❄️Chapter 27: Ice at Midnight❄️

Ok, before you ask, I've decided that I'm not writing an epilogue for this (this was written close to the end of me writing this chapter) Also I can't exactly remember how Turtle's stick of coral worked, like if it was a vessel for his powers or something, but just don't give me a hard time if I'm wrong. Anyway, I know you guys will enjoy the ending to this story!

In all his life, Winter had never been so lonely. He cried himself to sleep when he returned to his empty sleeping cave, piling some of the moss and leaves from Moonwatcher's bed onto his ledge, since they held her scent, and she was what had really kept him going throughout the year, when everything had seemed hopeless and when it seemed the whole world was against him. Those leaves were the only reminder of her he had left, and they were the reason he was able to get what little sleep he did. Winter woke in the morning expecting to see Moon stirring in her sleep over on her bed, or to hear Kinkajou and Sparrow gossiping in their cave. The only dragon left that he was familiar with was Karma, but he wanted nothing to do with her ever again after the way she'd betrayed them all. It was hard to believe they were really gone; it was never this quiet in their caves. Heck, he even missed the occasional argument with Qibli over stupid, insignificant things.   He sat up, removing a leaf stuck to one of his horns, fiddling with the half heart necklace he'd left on the floor. The chain had snapped during the events that had taken place several hours ago, and he'd found it caked in mud in the clearing. Just looking at it brought a fresh stream of tears flowing down his face as he remembered how happy Moon had been when he'd given her the other necklace with the other half of the silver heart.  "Good morning, Winter," came a bellow-ish voice from the door. He looked up and saw Clay, the big MudWing having to lower his head to fit it inside the cave. "Karma came and told me about...everything. I'm truly sorry for all your losses, and even more sorry we couldn't figure out that your brother was behind these disappearances before he did his damage."  Winter didn't reply, silently staring down at the necklace in his claws.   Clay didn't seem annoyed, thankfully. "I know what it's like to love someone," he said quietly. "I can't imagine how hard it would be to lose them, but I just want you to know that we plan to hold a funeral for everyone who has died here recently. It's going to be in a few hours, if you're interested."Of course I'm interested you food-obsessed idiot. They're my friends. And my brother.  "Even for Hailstorm?" he asked, looking up to meet Clay's amber eyes.  "Even for Hailstorm," the MudWing confirmed with a nod, the anger evident in his voice. "I talked to all the teachers, and they agreed that you were doing well enough that the only school work you'll need to do is the final tests for each class at the end of the year. If you would like, you can leave the academy until then, if you need to figure things out or something, but you're welcome here all the same."  Winter just nodded, not quite sure what to do anymore. All his friends were dead, and the only dragon he knew well enough to consider a friend had betrayed them all, not even lifting a claw to stop Hailstorm when he'd gone on his rampage in that clearing. After Clay left, he remembered that he'd left Moon's necklace and wristband in the clearing, as well as Turtle's stick of coral. He mainly wanted the accessories from Moon, as it would give him a couple of things to remember her by, but the stick of coral had seemed pretty important to Turtle too, so he might as well pick it up while he was there. Although Winter was sick of all the death he'd seen lately, he had to go back and get those things. So he did, climbing out of the still-broken window and flying off to the muddy clearing. When he arrived, he almost started crying again as he saw the carnage and all the bodies. Those of Moon and Hailstorm pained him most when he looked at them; they had been the two closest dragons in his life, and now they were lifeless, the spark gone from their eyes. He had still been having doubts that they were all really dead, until now. There was no way any of them could be alive. Winter first walked over to Turtle, picking up the pale piece of coral next to his faded body, wiping the mud off, before he then went over to Moonwatcher, his claws sinking deep into the mud, just like his heart into the pits of despair that came when someone you loved was lost. He knew this, because he'd felt the same feeling before, when everyone had thought his brother was dead. Now, he really was. He gingerly slipped the wristband off of Moon's cold arm, then lifted her head up and removed the necklace, gently setting it back down with tears in his eyes. He noticed something that he hadn't last night, his vision mostly obscured by the darkness; her