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Chapter Text

Bolt and Keeper Side Story: Warm Hearts

Chapter One

Queen Snowfall of the IceWings had a problem. Outside the Great Ice Cliff that protected her kingdom from the outside world, the other dragon tribes had begun to band together. Not enough to completely consolidate, of course, but the efforts of the so-called Union Society to integrate scavengers of all creatures into dragon society was having an unwelcome side effect of bringing the dragon tribes closer together, which Snowfall was terrified about.

“They’re surely plotting to invade,” Snowfall grumbled to herself on her throne, “What other reason would they have to be so quiet?”

She had sent spies out to the various kingdoms, and all had returned with news that the other tribes had no interest in invading. But Snowfall didn’t believe them. She believed that the other tribes were simply being very good at hiding their true intentions. But not knowing how their nefarious plans would work was giving Snowfall an all-consuming feeling of terror.

Of all the tribes, the one she knew the least about were also the most dangerous: the NightWings. Her tribe’s mortal enemies had moved into the Rainforest Kingdom, the most IceWing-unfriendly biome in all of Pyrrhia, between its steamy, boiling environment and heavy vegetation.

And then there was her little rogue, Winter. The former prince had always had a soft spot for scavengers, so it was logical that he would have helped found the Union Society. Of course, there was the matter that Winter was supposed to be dead; Hailstorm had some explaining to do if he wanted to keep his rank in the First Circle that he earned by "killing" his brother. But as for now, an influential IceWing living outside the Circle system, that was a major threat. If the general IceWing populace learned that they could simply disregard the Circle system, then her status as Queen was meaningless.

Of course, the biggest unknowns in her equation were the mammalian creatures. Dragons had called them scavengers for all of known history, but of course they had their own name according to the Union Society, Hoovers or Hooveens or some weird sound their tiny little voices made. She never saw one except for the couple times she had one for a meal, and even then they weren’t terribly impressive, they were too small to fill her stomach, and on top of that they tasted too lean in most places while other parts of their bodies were almost entirely gross, disgusting fat.

Snowfall had trouble believing the Union Society anyway. With how tiny their heads were it was unfathomable that scavengers had the same level of intelligence as a dragon. They were certainly clever, but nothing more. She would have had her spies check on the town that the scavengers had built with the Union Society, but she was more preoccupied with the possibility of the NightWings plotting an invasion to even consider something as trivial and stupid as talking monkeys.

Just then, her thoughts were rudely interrupted by one of her scouts barging into the throne room. Snowfall quickly adjusted her ungainly, too-heavy crown on her head and tried to look as annoyed as she felt, and soon the scout was beneath her, kneeling.

Snowfall sighed. “What is it?”

“Your Majesty, there’s a strange dragon approaching the kingdom’s shores from the west!”

Her annoyance was swiftly replaced by a mixture of shock and fear. “What!? What tribe is it? SkyWing? SandWing? NightWing??”

“That’s just it, Your Highness! We don’t know! It’s some yellow-striped thing with four wings! It says it flew here from across the ocean!”

Now things were even stranger. NightWings were easy compared to this because she knew about them, but a tribe completely unknown to anyone? This was going to be a challenge, and she hated challenges.

“Send it back to where it came from. The Ice Kingdom is closed to outsiders, and you should know this.”

“We… unfortunately can’t do that.”

Snowfall snorted. “And why is that?”

“As soon as the dragon touched our shores it fell unconscious. We weren’t going to just leave it tuckered out on the shores, so we took it to the infirmary.”

Snowfall now face-taloned. “Why wasn’t I made aware of this sooner?”

“It’s IceWing law that any injury immediately be treated, Your Majesty.”

“That law applies to IceWings, idiot! We don’t just provide medical services to any random washed-up dragon that happens to show up on our protected shores! Need I remind you that our kingdom is under direct threat from the rest of Pyrrhia?”

Unthinkably, the dragon looked like he was going to question her on that front, but it seemed that he wasn’t entirely stupid, as he didn’t voice any thoughts on the matter. “Anyway, your majesty, if you want to see this dragon, it may be awake by now.”

“Wait…” Snowfall scratched her chin, “I have a better idea.”

Snowfall descended into the most restricted room in the whole palace—Open only to her. Filled with the products of the famed animi across the history of the tribe, there were enough artifacts in this room to turn a dragon into a god. It was known as the Forbidden Treasury.

We should have used these against Darkstalker, Snowfall thought. Of course, the nefarious NightWing likely would have made himself immune to magic, but it was certainly better than just sitting around and letting that insane dragon wipe out her tribe.

She ruffled through the numerous alcoves in the chamber. Most of the gifts were in a wearable form, such as one that immediately caught her eye, the “Gift of Strength,” a tiara that was unfairly much more lightweight than the heavy crown she was made to wear. She thoughtlessly put it on.

“Hmm, I don’t feel any different…” Snowfall commented. She continued looking.

A noticeably more rough-looking alcove held an unsightly silver-ish bracelet called the Gift of Understanding. She could guess what it might do. Ha, maybe it’ll let me talk to scavengers! I bet Winter would fall head over talons for a gift like that! Just for the heck of it, she put it on.

Next was a ring, possibly the most beautiful piece of jewelry she had ever seen. A look at the label carved beneath it declared that it was the Gift of Vision.

“Hmm, maybe I could see inside that weird dragon’s mind with this…” And without another thought she put it on.

In hindsight Snowfall figured that the Gift of Strength was all she needed to deal with the pesky intruder, but having as many animus enchantments as she possibly could pile on felt like a good idea. Especially if this first dragon was merely a forerunner to an entire army. She could feel her heart pounding at the mere thought of her shores being overrun with yellow, quad-winged death-machines and Mink-- Mink!

She had completely forgotten that she was supposed to go meet with Mink at the market to go shopping together. Of course, Mink was already nine years old, well on her way to adulthood, but she still couldn’t stop thinking of her as a little dragonet, when she couldn’t help but love everyone. Snowfall quickly returned to her chambers and slid her bed back over the hole it covered. For a quick moment she reminisced about how for two whole years after witnessing her mother Glacier perish, she refused to sleep in that bed, instead choosing to sleep literally anywhere else, but eventually she got over it.

Just like she eventually got over being so cold to Mink. She wasn’t kidding herself though, IceWing Queens needed to be cold, but Mink needed a maternal figure, and cold blocks of ice made for poor mothers. She quickly departed the palace for the market, passing many subjects she didn’t recognize on the way out. When she reached the market, Mink was standing at the gate, tapping her foretalon impatiently.

“Took you long enough, Snowball!”

Snowfall sighed. “I had royal business to attend to.”

“You know you worry too much, right? It’s not healthy.”

“It’s a Queen’s job to be worried, Mink. For all our sakes. Anyway, you said you wanted to show me something?”

“Sure do! Follow me!” Mink took off running towards a stand, her back talons kicking up recently fallen snow as she plowed across the ground. Snowfall followed her at a more leisurely, regal pace, while noticing that the ring on her talon was beginning to feel just a little too tight. She’d worry about adjusting it later.

The stand she found Mink in appeared to specialize in fashionable cloaks. These were mostly made for non-IceWing visitors to the Ice Kingdom, so the fact that this place was still in business after she had permanently closed her kingdom’s borders to outsiders was interesting, to say the least.

Mink suddenly jumped up in her face. “Look at this! Isn’t it cute?”

Inside Mink’s talons was what appeared to be a cloak, but its existence must have been some kind of joke, as this wasn’t a cloak, this was a scrap of cloth that would barely fit over her talon, let alone her whole body.

“What is this, Mink? Did an animus shrink this cloak or something?”

“Even better. This cloak was made by a scavenger!”

Snowfall rolled her eyes, but decided to play along. “So what use would I have for this tiny thing? Also, how did you know it was made by one of those little… things?”

“The shopkeeper said so! He said the little guy was wearing it!”

Snowfall snorted. “Okay, so where’d the ‘little guy’ go then?”

Mink shrugged. Snowfall, out of pure curiosity, took the “cloak” into her talon. Upon feeling it, she could guess that it really was made by a scavenger; the threads in the outfit were so tiny that it would have been beyond impossible for a dragon to weave it with their talons. She turned over the cloak and could see a bunch of red… paint?

Wait…

Suddenly Snowfall didn’t feel so good. She could inexplicably feel her consciousness fading away despite the fact that she was very well-rested. Faintly, she could hear Mink crying out for her, but it sounded weirdly low-pitched, like she was growing bigger.

Great Ice Dragon, I am growing smaller!

And then things went weird.

Chapter Text

Chapter Two

Snowfall didn’t feel like a dragon anymore.  She was tiny, and she was way more nimble.  She didn’t feel any wings on her back.  Additionally, she only felt two legs as well.

That does it, someone poisoned my last meal, and now I’m hallucinating.

Strangely, it didn’t seem like it was her moving this strange, two-legged body.  It seemed to have a mind of its own, though she could clearly feel it’s every sensation; the feeling of this weird “fluff” on her head, and what seemed to be a very thick layer of cloth covering her whole body.  

Everything was dark.  

Suddenly, she could hear thoughts not her own.  They sounded masculine, but in a weird, squeaky way.  This was a bad idea, no, this was a really bad idea.   The body she inhabited was absolutely terrified.  She had never felt fear like this before.  This wasn’t the common “We’re going to get invaded” fear she was familiar with; this was the feeling of knowing that you are about to die.

A bit of light peeked through whatever hiding place this apparently non-dragon creature was using, and she suddenly recognized where he was.  He was hiding in the back area of the cloak shop.  Now that he had some light on his body, she could see part of what him looked like, from his perspective of course.  She immediately recognized the smooth, pale-brown skin covering the thin, nimble paws.

Great, I’m a scavenger.

The scavenger peeked out a little more, then pulled himself out of his hideaway and sprinted across the shop.  Now that he was out in the open, Snowfall could see that it was nighttime; the light illuminating the area came from the Gift of Light globes placed all over the market.  The snowstorm that had covered the market in snow at the present time had apparently just started, and the scavenger’s vision was a flurry of falling snowflakes streaking past his vision.  The scavenger seemed to be aware of the light and how much he “stuck out like a sore thumb” (Whatever a ‘thumb’ was) underneath its glare.

Snowfall didn’t think she’d ever forget the feeling of dashing across the ground on these two little feet.  For a mostly furless creature the heavy volume of artificial coverings he was wearing were doing a good job keeping him warm in this environment, though all the running around the scavenger was doing probably helped as well.

For a moment, the scavenger felt thrilled.  I might actually make it out of here!   Snowfall wondered how the scavenger had ended up hiding in the cloak shop to begin with; clearly the little creature was already very well-off for clothing.

That line of thought, as well as the scavenger’s feeling of elation, were abruptly cut short when what felt like an entire glacier crashed down on top of the scavenger, knocking him to the ground in an instant.  The scavenger cried out and struggled, but whatever held him was far too strong.  He was flipped face-side-up and Snowfall’s (and the scavenger’s) worst fears were realized: he had been captured by an IceWing.

Snowfall then realized, not just any IceWing, that’s the cloak shop owner!

The dragon began speaking.  It was clear that the scavenger wasn’t able to understand his language, but Snowfall could hear him quite well.

“Well, hello there, little guy!  You’re not too common around here.”

“Let me go!  Please!!”  The scavenger cried, but predictably the IceWing couldn’t understand him.  The feeling of sheer dread was so powerful with this scavenger that it was making Snowfall sick.

In response to the scavenger’s pleas he simply chuckled.  “You’d be a pretty good ingredient for my stew,” he mentioned offhand.

“Moons above!”  Snowfall gagged.

This wouldn’t ever have been something she’d believe normally, but this felt real.  For a hallucination, anyway.  She felt sorry for the scavenger, but this clearly was too crazy to be actually happening.

What she did know is that she needed to get out of this hallucination now.   It was clear that the scavenger was doomed, and Moons help her if she had to experience the poor creature being cooked alive.   Snowfall tried everything she could to free herself from this “vision,” but whatever was holding her in this scavenger’s mind was just as strong as the IceWing’s grip on the pitifully struggling scavenger himself.

