A World Upside Down - WoF Jade Winglet AU

Epilogue - Winterwatcher

Another long day of nothing but scavengers. It wasn't even productive - they just spent the day sitting inside their lousy homes and doing nothing!

"Ugh...a drink and a nap is all I ask. Riptide! Do you think you can take over my shift a little early today?"

"Why, yes I can, Winter! Just give me one moment. It's hard to prepare for such a request out of the blue. And I swear that's not an ocean pun!"

"Appreciate it. Not your joke, though."

Finally, some alone time. Don't know why I'm just out of it today.

Gathering and packing his things, Winter wrapped up his work at his scavenger station and started to head out.

It was difficult to describe, but it almost felt like there was a new feeling he was experiencing. After countless hours spent in vain to try to figure himself out, all he came up with was "it was similar to eagerness, longing, and trying to fill the endless void at the bottom of his heart."

Unable to lose his mind anymore over it, he stopped by the mail service on his way home, wondering if he had his packages yet.

It was a nice day out. Partly cloudy, with just the right amount of breeze to make one want to stay outside. Of course, the breeze didn't matter to Winter, but the wind felt refreshing nonetheless.

The postal office was a small wooden building with a thatch roof - more of a shack. It was more long than it was wide, allowing for extensive storage of shipments and mail, which would grow more useful once the permanent resident count increased.

Winter greeted the SeaWing postman he knew inside, working vigilantly to ensure every single delivery was perfect. It reminded him of Starflight, almost.

"Oh, hey there, Winter!" the marine dragon called out warmly. "Coming for your supplies, I suppose?"

"Yeah, those scavengers are needy. I apologize if your hold overflows in the coming weeks."

"Oh, don't worry about it," the SeaWing responded with a smile. He ducked back behind rows of shelves for a moment. Winter could hear rustling as he brought some small and light boxes back towards the counter.

But there was something that caught his eye on top of them. A letter. Not just any ordinary letter that he usually gets from sponsors or dragons interested in helping out in Sanctuary.

This letter was from a dragon he hadn't talked to in a long time. Someone he didn't even expect to want to talk to him.

"Did I retrieve those from the wrong postbox?"

Winter snapped backed to reality. He was eager to read his letter from an old friend, but his heart was also racing. Better to find out now than to keep waiting.

"Oh, no, sorry. Thank you, and you know where to place the bill. Uh, gotta go, bye!"

Winter's heart was racing. It'd been months since the last time he'd seen any of his friends - his close friends - all the way to the point where he'd adjusted to solitary life.

Why would anyone contact him now? Maybe it was an emergency, or something had sprung up within his family.

Stumbling into his spacious but lower quality home, he dropped the scavenger research supplies in his foyer and took his actual mail to his bedroom. It was decent in general, but most likely the best there was compared to the other homes in the area. Of course, this wasn't a permanent home at the time, but maybe things would change.

Something about the atmosphere just radiated a warm and comfortable feeling. Winter forgot everything else in his life at the moment and positioned himself at his desk. Lighting his oil lamp, he delicately opened the letter until it was flat and facing up at him. Its contents were organized, the words were neatly written. It even smelled faintly of her.