❄️Chapter 15: An Invite🌑

  I know when I do chapters with mixed POVs, it often ends up going in the order of Winter's before Moon's and while I try to balance it out, a lot of the time the events taking place wouldn't make sense if Moon's POV was before his, because I would have to change the order. So I'm sorry if this annoys you, but it's just the way it is. (Also I'm on my laptop right now, and I'm not gonna lie, the emojis look better on here than on my iPad where I normally write!)

   Today had proven to be a strange one. Winter had noticed that many of the usually obnoxious students here at the academy were strangely quiet. That never happened, and his confusion only deepened when he realized Qibli was pretty quiet as well. It seemed nearly everyone was in deep thought about something or other, and to be honest, it was sort of eerie. Even Moon was hardly speaking to him, but that was likely because of the previous day's events with him running out on all of them and his meltdown in the underground lake. Still, his other friends - he was still mildly miffed at himself for automatically referring to them like that - would be chatty, even if it wasn't with him.

  And now, Argo had called a surprise Midnight Marauders meeting in the library of all places. They couldn't do any fighting here! While this seemed to perplex not only him, but the other three dragons -Bigtail wasn't present for whatever reason- as well. Nobody dared question the SkyWing though, as Pronghorn had gotten a tooth knocked loose the last time he'd questioned his motives. Thankfully, that mystery was quickly solved.

  "I bet you all are wondering why we're in the library today," Argo said to them. They were huddled in a small group by the history and nonfiction shelves. 

  "Shhhh!" someone scolded him from several meters away.

  "You shhh!" he replied. It didn't seem to occur to him how immature he looked now, as he went back to speaking like it had never happened. "As I was saying, we're here to do some research. What kind of research, you ask? Well, secretive research, and what better place to do it than here? You might even say the knowledge we may find today could be powerful."

  Winter still had no clue what he was talking about.

  Lowering his voice, Argo spoke to the group once more. "Look, I've been doing a little research myself, research that has spanned nearly a year. I haven't been super focused on it, just sort of doing this in my spare time, but I've found out about some pretty awesome stuff. That is, if any of it is true. You see, hundreds, maybe even thousands of years ago, it was rumored that every dragon tribe had some sort of hidden power, separate from the normal attributes that make all seven of them unique. Powers that set dragons above the standard, as long as they knew how to unlock them. However, this knowledge was lost over time, if it ever existed in the first place. I propose that we should try and find out as much as we possibly can about these hidden powers." Argo was clearly excited to share this news with them all, swaying side to side a little as he spoke. "I've heard this library has some pretty old scrolls, maybe even some from the library at Queen Thorn's palace, and that library has THOUSANDS of ancient facts and stories; if there's anywhere we could find out about these powers, it would be here."

  "So you basically want us to try and confirm your research," Icicle said, summing up everything the red SkyWing had said in one short sentence. 

  "Correct!" Argo almost shouted, receiving several 'Shhhh!'s from nearby dragons. "Now let's get to work! Look in the history and nonfiction sections, especially for the scrolls in the way back. If they're old, dragons will think they're unreliable, which in turn means they will be the most untouched."

  Winter wasn't pleased to hear that they had to sort through scrolls, but if it meant potentially unlocking powers long-forgotten for millenniums...he didn't even have to finish that thought. 

  As he was sorting through the shelves, he could sense someone approaching him from the side. He didn't worry though, for it was his sister.

  "I can't believe we're here looking at scrolls," she griped. "This group's whole focus is about fighting, and I get that special powers would be exciting and all, but what are the chances they ever existed at all? Probably one in seven billion!"

  Winter merely glanced at her before continuing scanning the titles. "Yeah, but at least the potential rewards are pretty great."

  "But even if these 'powers' do exist," Icicle said, "and we somehow managed to figure out how to use them ourselves, we would have to keep them secret! What if other dragons tried to experiment on us or something if they found out?"

  "I think you're just being paranoid."

  She sighed. "Maybe. Have you seen Bigtail anywhere lately? I haven't seen him since this morning, and I'm pretty sure he was there for science class."

  Winter shrugged. "He might've skipped class."

  "For a whole day?"

  Again, he just shrugged. "You're not worried about him, are you?" he asked, staring at her. "You know what Mother and Father would do to you if you were..."

  I'm being such a hypocrite, aren't I? 

  Icicle bristled. "Speak for yourself! I've heard about you rescuing that NightWing over and over again...you're not exactly doing a good job of maintaining a low profile here, with all the skirmishes you've been getting into."

  "Nobody ever said we had to."

  "It was kind of implied."

  "Well why don't you take yourself and your implications elsewhere and actually do what we're supposed to be doing?" Winter spat. 

  "Fine." 

  She finally left, leaving him to examine the scrolls in peace. 