The owner reached his stand, and went into the living quarters, revealing a large cauldron, already filled with boiling broth.

“N-no!”  The scavenger screamed, “You can’t do this to me!  I have a brother to take care of, please!!”

That statement would likely have made a weaker dragon faint, though Snowfall knew she was already unconscious anyway, so supposedly it wouldn’t have mattered.

“Oh, where are my manners?”  The IceWing laughed, “You won’t be needing this anymore.”  She felt the scavenger’s cloak get ripped off of him, revealing a covering beneath it that was soaked in sweat and convulsing from his panting torso.  She didn’t see much more, as with his other talon the IceWing plunged the entire length of his serrated claw straight through the scavenger’s back and out through his chest.  An explosion of blood and fiery pain filled his vision, then everything went blurry and in a few moments everything went black.

------

“Your majesty!”  Snowfall could barely hear the shopkeeper’s voice through the darkness.

“Snowy!  Please wake up!”  Mink’s voice blended into the echoes.

“What the actual fuuuuck…” Snowfall slurred, but her voice sounded wrong.  She wasn’t growling, she was squeaking.

I’m speaking Scavenger…

“What the heck is she saying?”  Mink gasped.

“She’s gone cuckoo, that’s what,” The shop owner snickered, “She sounds just like that scavenger I ate last night.”

“YOU WHAT!?”  Mink screamed, almost as loud and high-pitched as the scavenger himself was.

“Murderer…”  Snowfall groaned in scavenger-tongue, against her will, as her vision gradually came back to her.

The first thing Snowfall saw with her proper, IceWing eyes was Mink’s face standing over her, concern plastered all over it.

Snowfall scrambled to her feet, stumbling all over the place as she apparently was still wired for walking on two legs.  Her wings shook and flapped all over the place as if they didn’t know what they were supposed to be doing.  Finally, she could see the shop owner, with a stupid silly grin stretching his lips.  Apparently, the sight of his Queen acting like a total doofus was hilarious to him.  She looked down at his talons.  He hadn’t even bothered to wash them off; the scavenger’s blood coated his index claw like a coat of grisly crimson paint.

A small part of her wanted to have this dragon executed.  A tiny fragment of her soul that apparently now belonged to that ill-fated scavenger wanted to see him suffer.  But even if she wanted to, she knew that she couldn’t possibly charge him for murdering a scavenger.  By her own decision that sort of thing wasn’t a crime in her kingdom!

“Snowfall that was terrifying!   Please don’t do that again!”  Mink was shaking with fear.

Snowfall noticed that the bloodied scavenger cloak was still in her talon.  She really had no desire to keep it, but a strange feeling within her indicated she might need it later.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll be taking that cloak back,” The shop owner stated, “It’ll be a nice little curiosity for visitors to the shop to look at!”

Mink snarled, “You mean the cloak you stole off the corpse of some innocent, sapient creature that you murdered!?”

“Oh please,” The owner scoffed, “Please don’t tell me you buy into that Union Society dung.”

“Snowy, please tell him the truth!”  Mink pleaded.  “I can’t imagine someone with a heart so cold that they’d kill a helpless, intelligent being!”

Snowfall looked down at the ground.  “They’re monkeys, Mink.  The other tribes may have convinced themselves otherwise, but they’re just animals with a talent for mimicry.  We’re just as ‘cold’ with polar bears, and seals.  What’s so different about a bunch of furless mammals?”

“I can’t believe you!”  Mink screeched, and she yanked the cloak out of Snowfall’s talon and dashed off with it.

“HEY!”  The shopkeeper shouted, “Get back here with that!”  He turned to Snowfall.  “You’re the Queen, go arrest her!”

Snowfall sighed, and pulled a talonful of gold out of her purse.  “This should cover it.  I have to go.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Three

Back in her throne room that evening, Snowfall mulled over the events of the day.  Whatever happened was clearly just a hallucination, but still, that bloody cloak was quite real.  The shopkeeper went as far as admitting that he ate the scavenger it belonged to just as the vision showed.  She could care less about the scavenger, but the vision gave her a good idea about what purpose the Gift of Vision might have.  Perhaps when I touch something significant, the ring will allow me to see what happened with that object.

She decided to test her theory.  She stood up off her throne and laid her talon on it.  She held it there for several seconds, but nothing happened.  Whatever mysterious way this artifact functioned; it was not giving up its secrets easily.

Snowfall decided to give up on her investigation for now, and ordered dinner from her kitchen servants, and within the hour a platter of polar bear meat was before her.

“You look lonely,” A familiar voice echoed from the door of the banquet hall.

Snowfall looked up from her food and saw that Lynx was there.

“What are you doing here, Lynx?  Trying to convince me I’m wrong about the other tribes again?”

“Snowfall, it’s been seven years since you became Queen.  If the other tribes really were hatching a plan to invade your kingdom, don’t you think they’d have done so by now?”

“Seven years is a perfect amount of time to plan an invasion!”

“That’s what you said last year too.”

“But even still, that’s not even the only thing we have to worry about now!  Because now, there’s strange dragons from Moons know where showing up on our shores!”

Lynx tilted her head.  “What?”

“So now I’m going to have to find some way to get rid of the dragon, since for all I know it’s the first of many!”

“Slow down.  There’s an unknown dragon tribe showing up in the kingdom?  Did you see it yet?”

Snowfall harrumphed.  “No.  Because Mink’s obsession with scavengers meant I spent the day looking at weird tiny clothing.”

“If I could suggest, Your Majesty, why not help the strange dragon?  If it flew from far away, it must be in trouble!”

“Uhh-- NO.   Like I said, it’s probably a forerunner to an invading army!”

“Everything with you comes back to invasions, Snowfall.  You haven’t even talked to the dragon yet.  Go meet the dragon first, then make your conclusions.”

“I don’t take orders from you, Lynx!”

“Snowfall, I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but your constant paranoia is causing instability in the kingdom.  Dragons are worried about you.  I’m worried about you.  Whatever is making you so desperate to find an enemy, whether it’s Glacier’s death or something else, you need to let it go!”

“Get out.”

“Snowfa--”

“NOW, Lynx!  That’s an order from your Queen!”

Lynx sighed, but still obeyed, slowly trudging out of the room.  Snowfall turned back to her  meal.  The ring on her talon felt tighter than ever.

This is really starting to get uncomfortable, Snowfall thought, I should try to adjust it.

She tried pulling the ring off, but no matter how hard she pulled, it wouldn’t budge.  In fact, messing with the ring seemed to make it even tighter.

“This is just great!”  Snowfall shouted to herself.  The Gift of Vision was apparently also some ancient IceWing animus’s idea of a dumb prank.

Perhaps an animus would be able to undo the curse this ring had on it, but thanks of course to Darkstalker’s father the IceWings no longer had animi.  She supposed that she would have to travel to the Sea Kingdom to have Turtle work on it.  But for now, she needed to sleep.

Snowfall retreated to her quarters and laid herself on the bed.  She made a note to herself to spend tomorrow interrogating the intruder in her infirmary.  She fell asleep unusually quickly.

Chapter Text

Chapter Four

Snowfall was once again inside the mind of a scavenger. She was already familiar with that impossible two-legged gait and weird, barely-furred skin. But it seemed this time that she was even smaller than the last time.

When her (His?) eyes opened she could see that she was laying on her back in what seemed to be an igloo of sorts. The scavenger’s body was plopped down within a nest overflowing with soft pillows and thick, warm blankets. The sensation was honestly quite pleasant, especially given the little creature was much more vulnerable to the cold. Being shielded from the frigid air while being suspended in a fluffy bed was something that, at least to this scavenger, meant comfort and protection.

The scavenger stretched its long, stick-like front limbs and let out a deep yawn. It looked at the fireplace in the center of the nesting chamber and saw that the fire within was beginning to run out of fuel. The scavenger let out a little, shivery sigh and stood up out of the bed. Unlike the last scavenger, this one wasn’t as heavily clothed, it simply wore a thin layer of rough fabric over its torso and legs, leaving the outer ends of its “arms” exposed. Because of this, outside its protective nest the scavenger’s skin was pierced by the cold air, a sensation Snowfall was wholly unfamiliar to.

The scavenger, who Snowfall swore felt like a bundle of thin skin and fragile bones, approached the exit of the igloo, the decreasing temperature near the door causing the scavenger to begin shivering. It threw open the door, and it became clear that the scavenger wouldn’t be able to tolerate being outside for long, as the creature’s entire body felt like it was being pierced by little needles.

“E-Eagle...?” The scavenger cried out. Now that Snowfall had heard the animal’s voice it was clear that this one was quite young, possibly like a dragonet if it were a dragon. The voice was just barely masculine, so she guessed that she should start referring to the creature as a “him” in absence of being able to know his exact pronouns. 

Whatever sort of predatory bird the scavenger was attempting to summon, it didn’t hear him. The scavenger retreated back into the igloo, shivering copiously, and he brought his body close to the dwindling fire, attempting to bring some semblance of warmth back into him.

Where is he? The scavenger thought, I... I thought he’d be back by now... Even within his thoughts the creature sounded absolutely pitiful.

A tiny rumbling noise came from the scavenger’s abdomen, and it became clear that the animal was hungry. But no parent had yet shown itself, and given how dejected he felt it was entirely possible that he lived alone.

“He’s waiting for his brother,” a draconic feminine voice echoed, though it seemed that the scavenger couldn’t hear her words. “A brother that will never come home.”

Snowfall scoffed. “Must be a pretty cruddy brother if he’s leaving his poor little brother all alone like this.”

She could almost swear she could hear the mysterious voice sighing. Suddenly, the voice of her last vision echoed within her. “You can’t do this to me! I have a brother to take care of!!”

Snowfall groaned. “Oh, that brother.”

A ghostly figure of an IceWing, sized down to fit inside the igloo, manifested next to the shivering cub. “He will die if he is not helped.”

“Oh, so that’s what all these dumb hallucinations are about then? You want me to open some crummy scavvie day-care? I’m pretty sure my scouts told me that some lovey-dovey SandWing on the other side of the continent has that business covered!”

The IceWing frowned. “Part of being a good Queen is caring for others.”

“Other IceWings, you spectral doofus! It’s not my job to care about little flesh monkeys that shouldn’t have moved into a kingdom that their furless little hides can’t deal with!”

“True kindness knows no borders, Snowfall. It knows not what species those it helps belongs to.”

“I’m not sure who you are, but if you know anything beyond my name, you’d know that I am not a ‘kind’ dragon.”

“I know everything about you. And I know that in order for you to become a better queen, you need to learn how to be kind to others.”

“Well good luck with that,” Snowfall chuckled, “I doubt there’s much you can do to change me.”

The dragon looked at her and smirked. “Oh, I can do plenty to you.”

Out of nowhere she felt her chest explode with pain, and she realized that she was making her feel the pain of “Eagle’s” death all over again. Snowfall tried to cry out but only a tiny little squeak escaped her mouth.

“You... You traitor!” Snowfall gagged once she had regained control over her voice again. “You can’t torture your Queen like this!”

“I’ve done this to many Queens who need a lesson taught,” The still-smirking IceWing specter stated, “I should introduce myself. I am Opal, the spirit within the ring. And it is my sworn duty to ensure any Queen of the IceWings in need of my lessons becomes a better dragon.”

“Let me out of this furry prison this instant or I will find you and have you executed!”

“Good idea, but unfortunately not possible. I died thousands of years ago.”

Snowfall roared with displeasure. But then she noticed something.

“The scavenger. Where is he going?”

Snowfall saw through the scavenger’s eyes that he was once again headed for the door. His paw brushed up against a heavy coat made out of polar bear fur, then grasped it. With deft movements that she doubted any dragon would be able to pull off in their wildest dreams, the coat was pulled over the scavenger’s skin... And it became clear that it was far too big for him. The fire in the fireplace was dying to the point where the room was beginning to grow dim, and the cold within was becoming more and more intense.

