❄️Chapter 14: Truth or Dare?❄️

  Bruh I'm kinda choking right now with ideas. I have a lot, but I'm having difficulty figuring out how to string them all together. There's gonna be a truth or dare in this chapter, but don't expect it to be a regular thing. I might create some sort of spinoff, but only if you guys really like it and are willing to contribute truths and dares, but I feel like that's super unoriginal, so idk. Probably not.

  Winter sat at the edge of the underground lake, his spiked tail curled around his legs as he surveyed the scene before him. He wasn't paying too close of attention to Moon as she washed out the injuries she'd sustained, worried that he might seem like a creep if he stared. He kept an eye on her in his peripheral vision though. She told him he was being paranoid, but he wasn't going to take any chances; he wasn't sure why, but somehow, he knew he had to protect her no matter what, and if that meant constantly watching for danger, so be it.

  What would everyone back home think? About me being protective of a NightWing? They'd hate my guts for all eternity for sure. I wonder what Hailstorm would say if he was still around...NO! He's NOT dead! I know he's out there somewhere...maybe living with the SkyWings, but if he had the choice, he would've returned to the Ice Kingdom long ago. Right?

  His mind was drawn away from that subject as he noticed a blue and pink SeaWing swimming over to where Moon was rinsing out her wounds. They were both roughly the same size, but Winter saw the nervous look in her eyes as she approached. It seemed she felt threatened by her. He stayed where he was, several meters away from them, but looked on. 

  "Move it, NightWing!" the SeaWing said, fixing Moon with an intense glare. Winter knew he could still flash a scowl that could practically cut diamond. "I thought we agreed that I get the warm spot."

  Moon seemed unsure for a moment, but a look of defiance crossed her face and she firmly shook her head, not breaking eye contact with her. Winter was able to conclude from the excessive amount of jewelry the SeaWing wore, as well as her snarky attitude, that she must've been a princess or something; he new the type all too well. What stumped him was why Moon wasn't talking. 

  "No?" The gray-blue dragon seemed a little surprised. "You do remember that I'm a princess, right? I could tell my mother how insubordinate you're being, and she would put a stop to it. I always get what I want, so move!"

  It struck Winter that he'd behaved this way for so long until he'd arrived at this academy. Had he really always been so greedy and selfish, so belittling? 

  The SeaWing - who he presumed was Princess Anemone - suddenly looked over at him. "What're you looking at?" she snarled.

  Winter stood up and walked over to where this was all taking place,  trying to keep a calm expression and level head as he spoke. "Nothing much. Just an over-privileged, bratty princess who doesn't deserve her status, nor the jewelry she's wearing. How about you? What are you doing, Anemone?"

  The princess's face was a mix of anger, confusion, and guilt. "How do you know my name?" she questioned, her voice faltering a little.

  "I didn't at first," he replied, "but based on your reputation for being a total snob and the way you were treating my friend here, I pieced it all together. You don't know me, do you?"

  Anemone just stared at him for a moment. "Are you the IceWing that's been getting into fights with Flame all the time?"

  "Yep. But you knew Flame, the SkyWing known for picking fights with pretty much everyone. Yet you don't even know my name, and I've been a bit of a topic around here for awhile now."

  "What's your point?" the SeaWing asked, her anger returning.

  "My point is that it's easy to be well-known for a bad reputation. That's why so many dragons know you; they're told about the way you act, and the way you treat your 'friends', and that's what makes them remember you. They remember you because they know to stay away from you. Or at least the sensible ones," he added, gesturing with a sweep of his wing to the three  other SeaWings clearly taking her side on this. "You might be popular, but many of the dragons who hang out with you only do so because you're royalty, and they want a piece of your fame. If you want some actual friends, I advise you to quit being so stubborn and belittling. Then maybe they'll like you for who you are, and not where you come from."

  Winter held back a smile as Anemone treaded water with her mouth agape, staring at him in disbelief. "You know what? Nobody talks to me like that!" She'd completely forgotten about Moon at this point, which was what he'd hoped would be the end result to this conversation. The SeaWing scrambled out of the water and ran at him as if she were going to tackle him. It was amusing, really.

