❄️Chapter 11: Tryouts❄️

  It was Wednesday afternoon, and Winter was fully healed from the incident that took place Saturday night. The only visible sign that it had happened at all was a slight black tinge to a large portion of the scales on his chest, but the nurse had assured him it would fade away with time. 

  Now, he was walking down to the Great Hall to try out for the Midnight Marauders. He had barely left his cave when Qibli jumped out at him.

  "What's up, Winter?" the annoyingly clever SandWing said. "Heading down for tryouts?"

  For whatever reason, he'd decided to tell Moon about the opportunity he had chosen to take. Kinkajou, being her eavesdropping self, overheard, and soon the entire winglet knew about it and was planning on attending the tryouts. Spectators were allowed, unfortunately.

  Winter replied with a grunt, not sure what Qibli was up to. He continued on his way and the yellow dragon followed him, the SandWing stopping only when there was nobody else in the hallway.

  "I thought I told you to stay away from Moon," Qibli hissed, although no physical force was used this time. "I can tell you're still up to something."

  "Well, if you had more than one brain cell," Winter snarled, "you'd remember I never agreed to your terms. And we share the same cave; I can't exactly avoid her."

  "I probably have five TIMES the capacity of your brain, Winter, and if you don't step off, there's going to be hell to pay."

  Qibli began walking off, but Winter caught him by the arm.

  "You better stop making those kinds of threats, sand-snorter."

  "Or what?"

  Winter smirked. "Because I doubt Moon would like to know you've been trying to blackmail me into avoiding her. And maybe I'll just tell her you have a massive crush on her if this continues."

  Qibli paled for a moment. "Oh yeah? Well now you're blackmailing me. I could tell her that."

  "What would be the point in that? Then she wouldn't like either of us."

  Qibli ripped his arm out of Winter's grasp. "Well, it's certainly better than letting you have her."

  The SandWing spat at his feet, then stormed off in the opposite direction. Something told Winter he wouldn't be attending the tryouts. Then again, maybe he had never planned to.

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  "Listen up everyone, because I'm only going to say this once," Argo ordered as he paced back and forth in front of the line of nine students. He wasn't wearing his weapons, but they were close by, in a pile several feet away. "I will be choosing only the best of you to be members of the Midnight Marauders, so you need to give this all you've got. I don't care if you're sick or injured, you're going to work just as hard as everyone else, because in battle, your opponent won't care either."

  Winter knew that last sentence was directed at him. He looked beyond the pacing hybrid to the wall behind him, where several dragons were watching this all unfold. It included everyone in his winglet but Qibli and Carnelian, as well as a few unfamiliar faces. 

  Then he looked down the line of dragons he stood in, accounting for everyone in it. There were three IceWings: himself, Icicle, and a new student who had arrived on Monday, Blizzard. He was a purplish-blue IceWing, and rarely spoke, but his constant scowl spoke his words for him. There were no MudWings. The only RainWing was Flowerbringer, but she was a bit tricky; she was a RainWing/NightWing hybrid, but there were already two NightWings, so she was considered a RainWing for this. She had the body of a NightWing, but her scales could change color. Usually she showed the pattern of the closest flower to her, and judging by how white her scales were, Winter assumed the nearest flower was a daisy. The NightWings were Bigtail and Fearless, and of course Flame had to be there, the SeaWing was Pike, and the final dragon was a SandWing named Pronghorn.

  "Now, I'm going to determine who will be on this team by seeing how well you perform in combat. Against me," Argo said with a grin. "After all, the best way to do that is to be in the battle! Of course, Cynthia over there will be a secondary judge," he added, pointing to the hybrid standing several feet away from all of them.

  "Secondary?!" she shouted, but he didn't reply.

  "Now, who would like to go first?"

  Not me, not me! If I go first, everyone will be expecting me to be the best out of all of them! If that doesn't happen, can I really call myself an IceWing? he thought, fiddling with the necklace hanging from his neck. These two circles don't mean anything if I'm not the best!

  Nobody volunteered.

  "No? Alright, form a circle around me," Argo commanded. They all did so in a timely manner. "I'm going to close my eyes and spin around; whoever I face once I stop will be the first to go, and I'll pick the rest of you as I see fit." And then he started to do just that.

  Winter crossed his claws together, praying to everything that it wouldn't be him. 

  But, it seemed the universe was not on his side today, as Argo stopped and faced him directly. The hybrid beckoned him forward.

  "Wooo! Go Winter!" Kinkajou shouted from the spectators' area. "You can do it!"

  Argo smiled. "I was going to ask for your name, but I no longer need to. Now, fists are acceptable, but no bloodshed. That goes for all of you," he said. "You have one minute to show me what you've got. Go!"

  Winter had no time to prepare before the larger dragon had him in a headlock almost instantly, putting pressure on his neck and making it difficult for him to breathe. 

  Wow, he's fast...okay, did I learn about this back home? If I did, I don't remember...well, my arm is close to his face, and one of my legs is close to his...don't panic, Winter, that's how mistakes are made...

