Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Turtle was currently sitting on a cushion, writing a novel that he had been working on for months at this point. It had been quite some time since he had graduated Jade Mountain Academy. Four years, if his memory served correctly. In that time, a lot of things happened.

Firstly, he and Peril had moved in with each other and were roommates now. Second, Qibli and Moon had gotten engaged and were getting married at about the same time as Winter and Kinkajou which was, in fact, in the middle of the next year.

Though it had taken him a little while, he wasn’t bothered that Winter and Kinkajou ended up together. That was all regarding his friends, but there had been some significant changes in Pyrrhia as well. Queen Coral had announced that she would be handing the throne down to one of her daughters soon, the most likely option would be Tsunami.

Queen Ruby of the Skywings married another female Skywing by the name of Finch, surprising everyone across Pyrrhia alike. And like clockwork, Queen Snowfall revealed that she and another female noble, Lynx, were dating shortly after Ruby had gotten married. It was almost like the Queen of the Icewings was waiting for another queen to reveal that they were homosexual (if not bisexual) before she felt comfortable doing so.

The Rainwing Queen also revealed that she was expecting a heir soon, which got the rainforest excited. She hadn’t revealed who her mate was yet, so that was still a surprise. The Nightwings were still living under the wing of the Rainwings and their beef had slowly but surely gone away. As a matter of fact, he heard that they even started having hybrids, though that was most likely just rumor.

The Queen of the Sandwings had married the former Prince of the Sandwings, Smolder. Though his former title didn’t really matter now that he was king. Jade Mountain Academy, to his knowledge, had expanded beyond a lot since he had attended. His information about Jade Mountain Academy was a lot more spotty compared to the rest of the continent.

Turtle was about to start brainstorming ideas for his next few chapters when his stomach started to growl. Oops, he thought. I forgot that eating was a necessary part of life. He then got up and walked over to Peril’s room and knocked on the door.

“Yeah?” Peril answered.

“I’m making dinner now, would you like anything?” He asked. Peril told him what she would like and he walked over to the kitchen to prepare dinner for the both of them.

After Turtle finished making dinner he and Peril sat at their dining room table and ate their food, talking about their day. Peril was currently on vacation. She worked as a guard for Queen Ruby and she was usually gone most of the time and came back rather late.

Turtle was an author of several books and was doing pretty well when it came to money. He was writing a series that was wrapping up in the next book he was writing, but he still had a couple of loose ends to tie. Once they finished eating they both returned to their rooms to do whatever.

Turtle spent the next few hours brainstorming and writing, occasionally getting up to get a snack and hydrate. Eventually he had started actually writing the next chapter, but was interrupted by Peril knocking on his door.

“Hey, you’ve got a letter.” She said once he opened it. She then handed it to him.

“Thanks.” He said before walking back into his room to read the letter.

Dear Turtle,

Hey, it’s Winter, how are you doing? It’s been quite a while since I’ve written to you, let alone seeing you in person. Though I don’t feel like I have the right to ask you this, could you do me a favor?

Could you visit Sanctuary for a week or two? I could really use your help with something. I’ll tell you more about it once you arrive. Oh, Kinkajou says ‘hi’ by the way.

Anyways, I hope to see you soon,

Winter

Winter asking me of all dragons for a favor? That’s something I wouldn’t expect, Turtle thought. Well, why not? I could probably use a break from writing.

Turtle looked out his window. There was an hour and a half of sunlight left in the day. I could probably leave now and make it around midday, depending on how fast I fly, he thought.

With that he packed up some of his belongings and some food, then he went over to Peril’s room to tell her about what was going on. While she was a little sad that Turtle had to go, she didn’t stop him. After that he walked out of his front door and looked at the horizon.

While the air was chilly, he knew he could work past it. Plus, he had brought his enchanted rock with him, so soreness shouldn’t be a problem. He then spread his wings and took off into the sky, heading off for Sanctuary.

Chapter Text

Turtle heaved a tired sigh and leaned back from his desk; he’d been working on his newest novel since sunrise. He savored his writing, knowing that when he went back to read it tomorrow he’d likely hate all of it and start over.

