Wings of Fire: Melting Ice #2

Chapter 13

The sky was washed with orange and yellow, like some giant dragon had stabbed their talon into the sun to make it bleed into the sky. Clouds passed over, but they were barely seen because of the sea of green above.

Aurora glanced at Apple, whose golden horn rings reflected the sunlight. "So, uh.." she muttered. Three moons, what's the perfect conversation with this strange RainWing?

"What? Let's talk about family. Well my mother is dead, and my father.. I don't even know him. It doesn't matter though, he's probably dead too. And I had a sister and a brother, but they got killed. Or more so, they killed themselves by drowning in the river. Everyone left me behind. But Hyacinth, who wasn't even related to me, took me in and cared for me," Apple explained. His eyes were dark with sadness.

"Three moons, Apple, that's horrible. I'm so sorry," Aurora murmured. Poor thing, he's gone through so much. Maybe I should stop complaining about my sister. Family is important.

"Well, now that that's out of the way. What is your family like?" Apple asked, his smile returning.

"Well, my brother was killed.." Aurora murmured. "But I still have my father and my mother, Queen Iceberg. And my sister, Plum. Plum is... well.. stubborn and mean." Should I mention Abysswatcher? She found herself smiling, but then feeling regret tugging at her. I pushed Abysswatcher away, and I'll probably never see him again. Three moons, I'm an idiot. "I had a.. friend I liked a lot. Heh, more like loved. I did love him, but I failed that, and now he's gone."

Apple turned away. "Wow, I'm sorry about that. Did he.. love you too?" He asked.

Aurora stared at his red face. But she noticed something in his eyes. Jealousy? What? Why would Apple be jealous? When she didn't respond, Apple seemed to think that that was her answer.

"I guess that's a no," Apple prompted, tucking his arms closer to him.

"No... well.. he did love me. He came all the way from the Night Kingdom to the Ice Kingdom to see me," Aurora answered. 

Apple didn't answer her, instead his frill seemed to flare. He turned his head to her. "Then he probably did love you," he clicked. "I'm happy you got an actual relationship." For a second, silver flashed in the scales around his mouth and eyes.

Is he lying? Aurora narrowed her eyes, feeling cold even with the sunlight piercing her scales. "Well, I'm out of it now. I feel bad for... ugh, nevermind," Aurora whined. "I'm sorry for ruining the mood, I'm such a mess," she sighed. When Apple wouldn't drag his gaze away, she added, "Carving our names into the tree is supposed to be fun. Sorry."

Apple still stared, his emerald eyes blank. "Don't be sorry, the mood isn't ruined. But thanks for opening up to me," he chimed, some of his red scales flashing with gold. 

Aurora wanted to say something, but she gasped as a branch suddenly flashed in front of them. She didn't have time to warn Apple when he quickly smashed into the branch, which resulted in the wood cracking from the sudden fast impact.

Apple fell from the sky, his wings fluttering. Aurora dove down after him, her heart racing. Three moons! She caught him by his wrist and slowly lowered him to the ground. She lifted up his head and looked at his face, worry spreading across her.

Unexpectedly, Apple suddenly burst out laughing. He threw his head back, his mouth opening wide to reveal sharp white teeth, and his tongue stretching forward. Then he leaned forward, still laughing as he covered his eyes with his talons. His nose was bleeding badly. Blood trickled down his lips, the scarlet drops crawling into open mouth. It dripped down his chin, and Aurora only now noticed that it was on her talons. 

"Three moons, Apple! Are you okay? Something isn't broken, is it?" Aurora gasped, concern clouding her voice.

Apple then calmed down, bring a talon to his nostrils to wipe the blood away. "Well that branch certainly isn't okay! I just knocked a branch down from the carving tree!" He whined, whipping around and pointing. Past his bloody talon was the branch of the tall rainforest tree, which was splintered at broken end. There were carvings in the wood.

"You must've smacked your head pretty hard," Aurora muttered.

"Those RainWings are gonna kill me for knocking that branch down!" Apple whined, his talons cupping his cheeks. He slowly slumped to the ground in a dramatic way. "Oh, so many names carved into there! I don't even know them but I feel like I just killed them!" He moaned, hugging himself.

Aurora stared around at the RainWings. Some seemed amused, while some seemed annoyed. She nudged his wing. "Don't feel bad, Apple. I'm sure this can be fixed."

"I ruined this moment," Apple groaned, lifting one wing to show pink scales. He reluctantly stood up. "I smacked into that pretty hard. Sorry. I got distracted by.. your pretty face," he sighed slowly.

Aurora stared at him, frozen. "Oh come on. Now let's go carve our names, that's what we came here to do, right? We have to hurry, or we won't make it to our feast," she reminded, her frill twitching with impatience. He's trying to be charming but it's not working on me. I'll be going back to the Ice Kingdom tomorrow. She stared down at her leaf-wrapped arm with unease, thinking of the horrible wound that was trying to heal there. Please heal faster so my mother doesn't say anything!

Apple stalked towards the tree, his eyes following a large, rough root. He lunged forward, his talons clamping down on the root. "Well, technically this is still part of the tree. And perhaps others will walk over our names!" He gently took his talon and carved his name into the root, then motioned his talons for Aurora. "Come on."

Aurora carved her name slowly into the root, feeling strange about it. After she was done, she looked at Apple, who had amusement in his eyes. 

"Heehee, I already have the pineapple!" Apple snickered. He swiftly pulled the spiky fruit from his sachet, his movements gentle as he titled his head. "We can go back now. How's that sound?" The basket filled with different fruits shifted against his chest.

"Three moons, I'm glad. Uh.. not to be mean, but the tree-carving thing wasn't as fun as I thought it'd be," Aurora admitted.

"Oh, well I thought you might would enjoy it!" Apple whined. He was still for a moment, then opened his wings with a flash of gold. He leaped into the air, his red scales sparkling.

Aurora flew after him, but not without RainWings complementing her pretty looks first. What's wrong with them? I'm not pretty. They should visit Plum instead.