“A blizzard is about to form in this area,” Opal stated matter-of-factly, “Do you wish to experience another horrible death?”

“If it gets me out of this vision, so be it.”

“And what if this scavenger’s death also results in your own?”

Okay, that got my attention.

“You’re bluffing,” Snowfall growled, “You wouldn’t dare.”

“I can do anything I want to those who put on the ring,” Opal said, “Observe.”

Suddenly her vision changed to a psychedelic kaleidoscope of rushing colors and shapes and Snowfall felt like she was about to throw up when she was forced back into the body of the scavenger.

“I... I...” Snowfall was at a loss for words.

“Observe.”

The scavenger had left the igloo. Outside was a stripped-down polar bear carcass strung over what used to be a bonfire. Next to it a small collection of spears was propped up against a large boulder.

I will admit, if a scavenger was able to take down a polar bear, then they must be a lot stronger than we give them credit for.

Then Snowfall saw what confirmed Opal’s weather forecast. In the distance and approaching fast were towering clouds. Even with the heavy coat the cub now wore it was clear that the blizzard would be far too much for the lean, scrawny creature to bear. Even IceWings had trouble handling severe blizzards.

“So where exactly is this scavenger anyway?” Snowfall asked Opal, “In the case of me actually caring, I’d have to know where he lives to be able to find him.”

Almost to illustrate Opal’s response for her, the scavenger turned his head away from his nest, showing the very familiar outline of the IceWing Palace way in the distance.

Scavengers actually live that close to us?

“You’d be surprised what they’re capable of,” Opal commented.

“Well, fine. If it gets you to stop pestering me, I’ll go find this scavenger cub.”

“Splendid!” Opal clapped her talons together, and without another moment, Snowfall awoke into her bedroom.

Chapter Text

Chapter Five

Snowfall was finally free.  Judging by the state of the Gift of Elegance it was just past sunrise.  For a second, she thought about just going back to sleep and ignoring this “Opal” dragon, but she decided she didn’t want to risk being forced back into the scavenger cub’s mind and possibly have to contend with dying with the scavenger.  She stood out of bed, once again struggling to acclimate herself to her proper body again, and she stumbled around her room until she finally reached her door.

Before she left the palace, she stopped in the royal vault and removed what she thought she’d never have to touch again.  Three bracelets sat inside a cushioned chest.  The Gift of Diplomacy.  If I can get one of these things to fit him, it should keep him warm.   She took one of the bracelets and sealed the vault behind her.  The guard seemed to have a hint of confusion on his face, but he saluted her anyway.

Snowfall wondered how she’d be able to find the scavenger in the vast tundra surrounding the palace.  She had a general idea of what direction the little igloo was from her home, but the scavenger could have traveled in any direction from his home and since she didn’t know how fast scavengers moved or how much of a head start he had, the little creature could be anywhere.  Easily the more pressing issue at the moment was the intruding dragon in her infirmary, but Opal had made it clear that she would have potentially lethal consequences for disobeying her.

“Snowy!”  Mink’s voice called from down the hall, and soon her face filled her vision.

“Not now, Mink, I’ve got important business.”

“No.  You listen.  I want you to have this.”  She pushed Eagle’s old cloak into her talon.

“Why, exactly?”

“Because I want you to look at it every day and think of the poor scavenger who wore this!”

“You’re that serious about scavengers, huh?”

Mink nodded ferociously.  “I can’t stop thinking that the poor guy had a family somewhere who misses him and I—”

Snowfall covered Mink’s mouth with her talon.  “Hold up,” Snowfall interrupted, “Did you say ‘family?’”

Mink shoved the talon off of her mouth.  “Oh now you get it, huh?  Think of all the poor little scavenger cubs that little guy had who don’t have a daddy anymore!”

“Mink, you’re a genius.”

“Well of course I am—Wait what?”

“Thank you for the cloak!”  Snowfall shouted and she dashed off towards the palace’s exit.

“Huh?”  Was all Mink could squeak back at her.

This is just what I need, Snowfall continued in her head as she went, Eagle’s scent is all over this cloak.  His brother should have a similar scent.  I can use this to find him!

Alright, stupid little scavenger, I’m coming for you, I guess.

As Snowfall flew across the tundra, she wondered how exactly she was going to “help” the cub.  Scavengers tended to get very noisy and uncooperative around dragons, which, given what happened in her first vision, she supposed she could see why.  She turned her head to the west and saw clearly that she didn’t have much time before the blizzard hit.  She looked down at the ground.  It was all nondescript tundra until she could barely see a tiny, hemispherical bump on the ground and what looked like the polar bear carcass she saw in the vision.

Snowfall touched down, then held the cloak up to her nose.  Yep, very mammal-y.   She put her nose to the ground.  The whole area smelled like scavenger, but she could pick up a trail that smelled newer than the others that led towards the north.  She began to follow it.

About fifteen minutes later, she couldn’t see any sign of the scavenger cub.  Even worse, the blizzard seemed like it was mere minutes away.  She checked the scent trail again.  It was clearly getting stronger, so at least she was going the right way.  Snow was beginning to fall.

“What am I doing, Mother?”  Snowfall asked, “Running out into a blizzard to save some orphaned mammal?  Is this really what being a good queen is about?”

She half expected Opal to respond in her head, “Damn straight that’s what it’s about,” as if Opal alone was the sole authority on what made a good IceWing ruler.  She didn’t speak, however, so she supposed that perhaps Opal was only capable of speaking to her during a vision.

The snow fell faster and faster until it was beginning to affect her vision.  The scent trail was beginning to get muffled as well.  She thought of calling out to the cub, but she knew that hearing a dragon roaring around nearby would only get the animal to make concerted efforts to avoid the source of her voice.  

Come on, you stupid skinny little scavenger, come on and show yourself!

The blizzard was now in full force.  The snow-riddled wind battered Snowfall’s scales, and given how it was affecting her she could guess that the scavenger cub she was tracking very well may have succumbed to the storm himself by now.

She took one more step and cried out in shock when her talon touched something soft and squishy and not at all anything like the snow that she had been stepping on so far.  She looked down and saw a little bundle of polar bear fur, partially buried in snow.  She prodded the pile of fur with her talon.  It didn’t move.

Well, that’s him, alright.  Too bad, Opal, looks like he’s dead.

She picked up the scavenger, flipping him around so she could see his face.  His tiny eyes were closed, but when she felt the creature’s abdomen she could feel, just barely, the rising and falling of his lungs.  Okay then, not quite dead yet.   

The scavenger was even smaller in the flesh than she imagined him being, small enough that the cub’s body fit neatly into her talon like a doll.  It was almost frightening how easy it would be to crush him with even a stray squeeze.  She had never seen any creature that looked so overwhelmingly vulnerable.

Now she had to figure out how to get the Gift of Diplomacy to fit something so freakishly tiny.   There was one logical way.  She put Eagle’s cloak back into her purse and replaced it with the bracelet, which she laid around the scavenger’s neck.  Surprisingly, despite fitting very loosely it appeared to work, as the snow coating the scavenger instantly melted.

No time to lose, Snowfall thought, and she took off with the steadily warming scavenger in her talons and flew back to the palace, fighting the roaring winds the whole way.

Somehow, no one in the palace noticed Snowfall dashing through the halls with a half-dead scavenger wearing the Gift of Diplomacy as an oversized necklace as she returned to her chamber and against her better judgement, laid him on her bed.

The scavenger was still unconscious.  Clearly Snowfall had been able to rescue him at exactly the right time.  Okay, Opal, she called within herself, What now?

The scavenger let out a tiny, pitiful little groan and sat up, his paws prodding the Gift around his neck.  As soon as he saw Snowfall, however, he let out a shrill cry and scrambled to his feet, clearly about to make a run for it.

“Ahhh!  Eagle, help me!” The scavenger cried.

Wait a minute, Snowfall realized, I can understand him!

“Scavenger, I mean no harm,” she told the creature.

Strangely, despite how she was clearly speaking Dragon, the scavenger plainly understood her as well.  “H-hang on…” He stammered, “You talk!?”

“Yes, we can all talk,” Snowfall explained, “It’s just that usually scavengers and dragons can’t understand each other.”

“B-but that’s impossible, dragons are just big monsters that wanna gobble all of us up!  Why… If you’re really smart like us, why would you treat us this way?”

Snowfall decided to consider the scavenger’s point of view for once and tried to answer in a way that he could understand.  “Dragons are…  Kind of…  Well…”

“They’re stupid, then.  Dragons are a bunch of stupid idiots who didn’t even want to understand us.  So stupid that they don’t even understand that their entire history is painted with our blood!”  The cub almost sounded as if he was parroting something he heard from an elder word for word.

“We’re not stupid!”  Snowfall shouted back, “Just very…  Misguided.”  The scavenger crossed his arms.  “And I guess I should say I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?  Kidnapping me?”

“For one, I didn’t kidnap you.  I rescued you from the blizzard you got yourself caught in.  Second...  I'm sorry for everything that’s happened to your species.”  She could hardly believe what she just said, but it sounded like something Opal would like her saying.  “So…”  Snowfall continued, “What’s your name then?  I am Queen Snowfall of the IceWings.”

The scavenger looked up at Snowfall’s eyes, revealing the deep, woodsy brown framing the cub’s irises. Definitely not like the icy blue eyes all IceWings had.  “I’m Polestar…  But Eagle calls me Poley.”  He prodded again at the Gift of Diplomacy.  “What is this thing, some kind of dumb collar?  I’m not some dumb pet!”

Snowfall sighed.  “That’s not a collar, that’s the Gift of Diplomacy.  It keeps anyone who wears it at their ideal temperature.  It’s meant to be worn as a bracelet by dragons, but since you’re a tiny scaven—”

“Stop calling me a scavenger!”   Poley yelled, “I’m a human!”

Oh…  I guess the Union Society was actually right about scavengers calling themselves that.

Just barely, Snowfall could hear Poley’s stomach grumble again.  “Are you hungry, Polestar?”

His anger melted away upon being reminded of his hunger.  “Y-yeah…”

Again Snowfall sighed, and said: “I suppose I should get you a meal.  What do humans eat anyway?”

“Meat, berries, stuff like that.”

“Very well then.  Wait here.”  Snowfall turned and left the bedroom.

Chapter Text

Chapter Six

Snowfall thought to herself as she went to the kitchen.  Clearly Polestar isn’t aware of what happened to his brother.  I can only imagine how he’d react to me showing him the cloak…  And my imagination says he wouldn’t take the news well.  Also, how are we able to just talk to each other like that!?   

She remembered what she put on.  The Gift of Vision might have been it, maybe a side effect of being put inside two scavengers’ minds gave me the ability to talk to them?  Or maybe… She looked at the ugly silver bracelet on her wrist.  The Gift of Understanding, of course!  It’s just as I thought, the bracelet gives its wearer the ability to talk to scavengers!   Or I suppose, humans.

Eventually Snowfall reached the kitchen.  As always, the chef, whose full name was Snow Leopard but everyone called just Leopard, was there, preparing food for lunch.

“Leopard?”  Snowfall called to him.  The cook looked up from a bloody whale carcass to look at her.

“Yes, your majesty?”

“I need a tiny little bit of meat and berries.”

“Just peckish?”

“More like I have someone very…  small to feed.”

Leopard looked quizzically at her.  “Small like a newly hatched dragonet or…?”

“It’s none of your business.”

He shrugged.  “Alright then.”  He took his claws and sliced a small part of the prime portion of the whale’s muscle, grabbed some frozen raspberries from a bowl next to him, then wrapped everything up in a canvas pouch.

Snowfall took the pouch and returned to her bedroom.  To her surprise, Poley was still sitting on the bed, apparently having obeyed her.  “Here,” she said, and pulled open the pouch before him.

A tiny gag came out of the human’s mouth.  “Are you trying to poison me!?”

