. The part that she usually reserved for dragons she actually cared about. Refusing to let anymore traitorous thoughts enter her head, she hustled that part of her brain back into darkness and refocused herself on her mission. She glanced up at the low ceiling, where two small holes opened towards the sky. One spilled light right into the small pool where Breaker slept. In the dim light, Blackice could make out the shape of his wings and the rise and fall of his flank while he slumbered peacefully, unaware that he had invited an assassin right to where he lived. I could kill him now, Blackice thought, her rigid claws curling dangerously. I could kill him, flee before Nori wakes up, fly back to Jujube, tell him that he didn't tell me anything, and then go about my life in the Tsuyoi like any regular dragon. Just as she was reaching out to enter the water and slit his throat, her talon stopped, flaws trembling in midair. There's so many things that could go wrong though. Blackice clutched her head, wanting to claw out her eyes, and wondering what had happened to the risk taker in her. He could wake up, see me about to kill him, and drag me under and drown me. I could kill him, try to escape, and be trapped because of the high tide. Nori could see me kill him, then kill me. Or one of them could find my stash of weapons on the cliff and connect the dots. She growled, turning away from where Breaker slept. I guess it wouldn't hurt to keep him around for a bit, and see where this goes. If this ends badly, I can just kill him and then go live in the rainforest or something. Blackice heard a small splash behind her, and she hurriedly pretended to be asleep, her wings flopping to either side, and her snout buried in her talons. Moments later, a claw tentatively nudged her shoulder. "Blackice?" whispered Breaker. "You awake?" She rolled over, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "I am now," she said, adding a hoarse tone to her voice to make the act more real. Breaker ducked his head and crawled out of the sleeping cave, holding aside the curtain for her. She emerged onto the ledge outside, and stretched her wings to their fullest extent, glancing about the sunlit cavern beneath her. Nori sat at the table, her nose buried in an ancient-looking scroll, and a small wooden bowl full of tiny crabs sat next to her. Breaker emerged from the cave next to Blackice, and leapt onto a ledge next to the waterfall. He stuck his webbed claws under the spray, splashing water on his snout and wings. Blackice spread her wings and glided down to Nori's level, shooting the green SeaWing her most ferocious face before turning to the small kitchen nook where Breaker had gone to get dinner the night before. Nori rolled up the scroll, pushed the bowl across the table, and waded into the pool at the base of the waterfall. Breaker jumped down next to her with a splash, wading even deeper until the water covered his shoulders. Nori turned her head to glare at Blackice while flashing her stripes at Breaker slowly and deliberately. Wish I knew what they were saying, Blackice found herself thinking, before turning to the row of shelves that lined the kitchen. Choosing two bowls at random, she made her way to the table, pulling up a large navy blue cushion to sit on. Breaker splashed out of the water, scatting droplets everywhere when he flicked his wings dismissively at whatever Nori was saying. "I'll be fine," he said out loud, continuing the Aquatic conversation. "Now hurry up and get to the market. Make sure that what I need is still there." He glanced at Blackice with that last sentence, and the hybrid wondered if she was imagining the concerned look on the gray-blue SeaWing's face. Nori rolled her eyes, stomped across the cave, pulled a woven satchel from a nook in the wall, slung it over her shoulders, then whisked out of the cavern, the black curtains swinging shut behind her. Breaker sighed. Remembering what Breaker gad said the day before, Blackice jumped on a passing thought, and spoke up. "So, what is your job?" she asked, looking down at the bowls she had chosen. More squid. Yay. She pulled over the abandoned bowl of crabs, pretending to be uninterested, yet waiting impatiently for Breaker's response. He looked startled by the question, and Blackice turned toward him. "You said that when you moved, it was better for your job," Blackice clarified, taking a crab between her claws and delicately prying off the shell. "Oh, yeah," he replied, sitting down across from her. He hesitated. "I'm kind of a messenger of sorts," he said. Blackice arched the ridge of scales above her eyes. "I relate information from the borders of the Sky Kingdom to Queen Coral. Granted, she never asks anything from me," he said, not looking at Blackice. "So, basically, you're a spy." "No, not really," he countered, looking uncomfortable. "I, um, report about struggles, and progress of the hospital Queen Ruby built at the end of the war, and, uh, stuff like that. My job is about telling the queen about stuff Ruby needs help with so the royal family can assist any way possible." Blackice looked him over, noting how his wings twitched and how his eyes glanced about the cavern, looking anywhere but her. He's not that good at lying, Blackice mused to herself, storing away what he had told her for later. Too nervous, twitching too much, looks like he wants to be anywhere but here. She pretended not to notice, turning back to the bowl of crabs. As much as she wanted to grab the SeaWing, pin him to the wall, and threaten the truth out of him, something stopped her. I'm being sensible here, she told herself for the sixth time that day. The only thing holding me back from sinking my claws into his throat is the high tide. Stupid underwater hidden home. She growled softly. There is no other reason I haven't killed him already. After