❄️Chapter 6❄️

  "Sorry," Winter apologized again to Moon as they walked through the halls of the academy, the upper halves of their bodies still coated in ash. "How was I supposed to know it would do that?"

  "There was a list of instructions that told what should've happened with each mixture," she replied. "And it also happened to list the exact amount of each substance we needed. Maybe we wouldn't be here right now if someone had looked at it."

  He cracked a small smile. "Well, at least it gives us an excuse to get out of class for a bit. You're welcome, by the way."

  "For covering us both in strong-smelling ash?"

  "Yep. And pungent would be a better word." He coughed once, a small cloud of the dusty substance exiting his throat.

  Moon giggled. "I know you think using big, fancy words makes you seem sophisticated, but it kind of makes you seem more narcissistic than anything. Also, you're an idiot," she said, a playful tone in her voice. "Let's just go clean off and get back to class before we get in trouble."

  "That, I can agree on."

  They hurried down to the underground lake, and they were alone since all of the regular visitors were stuck in class. 

  Winter was the first to enter the water, quietly slipping in so not to be heard by any passerby. The lake was freezing in the early morning, the chilly air entering through the hole in the roof. It didn't bother him though, having grown up in the coldest place in Pyrrhia. It was a different story for Moon.

  He watched with mild amusement as the NightWing hesitantly dipped her tail in the water, only to immediately retract it.

  "To cold for you, there?" he asked in a slightly mocking tone. "I could stay in here all day if I wanted to. I'm built for temperatures way colder than this."

  "Yeah, yeah..." she muttered. "If you're looking to brag about how great you IceWings claim to be, do it somewhere else. I'm not in the mood for it." She crouched down at the edge of the lake and thrust half her arm underwater, only to bring it back up with a yelp. "On second thought, maybe I'll just stay like this all day."

  Winter rolled his eyes. "Suit yourself," he said, before diving under. The clumpy gray ash quickly washed off of his pristine icy scales, no longer tainting him with its foul aroma and dull color. He scrubbed himself clean of any small particles left, and reappeared at the surface once he was satisfied. Meanwhile, Moonwatcher was still standing at the edge of the lake. He knew there was only one way to get her in the water.

  The pale blue IceWing swam over to the edge, resting his arms on the rock. "Having fun smelling like a burnt seal carcass up there?"

  She raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't know what that smells like."

  "Well, it's not pleasant, that's for sure. Hey, what's that pouch you're wearing?" he asked, noticing a scroll-sized leather pouch slung across her torso.

  "Starflight gave it to me to keep my library stuff in. I also have the map of the school and our schedule in here."

  "Can I see it?"

  She looked uneasy for a moment, as if he might try to strangle her with it or something. "Sure..." she said, taking it off to hand to him.

  Winter reached for it, and just as he was about to grab it, he latched his claws onto her wrist firmly enough to yank her forward. There was a brief moment of panic in her eyes, but it didn't last long, as she fell into the ice-cold water just as he had planned. She let out a shrill scream, but it was cut off as her head went under for a second.

  Moon's head quickly popped up to the surface, one of the fiercest glares he'd ever been given on her face. She looked like she wanted to tear his heart out of his chest, and for a split second he worried that she might do just that.

  "Are you crazy?!" she shrieked. "Why would you do that? I could've gotten a concussion! Or I could've broken an arm, or a leg, or fractured a rib! Do you know how much..."

  His brain tuned her words out after a few moments, instead focusing on how assertive and unruly she became when she got this angry. In a way, it reminded him of himself.

  "Are you listening to a word I'm saying?" Moon asked, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him violently. "Don't you dare do that again! Ever!"

  Rather than speaking, Winter burst out in uncontrollable laughter, floating on his back as he was unable to swim. Moon splashed him in the face with cold water, but he didn't stop. Not until she forced him underwater for a few seconds, and then he had to stop laughing. He came up to the surface sputtering and coughing up water, but he still had a large grin on his face.

  "That's what you get for scaring me like that!" Moon said with a sound mixed between a snort and a growl. 

  "It was-"He paused to cough. "It was the only...the only way to get you in the lake."

  The frown disappeared from her face. "I guess that's true. It's still really cold, though."

  "I can fix that," Winter said, swimming closer to her.

  The NightWing hurriedly backed away. "Nope! I'm good, I'm fine, thank you! I'll stay over here at the edge, where it's nice and safe."

  "What do you mean, safe?" he asked, genuinely curious. "You do know how to swim, right?"

  She sheepishly glanced away. "No..."

  He almost laughed, but thought better of it. 