  He sidestepped her and stepped down on her tail hard enough to prevent her from going any further.

  "Well, I believe I just did," he said as Anemone tried to turn around and strike him, which she was unable to do. "C'mon Moon, lets go," he called, tossing the roll of bandages in her direction as he released the SeaWing, who fell forward clumsily and ended up flat on her face. "My name's Winter. Hopefully you'll learn something from this."

  Then he left the underground lake, Moon trailing him as he did so.

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  Winter didn't hear from Moon for over an hour after that; apparently Flame had cracked her jaw during the brawl in the hall - RHYMING, YES -, which only fueled his already burning hatred for him. In science everyone worked independently, and they had a quiz in history, so they didn't get a chance to speak until after history.

  He was making his way to math class when she caught him by the arm, practically making him jump out of his scales. 

  "Don't do that!" he said, not even joking. "Before you speak, spare yourself the pain; I'm guessing you were gonna say something along the lines of 'Thanks for the help back there, I appreciate it, Anemone got what she deserves' blah blah blah."

  Moon just smiled. "Looks like you know me too well," she said, wincing a bit. 

  Winter turned and began walking again. "Well, you can be a little predictable."

  "Excuse me?" she said, stepping in front of him. "I can be the exact opposite of predictable."

  He cracked a grin. "Like how?"

  "Like this," she responded, before kissing him lightly on the cheek. "And I didn't just do that to prove my point," the NightWing finished, winking at him as she walked off to class. 

  Winter felt his face burning, his ears surely deep blue. An unfamiliar IceWing made a gagging sound to his left, to which he responded to by baring his teeth in what he hoped was a menacing snarl. They didn't appear put off at all, simply rolling their eyes at him and walking away.

  Instead of wasting time standing there like a statue, he quickly and literally followed in Moon's footsteps as he hurried to his next class as well. Although being on time was a big concern for him most of the time, it hardly compared to how much space in his mind was being filled by what had just happened.

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  This part is gonna be kinda quick, but it's very important. 

  Winter waited impatiently as Tamarin built up to what she was trying to tell him and Moon. It was just after art class and she'd pulled them aside in the hall, insisting she had something very important to discuss.

  "So..." the blind RainWing said, shaking nervously. "You know how, about a month and a half ago, Flame somehow found out that you, Moon, told Winter what he'd threatened to do to you if you talked about what he was doing?"

  Tamarin's point immediately clicked in his head. He knew Flame couldn't have just miraculously found out about that, when Moon had only told him what went down. 

  "You told him?!" Winter and Moon both practically shouted.

  The RainWing instantly flinched away. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for things to get this bad...both of you have gotten hurt in all of this, and now Flame's expelled, and-"

  "Well maybe you should've thought of that before you went and told him!" the pale blue dragon said. "Do you know how much trouble you've caused?! He'll probably try to kill the both of us the next time we run into him because of you!"

  Moon jabbed him sharply in the side with a claw, drawing a bit of blood. "Winter, stop," she said forcefully. She pointed to Tamarin, and Winter immediately hated himself when he saw that she was crying.

  Yes, blind people/dragons can cry.

  Winter wanted to apologize, but he feared anything that came out of his mouth would sound vile and angry, as he was still frustrated to hear this news, so his held his tongue.

  "I love him, okay?" Tamarin replied, her clouded eyes glazed with fresh tears. "I know he doesn't deserve it, and I know I really shouldn't care about him at all, but I do! I know there's a good side to Flame, and I just thought...that maybe he would like me more, if...if I told him that you told someone," she said to Moon. "I'm so sorry; hate me if you want, but just know that I never wanted any of this to happen, okay?"

  Way to go, me. You're officially a horrible dragon, as if you weren't bad enough already.

  Moon shot a concerned glance his way, but she quickly masked it with anger. "See what you did?" she asked him. "I think it would be best for all of us if you go get yourself under control, Winter."

  That hit hard. Winter felt a pang of...something, in his chest, like he'd been smacked in the torso with a large rock. He nearly yelled at her, but realized that it would only make him seem even more immature. Plus, he'd already made one girl cry; he couldn't stand to do that to another. 