He twirled a pen in his right claw—a Pantalan invention that he’d come to love. The hassle of dealing with ink was much less frequent compared to a quill or claw, making a much more convenient writing tool.

His gaze wandered up from his work and scanned around his room. It traveled up the wall and landed on one of the few pieces of decoration in the space. A fancy, rectangular piece of paper with a golden, flowy border set in a black frame hung vertically on the wall. Written in a mix of fancy calligraphy and neat print, it read:

First Generation Graduate of Jade Mountain Academy

“An excellent writer.” 

- Starflight, school Librarian

“Great at identifying herbs!”

- Clay, school Doctor

“My second least sleepy student.”

- Webs, historian

“Formidable foe… If you’re tied up”

- Tsunami, Headmistress & Combat trainer

“A promise for the future.”

- Sunny, Vice Headmistress

And proof that Pyrrhia’s efforts weren’t for naught:

From the Jade Winglet

Prince Turtle of the SeaWings.

5,012 - 5,016 AS

At the bottom, it was signed by both Sunny and Tsunami. A small, reminiscent smile tugged at his face. It had been four years since he graduated— he was 13 now— and thankfully, his life had calmed down significantly since his first year at the academy. His focus lazily shifted back to his work.

First, second, and third drafts and other loose papers with ideas scribbled down were strewn across his desk in random piles, unorganized. He’d been working on a novel—an intertribal romance set during the Great War— for some few weeks now. Progress felt slow and almost unmoving at times, but he’d get through it eventually. That being said, it still didn’t stop frustration from boiling his mind.

Turtle pressed his talons to his brow. Unlike every other project that he’d finished, this one was giving him a plethora of problems that he had a hard time working out. Nothing he wrote felt believable, and he went through draft, after draft, after draft, just trying to find something that would stick. Yet, no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t find something.

 A soft, cool breeze drafted through the room, lightly pushing the papers around his desk.

Turtle shifted in his cushion, turning to look through his open bedside window. Within short flying distance, the SkyWing palace loomed in the night. The edges of its spirals and intricate designs were highlighted in moonlight. The side facing him was shrouded in darkness. Behind the tallest spiral, two full moons sat high in the night sky, the third a thin crescent trailing them. The palace was desolate at this hour, minus the few guards that patrolled the sky.

Needing a distraction, Turtle got up from his seat and walked over to the window. He admired the SkyWing architecture through the glass pane, letting his eyes glide along the curves and details of the elegant building. A flicker of lamplight caught his attention as his gaze whittled down to eye level. He peered at it, curious, only to realize that it was a reflection from his room.

His eyes straightened, and he found himself staring at his reflection. He’d thinned out considerably since his dragonethood. After his first trip to Pantala, he realized that he might want to be in better shape if the world felt dangerous enough to have near apocalyptic events occur every few months.

A dragon landed outside.

He turned his focus toward the noise. At first, nothing. Just the moonlit grass and an occasional firefly. After some waiting though, the unmistakable gleam of copper scales met his eye.

Peril rushed past his view, approaching the entrance to their home. 

He titled his head, confused. It was somewhat normal for her to be up this late, but returning home? It was something out of the ordinary. Wanting clarification, he sat up and walked out of his room to greet her.

His claws clacked against the polished wood floor as he walked through the living room and to the front door. As he neared, he heard the muffled clinking and jingling of his roommate fumbling with keys, cursing to herself as she struggled. He reached to unlock the door for her, but hesitated, a small smile tugging at his face. A silly idea formed in his head.

“Stupid, puny, meltable object.” she growled in a hushed tone as she tried one of the keys on the lock. He heard her grumble before searching for another.

“I have half the mind to melt all of you into a useless metal blob,” She threatened the keys while trying one. Another frustrated growl as it didn’t turn. “But I can’t, because it’s really annoying to make you things.” She tried another key to no avail.

“What’s stopping me from just breaking down this door?” She snapped at the air. The faint smell of smoke permeated from the door, likely leaking out of Peril’s snout. The keys jingled again as she continued her search, followed by increased frustration with each failed attempt. After a few minutes of this cycle, Turtle began to fear that she might wake the whole Sky Kingdom with the verbal harassment of her keys.