  He swung blindly with the arm close to Argo's head and felt his enclosed fist connect with something hard, presumably his jaw or cheekbone. It certainly caught the hybrid off-guard, or maybe Argo just wanted him to think that, but either way, he stumbled a little and it gave Winter a window of opportunity to kick him in the back of his knee. Argo fell backward and landed hard on the ground, letting go of him in the process. All this had happened in ten seconds or less, so Winter knew they were just getting started.

  He was able to reorient himself, but Argo was already back on his feet. He looked like he was enjoying this, a smile spread across his face.

  Once again, however, the hybrid took control of the fight, tackling him to the floor and pinning him there. He was able to land a couple of forceful punches to Winter's face and chest, but the IceWing quickly heaved him off using his back legs. The circle of dragons cleared as Argo skidded a few feet before jumping up once more. A few cheers broke out from the spectators, increasing Winter's motivation to keep fighting.

  The hybrid rushed at him again, but he was able to dodge it this time, tripping him up in the process. Not surprisingly, Argo was back up within seconds, and Winter was baffled by how quickly he was able to do so. 

  The two were suddenly locked in a grapple, neither of them wanting to give up the power to the other. Winter's first thought was to try and kick his opponent in a particularly sensitive area, but Argo blocked it. So instead, he punched him hard in the stomach and he stumbled away, doubled over holding his midsection. The minute still wasn't over, but Argo held up a talon.

  "You're good," he wheezed, out of breath. "And you didn't waste time...talking, like a lot of dragons do. You're a natural. Now I'm just gonna...lay here, for a minute..." Argo collapsed onto the floor, his eyes shut tight in a grimace. "You can go relax or do whatever for now...but stay here. I'll tell everyone who made it at the end of all this."

  Winter smirked. He knew the hybrid had gone easy on him, but winning the fight was still as satisfying as it had always been. He walked over to the sidelines where most of his winglet was waiting, greeted by a few 'Good job!"s, and "Congratulations!".

  "You must have lots of training or something!" Kinkajou exclaimed, her scales becoming a bright mix of yellow and rosy pink.

  "Yeah," Karma agreed. "I've never seen anyone fight that well!"

  Moon half-smiled at her. "Then you haven't seen Deathbringer."

  "Who?"

  "Queen Glory's bodyguard. He doesn't usually have to fight, but it's usually over in a few seconds when he does. It's rumored that he was trained as an assassin from a very young age."

  Karma still wore a blank expression on her face. Winter didn't care much, either; he'd heard things about the NightWing, but never showed much interest.

  "I bet you all five bucks Winter's gonna be on the team," Sparrow challenged them all. 

  "You don't even have the money, do you?" Turtle asked.

  The SkyWing looked like she was going to say yes, but then she just shook her head.

  The rest of the dragons went up against Argo, few of them succeeding like Winter had. He watched them with mild interest, studying their combat styles. Especially Flame. When the scarred dragon fought, he observed him carefully in case he would ever need to fight against him. Flame's technique was effective, but a little cowardly. He repeatedly darted away from his opponent, then would charge forward to deliver a light blow, then would retreat again. His punches weren't very powerful, and if they were allowed to use their claws it would've been more effective, but over time it left Argo a little confused, constantly having to watch him. In the end, he grabbed onto Flame's arm when he darted in and twisted it behind his back. The SkyWing had struggled for a few seconds, but ultimately admitted his defeat. Although he lost, Winter knew he would most likely make the team as well.

  Bigtail was the third most challenging, at least from Winter's perspective. He was a hard-hitter for sure, and although he didn't land blows very often, when he did, they sent Argo reeling. He recovered pretty quickly, but not quite as fast as the trained instructor. He was defeated as well, when Argo tripped him up and pinned him to the floor. Out of everybody there, the only other dragon who beat him was Icicle. Winter didn't have to watch her to know how she fought. She was a master at diverting her opponent's attention and confusing them. One of her favorite tactics was to prod them in the back, and when they turned to look, she would either trip them or punch them right in the face. This didn't work on Argo, though; he seemed too experienced to fall for that. But in the end, she was able to twist her tail around his back leg and trip him, and he ended up falling face-first onto the floor. She finished the job by pinning him to the point where he gave up.

  Once everyone had gone, they all regrouped in a line as Argo stood in front of them. 

  "I'll admit, a few of you gave me a run for my money," he said with a smile. "That was actually kinda fun. Me and Cynthia have spoken, and we've decided which of you will be joining the Midnight Marauders. If I call your name, step forward."

  Winter felt himself subconsciously grinding his teeth. He hadn't realized how much he wanted to join this team until now. Maybe it was some sort of desire to be part of something bigger than himself. Or maybe he just wanted to protect his friends. Or it could be both. Either way, he was silently praying he would be called.

  "Flowerbringer. Fearless. Blizzard. Pike."

  The four students stepped forward, looking as bewildered as Winter felt.

  Them?! Those were the worst out of all of us! They probably only came here because they had nothing better to do! How come THEY made it, but me or Icicle didn't, when WE were the only ones who actually beat him?

  "Unfortunately," Argo said unexpectedly, "you four didn't make the cut. Please exit the Great Hall, and continue with your day."

  None of them seemed to care too much besides Pike, who seemed disappointed. It seemed that Winter had been right about most of them coming only for something to do.

  After they left, he turned to the rest of them.

  "Congratulations; you five are now officially members of the Midnight Marauders."