the two dragons were done eating, Breaker mumbled something about needing to check something, and slunk out of the cave, away down the dark tunnel. Blackice waited a bit, then followed. She walked for a while, then stopped short. Water lapped at her claws, and the tunnel floor dipped down into darkness. Even if Blackice could breathe underwater, she wouldn't venture into the water for fear of getting lost in the blackness and drowning. With a frustrated growl, she turned and marched back into the SeaWings' living space. She proceeded to poke her snout into every alcove. The three on ground level, including the kitchen, held nothing of interest, mostly supplies to make fishing nets, baskets, and other everyday items. The next alcove she checked had all sorts of tropical fruits piled into baskets inside. Tools Blackice had never seen before sat on a shelf along the back, along with several wooden cups. The nook across from it held a single locked wooden chest. She fiddled with the lock for a bit before shrugging it off and making a mental note to come back and search for the key. The final two rooms left were Breaker and Nori's sleeping rooms. Blackice searched Breaker's first, finding no personal possessions in the dark space. She even checked the small pool of water in the back, but there was nothing but smooth stone. When she emerged from the cave, the blue curtains hanging over Nori's doorway seemed foreboding, almost as if they were telling her we have secrets don't come in stay out stay out. Yet Blackice forced herself to leap to a ledge halfway between Breaker's cave and Nori's, then into Nori's ledge. She paused before parting the curtains, glancing at the archway that led into the main space below her. Was she imagining the sound of talons marching up the tunnel? She shook her head, as if she could clear the unsureness that had suddenly sprouted in her mind the moment she had met Breaker. I can do this, she told herself, clenching her claws. Jujube sent me here for a reason. If he doubted my skills, he wouldn't have sent me. All I have to do is go through the curtains. Taking a couple deep breaths, she yanked aside the door covering, and stepped into the room. Her talon slipped on the edge of the stone, and she slid halfway into a channel of water. Blackice scrambled out into the middle of the cave, discovering the entire cave edge was part of the channel. The sleeping cave was larger than she had expected, but about the same layout as Breaker's. The roof was a couple tail-lengths above her head, but instead of being covered in bioluminescent glow worms, an opening in the ceiling filled the cave with light. Turquoise cushions lined the floor, but otherwise, the cave was empty. Blackice poked around, checking every corner, and even sticking her head underwater to investigate the smooth stone channel. Nothing. Blackice growled in frustration, her whip-thin tail lashing furiously. It caught on one of the cushions, uprooting it from where it lay on the floor. She turned to put it back, but something caught her eye. There was a crack in the stone under the pillow, and the more Blackice started at it, the more unnatural it seemed. It's too straight, she mused to herself. A perfect line where there shouldn't be one. She ran her claws along the line several times, before lifting more pillows, following the crack. The third cushion she lifted revealed a perfect corner. Blackice kicked away more of the dyed pillows, revealing a neat square in the middle of the floor, just big enough for a fully grown dragon to fit through if they folded their wings. A small edge in the trapdoor made a sort of handle. Blackice pulled the handle, dragging the door up and over whatever it was covering. When the opening was halfway uncovered, Blackice shifted around so that light could shine from the skylight into the hidden room. The sunlight barely penetrated the blackness, and Blackice sat back, twitching her wings in annoyance. I'll just have to go through, she resolved, but the definite sounds of talonsteps stopped her. Blackice scrambled to shut the trapdoor, piling the cushions back over the hidden door. She pushed through the curtains, and leaped to the nearest ledge just as the entrance curtains to the cavern came swishing open. "Hey, Blackice," Breaker called, looking around before glancing up, his gaze landing on her. "Hey," she called down, hoping he wouldn't detect the strain in her voice. Breaker moved across the cave, snatching a scroll from the central table before scaling the rock face to perch next to her. An idea popped into Blackice's head, and she quickly thought up a cover story. As he reached her ledge, Blackice reached down a talon to help him up, talking while she did. "I was looking for scrolls," she said. "The ones on the table don't really interest me." Breaker laughed. "I bet," he replied. "Not many dragons care about the science of fishing. Our parents were fishers, and Nori continues the legacy as a side job," he explained. "She kind of fancies herself an artist, and she sketches here and there." The blue-gray SeaWing made a face. "She's also an alchemist. My sister had a job as a barista at one of the restaurants nearby, and she played around with mixing drinks and stuff. One thing led to another, you know," he continued. Blackice nodded absentmindedly, shuffling her talons on the sand-colored stone. Breaker flicked his wings back and pointed to a curtain of leaves. "That's where we keep our parents' scroll collection and other stuff. Go crazy." The SeaWing nudged her wing with his snout, then leaped down from the ledge to sit at the table. Blackice watched him unroll the scroll and begin to read, then spread her wings and flew to the other side of the cylindrical cave, stopping to hover next to the vine curtain for a moment. It was expertly hidden, the leafy