Chapter Text
Constellation gazed up at the towering mountains that stood guard behind the small town. It had been three years since the events with Darkstalker, now known as Peacemaker, took place. In that time, word of Sanctuary had quickly spread. While she hadn’t seen it in it’s beginning phases, Constellation readily admitted to herself that it was certainly coming along well. At first, some tribes were hesitant about the idea. But then again, such a town, one for all tribes to live peacefully, had worked in the desert, had it not? Despite the fact that she was friends with one of the town’s founders, Constellation was still nervous about living in such a place. She was nervous about a lot, often too, but this issue presently sat at the forefront of her mind. Resettling her wings, Constellation stepped forward, going through the archway that marked the front entrance of the town.
There were colours everywhere. It was clear that dragons from all tribes were now calling the bustling town home. As she slowly made her way forward, not going anywhere in particular, she spotted groups that, merely a few years ago, would have been impossible to see. A Nightwing and Mudwing sitting in front of a storefront chatting, and a little ways away from them, two Icewings and a Skywing were exchanging scrolls. Her eyes lingered on the Icewings for a moment, but neither of them were who she was looking for. She contemplated asking them, but quickly pushed the thought out of her head, they looked busy anyway. With that Constellation continued onwards, taking in everything around her. After a short while, she was soon smelling all kinds of foods, some absolutely mouthwatering, others… Not so much. Her father, Current, had insisted she eat before she left the rainforest, and she was thankful he did too.
While the selection of food the stands around her offered looked delicious, she wanted to find Winter instead. She hadn’t seen her friend since Darkstalker’s defeat. They’d written to each other occasionally, but as for an outright visit? That was long overdue. She hadn’t told him she was moving here though, having wanted to keep it a surprise. She’d told Moon and Qibli, and they’d been delighted at the idea. Moon said it would be nice for Winter to have a distraction from his current scavenger project. Constellation smiled softly at the memory before once again stopping to look around. At the lack of bright white scales, Constellation let out a sigh. Where could he be? Granted she’d only searched a small part of the town, but still. She was hoping this would be easier. Shaking her head, she once again continued on, leaving the wonderful smelling food stands behind her.
The afternoon slowly wore on as Constellation wound her way through the town, looking for the Icewing Prince. She was just about to stop and ask a group of Seawings if they’d seen a grouchy looking Icewing, when she heard a familiar voice call her name. “Constellation? Is that you?” The voice said, making her look over her shoulder. At the sight of Winter she broke into a grin and went to him, wrapping her wings around him in a hug, his chilly scales not bothering her.
“Winter! I’m so happy I found you, I was beginning to think you weren’t here!” She pulled away a bit to look at him, grinning happily. “I wanted to surprise you, so that’s why I didn’t mention this visit in my most recent letter.”
“Well I’m definitely surprised, that’s for sure.” He smiled brightly at her. “But I’m definitely happy to see you, it’s been far too long. When did you arrive?” He took a step down the pathway, hoping Constellation would follow.
Constellation quickly fell in step beside him. “I got here this morning. I’ve been looking for you all day.” She grinned sheepishly. “I know, I should have asked someone, but you know how I am Winter, I get nervous easily.”
Winter chuckled, shaking his head with a fond smile. “Yes, I remember. You and Moon are quite alike in that aspect, it makes me wonder if you two are secretly sisters. By the way, how is she and the others?”
Before she answered, Constellation took a moment to look at her friend. He’d certainly matured over the last three years, both mentally and physically. Winter had always been a bit larger than her, but it was even more so now. Of course she’d grown as well, though he was still bigger. As for his attitude, she guessed living around so many dragons from different tribes had done him some good. “Everyone's doing great. They told me to say hi. Actually, Moon and Qibli are thinking about visiting in a few weeks!”
“Really now? I hope you didn’t just ruin a surprise they had planned.” He said, stepping out of the way of a fellow Icewing, before looking at Constellation. Personally, Winter thought she was similar to Moon in the fact they she got nervous easily, but that was where the similarities ended. While Moon was pure Nightwing, Constellation was Part Nightwing, part Seawing. Moon was… Winter gave his head a small shake. He needed to stop comparing her to Moon.