  I could probably teach her how to. Not today, but maybe some other time. How can someone not know how to swim? I thought it just came naturally.

  He saw a strange look on her face, somewhere between embarrassment and hurt. Had he done something wrong? 

  Winter swam over to her, and this time she didn't try to avoid him. "I'm sorry," he said for the third time in less than half an hour. "I didn't realize you can't swim."

  She gazed at him with those remarkable green eyes of hers. "It's okay. Maybe...you could teach me how, sometime?" 

  What do I say? If I say yes...what am I saying? That shouldn't even be an option for an IceWing, especially not a royal one. I don't help NightWings, not even her!

  The expression on her face fell, and for a second he thought that just possibly...she had read his mind. But then the logical part of his brain kicked in and reminded him that that isn't possible.

  But if I say no, she'll be disappointed...

  "Sure," he blurted before he could stop himself.

  STUPID.

  He couldn't tell for sure, but he thought he saw a hint of a smile on her face after his response.

  "Alright. Could you try and find that leather pouch?" she asked. "I dropped it when you rudely pulled me into the water."

  Winter nodded, submerging into the blue water once again. He knew it would be lower in the lake, if not at the bottom, since it had items inside. Hopefully it wasn't all the way at the floor of the lake, but if it was, he knew he would be able to hold his breath long enough. He wasn't a MudWing, but he could at least go without air underwater for a few minutes longer than the average dragon.

  He swam further and further down, wondering just how deep this lake was. Looking up, he could only see faint traces of light from the surface. It was getting more difficult to see by the second. But finally, he saw a silver glint a few feet ahead of him.

  Winter approached it, and could barely make out the silhouette of some sort of parcel, the strap caught on a sharp outcrop of rock. Convenient. Almost too much so.

  He grabbed the pouch, silently hoping nothing inside had gotten ruined. Moon was already angry enough; he wouldn't want to get on her nerves any more. 

  Not that I want her to like me or be my friend, because I DON'T. I just want to make as few enemies as possible while I'm at this dumpy academy. 

  The IceWing began to swim back up to the surface, his lungs starting to burn as he carried the pouch with him. In the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of movement, and a slight, but noticeable electric ZAP crackled several feet away.

  Oh hell no, he thought. That better not be what I think it is...

  He suddenly felt a sharp, buzzing pain, not like anything he'd felt before. The only thing he could compare it to was static electricity, but this was about ten times worse. Caught off guard, he accidentally inhaled water, his nose burning immediately.

  He swam faster, reaching the surface far faster than it had taken him to swim down and retrieve the parcel. Moon was standing at the edge of the lake once again, dripping wet. She seemed relieved when he broke the surface, but he didn't have the time to analyze her expression fully. He threw the leather pouch onto the rock, scrambling up there as quick as he could. Winter coughed up a little water, but not much, as it had entered through his nose and not his mouth. 

  "You okay?" Moon asked, looking at him weirdly. "Why were you in such a hurry just now?"

   "There's an electric eel in there," he replied.

  She now looked more annoyed than worried. "Okay, you can stop with all your little jokes now. It was kind of funny when you caused the incident in science, and when you pulled me into the lake, but I'm just getting frustrated now. Quit making excuses, Winter. Let's just get back to class."

  "I'm serious!" he insisted. "It shocked me. It was like static electricity, but worse. And it was all over my body too, so it had to be something in the water."

  Something in his voice must've gotten her attention. "Are you sure?" 

  "Yeah. Feel it for yourself if you don't believe me. Actually, that's not a good idea," Winter said on second thought. "I think I'll tell Clay when we get back to class, though."

  Moon just nodded, leaving the cavern. He followed her. Winter felt an abnormal warm draft of air as he left, but thought nothing of it.

  They didn't talk at all on the way back.

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  The rest of the morning was for the most part, uneventful. The Jade Winglet sat through history class, where Webs droned on for an hour about something along the lines of the Summer Palace being destroyed. He assigned homework on the first day of class, which was disappointing to everyone. The final class they had before lunch break was math, a subject Winter wasn't the greatest in. 

  Now, four of the five dragons in their winglet sat together in the prey center, Carnelian being the only one to sit by herself. Winter already hated this place. It was basically a first-come-first-serve basis, and by the time they got there, everything was pretty picked over. Luckily, there was still a good amount of the saltwater crocodile he'd killed yesterday. The only part that was gone was the head, which was a little disturbing.

  Their group sat in a corner away from everyone else. Qibli was already ravenously chowing down on his portion of the large reptile, while Winter and Moon remained hesitant. Kinkajou, of course, refused to eat meat, instead selecting various fruits. He was baffled that someone could willingly eat nothing but plants their whole life.