green vines woven so that it looked like just another part of the plant-covered rock wall, but when Blackice's wings pushed wind into the curtain, causing it to flutter, she caught glimpses of a light-filled cave behind the leaves. She reached out with her front talons, hooking her claws on a ledge just inside the door covering. Her snout pushed through, and she found that she was surrounded by shelves of scrolls. Thick carpets lined the rocky ground, and a window nook took up part of the back wall. A wooden chest sat next to the door, and when Blackice gently lifted the lid, she found it was filled with more scrolls, these yellowed with age, the edges flaking off. For a couple minutes, Blackice sat with her tail curled around her back claws, sorting through the delicate rolls of paper, occasionally stopping to look at the title. Eventually, she got bored with that, and moved to one of the shelves. Different titles jumped out at her, some of them she recognized. The Missing Princess, A Tail of Blood, The Claws of Murder. Most of the scrolls were written by the queen of the SeaWings, Coral. Very few were from other writers, and Blackice found only four scrolls from other tribes, not just SeaWings. Three of the four scrolls were written by SkyWings. As Blackice ran her claws across the titles of some of Coral's most recent stories, she thought and thought and thought some more. Her mind went in circles, from thinking up ways to kill him, ways it could go wrong, reasons not to kill him, then forcing herself to remember he was an enemy of the Tsuyoi, then back to ways to kill him. Somewhere along the way, while Blackice examined a love story entitled Forbidden Sands, she had an idea about telling him he was being targeted, and then running away with him to live on an island somewhere on the other side of Pyrrhia. As soon as she thought this, she slammed the scroll back onto its shelf, and sat back, clutching her head. This isn't right, the sensible part of her screamed. Another part of the hybrid, one Blackice hadn't realized existed until she met Breaker, fought back. But he can't be a bad dragon. He seems like a normal SeaWing outcast, making his own way in the world with his sister. She turned away from a shelf of love poems, moving toward a group of scrolls about sea cucumbers and the best ways to eat them. Jujube and his elites sent me to interrogate him about something he knows, the sensible half argued. Once I get this knowledge, then I have to kill him, so whatever he might be planning won't happen. Blackice lashed her tail. A memory popped into her head, Breaker talking about why moving was good for his job, and how he evaded the question. Blackice paced from one end of the small library to the other, pondering his motives for trying to deceive her, and what he might be hiding. She remembered the hidden room under Nori's sleeping cave, the locked chest, and how he stated he didn't have a lot of treasure, yet lived in a cove that could belong to a noble. Blackice remembered all the times Nori had slipped away without explanation, and how Breaker had left suddenly, also without telling her anything. She stopped pacing, one of the scrolls catching her attention. It was sitting on a shelf, all by itself. She moved closer, unrolling it and reading the title, printed neatly. There was no author and no story, just the title. Movements and Advances. Blackice rolled it in each direction, and when there were still no words or pictures yielded, she stared at the paper, wishing she knew what the title meant. She growled, rolling the scroll back up and putting it back. She stared at the empty shelf for a moment, her tail lashing, her brain buzzing with all her questions about the strange SeaWing that needed to be eliminated, and now also the scroll. She thought about everything the Tsuyoi hadn't told her, and about Jujube and Coyote, and the Scorpion Warriors and Wren and the rival gang Wren had told her about and the secret trapdoor-and Blackice froze. Rival gang. The words triggered something in her mind, something she had noticed but not really cared about. Before one of her training sessions with Serpent, Flurry had poked his head into the courtyard, and saw Blackice standing at a map hung along the back wall. "What's this?" she remembered asking, stabbing her claw at the lines sketched neatly across the most accurate drawing of Pyrrhia she had ever seen. Flurry had glanced between her and the map several times before moving forward to stand next to her. "Movements of other dragons that we've been keeping an eye on," he explained, pointing to a bright red dot centered near a scavenger den, south of the Bay of a Thousand Scales. "That's the general area where they seem to be rendezvousing," he said. Blackice had nodded, tracing blue and green lines that stretched across the Claws of the Clouds mountains and over the Mud Kingdom. A few purple circles dotted the Kingdom of Sand as well. Flurry had turned her away from the map, telling her that she would learn about it soon enough. The next day, when Blackice went down to the training center to meet up with Wren and practice their knife throwing, the map was gone. Blackice shook herself back to the present, pulling the scroll back off the shelf and reading the words printed as the title once more. Movements and Advances. A wave of realization washed over her as she remembered one of the lines on the map had traced along the coast of the Sky Kingdom, and one of the purple circles had centered very close to Breaker's cove. Blackice dropped the scroll with a clatter, and clutched her horns, struggling with her discovery. Breaker is in the Yangma'a.

***********************************************************************************************

I have no excuse for my absence besides my loss of the will to live. Feel free to abandon me.