Ungrateful little primate…   “What exactly is wrong with this?  I got you exactly what you asked for!”

“The meat needs to be cooked, Snowfall!  I’ll get sick if I eat raw meat!”

Well this is news to me.   “So it just needs to be heated over a fire then?”

Polestar nodded.  Snowfall sighed exasperatedly, then took the pouch back and returned to the kitchen.  “I need this meat to be heated over a fire.”

“Hmmph,” Leopard went, “I knew it.”

Snowfall tilted her head, an amused expression on her face.  “Knew what?”

“You’ve got a scavenger.  Let me guess, you’re fattening it up?”

She would have laughed normally, but after interacting with Polestar she felt just a tiny bit sick at the concept of preparing the human cub for any kind of consumption.

“No,” Snowfall explained, “I guess you could say I decided to get a pet.”

“Bah,” Leopard scoffed, “Scavengers aren’t good pets.  Too wily.  But with the right herbs and some butter?”  Leopard licked his lips, causing Snowfall’s sick feeling to grow just a tiny bit bigger.  Note to self, keep Poley far away from him.

"Once again, my scavenger is not for eating.  Now if you don’t mind,” She placed the pouch on the counter, “I need this to be cooked.”

Leopard groaned.  “Fine.”

Several minutes later, the chef returned with a steaming bit of meat and unfrozen raspberries.  “Here’s your scavenger slop.”  Snowfall took it and left.

This time Polestar reacted much more positively to the meal he was presented.  He even thanked Snowfall for it.  It was clear just how hungry he was, because the little human made a big mess out of eating, whale blubber getting all over his face.

When he was finished, he wiped his mouth with his paw and looked around the room.  “So you’re really the dragon queen?”

“Only of the IceWings,” Snowfall explained, “Just dragons like me.”

“Why did you rescue me?”

“Let’s just say…  There’s a dragon somewhere who really cares about you.  She wouldn’t shut up until I helped you.”

Poley nodded.  “Kind of like my brother.  He always says things like ‘don’t go out alone,’ and ‘don’t go chasing polar bear cubs.’  Come to think of it…  He’s probably worried sick about me.”

Snowfall heard this and felt just a little terrible.  She decided to take his mind off of Eagle.  “So what about your parents?  You keep talking about your brother but you’ve never mentioned them.

This might have been the wrong thing to change the subject to, as now Poley looked even more depressed.  “Mom and Dad…  I never knew them.”

“Like, they left, or…?”

“Eagle says they died when I was a baby.  A lot of times I’d wake up at night and hear him crying about it.”

Snowfall’s heart sank.  She presumed “baby” was the human equivalent of “hatchling.”    “Were they killed by dragons, or were they—”

“Some kind of illness got them.  It apparently caused them to get weaker and weaker until they couldn’t move anymore.  Eagle promised with his whole heart that he’d take care of me.  He would do anything for me, even sneak into dragon villages to steal things, like food or materials for clothing.”

Snowfall now had to admit that she felt really sorry for Polestar.  His situation reminded her too much of Mink and herself after their mother died.

“Do you think you could take me back to my igloo?”  Polestar asked, “Eagle’s probably waiting for me there.”

More than just sinking, now Snowfall’s heart shattered when she realized that she needed to tell him the truth.  “Polestar…  I’m so sorry…”

Poley’s face tilted, his expression showing fear as he was just on the cusp of realizing what she was about to say.  “Sorry?  Sorry about what?”

Her talons shaking, she reached into her purse and pulled out Eagle’s cloak, then handed it to Poley.

The human cub looked quizzically at the cloak for a second.  “W-what are you doing with his—” He let out a huge gasp when he saw the blood staining the cloak.  “Wh-what…?”  His face began to turn redder and redder as tears began to stream out of his eyes.  “Y-you killed him!?”

“Polestar, no, that’s not what—”

“YOU MONSTER!!  I NEVER SHOULD HAVE TRUSTED YOU!!”

Sobbing profusely, Polestar jumped off Snowfall’s bed and dashed out of the door, dragging his brother’s cloak along the ground behind him.  Snowfall could do nothing but stare as he left.

Well, I expected him to react badly…  But I should have guessed he might end up blaming me.

Chapter Text

Chapter Seven

Snowfall attempted to follow Polestar.  It was fairly easy to hear him; the human was still crying and IceWing ears were notoriously sharp.  But then she heard dragons shouting from the chamber containing the Gift of Order.

“Guards!”

“Someone stop that scavenger!”

“It stole the Gift of Diplomacy!”

This was followed by Poley letting out a terrified scream and Snowfall knew she needed to pick up the pace in catching up to him.  She reached the room and found a crowd of dragons in a circle, with Poley shivering with fear at its center.

“Your majesty, you’re just in time,” Narwhal said with a sigh of relief.  “We just caught this creature making off with a priceless Animus gift!”

“He didn’t steal it, Narwhal.” Snowfall entered the circle to shield Poley with her wing, though the cub attempted to shimmy his way out of the hug, “I gave it to him.”

Tundra, who was standing next to her husband, gave Snowfall a blank look.  “You gave a scavenger the Gift of Diplomacy?  That’s rather… unlike you.”

“The scavenger has a name, everyone.  He’s called Polestar.  And he is under my protection.”

Several dragons in the circle scoffed loudly.  “Now that’s very much unlike you,” Narwhal commented.

“Snowfall!”  Mink ran into the chamber, “What’s going on?  You—” She saw Poley beneath the Queen’s wings.  “Snowy, what are you doing with that scavenger?”

Snowfall sighed.  “Remember what you said about that dead scavenger having a family?”

Mink tilted her head.  “Well yeah, but is he really…?”

Poley looked up at Snowfall.  “What are they all saying?”

“You can’t understand them?”

Poley shook his head.  “Only you.”

“Understand what?”  Narwhal asked, “Snowfall, are you talking to the scavenger?”

Snowfall’s face immediately blushed bright blue.  “Uhh, well, I…”

Mink ran up to Snowfall and slapped her across the face.  “You pretended to not care about scavengers and this whole time you spoke their language!?”

“That’s not exactly the case, if you could just listen!   I put on a bunch of animus gifts in the secret royal vault and one of them apparently lets me talk to scavengers!”

Several dragons gasped.  “So the Forbidden Treasury actually exists!?”  Tundra yelled.

Mink glowered at her.  “Snowy, you said yourself a lot of the Gifts in there were too dangerous!”

“I know, but there’s this strange dragon that showed up and I was scared and—”

“Again with the invasions, then?”  Narwhal sighed, “I should have guessed you’d eventually get this desperate.”

“Anyway, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get Polestar back to safety!”

Snowfall picked Poley up in her talon and shoved her way back through the crowd and back to her bedroom.

“I’m confused,” Poley said as Snowfall laid him down on her bed, “If you killed Eagle, why are you so determined to protect me?  You could have just let those other dragons kill me.”

“Because I didn’t kill your brother, Polestar. I would have explained it to you, but you jumped to conclusions and ran off.”

“So then…  why do you care so much about me?”

“Like I said, there’s a dragon I know who for some reason really wants me to protect you.”

“Can I meet this dragon?”

“Not…  Exactly.”

“Why not?”

“Because she’s basically a ghost.  She lives inside this ring I’m wearing.”  She pulled the Gift of Vision up to Poley’s face.

Poley squinted suspiciously at the ring.  “So are you actually going crazy like those dragons seemed to think or…?”

“I’m not crazy!”  Snowfall shouted just a little bit too loudly.  “The IceWing royal family had a long lineage of dragons who were capable of magic.  This ring has a very powerful enchantment on it.”

“Like, actual magic?  Could you enchant me to have my brother back?”

“No…  For two reasons.  First, no one in the family has magic anymore…  And second, dragon magic can’t resurrect the dead.” 

Poley’s face drooped upon hearing that.  “So where am I going to sleep in here?  The only bed in here is made out of ice!”

“Who said you’d be sleeping in my bedroom?”

“Logic and reason did.  Do you want me to get eaten up in my sleep?  You’re literally the only dragon here who won’t see me as a snack!”

Much to Snowfall’s exasperation, the kid had a point.  “We’ll have to go back to your igloo and get your bedding, I guess.  But for now, I need to go meet someone.”

“Can I come with you?”

“Absolutely not.  The dragon I’m going to talk to…  It could be dangerous.”

“If you say so.  But leaving me all by my lonesome might be just as dangerous.”

“This room is guarded.  No one gets in here without my permission.”

“Ugh, fine.”

Snowfall gently patted Poley’s head and left the bedroom. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Eight

She hoped the dragons in the infirmary were keeping the intruder on lockdown.  There was no telling what this new tribe was capable of.

But she recalled her words to Polestar just moments ago.  I told him that he ‘jumped to conclusions,' just like Lynx keeps telling me I do the same thing.   It honestly felt hypocritical.  But being falsely accused of scavenger murder and being the forerunner to an invading army are two completely different things.  If my fears are true, no one in the Ice Kingdom is safe, and it’s up to me to protect everyone!

She finally reached the infirmary.  As she guessed, two burly IceWing guards were posted at the entrance.  “I’m here to see the newcomer,” she told them.

“Down the hall, first door on the left,” the guard on the left told her.

Snowfall went inside, not knowing what she was going to see at all.  It could be anything, though she was told it was yellow and had four wings, somehow.  For a second she feared the dragon would be some Darkstalker-sized monster with the capacity to wipe out everything, but obviously that couldn’t be the case if they were able to fit this dragon into the infirmary.

She reached the door, and without bothering to knock, she went inside.  Lying on the bed was a dragon who very well fit the description she was given.

Moons above, this dragon really is an unknown tribe…   Everything about it resembled an insect crossed over with a dragon, with scales bearing alternating yellow-and-black stripes, and quadruple wings that were clearly very much like those of a bug.  Its tail ended in what looked like a stinger, which made Snowfall nervous.

“Hello?”  The dragon called to her, in her language no less, “Who are you?”  Her voice indicated she was female.

Snowfall stood up straight, trying to make herself look intimidating.  “I am Queen Snowfall, ruler of the Ice Kingdom.  You are intruding on protected land.”

“Oh…  Sorry about that.  I didn’t know you weren’t open.”

Despite the dragon’s terrifying appearance, her voice was very gentle and kind.  How deceptive. “We almost were driven extinct seven years ago.  Ever since then our borders have been closed to everyone.”

“That’s terrible!  I’m so sorry about that.”

“So then, who exactly are you?”

“I’m Vespa.  My tribe calls themselves HiveWings.”

“Okay then, Vespa.  Are there any more of you coming?”

“Moons, no.  I’m the only one left who has any…  Control over themselves.”

“Excuse me?”

“The continent I come from…  Had a terrible disaster.  I don’t know much about it, but our Queen Wasp…  Lost control over herself.”

“And?”

“She used a plant called the Breath of Evil to force direct control over her entire population, and she subjugated the other tribes.  But something happened that caused the plant to go haywire…  Now every dragon on the continent is a braindead zombie.”

“And only you escaped?”

“I’d show you how, but your guards have me chained to this bed.”

Very clever.   “I’m not going to unchain you just yet.  How should we trust that you yourself aren’t a ‘zombie?’”

“Because I’m outside the range the Breath of Evil works in.  If I’m too far away from its closest vine, it can’t control me anymore.  I’m entirely myself.”

“So then how do we know there aren’t others chasing after you?”

“Because only I have the map that allows dragons to safely fly across the ocean to your continent.”

She gestured as much as the chains would allow to a satchel seemingly made out of a huge leaf that was sitting on a table on the far end of the room.  “Look inside there.”

Snowfall walked over to the table and began looking inside the satchel.  The only thing inside of it was a rough, tiny thing seemingly made of paper bound within a blue protective cover.  She read the beginning of it, which seemed to be a letter from someone to her people.  She reached the end of the letter…

All my love, Clearsight.

Snowfall went pale.  Clearsight…  That’s a NIGHTWING name!!