  Moon just glared at him, neither of them pulling their eyes away. Usually this happened in awkward scenarios, but right now the feeling of anger was mutual between them. Rather than refusing to leave, or doing something else to only make things worse, for once, Winter backed down. He flew away, and he didn't care where it got him, as long as it was far, far away from Moon. Not because of what she'd said to him, but because he was afraid of what he might've done to her in response if he'd waited any longer.

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  "Dare," Qibli said in response to Winter's question. "I'm no female dog!"

  Get it? If you do, you're an intellectual. If not, you've lived too much of a sheltered life, my friend.

  It was the end of the day and the Jade Winglet was sitting at the edge of the underground lake. They'd all gotten bored, having finished their studying and homework, and then Turtle had proposed a game of truth or dare. It seemed odd for someone so reserved, however they'd each accepted, even Carnelian. Right now Winter was the only one swimming, as the water was bitterly cold for everyone else in the dying light of the evening.

  He thought back to that morning, when Moon had kissed him, and decided he shouldn't be the only one to feel that kind of embarrassment. Although it had felt nice, the publicity of it had been horrible. Now though, she was barely speaking to him, and he was doing the same to her.

  "Alright then," he said, casually letting the current of the lake slowly drift him across the water. "I dare you to kiss your crush. I don't care if it's on the mouth or not, but whoever it is, you have to do it. If it's somebody not in this cave, you have to go find them and bring someone along to prove that you went through with it."

  "Oooh," went Sparrow. "Looks like Qibli's about to do my job for me!"

  Meanwhile, the SandWing was blushing furiously. "I haven't even agreed yet! Turning back to Winter, he asked "What's the punishment if I don't?"

  "You have to shout 'Tsunami picks her nose!' in the hallway while she's there and there are several other dragons around," Winter said with a snicker.

  "Ouch," Carnelian said. "Looks like this won't end well for you either way." 

  "Is that true?" Karma asked, a look of mild disgust on her face.

  "I hope not, for Qibli's sake," Moon replied.

  Qibli considered the stakes. "I suppose humiliation is better than having every bone in my body broken...alright, I accept..."

  The pale yellow dragon shuffled his way over to where Moon was sitting, who seemed alarmed at this. Winter did too, and would've flown off the rails had Qibli not jerked himself in a different direction at the last moment and kissed someone who he knew none of them had been expecting, especially not the dragon on the receiving end...

  Carnelian.

  The SkyWing's yellow eyes widened in shock as Qibli pressed his mouth to hers, but she seemed to enjoy it after a few seconds, as she closed them and kissed him back. After that Winter - and everyone else - didn't see anything, as they all covered their eyes.

  After a good fifteen seconds, Winter interrupted them. 

  "I said kiss, not make out," he said, still shielding his eyes with a wing. "Wrap it up."

  Thankfully for the sake of everyone besides Qibli and Carnelian, they quickly stopped, both of them burning bright red in the face. The SandWing went back to where he'd previously been sitting, between Turtle and Sparrow, but surprisingly, Carnelian followed him and sat down next to him. 

  Qibli wasted no time in asking Winter truth or dare. The IceWing knew he would probably ask him something like, who do you have a crush on, or something like that, and he wouldn't be able to back out of a truth. At least if he chose dare he could take the punishment.

  "Dare."

  Qibli grinned mischievously. "I dare you to admit to all of us who you have a crush on."

  "I can't see this ending well for anybody," Turtle said. "After this, let's stop with all the who you have a crush on dares and truths."

  "Agreed," Moon said.

  Winter hadn't known if he'd liked anybody here in that way until this morning, but now he knew the best candidate by far was her. And he would NEVER admit who he liked to them, even if it wasn't her. 

  "What's the punishment?"

  Qibli couldn't think of one after pondering it for awhile. Then, Kinkajou gave him an idea that was only slightly worse than admitting who his crush was.

  "We get to paint all your spikes and claws pink, and you have to keep them that way for a week!" the RainWing said excitedly.