left wing was clearly broken. I don't think I'll ever be able to love again...this is what happens, this is why I always stay away from dragons. If I become their friend, or more, like with Moon, I'll just end up having my heart broken one way or another. But never again...I never needed friends in the first place, and I sure don't need new ones...I don't WANT new ones... Winter just knelt down by Moonwatcher for a few moments, holding her talon in both of his, then finally let go and flew back toward the academy, wiping his tears away. The sun was out this morning, as if mocking him with its natural air of positivity. Not a cloud was in sight. He wished it would be overcast for a week; if he was going to feel sad, alone, and depressed, he didn't want the rest of the world to be aglow with happiness.  He climbed back into his cave through the cold window frame, laid the pieces of jewelry he'd recovered from Moon on his ledge, then went into the cave Turtle, Qibli, and Carnelian had shared. He'd only been in here a few times, but it was nothing special. There were two stone ledges, one of which Qibli had picked since it was often in full sunlight, and then a shallow, dragon-sized pool where Turtle slept.I don't see anything NEXT to his bed...maybe it's inside?  He looked inside the pool, and saw that Turtle must've misspoken.. There was a brown satchel, sealed tight, resting at the bottom of the pool.I hope he never peed in this water," he thought as he retrieved the sopping wet bag and set it on the floor, as well as the white stick of coral. Winter opened up the bag and found three large wooden pieces, almost like those of a jigsaw puzzle, but they were curved. When he slid them together, they formed a large bowl. There was also a spoon inside the bag, probably to go along with the bowl, but he was pretty sure he didn't need it for whatever Turtle wanted him to do.'Put something in the bowl and say "Twice as much, please", he remembered the SeaWing telling him several agonizing hours ago. Winter picked up the piece of coral and placed it inside the bowl, wondering if this was all some elaborate prank. If it was, he would probably cry. Again.  "Twice as much, please," the IceWing whispered, not expecting anything to happen. That's why he was astonished, and also a bit weirded out, when the stick of coral suddenly duplicated right before his eyes. At first, he had no clue why this witchcraft, or magic, or whatever it was had happened. However, he started piecing together the clues bit by bit, starting with how Turtle had seemed so relieved when he'd been informed that Moon's mind-reading didn't work on him. He'd seemed just a little too relieved. It took him a little more than a minute, but he was able to figure out how Turtle had access to this kind of thing. Turtle was an Animus.I wonder what this piece of coral does...if it does anything at all...maybe I can, I don't know, make a wish with it or something? Hm... He scratched his head in thought, then realized as he touched one of his horns that it was broken. Part of it must've snapped off last night.I wish my horn wasn't broken anymore. He waited a few moments to give the magic time to work, if it even needed any, before feeling his horn again. His heart accelerated when he realized it was good as new, smoother than seal skin and as sharp as a dagger at the end. I guess Turtle wasn't as boring as I thought...WAIT A SECOND! This means...I can bring them all back!—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————- (Approximately five minutes and many tears of joy later...)

Winter and his twin sister Icicle stood just outside of the front entrance of Jade Mountain Academy, standing on the landing platform they'd arrived her on months ago, painful months, happy months, crazy and absurd months...months that had gone by way too fast. Resting on the ground several feet in front of them, were an assortment of items, items that would mean nothing to someone not associated with the dragons they belonged to: Moonwatcher's black-and-emerald armband, Qibli's amber earring, a list of potential couples that Winter had found in Sparrow's collection, Turtle's bag of Animus-touched objects, a ruby Carnelian had found and kept during hunting one day, a sloppy drawing of a sloth Kinkajou had made while doodling in class, a set of brass knuckles that belonged to Bigtail - Winter had asked her beforehand if there were any items he had been fond of or that meant something to him -, a stubby pencil that had been sharpened so much it was barely bigger than an eraser for Mightyclaws, and finally, a scale off of Mindreader's body. Winter had thought about bringing Hailstorm back, but based on the words he planned to use to resurrect the rest of the fallen dragons, it would only bring back the mentally broken Hailstorm, not the one that had been missing for so many years. And even though it hurt worse than that saltwater crocodile bite