“You dirty liar,” Snowfall growled.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“You’re working with the NightWings!”

“I have no idea who that tribe is.”

“Don’t lie to me!  The letter at the beginning of that weird scroll is from a NightWing!”

“Clearsight?  You know about her?”

“Not her specifically.  But the NightWings were the ones who tried to kill us all!”

“Oh no, not Clearsight.  She was the kindest dragon our tribe knew.  She wrote that book with an eternity of prophetic visons so that we could be safe even after she died.”

Snowfall groaned.  “So…  Who is she then?”

“She lived two thousand years ago, we were told.”

“So she wouldn’t have had anything to do with any possible invasion plans?”

“Moons, no.  She would never want anything like that.”

“So you said this weird…”

“Book.”

“This ‘book’ told you how to get here?”

“Look inside the back cover.”

Snowfall turned the book over and noticed that the back cover was thicker, and seemed to contain an additional piece of paper.  She unfolded it and saw that it was a detailed map of the seas between Pyrrhia and this strange, unknown continent, with a safe path across it marked in deep ink.

Snowfall sighed deeply.  “So you have nowhere to go?”

Vespa shook her head.  “I’m all alone.  I’m terrified for my family back home, but it’s far too dangerous to return to Pantala.”

A tiny voice sounded from next to Snowfall’s talons.  “That dragon sounds really sad.”

Snowfall did a double-take down to her feet, and saw a terribly familiar ball of polar bear fur standing between her front talons.  Vespa noticed him too.

Vespa gasped.  “Oh my, you have humans here too?”  Her voice shifted gears into the familiar human-ese squeaking.  “Hello there, little one!”

Polestar gasped.  “You speak my language?” 

Snowfall face-taloned, both at her little cub’s disobedience and at the revelation that this “HiveWing” might actually know more about humans than she did.

“Yes, I do,” Vespa continued squeaking, “We HiveWings have a very close partnership with your kind.”

Poley’s eyes widened.  “Really?  That’s awesome!  Our dragons…  they…”

“I learned in history class how bad things used to be between us.  It’s such a shame that the dragons here haven’t learned to get along with humans.”

“Well they kind of have,” Snowfall explained, “But only recently, and, well, my kingdom refused to acknowledge the partnership.”

Vespa tilted her head.  “Oh no, that’s not good at all.  But this boy, are you friends with him?”

Snowfall and Poley both gave conflicting “yes” and “no” answers, with Snowfall being the negative and Poley being the affirmative.

Vespa paused for a few seconds.  “…I’m guessing you two just met?”

This time both Poley and Snowfall responded with “yes.”

“I see you’re really in sync with each other despite that.”

Poley walked up closer to Vespa.  Snowfall raised her talon to stop him.

“Hold on, Polestar, it’s not sa—”

“She won’t hurt me.  She just said her tribe doesn’t hurt humans.”

Snowfall turned a flustered blue.  “But how do we know she’s not lying!?”  She blurted out.

Both Vespa and Poley stared at her silently.  “Oh my,” Vespa whispered, “Such a troubled soul."

This caused Snowfall to blush even further.  Unable to take any more, she did an about face and fled the room, leaving Poley behind.

“Wait, Snowfall, I…”  Poley looked up at Vespa, “Snowfall, wait up!”  And then he dashed off after her as fast as his two legs could carry him.

Chapter Text

Chapter Nine

Poley ran out of the entrance of the infirmary, but could not see Snowfall anywhere.  He called out to her, but only managed to turn the heads of the IceWing passersby his way.  He looked all over the area around the infirmary.  Still no sight of her.  He figured she had gone back to her bedroom, but he had forgotten the way back.

The longer Poley was alone, the more scared he got.  This effect was compounded in his current situation, in which he was surrounded by icy dragons who had a thousand and one ways to kill him just on a whim.  And he couldn’t even ask a guard for directions, since the only two dragons who understood his speech were either gone or didn’t know the layout of the palace.  He began to run in the direction he thought Snowfall’s room was in, and managed to find what seemed to be a feasting hall.

He tiptoed around the chamber, his heart pounding.  A dragon’s dining room, he very well knew, was a place where humans like him could very well be served up as a side dish.  He saw that Snowfall wasn’t in here, so he turned around to return to the corridor, but was suddenly knocked to the ground with a surprised cry.

Polestar struggled beneath the weight of what he figured was a dragon’s talon.  The dragon holding him captive began to talk, but of course he couldn’t understand him.  He could however tell that the dragon’s voice had a hungry, desirous tone to it, and Poley’s chest tightened with fear, knowing that Snowfall wasn’t around to rescue him.

--------------

Mink was just passing the royal dining hall when she heard a “slam” from near the door and the unmistakable sound of a scavenger crying out with terror.  She ran up to the door and listened inside to hear Snow Leopard speaking.

“So you’re Snowfall’s little pest, huh?  Ever since that blasted Union Society took down the Talons of Power, my scavenger supply’s run dry.  I haven’t had the joy of tasting one of youse in too long!”

Just hearing this made Mink growl with fury.  She wasted no time and burst through the door, launching herself at Leopard with her claws outstretched.

“Wha--!”  Leopard cried, and Mink landed on top of him.

“Drop him.  NOW!”  Mink prepared herself to bite his neck.

But it was clear that Leopard had an advantage in this fight; he was older, and much larger than her.  He simply shrugged Mink off and laughed.

“You little thing!?  You think you’re tough enough to stop me from getting my fix?”

“Are you MAD?   If you kill that scavenger Snowfall will have your head!”

Leopard shrugged.  “Ehh, she’ll get over it.”

Polestar whimpered in Leopard’s talons.  That poor intelligent being had no business being anywhere near Leopard’s kitchen, especially as a dish.  She prepared to lunge back at him but he put his claw onto the scavenger’s neck.  “Uh-uh, Princess.  Any closer and this little guy’s head goes flying!”

She was now stuck.  She didn’t know what to do.  Most of her life she had felt herself a hero to scavengers, but now as she was presented with the opportunity to actually save the life of one, she found that being a hero was way harder than it seemed in her head.

“Now, little Princess, I’m going to go to my kitchen and start spicing this lil’ guy up, and youse better not get the guards in here!”  He took the helpless scavenger and retreated to the back of the dining hall as the tiny cub cried out to her.

I…  I’m a failure.  What am I going to do?

There’s only one thing to do.  I have to get Snowfall.

Mink dashed away from a cackling Leopard towards the royal hall.  She knew how Leopard hunted; he liked to draw out his kills.  She couldn’t stand to leave the poor scavenger to be tortured by him, but it did give her time to carry out her duties.

Hang in there, little scavenger!

Chapter Text

Chapter Ten

Snowfall had her face buried in her bed, still reeling from the embarrassment of her attempted interrogation.

“I’m no Queen,” she lamented to herself, “I’m still some soft little dragonet who doesn’t know what she’s doing…”

Her mind was conflicted.  Her instincts were telling her that Vespa was not to be trusted, but all the evidence pointed towards the HiveWing being an unfortunate victim of a catastrophe on her home continent and that she meant no harm to anyone.

She heard a commotion outside her bedroom.

“Let me through!”   Mink cried from the door.

“Sorry Princess, no access,” The guard told her, “Queen’s orders.”

“I respond to that with a big, huge bullshit!!   SNOWFALL!  CAN YOU HEAR ME!?

Snowfall gave an almighty sigh and walked to the door.  “What is it, Mink?”  She asked through the door.

“It’s Polestar!  Leopard’s trying to cook him!!”

Snowfall’s mind went blank with horror.  She looked around her bedroom, and saw no polar bear fur anywhere.  Moons above, I thought he followed me back!

Snowfall burst out of the door hard enough to knock it off one of its hinges.  She rushed past Mink and her guards and dashed straight for the kitchen.

When she reached the kitchen, she saw a scene that just a couple days ago she wouldn’t be disturbed by at all.  But the “animal” her chef had covered in butter and spices was Poley. Beneath all the trimmings and herbs Poley was beside himself with terror, just on the verge of crying. She didn’t think it would be this horrifying. A knot of anger rose deep within her, and in moments she let out the loudest roar of rage she could manage, the force of it, to her surprise, shaking some of the pots dangling from the shelves.

“Y-your majesty!”  Leopard stammered, “I thought you were away on business!”

“You’re fired,” Snowfall growled.

The chef seemed to regain some of his bravado.  “For what?  Trying to cook your useless pet?  You’ve tasted scavenger.  It’s not illegal in this kingdom!  Which is exactly why I moved here from the Sand Kingdom!”

Snowfall went cold.  “Hold on…  You’re not from the Ice Kingdom?”

Leopard chuckled.  “Me?  No.  I was raised by a SandWing couple in Scorpion Den when I was separated from my family during the War of SandWing Succession.  Moons know they knew how to cook up a scavenger!  But then those blasted two-leggers rose up and formed that Union Society of theirs, and now in every stinkin’ kingdom except this one, I’d get put to death for so much as poking one of them monkeys the wrong way!  So I did what any self-respecting chef would do, and I packed up an’ moved!”

“But to work here…  We had background checks…  How did we not know you weren’t…”

“Oh please.  Y’all are a lot looser with members of your own tribe than ya think.  All it took was a look at my scales and a small bribe and I got the job.”

Snowfall looked at Poley.  His polar bear coat was scruffy and soaked in butter and he had a small bruise on his greased-up face but otherwise he appeared to be unharmed.  Snowfall steeled herself and declared, “That changes nothing.  This scavenger is my personal property, and more than that, you admitted to lying on your job application!  I hereby banish you from the Ice Kingdom.  You are to leave at once!”

Leopard smirked.  “Hooh boy.  You’re serious, ain’t you?”

Snowfall bared her teeth.  “Now, Leopard.  Leave this place now.”   Just then, a couple of guards, who were thankfully much bigger and stronger than she was, joined her at her side, stone-cold faces between the two of them.

Leopard sighed.  “Okay, fine then.  Good luck finding another one who can cook half as good as me.”  And with that, Snowfall’s former chef was escorted from the kitchen by the two guards.

Upon realizing he was safe, Poley’s eyes lit up with joy.  “Snowfall!”  He elatedly shouted, and he jumped up and ran to the edge of the counter, where he stretched his arms out towards her.  Snowfall lowered her face and the human hugged it, his face directly in front of her eyes filled with gratitude. The boy reeked of butter and had transferred the scent and grease onto her face, but for some reason she did not care.  He let go, and took on a slightly sourer expression.  “I’m not actually your ‘property,’ am I?”

Snowfall sighed, and thought for a second.  “No, Polestar, I suppose not.  I guess you could say we’re…  Friends.”

Polestar hugged Snowfall’s face again, transferring more butter into her snout.  “More than that.  We’re best friends.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Eleven

That evening in Snowfall’s bedroom, after allowing Polestar into a washroom to wash away the butter and herbs he had been prepared with, the dragon and human conversed with each other.

“So you lost your mom because a giant magic dragon cursed your entire tribe? ”  Polestar looked quite enthralled by the concept.

Snowfall, on the other hand, wasn’t amazed by that fact.  “Yes…  And if it weren’t for a certain annoying SandWing with terrible fashion sense, we would have all passed away.”

“Hah, so you do trust outsiders!”

“Qibli was…  a unique exception.  Despite how terrible his earrings looked…  They really did save us all.  But that’s enough about me.  What’s your life like?  I’ve never heard how humans spend their time.”

“Our lives aren’t nearly as exciting as yours.  All we do is gather food, hide from dragons, sleep, then gather more food and hide from more dragons.”

“Honestly, I’d take that kind of life over being Queen any day.”

“Really?”

Snowfall chuckled.  “You humans have it easy.  You don’t have to worry about genocidal maniacs invading your towns and trying to kill all your subjects because some faraway royal family can’t decide which Queen should replace their old one.”

Poley looked at her skeptically.  “Uhh, Snowfall…  Genocidal maniacs invading our towns is exactly what dragons have done to us constantly since the Catastrophe!”