  The SandWing grinned. "That's better than my idea; I was just going to say he had to kill himself."

  A lot of you have been asking when this sort of topic would come up. Well, here it is! Not sure how out-of-the-blue this will seem, but to be honest, I don't care right now. I'll tell you why at the end of the chapter, and I promise no more of these interjections mid-chapter, or very minimal ones at least!

  Everyone fell silent. It was so quiet that Winter could hear the gentle ripple of the water as he floated, but he could hardly focus on that now. 

  "That's not okay, Qibli," Kinkajou whispered, loud enough for Winter to pick up. He just watched as Qibli replied, emotions not even registering in his head. It was like he'd...crashed, or something, and he knew it. He felt...blank. Empty. 

  The SandWing awkwardly chuckled. "I was just kidding," he said. "C'mon, you all know I'm just joking, right?" His black eyes flitted from stunned face to stunned face, his own expression falling more and more as he did so. 

  "Why would you even joke about that?" Karma asked. 

  Qibli was silent, his face pale.

  "What if he has thought about that before?" Moon questioned him. "You'd only be making him feel worse."

  "I have," Winter said, finally speaking. He didn't look at any of them, just continued to float like an orca carcass at sea. "I've thought about it before. Multiple times a week, actually. That is, I did. Before I met you all."

  "I didn't mean to-" Qibli started to say.

  "SHUT UP!" Winter roared, not floating anymore, instead swimming over to the edge of the lake. "Just shut your mouth for once, will you?" He said it as more of an order than a question, staring the SandWing right in the eyes. "You think I'm kidding? Well, I'm not; you have no clue how hard things can be at home for me. I know you had it bad and all, having to scrounge around for food in the Scorpion Den, but try and imagine doing the best you possibly can to live up to your tribe's legacy and your parents' expectations for FOUR STRAIGHT YEARS only to have everyone say 'You could've done this better,' or 'You're an IceWing, act like it,' or 'Why can't you be more like your brother, Winter, the brother YOU CAUSED THE DEATH OF BECAUSE YOU LET HIM GET CAPTURED IN THE WOODS'!" He felt tears welling up in his eyes and wiped them away. "You see what being an IceWing does to you? It hardens you, breaks you down bit by bit until you feel nothing other than anger and despair and longing for your own kind to just...be okay with you, to not constantly be seeking improvement day after day, week after week, month after month...so don't you ever joke about something like that ever again, Qibli."

  Winter was a mess, and he knew it. His friends knew it now, too. He climbed up onto the rocks and shook the water from himself, storming toward the exit to the cavern. He needed to be away from all this, and while he blamed it on others, he knew the main problem was him. And you can never escape yourself, no matter how fast you fly.

  "Winter, wait!" Moon shouted. He turned around to meet her eyes, seeing that she was near the brink of tears as well. "Please, don't leave...we had no idea that any of this was going on."

  He didn't sigh, didn't yell, didn't storm away in a flurry of rage. Instead, he spoke soft enough so hopefully only she could hear him.

  "No, you didn't. Nobody ever knows."

  Then, ignoring her pleading, he turned and left, and when Moon tried to follow him, he ran and ran and ran until he didn't even know where he was anymore.

  Mhm. Hope you guys liked this chapter, and I'm extremely sorry that I didn't get it out sooner; there are two main reasons why this happened. The first was my bad; I slacked off on writing and was unable to think of any ideas for a few days, so that's my bad. Then, I tried to log in yesterday, only to find that I was locked out of my account. Wattpad was having issues, as I KNOW I put in my correct password, but it claimed it wasn't correct. I tried to reset my password, but the email linked to my account is outdated and I can't access it. So, I could not log in. Tried contacting Wattpad, they replied with a bunch of useless junk I'd already tried. So, I was very worried I would have to start a new account and somehow let you all know about it, then I would have to rewrite all my stories, and it would've been a disaster. Not gonna lie, I cried a bit. Judge me if you want, I don't give two turds. Now I'm going to go change the email linked to my account in case this ever happens again. I hope you had a great day, and thanks for stopping by. Peace.