  War and Peace...nope. That's a pretty hefty scroll, and probably too advanced for my reading level, I'll admit. Oh boy, another scroll about the War of SandWing Succession...as if I haven't heard about it a million times from my tribe's fuming over not winning that war. Next...what's this?

  He slightly withdrew a small scroll from the shelf, unrolling it enough to see the title: A Guide to Love. 

  Barf. Why is this even in the history section? Actually, some lazy dragon probably forgot where they got it from and just stuck it here. Great. 

  Despite his immediate reaction to the rolled up sheet of parchment, Winter decided he would hang onto it. Of course, he would leave it here and come back for it later as to not be seen with it; he wasn't an idiot. But maybe it could help him determine what those weird sensations that struck him almost whenever he was around Moon really were.

  After twenty more minutes of searching, the only one of them to come up with anything was Pronghorn, who found a scroll that seemed as old as time, the paper yellowed beyond belief and looking like it would crumble to dust at any moment. Argo told them he would read into it later, and they were all dismissed. Before he departed, Winter made sure to snag that scroll from earlier, tucking it underneath a wing as he went back to his cave.

  He idly picked at the stitches on his arm on the way, still peeved that they wouldn't be taken out for awhile longer. They didn't hurt much anymore, but frequently itched, and it was starting to get uncomfortable. He almost missed a poster taped to the wall, but stopped at the last moment, as there weren't often posters or flyers floating around. He skimmed it over, and suddenly realized why everyone had been acting so strange. Apparently he hadn't known until now that there was a school dance coming up on Friday, after all the classes were over. It was going to be held in the Great Hall, which made sense; there would be plenty of room for everyone that way. It said to dress nicely, but dragons didn't normally dress up, and if they did, it was usually in the form of simple accessories, like jewelry or something, and Winter was definitely not going to get any earrings or anything, if he decided to go at all.

  Everyone must be thinking about the dance. That makes a lot more sense now. I would go, but what's the point of doing that if I would be going alone? That's like going by yourself to an event where you can bring a friend. That's exactly what this is, actually, and standing alone on the sidelines doesn't seem like much fun. Maybe I won't go. 

  At the moment, with none of his friends wanting to be around him it seemed, that was most likely the best choice.

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  Moon's heart practically jumped out of her chest when Winter came back to their sleeping cave. He was holding a small scroll, but she barely noticed it, as she had something important she needed to say to him. 

  "H-hey, Winter," she greeted him, hearing her voice shake. He must've already suspected something, as she was standing next to her bed and not on it, curled up with a scroll. "How was the meeting?"

  "It was fine," he replied. "We just did some sparring, then learned a couple new fighting methods, same old same old." Just by taking a glimpse inside his head, she knew he was lying, but couldn't decipher why, or what they had actually done at the meeting.

  "That's good. Hey, uh...you've heard about the dance thing coming up, right?"

   "Yep."

  The inside of her mouth felt like a desert, it was so dry. Her palms were getting all clammy as well. Why was this making her so nervous?

  Oh I don't know, maybe because you're about to ask Winter something so important that it might change his opinion on you...maybe. Hopefully. 

  "Do... well I, uh..."

  Spit it out! His mind fumed, and she couldn't blame him. 

  "Do you want to go with me?" she forced herself to ask. "To the dance? You're probably not the type to go to a lot of social events like that or anything, and I'm not either, but I thought that...it might be fun. Maybe, if you want to...you don't have to..."

  "You planning on running a marathon with that mouth of yours?" he asked, an edge to his tone. Moon thought he would be angry, but when she looked at his face, she was shocked to see a sly grin. "It means stop talking, if you didn't know," he clarified. "I'm in. Normally I wouldn't, but, since it's with you...I guess I'll make an exception."

  Moon felt the biggest, silliest, stupidest grin she'd ever worn cross her face, but she didn't care how weird it seemed. She sort-of-ran the few feet between them and wrapped her arms and wings around him in a hug, only the third time she'd done so if she remembered correctly, but it still felt just as delightful as it had the first time when he hugged her back.

  She wouldn't have cared if anybody saw them, even if it were Secretkeeper. It didn't matter how stupid, or foolish she looked, because Winter had agreed, and she couldn't have been any happier.

  But, as if the universe had read her mind and decided to rain on this little parade, Moon did a double take, thinking that she'd seen her mother standing out in the hallway. Surely not, though; her mother would've told her she was coming for a visit. Right?

  Wrong.

  Sorry this chapter was so short compared to the rest, but I have no excuse for it this time. :P. Also, DUN DUN DUUUUNNNN! Had to leave you guys on a cliffhanger! If you've been with me awhile, you'll know I love to do that, but I don't do it often, for I know how frustrating it is for you!