“The Catastrophe?  What was that?”

“You know!  The end of the Age of Cooperation!  When dragons just up and decided they didn’t want us as friends anymore and tried to drive us extinct!”

“Oh…  You mean the Scorching.”

Poley nodded.  “Eagle said it was terrible…  Humans trusted dragons a whole lot…  And then they just decided we taste good enough that it was better to, well, not have us as friends.”

That certainly wasn’t how Snowfall was taught the Scorching was… If Poley was right about humans once being partners with dragons, then the Scorching really must have been the biggest tragedy in Pyrrhian history.  “I’m sorry…  I guess the dragons back then really didn’t know what they were doing.  I couldn’t imagine betraying friends like that.”

Poley laughed.  “But Eagle said that across the continent, dragons are starting to be friends with us again!  There’s this guy named Bolt, who’s friends with a big Desert Dragon named Keeper, and they work to make sure dragons like humans!”

“Yeah, they call themselves the Union Society…  Come to think of it…  How would you like to meet them?”

Poley’s eyes went as wide as a baby seal’s.  “Really?”

“If we’re going to protect humans in this kingdom, we’re going to need to sign their treaty.  How about tomorrow we fly together to their city?”

Poley pumped his fists.  “That’d be awesome!”

“Alright then, it’s set.  Tomorrow, the Ice Kingdom will become the last kingdom to join the Union Society!”

“Hold on,” Mink suddenly said from the door of the bedroom she had just opened, “You…  You’re actually going to do it?”

Snowfall blushed heavily.  “MINK!  How much of that did you hear!?”

“Only your parts since I can’t speak your friend’s language.  But joining the Union Society…  If you’re serious about it, I want to go with you!”

“Well, I suppose I wouldn’t mind…”

“Great!  I’ll see you first thing tomorrow morning!”  And then Mink left as quickly as she had barged in.

Snowfall sighed.  “Alright then,” She turned to Poley.  “Sleep soundly, Polestar.”

The human let out a big yawn.  “Good night, Snowfall…”  And he shut his eyes.

Snowfall pushed herself away from Poley a bit, so as not to possibly roll over on top of him when she fell asleep.  I think I’ll drop off Poley with the Union Society when I take him there…   She thought as she closed her eyes, He’d clearly be cared for much better in Union.   Slowly she herself drifted off.

--------------

“So,” Opal asked as she and Snowfall stood out in the open tundra, “How do you feel?”

“I feel…  Better.  I suppose you were right about saving that kid.”

“And of the HiveWing?  How do you feel about her?”

“I still can’t shake the feeling that she’s hiding something…  But she just seems like such a kind dragon that I just feel like trusting her."

"She’s a good dragon.  I know that from looking within her.  But her homeland is under a great turmoil…  You may very well have to be careful.”

“Wait, so I was right about an invading army then!?  Why didn’t you say so!?”

“The Pantalans have no easy way of getting to Pyrrhia.  They want to, but Vespa’s actions in bringing the map and the book here…  It has effectively locked them out of any safe passage here.”

“Huh.  So we’re actually safe then?  What about the NightWings?  Are they plotting anything?”

Opal sighed.  “It is not what you think.  If I show you, will you believe me?”

“Yes, I will!”

“Very well then.”

The scene shifted and blurred, and when the transition was finished, Snowfall was inside a dragon much bulkier than she was.

“King Deathbringer, we come bearing news.”  A pair of NightWing scouts stood before the NightWing she inhabited.

“Speak then.”

“We just returned from the border with the Ice Kingdom.  There’s no one at the dome that Blaze used to live in.  It seems that they’ve entirely sealed themselves within their kingdom.”

“Could you find any reason for it?”

“No, your majesty.  Other than Winter, there hasn’t been an IceWing sighted in all of Pyrrhia since the Battle of Jade Mountain.”

I wonder why? The NightWing King thought, I remember that big empathy spell that got cast on them to break up the battle…  What kind of effect did that have on them?

“Your majesty?”

“With no IceWings at our disposal besides Winter, we have no way of communicating with the Ice Kingdom due to their enchanted Ice Cliff.  I won’t lie, I’m very worried about them.  Send for Winter; we should have him check on them.”

“I don’t think he’d agree to it, your highness.  He’s banished from there; they’d probably kill him if we sent him there!”

Deathbringer sighed.  Suddenly, a human female popped up at his side, causing him to jump straight into the air.  “Wren!  Uh, what are you doing here?”

“It’s been almost a decade, Murderbasket.  Have you still not gotten over our first meeting?”

“Uh, no—I mean, yes!”

The human sighed in her tiny little voice, “Okay then, whatever.  Look, Bolt totally owes me a favor.  We could go in his spaceship and fly down into the Ice Kingdom from orbit.  It’ll go so fast no one will be able to see it.  We take a look, and see if the IceWings are safe.  Sound like a plan?”

While the NightWings in the royal pavilion giggled and repeated “Murderbasket” to each other, Deathbringer scratched his chin.  “Well, I suppose it’s the best option we have.  Go get your furry friend and do it then.”

“Sounds good!”  Wren saluted the King, then swung monkey-like down off the pavilion and seconds later swooped up into the sky on the strangest-looking SkyWing Snowfall had ever seen, and soon disappeared out of the tree canopy.

At that point the vision ended, and she was returned to the tundra with Opal.

“When did this happen?”  She asked the spirit.

“Hours ago.  I would suggest making your trip to the city of Union posthaste.  The other citizens of Pyrrhia are quite worried about you.”

“So they’re not planning an invasion then?”

“You read the NightWing King’s own thoughts.  If he had a plan to violate the Ice Kingdom’s borders, they would have been an open scroll to you.”

Snowfall groaned.  “Ugh, I was an idiot!”

“I think I should wake you up…  it looks like Poley needs something.”

“Alright, fine, I need time to think anyway!”

Snowfall awoke to feel Polestar tugging on her tail, and an entire regiment of scared-looking guards crowding into her room.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twelve

“Your majesty!  Thank goodness you’re awake!”

Snowfall startled at the presence of so many guards in her room.  “What in the freezes is going on!?”

“That’s just it, your highness!  We don’t know!”

Another guard joined in.  “All the dragons in the infirmary have simultaneously lost their minds!  They’re flailing around all over the place and attacking anyone who comes close!”

Snowfall went pale.  “What about the prisoner?”

“She’s nowhere to be found!”

“Your majesty, we need to get you to safety.  There’s a bunker beneath the palace, we’ll—”

“No.”

“But your highn—”

“I said no.  Take Poley down there, but protecting the kingdom is my responsibility.  I’m going to go find and kill that HiveWing.”

One of the guards reached for Polestar, but he jumped out of his grip.  “No!  I’m coming with you, Snowfall!”

“Poley, there’s a crowd of crazed murderous dragons out there, you won’t stand a chance!”

“But what if I could talk to Vespa?”

Snowfall crouched to Poley’s level.  “Polestar, Vespa isn’t who she said she is.  She’s clearly under the control of that Evil Breath thing.  She might have seemed friendly before, but she’s not like that anymore.  So please, go somewhere safe while I deal with this.”

Poley shivered a bit, then sadly nodded.  He let himself be picked up by the guard and the two of them briskly left the bedroom.

“If you insist on taking on this dragon yourself,” one of the remaining guards said, “We will take your side.”

“Very well.  Let’s move out!”

-------------

Outside the palace was utter bedlam.  The large baskets vendors at the market kept their goods in were overturned as panicking IceWings fled for whatever shelter they could find.  Several of the IceWings had eyes that had gone entirely blank, and they were blindly lashing out at any dragon that came close.

Snowfall couldn’t see Vespa anywhere, but undoubtedly she was in the thick of it.

“What should we do about the afflicted ones?”  a guard asked her.

“Subdue them if you can, but if necessary, kill them.  We cannot allow this illness to spread.”

“Understood!”

Snowfall adjusted the Gift of Strength on her head.  Hopefully it would work as advertised.  She, along with her guards, jumped into the fray and began to battle the controlled forces of the Breath of Evil.

----------------------------------

Polestar rode atop the guard’s back as the IceWing ran as fast as he could for where the bunker was.  Poley wished he could talk to the guard, but since the dragon wasn’t wearing the bracelet Snowfall had, his voice was just a bunch of growls and grunts to him.

He looked around at his surroundings.  A room they were passing was filled with tiny furniture and even some little weapons that looked like they were about his size.  He figured it must be a little dragons’ school room where they learned to fight, like what Eagle did with him once.

The IceWing guard slid to a stop.  In front of them was another IceWing standing totally still, its head bowed downward.  Poley looked down at its talons and saw that one of its claws was coated with dried, dark-brown blood.

But IceWing blood is blue… Poley realized, and he thought morbidly, Eagle…?

Without warning, the dragon charged the guard, and Poley could see that the dragon’s eyes were a blank white with no pupils, which terrified both Poley and his guard.  In the guard’s efforts to defend himself the boy was sent flying off of the IceWing’s shoulder and he landed hard on his back, causing his vision to white out for a second.  

He jumped to his feet when he recovered, and could see the two dragons locked into each other with their front feet.  But the bloody dragon took one look at him and began attempting to throw off the guard, and Poley knew he was in trouble.  He took off running into the classroom, dashing straight for the little baby weapons.

He could hear the guard hitting the ground behind him, and then the sound of serrated claws scratching the ground as the bad IceWing began chasing after him.  Poley panted and puffed as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, and finally he reached the weapons cache.  With no time to make an informed decision on which weapon would work best, he grabbed the weapon he was most familiar with, a little spear with a surprisingly solid iron point.  He wondered why dragon kids would need such a clearly deadly weapon, but he couldn’t think for long.  He grabbed the spear tightly in his hands and turned to face what very well could have been his brother’s killer.

----------

Snowfall suplexed an out-of-control IceWing and smashed her into the ground, the impact cracking the permafrost.  The IceWing flailed her claws, but Snowfall held the dragon in place as one of the guards slapped talon-cuffs onto the dragon, then left her there until they could cart her off to a cell when the battle concluded.

There was still no sign of Vespa, and that was bad news.  As long as Vespa was on the battlefield, Snowfall presumed she’d be able to continue infecting IceWings to do her bidding.  She scanned the tundra, and finally, towards the market, she could see just a glimpse of yellow.

“Guards!”  She shouted, “On me!”

Her guards, who were just slightly battered, joined her at her side, and she charged through the crowd in the direction of the HiveWing, her flanks being covered by her soldiers.  Her target grew bigger and bigger, until Vespa clearly saw her, and turned her way to begin casually walking towards her.

------------------------------

"Well, hello, little one!”  The IceWing with the bloody claw spoke in Poley’s language.  The voice it spoke in didn’t seem like its own; it sounded unnaturally human .

“D-don’t come any closer!”  Poley stammered, trying to put on a brave front despite knowing he didn’t have a good chance against the dragon.  He looked out the door, hoping the guard was coming in to help him.  The spreading pool of blue blood coming through the door said otherwise.

“Don’t worry, little human, I won’t hurt you…”

Poley had trouble believing that.  He stiffened his grip on the spear.

The dragon stalked closer and closer.  “It’s okay, Polestar.  We’re doing this all for you.”

“What do you mean, we?”

“My name is Cottonmouth.  I’m fighting to ensure the dragons can never hurt us again!”

Poley shook his head.  “I don’t want this!  You’re hurting them!”

“Oh, like they ‘hurt’ your brother?  I can see this dragon’s memories like an open book.  Do you want to know what he did to him?”

“No!”

“He stabbed your poor brother straight through the chest, then boiled him up in a stew and ate him like candy.  Come on, don’t you want to do something about it?”

Poley was now conflicted.  Yes, this IceWing was evil for eating his brother, but this “Cottonmouth” guy was clearly evil too.

“Join us, Poley,” Cottonmouth whispered, “Avenge your brother and claim your place as the ruling species.”