“Don’t worry.” She gave a dismissive flick of her tail. “You’ll probably be getting a letter any day now with the details. So in other words, they were going to tell you regardless.” She smiled up at him. “So how’s your scavenger project going?”
At her question, Winter lit up. It was one thing he liked about Constellation. She was curious, and always wanting to know more. And when it came to his interest in scavengers, she didn’t wrinkle mer snout at the idea, or immediately dismiss him like those in his tribe. In fact, she was just as interested as he was. “Everything’s running perfectly. Once everything was built and set up, we made them a small village, I had to capture some. That’s where the real difficulties were, they can certainly be hard to catch when they want to be. It took a while but we soon had a substantial population. Everyone in Sanctuary is welcome to observe them, but there are strict rules to not harm them.” He turned down a side street, Constellation still following him. “At first I thought no one would listen, but surprisingly they did.”
“That’s amazing!” Constellation said genuinely. “I’m happy it’s all working out, really. I know this was something you really wanted to do, and I’m proud that you’ve achieved your goal.” She nudged his wing with her own, smiling softly at him.
“Thank you Constellation, your support honestly means a lot. At first I thought no one would care about a scavenger sanctuary, but you, Moon, Turtle, everyone made me see that maybe some would… And the fact that it hasn’t been destroyed yet is definitely a plus.” He hummed before looking at her. “But enough about me, how have you been? I’m sure a lot’s happened in the past three years.” Winter then stopped in front of a modest house and unlocked the door, opening it for his friend.
Constellation walked inside, looking around with a smile. Along one wall were many scrolls, probably on scavengers was her guess. There was also a small, clean kitchen, and a hall that led to what she guessed was his room. “Well, a lot has happened, but nothing out of the ordinary.” She shrugged and followed Winter to the living room, sitting across from him. Rays of light from the sunset shone in through the window, making Winter’s scales turn different colours.
“Once everything had settled down after the whole Darkstalker fiasco, I went back to the rainforest with my father. Queen Glory let us stay with her and the Rainwings until I decided what I wanted to do.” She absentmindedly fidgeted with her seashell necklace as she talked. “I discussed it a lot with dad, but I finally decided to go back to Jade Mountain and teach astronomy. Everyone was happy to let me teach, and apparently I’m really good at it.” She gave a small laugh. “I’ve also visited everyone lots too. But… It’s different not having you around.” She looked down, suddenly self conscious. Constellation had had a huge crush on Winter since she first met him. She knew he’d had feelings for Moon, so she kept it quiet. After all this time her feelings hadn’t changed, though she wondered if his had. “Up until last month I’d been teaching there. I had to stop though because... Well, I’d planned on moving to Sanctuary.” She grinned at the stunned look on Winter’s face.
“Really? You’re moving here? I thought you’d just come for a visit” He broke into a grin. “That’s amazing though! It’ll be great to have you here, I can help you find a house too! There’s a few on this street that are vacant, maybe you’d like one of those?” He rambled, before quickly cutting himself off. “My apologies, I got carried away. But until you find your own place, you’re more than welcome to stay with me. I have a spare room you can use too.” He gestured with his wing to the hall Constellation had noticed earlier.
“Wow, thank you so much Winter, I’d love that. I didn’t bring much with me, so I promise I won’t take up much space.”
Winter shook his head. “Don’t worry about it Constellation. You’d never take up too much space, honestly. I enjoy having you around.” He smiled warmly at her. “So, when was the last time you ate?” He asked, standing back up.
“Oh, um, father insisted I eat this morning so… Breakfast actually. So that being said, I am getting rather hungry.” She stood as well, wondering what he had in mind.
“Well in that case, let’s go to dinner. It’ll be my treat. Think of it as a welcome back gift.” With that, Winter led the way back into the streets of Sanctuary.