“I hate you!” She roared. He heard keys clatter against the door before falling to ground. Taking it as his cue, Turtle pushed the door open and quickly hid to the side.

A few seconds of silence, then.

“That… worked?” He heard the keys clink against each other as she picked them from the floor. Between Peril’s vocal hatred of her keys and her utter confusion, Turtle couldn’t hold his amusement and began to giggle.

Near instantly, Peril rounded the corner and glared daggers at him, thin trails of smoke still lingering from her nostrils and mouth. He stared back with an amused smile. Peril huffed in annoyance. 

“How long were you there?” She asked, her expression suddenly shifted to worry. “I didn’t wake you up, did I?” Turtle shook his head.

“I was just wrapping up for the night,” He explained. “I heard you land, and I was going to open the door, but…” He smirked. Peril had played pranks on him since his academy life all those years ago. Only recently had Turtle begun to find the fun in firing back. Her eyes narrowed as the gears turned in her head.

“You were getting back at me, weren’t you? ” Turtle didn’t respond, letting the silence speak for him. She growled playfully. “I’ll remember that, SeaWing .”

They stared each other down, Turtle still holding his smirk and Peril still holding her glare. Neither blinked, wanting to see who’d cave first. Turtle’s eyes began to feel rough and dry, but he pushed through. Peril also began to feel the burn, but she was equally as determined.

The two carried on like this for what felt like an eternity, both enduring the increasing discomfort in the hopes of silly triumph. Their appearances began to crack as their eyes begged for relief.

Turtle dropped his smirk and his face became scrunched with concentration, Peril’s glare intensified. Both of them were nearing their limits and tiny beads of sweat began to form along their foreheads.

Finally, both unable to last any longer, their expressions simultaneously shattered and the two roared into a fit of laughter. Their storm would calm after a few minutes, only to refuel their amusement when meeting each other’s faces.

Finally, after an unreasonable amount of time, sides sore from laughing, and faces stained with tears, they managed to calm down for normal conversation.

“So,” Turtle began, suppressing the urge to laugh, “Why were you out this late?” Peril turned to shut the door. It had been hanging open their entire bout of shenanigans, letting the outside silently judge them.

“Ruby called me in late,” she explained, locking the door, “Said she needed something.” Turtle gave her a look.

“Was it Ruby asking, or the queen?” Peril rolled her eyes and huffed.

“Ruby.” He raised a brow.

“Nothing happened! At least, nothing serious,” She added the last part sheepishly. She huffed again. “We’re taking things slow, neither of us expected our… everything that’s happened.”

“Can’t say I expected it either.” Turtle chuckled, his attempt to be reassuring. It seemed to work, thankfully, as her face relaxed some. He fiddled with his armband, thinking.

As he said before, Peril and Ruby wasn’t something he expected, and it wasn’t even a thought in his mind until the former told him what happened a few months back.

She said that it’d been at a royal ball or some other festivity when something occurred between them. He never pressed for details— that was Kinkajou’s line of work, and much to the couple’s luck the RainWing didn’t know yet.

In fact, nobody knew except for him and Ruby’s most trusted dragons.

He wondered why Ruby had wanted to keep her relationship a secret; Pyrrhia had changed a lot in the last near decade. Dragons were becoming more open to new ideas like the outlawing of scavenger consumption. Taking on a consort of the same sex shouldn’t be an exception. Then again, royalty likely had different rules and expectations.

He snorted a bit at that. He should know, being a prince and all, but due to his mother’s lack of care, he was barely any more knowledgeable on the topic than anyone else.

Something prodding at him brought him back into reality.

“Umm, hello?” Peril continuously poked his side with her claws. Turtle jolted upright, startled.

“Sorry, zoned out.” She snorted.

“Couldn’t tell,” She leaned back on her haunches before rummaging through a bag slung around her neck, “Anyway, I was trying to give you this before you lost your head in the clouds.” She pulled out a thin envelope and handed it to him. He took it from her gingerly and inspected it.