Poley thought of this dragon.  He thought of his brother, who probably was thinking of Poley as he died.  But every time he thought of dragons as evil, he kept thinking of Snowfall, who was certainly not a bad dragon.

“Dragons aren’t evil!”  Poley yelled at the dragon, “They’re just really misguided!”

The mind-controlled IceWing snorted.  “Really now?  That’s your excuse?  It’s cute how much you delude yourself.”

Poley let out a scream and threw the spear with all his strength at the dragon’s eye.  The dragon simply raised his head and the spear harmlessly bounced off of its chest.  Then, the mind-controlled giant lunged at him.  It thought it caught him for a second, but it opened its talons to reveal empty claws, and Poley dashed under its belly and picked up the spear where it fell.

“You’ll be royalty, Polestar!”  Cottonmouth roared, “You’ll be as pampered as a prince of the entire world!”

Not if it means hurting Snowfall!   Poley retorted in his head, not voicing his thoughts out loud because it looked like Cottonmouth didn’t know where Poley went.

He thought of everything Eagle had taught him.  Hunting was something he was in the process of teaching him, but he had only ever successfully killed little rabbits.  Rabbits were one thing, polar bears were another, dragons were straight at the top of the difficulty totem pole.  

But this dragon wasn’t a dragon.  He was a puppet being pulled by a human puppeteer.  Which might mean he wasn’t aware of everything he could do with the dragon’s body.

The dragon looked around.  It still seemed that it didn’t know where Poley had gone.  That gave the boy an opening.  Poley looked up.  The dragon’s belly hung above him…  The same belly Eagle had disappeared into.

Poley frowned, then bared his teeth ferociously.  He pointed the spear straight up, then jabbed upwards with all his strength.

One wet “Thuuck” sound and a shower of blue blood that splattered Poley’s coat later, the IceWing let out a huge roar and stumbled around as Poley jumped out of the dragon’s way.

“Auugh, you little—” Cottonmouth growled.  “That’s it, you’re not worth it anymore!”  The dragon’s eyes returned to their normal blue shade and it collapsed to the ground.

His brother’s killer looked up, and around, and it shook its head.  And then it sniffed the air, and looked straight at Poley.

Uh-oh!

Chapter Text

Chapter Thirteen

Snowfall eventually reached Vespa, the controlled IceWings on both sides suddenly stopping and making room for the two of them to meet.

I don’t like this one bit, Snowfall thought. She’s letting me approach her, and I’m outnumbered.

Vespa gave her a smug look, her eyes as white as the snow still covering the ground.  “Well, well,” Vespa said in an entirely different voice than she last heard from her, “The Queen herself.  I suppose it’s very noble of you to take to the front lines yourself.”

“What are you doing, Vespa?”  Snowfall asked, “What do you want with us?”

“My goal is a world where I rule all,” “Vespa” announced, “All of Pantala is under my thrall.  Your armies stand no chance against us.”

“You yourself said that your ‘armies’ can’t get here, Vespa!  Without that book of hers, you don’t know the safe path!”

The creature inhabiting Vespa chuckled.  “Why would I need the book, if I could simply see it through her eyes?”

Vespa’s head abruptly whiplashed back.  “Don’t let him!”  Vespa’s real voice shouted, “He’ll enslave all of you!”

Her head shook, then slowly tilted forward to face Snowfall once more.  “Hmph, much stronger will on this one.  Anyway, you have one option.  Surrender your kingdom to us, and submit yourself to be joined with my mind.  Refuse, and I’ll infect every dragon here and turn them on you.”

Snowfall shook with fear and fury.  I can’t let him wipe out my kingdom!   She thought of Mink being tortured with a lifetime of having this mad-creature’s machinations forced on her, and her eyes narrowed from the mere thought of it.

“Time’s a-passing, your majesty,” The creature continued.

She heard a strange, thunderous “whoosh” sound from high overhead, not anything natural.  Snowfall looked at her sides to see her guards, clearly intimidated but still ready to receive orders.  Beyond her flank were at least several dozen controlled IceWings, positioned to pounce at a moment’s notice.  Before her stood the dragon she once called Vespa.

She had no way out.  No way to survive the fight.  Her Gift of Strength of course had logical limits.  The Gift of Understanding wouldn’t help her as talking to humans wouldn’t do anything in a fight.  She then looked down at Opal’s iridescent ring.  It was worth a shot, she supposed.

Opal, put me into her mind.

Snowfall abruptly dropped to the ground, causing her guards to gasp, and Vespa to recoil with surprise.

--

Poley stepped further and further back from the IceWing that Cottonmouth had just left.  As it stood, deep blue blood leaked from the spear that was still sticking into the stomach of the dragon.  It stumbled around quite a bit, clearly suffering from its wound.

Poley had rapid-fire flashbacks of his best moments with Eagle.  Sharing bountiful meals with each other, playing Tag in the pine woods.  His soft warm hugs whenever he so much as shed a tear.

He picked up another spear from the weapon rack behind him, this time a larger, heavier one.  He followed with a sharp but lightweight sword in his other hand.

This is for my brother.

With a piercing battle cry, Polestar launched himself at the injured dragon, and with a wide swipe from the sword he cut deep into the dragon’s front right leg.  It collapsed, and attempted to snap its razor-sharp teeth at Poley, but the boy was running on both adrenaline and righteous, vengeful fury, and he fluidly dodged the bite with a whole foot of room to spare.

The dragon let out a pained roar, clearly saying something in its language like “Someone help me!” or some crummy call for help.

“No one’s coming to help you, murderer!”

Except someone did come to help.  Two IceWing guards barged into the room, then promptly burst into laughter when they saw the dragon, apparently amused that a tiny human kid was posing so much of a threat to it.  

But after the dragon continued growing at the guards, they looked at Poley more seriously.  They began to approach the boy.  No!  Arrest him, not me!

----------------------------

Frosty had dealt with a lot of bad luck in life.  His parents were a pair of twisted jerks, Queen Snowfall cut off almost all his business with a single declaration, and now, he had apparently blacked out only to wake up being violently accosted by the tiniest little scavenger he had ever seen.  A massive pain was throbbing from his abdomen, almost like he’d been stabbed there while he’d been out.

Tiny as he all was, he could clearly tell that this scavenger was more pissed off than a mother polar bear defending her cubs.  He didn’t think that the little creatures were smart enough to hold grudges, but the way this animal behaved seemed to suggest that it was clearly avenging something.

With the speed only a creature of its size could pull off, the scavenger flew towards him with a tiny training knife in one of its paws, and a training spear in its other one.  It spun around towards his right foreleg, and before he knew it, he fell to his knees as the surprisingly sharp knife bit into his muscle.

Great Ice Dragon, this tiny pipsqueak is gonna kill me!

“Guards!  Help!!”  Frosty yelled, and soon, two guards appeared, though they began to laugh when they saw what was happening.

“A scavenger is too much for you?”

“Shut up and kill this pest already!”

The guards stepped towards the scavenger.  They appeared to realize something when they saw it.

“Alright, little guy,” One of the guards told the scavenger with a soothing, saccharine voice, “Let’s calm down and come with us, okay?”

“Are you kidding!?”  Frosty shouted at the guards, “Don’t sugar-talk it, kill it!”

“Sir, this scavenger is the Queen’s pet.  It was supposed to have been kept safe in the royal bunker with a guard, but it seems that one of the IceWings currently under the control of the Breath of Evil stopped them before they could get there.”

“Breath of what!?  Excuse me, this tiny furry freak tried to kill me!”

“Did you happen to black out at any point?”

“Yeah, but—”

“You were infected by the Breath of Evil.  The scavenger was just defending itself from you, and it probably didn’t realize you weren’t trying to kill it anymore.  Come with us, and we’ll have your injuries treated.”

Frosty had run out of arguments to kill the scavenger.  All these two-legs looked alike, but given its extreme hostility to him…  Heh, perhaps he’s related to that scavenger I ate the other day.  Guess they really can hold grudges!

Frosty chuckled as he was escorted to the infirmary.  Queen’s pet, huh?  Little guy got lucky.

Chapter Text

Chapter Fourteen

Snowfall was assaulted by a kaleidoscope of the viewpoints of innumerable dragons mixed in with no small number of humans.  But connected to all of these viewpoints was a voice that boomed over all of them.

“What’s going on!?  The Queen just up and fainted!?”  

The voice was speaking Human.  Hold on, Snowfall realized, The Breath of Evil is being controlled by a human!?”

A very young dragon’s voice screeched out.  “You’re such a klutz, Cotton-Butt!”

“Shut up!  Ugh, now that the Ice Dragons’ Queen is unconscious, I don’t know what to do with her.”

I’m getting so close to my dreams becoming reality, Cottonmouth thought to himself.  His mind’s eye filled with visions of him as the emperor of the world, with all dragons under his direct control and all of humanity kneeling before him.

“Don’t become cocky,” A huge-sounding voice boomed over even Cottonmouth’s.  It sounded like a mountain speaking, even deeper than Darkstalker’s.

“Well if you have any better ideas then I’d love to hear them!”  Cottonmouth shouted to the voice.

“As long as we keep spreading my control, then the Queen is meaningless.”

“Hey,” The dragon’s voice confirmed, “You’re right!  We don’t need their dumb Queen for our plans to succeed!”  

“Be quiet, Lizard, the master is speaking.”

“I am close to my goal.  My creators will be pleased.”

“Lizard” scoffed.  “Yeah, but isn’t that band of weird humans you’re so scared of going to do something about it?”

“I have a plan to deal with them.  Their home will not be able to sustain itself much longer.  They will fall, and [Unintelligible] will rise.”

“Well alright then!”  The tiny dragon voice shouted, “Keep spreading it then, Cottonmouth!”

“Like I take orders from you!”

“Hold on.”   The voice said, and abruptly Snowfall could feel like her consciousness was being squeezed by a vice.  “We have a spy.”

Opal, get me out of here!!   Snowfall began to panic as she felt every facet of her mind being forcefully searched through by this malevolent force.

Agreed, she heard Opal within her, and with a bright white flash, she returned to the waking world.

She looked out over the battlefield once more.  The formation of controlled IceWings surrounding her was still there.  Vespa still stood before her, though she seemed to be quite distracted.  Apparently Cottonmouth was still preoccupied talking with his “master.”

Snowfall tapped the wing of the guard to her right three times.  It was code for “attack on three.”  The guard repeated the gesture to the other guard, and both took up an attack stance.

Three seconds later, Snowfall threw herself at the controlled HiveWing, and with all the strength her magic tiara could afford her, she charged the dragon straight through the street, pushing her away from her mind-controlled army as far as she could take her.

Vespa had managed to overcome the mind control before.  Perhaps somehow she could get her to fight it off again?  She threw Vespa into a market stand, causing it to collapse from the force of the impact.  Now realizing the battle was on, Vespa hovered out of the wreckage with her quadruple wings and charged back at Snowfall, her claws outstretched.

“You dirty cheater!” Vespa said in the tiny dragon’s voice, and she slashed at Snowfall’s face with sharp claws leaving bloody trails across her forehead.

Snowfall recoiled back from the pain, and found her eyes beginning to be blinded from the blood trickling into them.  She cursed to herself, and stumbled around.  She began to feel like she may actually be done for.

“Snowy!”  She heard a familiar voice shout from behind her.

She turned and could barely see Mink rushing to her side.  “Mink!  Go away, it’s not safe here!”

Mink either didn’t hear her or didn’t care.  Vespa gave the two of them an amused smirk as Mink rubbed her talon over the cuts on her sister’s head.  “Oh Moons, are you hurt?”

“Mink, use your eyes!”   She pointed at Vespa, whose smirk grew ever bigger.

“Who, her?  Snowfall, what in Pyrrhia’s name did I tell you about jumping to conclusions!?”

Snowfall was utterly dumbfounded.  “Uh, Mink…”

“Look at her!  She’s all banged up because of you!”  She walked up close to Vespa.  Too close.  “I’m so sorry about her behavior, let’s get you back to the infirmary and— UCK!!”  