had early on in the year, he couldn't do that to everyone else. He looked at Icicle, standing to his right, her blue eyes bloodshot and puffy from the amount of tears she had shed. She'd cried most of them when Winter had told her he and the rest of his winglet had discovered the horrible fate that had befallen Bigtail and the other two NightWings killed by his brother, and then some tears of joy when she found out he would be able to bring them all back. She didn't even try denying anymore the fact that she loved Bigtail; it was too obvious. "You think you can pull yourself together?" he asked. "It'd be a shame if you were crying so much you couldn't see what's about to happen." Icicle punched him in the shoulder. "Shut up; you cried too. I can still tell from how sore your eyes look." Winter grinned, then looked to his left, where Karma stood, not meeting anybody's gaze. She was still ashamed for what she'd done, but they had both agreed it would be appreciated if she was present when all their friends were brought back to life. He then looked behind him, where the rest of the dragons in the academy, staff and students alike, waited patiently inside for that to happen. He took one last look at all the objects set out before them, Moonwatcher's armband and Bigtail's brass knuckles in the very front, before he closed his eyes, the original stick of coral held tightly in his claws.When I let go of this piece of coral and it hits the ground, the dragons represented by these objects in front of me will be brought back from the dead, without any injuries, and they will still retain all of their memories, he thought, making sure to be as specific as he could, before he let go of the coral, his eyes still shut until he heard it hit the ground. Can Animus magic even bring dragons back from the dead? Is that a thing? Will this even work, or is there a limit on how much power that piece of coral can use? came a few rushed and frantic thoughts, Winter's eyes still closed, desperately hoping with all his heart that this would work. A loud cheer from the crowd of dragons still inside told him it must have, and his eyes snapped open, relief and happiness flooding through him when he saw each and every dragon that had died here recently standing in front of him, Icicle, and Karma. The one he cared about most, though, was Moonwatcher, whose jade green eyes were staring right back at his, a full smile on her face as she suddenly ran toward him, not even bothering to put on her armband first as she leaped into his arms. Winter wore a grin to match the size of hers as he felt her smooth scales against him once again, lifting her up in the air for a moment and spinning both of them around, before coming to a stop, his vision spinning so much from dizziness that he nearly dropped her on accident. Moon was happily laughing, a sound he hadn't heard in what felt like an eternity, but one he missed dearly with all his heart, only second to the sound of her voice. They tried to kiss each other, but missed horribly with both of them being so dizzy, which only added to her laughter. Winter laughed as well, waiting until his vision corrected itself before he tried again. This time, he didn't miss. They probably would've kissed longer than a second or two had they not been in front of the entire school, but it didn't matter to him. The dragon who made him happy, gave him that strange fluttery feeling in his chest like no other, was back in his life, and that was all that mattered. Winter eventually set Moon down on the ground, but she refused to quit hugging him, practically squeezing the air out of his lungs. "I don't know how," she said, her soft voice like music to his ears, "but you did it, Winter." He hugged her too, not wanting this moment to ever end. "I had help from a certain SeaWing," he said, looking beyond the heads of several dragons at Turtle, who was hugging his sister Anemone, Kinkajou looking more than a little peeved that he wasn't hugging her instead. Moon looked at him strangely. "Turtle?" "I'll explain everything later." "You better, because I have no clue how- OW!" the small NightWing exclaimed, whimpering in pain. He looked down, and saw that she had stepped on her left wing. A wing that was supposed to be healed. "Why is your wing still broken?" Winter asked, talking to himself more than anybody. "I swear I did everything right..." "Winter!" Qibli suddenly shouted. He looked up and saw the SandWing storming over to him. "How dare you touch my earring! It could've broken!" he said jokingly, walking over and playfully punching him in the shoulder. "Seriously though, glad you worked out how to bring us back." His face then turned to a mask of confusion. "How did you bring us back, exactly?" "Go get everyone else; I don't want to have to explain this more than once..."—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————- (Lots of confused dragons and several hours later...)