To: Turtle of the SeaWings. From: Kinkajou of the RainWings

“When did it come in?” Peril shrugged.

“Sometime today. Grabbed it before I came home.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem,” She gave him a friendly smile, “I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna go grab something to eat cuz I’m starving.” He shook his head, his focus still on the envelope in his talons. Without another word, Peril nodded and sauntered off to their small kitchen.

It’d been a moment since anyone from his old winglet contacted him, everyone being busy with their own lives. The letter was a nice surprise.

He wandered over to the couch and sat down. With one smooth motion, he swiped his claw underneath the top flap of the envelope, breaking the wax seal and letting it flip open. A rectangular piece of folded paper was inside. Carefully, he slipped the paper out and unfolded it, letting the envelope fall to the ground soundlessly. In neat handwriting, it read:

Hey, Turtle!

It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to see you! Same with everyone in the winglet, really. You’ve gotta remind me again why you and Peril decided to settle all the way up north on this side of the continent. It’s already freezing here in Sanctuary, I can’t imagine what it’s like out there! (Well, I can, because I’ve visited before, but you get the point!)

Anyways, what I wrote you for.

The winglet wants to get back together in a month! We’re going to stay in Sanctuary for some time: a week or two at most. Hopefully Queen Ruby will let Peril off with that notice, but if she doesn’t, just let me know. We’re going to do a bunch of fun stuff! But really, we just want to see each other again.

Let me know what you and Peril think!

- Kinkajou

Turtle folded the paper up as he finished reading. He looked up from the letter and scanned around his living room. It was rectangular in shape, big enough to hold roughly five adult dragons inside.

To his left was the front door, accompanied by a window that gave a view of the SkyWing palace. The curtains hanging above were pulled shut for the night. To his right, the living room led into their dining area with no distinct separation (Minus the furniture). A fireplace was built into the wall in front of him, a few ashen logs lay inside the hearth.

A small, wooden coffee table took up the center space of the living room. Cushions lay around the coffee table, minus the side the couch was on. A tall lamp sat in the corner of the room, the warm light waving as the flame danced within.

On either side of the fireplace stood a hybrid between a scroll rack and a bookshelf, fully stocked with Pyrrhian and Pantalan literature. His gaze focused on the massive picture frame above the fireplace. 

A portrait of his winglet was framed, like a moment in time snatched and held in place; something to forever remember the old times.

It depicted them engaging in normal, laughter filled conversation, completely oblivious to the observer. They were in the prey center, the late afternoon sunlight cascading into the room through the massive, natural opening in one wall.

They surrounded a stone table, though no food was present as it was quite occupied at the moment.

Kinkajou struck a triumphant pose on her hind legs, her scales in their bright yellow and purple state. She stood over Peril who was splayed out and pretending to be dead. They were reenacting a scene they had read in a scroll. It was something the two had done often, much to the entertainment of everyone around them.

To the right of Kinkajou sat a stoic, prickly IceWing that, with the help of everyone, managed to soften into a much more tolerable dragon: Winter.

The IceWing’s gaze was locked onto Kinkajou, a small, thin smile tugging at his lips. The light danced on his pale blue scales, sending flecks of light in all directions. Barely visible, their tails were intertwined.

Winter had come back to the academy after much persuasion—mostly Kinkajou’s doing— and graduated alongside them. Turtle doubted Winter regretted his decision, especially with what relationship had blossomed between him and Kinkajou near the end of their years at the academy.

Across from the couple sat Qibli and Moon, the former dying with shameless laughter while the latter barely suppressed giggles. The two had started dating shortly after the Purging of the Othermind, and last that he heard, they were expecting a dragonet soon. He wished he kept in touch with them more.

Lastly, off in his little sliver of unoccupied tablespace, Turtle sat with an ink-wet quill hanging over parchment, a broad smile on his face as he watched his friends. He huffed a sort of half laugh, half chuckle at himself.

Always, even in the past, he was writing. Even while his friends were off doing their fun right next to him. He looked back at the letter in his talons.

He should join them this time.