  "Look," the SandWing said between bites. "You guys really should-" he swallowed a mouthful of crocodile meat. "Try it. If you don't like it, more for me. Just take a bite, don't be shy!" He then tore another chunk off of his helping and began chewing obnoxiously once again. For whatever reason, Moon seemed to find his actions amusing.

  "Only if you learn some table manners," Winter said with disgust.

  "Manners? What manners?" Qibli asked, seeming to be genuinely confused. "You know, where I grew up-" he gulped down the meat he'd been chewing. "You take what you can get and eat it as fast as possible. That way, nobody else can have it or steal it from you."

  "Where did you grow up, before you started working with Queen Thorn?" Moon asked.

  "Scorpion Den," was his reply. "Full of outclaws. Not exactly an ideal place to live, but I got by. Probably why I'm so smart. Had to outwit the competition."

  Moon laughed.

  Winter shook his head, finally taking a bite of crocodile. It was very chewy, and sort of tasted like chicken. It was alright, but eating seafood his whole life up until now had made him a bit of a snob when it came to other types of food.

  "You can have the rest," he said, sliding the remaining meat over to Qibli. The SandWing had just finished his portion, so he was more than happy for seconds.

  "Thanks Winter!" he said, shoveling it into his mouth. "You rock!" Small bits of crocodile flew out of his mouth and landed just an inch away from him.

  "You're a pig," Winter retorted. 

  Moon tried hers, and gave it to Qibli as well.

  "What is wrong with your tastebuds?" the pale yellow dragon asked. 

  She shrugged. "I guess we just grew up eating different food than you."

  "Well, there's only one thing I can say to that," Qibli said. He suddenly belched loudly. "Two things. And the second one is, bon apétit!"

  He proceeded to wolf down the rest of the crocodile meat, while Winter and Moon each sought out something more attuned to their tastes.

  After lunch, there were only two classes left on his schedule. Technically, his and Moon's, since they both had the same classes and at the same times. The first was art, and the second was biology. Sunny taught art, but all they really did today was go over what they would be doing in class and labeling little cubbies where they would keep their projects. Clay taught biology, and instead of learning about the bodies of dragons, they learned about the bodies of cows. Mostly the brain, which wasn't even very large. During the lesson, the MudWing repeatedly mentioned how hungry he was for cow, which was not at all surprising. 

  The true surprise of the day came later that afternoon.

  Winter and Moonwatcher were walking back to their cave from biology, making feeble attempts at small talk. Everything seemed pretty normal. The halls were bustling with dragons heading back to their own sleeping caves, chatting amongst themselves. The occasional insult was thrown their way, particularly IceWings making snide comments about Moon. Winter felt like saying something, but it was the end of the day, and he just wanted to finish his homework. He didn't see any point in starting trouble.

  Somewhere along the way, Qibli caught up with them.

  "Hey guys!" he greeted them, hustling along at a brisk pace. "Winter, can you help me with a math problem? I didn't finish the worksheet in class, and I don't understand the last question."

  The IceWing sighed. He knew if he said no, Qibli would just keep bothering him until he agreed, so he decided it would be better just to get it over with.

  "I'm not sure I'll be much help, but I'll see what I can do."

  Instead of going to his cave, he went over two to the one Qibli shared with Carnelian. Winter was glad to see that the SkyWing wasn't present at the moment.

  "Alright, where's the workshe-"

  He was taken by surprise when Qibli shoved him forcefully against the wall of the cave.

  "What are you doing?!" he hissed. "Let go!" 

  The SandWing held tight. "Listen, Winter," he snarled in a voice that sounded far from his own. "You better back off of Moon. She's mine. Nobody else can have her."

  "What are you talking about?" Winter responded, trying to free himself from Qibli's grasp.

  "I saw you two at the underground lake this morning. You think you're so clever, causing a mishap in science so you could get an excuse to spend more time with her. Smart, I'll admit, but cowardly."

  The IceWing blushed furiously. "You think I tried to cause that? That was an accident! She's not even my friend, and she never will be. But if you think you're going to threaten me...then you've got another thing coming."

  He wrapped his spiked tail around Qibli's leg and pulled, causing his knee to buckle. He fell flat on his back, and Winter was able to get himself out of the position he'd been in just moments before.

  "Trust me, you sun-loving lizard," he spat. "You do not want to get on my bad side."

  He stormed out of Qibli's cave, fuming as he walked over to his own. He expected to see Moonwatcher sitting on her leaf bed reading or working on homework. However, she was gone.