Two dragons were perched on a small cliff, hundreds of feet above the heart of Jade Mountain. The larger of the two was ice blue, his scales polished to the point that it looked like he was MADE of ice. The second, smaller dragon was an entirely different story. Her scales were as dark as the night itself, aside from a few hints of different colors and tiny silver scales on her sides here and there. The female's green eyes practically glowed in the soft moonlight, as well as a sparkly, silver, teardrop-shaped scale next to each one. Her wings - one healthy and working as a dragon's wing should, the other bent at an awkward angle drooping at her side - were dotted with tiny white speckles, as if pieces of the nighttime sky had decided that this was where they would stay. Despite that the two dragons were near polar opposites, the thing they most had in common was their love for one another. Winter felt Moon snuggle into his side as they observed the still sky above, pointing out different stars and constellations to each other. They weren't out her for any specific reason, just wanting to spend some time with each other after the scarring events they'd both been through. "I still can't believe none of us figured out Turtle's secret," Moon said to him, her smooth, glossy scales rubbing against his side as she shifted a little. "It's a good thing he told you about the bowl." "Yeah, otherwise I would've been lonelier than...uh...a lonely guy." "We still need to work on your comparisons," the NightWing said, her head resting on his shoulder. "For sure," Winter agreed. "I wish there would've been enough magic in that piece of coral so that your wing would be fixed, though." That was the reason why Moonwatcher's wing was still broken; apparently there was only a limited amount of Animus magic stored in Turtle's stick of coral, reserved only for emergencies. There had been enough to bring everyone back alive totally healthy and fine, aside from her. "I'd much rather be alive with a permanently broken wing than dead," she replied. "I'm never gonna be able to fly again, though...that's what I'm going to miss most." It was true. She'd seen the nurse about her wing earlier, and they'd told her that her wing was broken in a way that couldn't be repaired. The pain would fade after a week or two, but Moonwatcher's wing would be forever unusable. Winter saw tears coming to her eyes, and wrapped his wing around her to comfort her. "You know Turtle could just use his magic to heal it, right?" "I asked him, but he said he doesn't use his powers unless he has to. Doesn't want his soul becoming corrupt." "I bet I can make him reconsider..." Winter said, an edge to his voice. "Winter, please...it's fine." He took his eyes off the sky to look at her. "But you just said you'll miss being able to fly." "That doesn't mean I want to risk losing a friend just to get that back," she told him. He sighed. "You're too perfect for me." "No, you're too perfect for me." Moon said a bit stubbornly. Winter didn't persist, knowing this would continue forever if he did. "I'm just glad you're still around so we can share moments like this." She smiled. "You have no idea what it means to be glad..." After a few moments, he had a crazy idea that just might work. "I have a crazy idea that just might work," he said, standing up. "What if we both fly, but at the same time?" Moon just stared at him a moment. "Okay, I think it's time for bed..." "No, I'm serious!" he said, getting excited by the fact that this could work. "If I wrap my right wing around you, and we both flap our other wings at once, we can probably fly together!" "Sounds like a stretch...and we're on top of a cliff! What happens if it doesn't work?" Moon asked. "Then we both fall to our deaths and can live happily-ever-after in the afterlife," he said. "Come on, what have we got to lose?" "Our lives...wow, I really sound like you right now, but fine." Moon walked over to the edge of the cliff, and he joined her, wrapping his right wing firmly around her and pulling her as close to him as possible. "If we die, I'm gonna be really angry at you!" Winter ignored that comment. "Alright, on three, we fly," he said confidently. "One, two...three!" The pair jumped, and flew through the cool night air, the wind curving around them both as they flapped their wings in unison. For about five seconds, until gravity took control and they fell down about thirty feet into a heavily forested area. They definitely would've perished had a few tree branches not broken their fall, but now they laid in a heap on the ground, laughing at their own failure like crazed hyenas.  "It's a start," Winter said, Moon resting on top of him, her bad wing drooping pitifully at her side. "We'll work on it."  She nodded, placing her front paws on his chest and looking down at him. "Next time, we'll do it over a nice, flat plain though, and very close to the ground."  "Agreed." The ground felt unusually cold tonight, and as he tried to sit up, his talons slid against something smooth and he fell back down on his back. He turned his head to look at the ground, and saw that there was ice on it. Was it really that cold out?  Moon reached down and touched the ice for a second. "I've never actually seen this much ice in real life before. It's even colder than you!"  "Yeah," Winter said. "Ice at midnight."  And then, they shared a soft kiss under the stars, right where they belonged: with each other.

————————————————————————The end———————————————————————————

  (Thanks to all of you for reading this story; it's turned out to be my most popular one yet, by a good couple thousand of you. To even have this many readers is...more than amazing, so even if you just read the story and never commented - which is most of you - I still really appreciate that you took the time out of your life to stick around. It warms my heart to know that so many people from different parts of the world can unite under the fact that Winterwatcher is and always will be the greatest WoF ship ever. Don't expect much from me for the next week or so, I'm gonna take some time away from worrying about my next story. After that I'll probably need to plan things regarding my next story for at least another week. It's not a Wings of Fire related story, but it is about dragons. Anyway, I hope you'll all check it out, keep tabs on my account page for any updates on what it will be called or when it'll be released. Cataclysm138, out!)