Vespa grabbed Mink’s neck hard, and the HiveWing’s head tilted in an amused fashion.  She laughed malevolently in Cottonmouth’s voice.  “You cosmically incompetent fool!”   He laughed, “But I digress, she is quite young.”

Snowfall stood before them, her heart pounding up against her chest.  Moons, no, not Mink, never Mink!

“Vespa” raised her tail towards Mink’s back.  “This is going to be loads of fun,” And as Snowfall’s mind went white as a blizzard, the stinger was buried in Mink’s spine.

Chapter Text

Chapter Fifteen

Snow was falling.  Clouds raced over the sky.  And everything in Snowfall’s world was utterly, completely wrong.   She stared, mouth agape, at her younger sister.  Her neck cracked, then her talons, and finally, her beautiful, innocent eyes washed over, completely white.

“NO!!”   Snowfall roared; her voice hoarse with despair.  

She didn’t care anymore about herself, and she rushed forward at Vespa, and emptied her whole lungs’ worth of frostbreath onto her face, leaving it as a solid icy mass, the features on it no longer discernible.

But Mink, she could never possibly do that to Mink.  Her used-to-be sister stood there, an unnatural smirk staining her face.  “What’s wrong?”  She said in Cottonmouth’s voice, “Can’t work up the courage to do the same to me here?”

“You mother fucker!”   Snowfall roared at Cottonmouth.

She was caught in the ultimate stalemate.  She couldn’t do anything to Mink, no matter who was in control over her body.  She’d never be able to live with herself if anything happened to her, especially by her talon.

So she turned, and ran, as Cottonmouth cackled with laughter behind her.

She dodged innumerable controlled dragons who pounced at her every step of the way.  A few of them managed to scratch her, and for a few terrifying seconds she thought she would be infected herself, but she felt no different, and no terrifying voices invaded her mind, so she presumed she was safe.

She eventually made it back to her bedroom, which thankfully was still safe and being guarded by several high-ranking soldiers with no trace of infection.   She buried herself in her bed, screaming into the ice as if it would listen.

Her screams echoed through the bed and down into the secret tunnel beneath it, and she remembered what lay beneath her chambers.

Well, I’ve got nothing else left.

She stood off her bed and threw it aside.  Deep down into the Forbidden Treasury she went, hopeful that maybe something down there could save her sister.

She raked her eyes over every shelf, every alcove.  One pair of bracelets, with the label “Gift of Stealth.”  She put them on, the new bracelets clashing with the Gift of Understanding but she didn’t care.  

She kept searching.

There was a massive greatsword behind a thick layer of glass with a warning on it saying “DO NOT OPEN,” and a label beneath it said “Gift of Demise.”  In any other case involving the Breath of Evil this would be the perfect solution.  But not with Mink.  She left it alone and continued to dig deeper into the vault.

Finally, in the last possible row, she saw something that made her heart soar.  The Gift of Purity?

A piece of ancient paper was attached to the gift, which appeared to be a simple corked bottle of water.  She took up the paper in her talons as gently as she could and read the text written on it.

For the darkest of hearts, a drink of this water will purify, cleanse, renew.  All it asks is to be used by a heart full of compassion.

“It’s…  It’s perfect!”  She grabbed the bottle and left the Treasury as fast as she could.  She attempted to pry open the bottle in her excitement, though to her shock the cork would not budge. 

“Why isn’t this working!?”  Snowfall shouted to herself.  She pulled on it even harder, and still nothing happened.

Her newfound hope began to depart her.  It won’t work…  I can’t save Mink…

She trudged to the nearest guard.  “Lock down the palace,” she commanded grimly, “We are to quarantine ourselves from the infection outside.”  The guard saluted her and left to spread the word.

Snowfall returned to her quarters, but she suddenly collapsed when she reached her bedroom, entering another vision.

--------------------

Deep within the IceWing royal bunker, Polestar was not pleased.  Snowfall wasn’t, either.

Opal, you colossal asshole!  Now of all times!?

“Observe,” Opal stated, and Snowfall groaned with exasperation.

“I was going to kill that brother-killing monster!”  Poley yelled to himself, “Why wouldn’t they let me finish the job!?”

Poley’s point of view looked down at his polar bear coat to show that it was splattered with blue IceWing blood.

Hold on, Snowfall thought, what happened to Polestar?

The answer to Poley’s question was obvious in his head.  The guards didn’t know what that evil IceWing had done to his brother, and even if they did, why would they care?  To IceWings, humans like him weren’t seen as people.  So what if Eagle got eaten, leaving his helpless little brother all alone?  It certainly didn’t bother them.

Is that really what Poley thinks of us?  Snowfall felt that Poley’s situation was far less important than what Mink was going through, but apparently Opal thought her human friend was what she needed to see.

Poley sniffed.  What if…  Cottonmouth was right?

Snowfall went cold with rage. Poley, you little puke!  I didn’t go through all this work being nice to you just so you could turn to the enemy side!

Snowfall dug deeper into the human’s thoughts.  Cottonmouth had told Poley he was fighting for humans.  He even offered to take him in as his prince.  Here with Snowfall, sure, the IceWing Queen took care of him, but really, how did she see him?  She may have said that she was just joking when she called him her “property,” but it made total sense that she actually wasn’t kidding.

Snowfall shuddered.  Poley, you’re not my pet!  Or was he?  She might see Poley as a friend, but everyone in the palace couldn’t understand him like she could.  To everyone but her, Poley was her pet!

Poley concluded that dragons would never respect humans.  Not as long as they had the power over them that they had.  If he had joined Cottonmouth, it’d be like getting a family again, a real, human family.

“UUUGH!!”  Poley screamed, and he kicked out with anger.  “Why was I so stupid!”

Snowfall got chills.  Opal, why are you showing me this?

“He’s in such pain,” Opal spoke, “All his life, all he wanted was a family.  That IceWing shopkeeper took the last piece of it he had left.”

“Okay, and how does that help me with Mink!?”

“Because Poley is what I call the Gift of Peace.  He’s the last thing you need to become a better queen and save your sister.”

“I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but your impressions of Vespa were absolute polar bear dung!  She was working for Cottonmouth this whole time!  Why should I trust you anymore?”

“I am not omnipotent, Snowfall.  But I can show you her inner thoughts.”

The vision changed.  She was inside Vespa, chained in the infirmary.

Oh yeah, real helpful!   Snowfall growled.

Vespa looked around her room.  According to her thoughts, the vision was taking place just after Snowfall had fled the room in embarrassment, and she could just see Polestar scurrying out of the room after her.

What an odd pair, Vespa thought, Though I wish I could say I was telling the truth about humankind in Pantala.

In reality, a terrible human named Cottonmouth had forced himself into the minds of every dragon on her continent.  She had deciphered the mammals’ language based upon the fact that all the dragons under his control now spoke in his voice and tongue.  Young Polestar clearly wasn’t like Cottonmouth at all, but the sight of the little mammal terrified her.  Humans were way more dangerous than their tiny bodies showed.

She wondered why her grandmother, former Queen Wasp, had allied herself with such a terrible being.   She had to have known Cottonmouth would have eventually betrayed her?  She thought that her total control over her subjects would make her kingdom safe.  Instead she had brought about its ruin.

She had just narrowly escaped.  She snagged the Book of Clearsight out from under the Librarian’s nose and discovered its secret map on her own.  Wasp had told her she had exempted members of her own family from being infected with her control.  Vespa desperately hoped that she wasn’t lying.

A guard entered her room, presumably to check to make sure she was still restrained.  Vespa wondered how much longer Queen Snowfall was going to imprison her here.

She may be right to worry, Vespa thought, who knows if I’m trustworthy.  Even I don’t know if I’m going to be myself much longer.

This feeling, of not knowing if one was even going to maintain control over themselves, it was a nasty feeling to Snowfall, one she couldn’t ever imagine.

She doesn’t know she’s infected, Snowfall realized.

Suddenly, Vespa’s entire mind locked up, her muscles also going stiff.  The guard looked at her, eyes wide with shock.

Got you, little wasp, Vespa heard the voice she’d hoped she’d never hear within her, and she waved her talons as much as her chains would allow.

“Run!”  She screamed at the guard, “Quarantine me!!”

But she was too late.  Against her will, her tail stinger jumped out at the guard as he turned to flee, managing to pierce his tail.  She felt her venom enter the helpless guard, which undoubtedly had now been laced with the essence of the Breath of Evil.  The last thing Vespa saw as her vision went blank was the guard going stiff, then jerkily reaching for the keys around his neck.

Snowfall’s vision ended, and now she was back inside Poley’s fuming mind. 

“So Vespa didn’t know she was infected?”  Snowfall asked Opal.

“Unfortunately, no,” Opal confirmed, “And since she didn’t know, I was not able to either.  As you saw, she carried a great weight overseas under the mere hope that she was clean.”

She looked back inside Poley’s mind.  His mood was souring by the second.  Snowfall was beginning to wonder if the human cub actually hated her.

“Why do you call Poley the ‘Gift of Peace?’  He’s obviously not enchanted.”

“Not all gifts involve magic.  Sometimes, magic isn’t necessary to change someone’s heart.  Try to understand him, and what he needs.  Show compassion to him, and he may very well help you get what you need.”

Snowfall thought hard.  Poley wants a family more than anything else.  Right now, he thinks that he’s better off with a human family even if it means allying himself with a monster.

She had been planning on simply dropping off Poley with the Union Society when she went to join them.  She never imagined keeping Poley for any longer than she needed to.  But now…  What if she could take the role of his mother?

“Opal, what do I need to do?”

“Well, the boy does really like soft pillows.  Maybe what you need to be is just a bit softer.”

Snowfall nodded.  “Alright!”

Opal relinquished her control over her mind, and Snowfall awakened into her bedroom.  She scrambled to her feet, and dashed off towards the bunker.

She felt like the battle outside would be something she should be worried about.  Then again, she had frozen Vespa’s face, so she presumably couldn’t infect any more dragons.  Or could she?   She shook her head.  For now, she had to worry about Polestar.  She slipped the Gift of Purity into her purse as she reached the reinforced bunker door.

Well, here goes nothing.

She knocked on the door with a pattern that caused the Animus-enchanted lock to open, and she stepped inside.  Sitting on a bench that was more like a cliff to the little human was Poley, who looked up at her with enraged eyes.

“Poley…”  Snowfall whispered, “I— “

“No, you listen!”  Polestar yelled, “I am not your pet!  I don’t want to be locked up in here anymore!  I want to go home!"

"Polestar, I'm sorry."

Poley crossed his arms.  “Sorry about what?”

“I’m sorry for treating you like my pet.  I’m sorry for not being there when I should have.  And most of all, I’m so sorry about your brother.”

Snowfall walked closer and sat down next to him.  Poley scoffed.  “You’re a dragon.  You’re so much stronger than I’ll ever be.  Why would you ever care about me?”

“Just because I’m bigger and stronger doesn’t mean I shouldn’t care about those smaller than me.  My whole life I thought that the whole world revolved around dragons because we were the only intelligent species.  But you’re living proof that I was wrong.”

Poley shuffled a couple inches closer to her.  It seemed she was successful at calming him down at least a little bit.  “What about the other dragons?  They’re not like you at all.”

“I’m their queen,” Snowfall explained, “If I tell them to stop treating humans as dumb animals, they’ll listen.”

Poley sighed.  “What about the dragon that killed my brother?  What are we going to do about him?”

Snowfall sighed.  “While I understand your anger towards him, trying to kill him wasn’t a good move.  And unfortunately we can’t put him on trial, because when he killed your brother, humans weren’t recognized as intelligent.”

Poley snarled angrily.  “But we have to do something to him!”

“Poley, I understand what happened to Eagle was terrible.  But we have laws in this kingdom, and I can’t arbitrarily charge him with a crime that currently doesn’t exist!  But I promise you, the very next law I’m going to pass once the mess we’re in is over is to outlaw eating humans.  No one is going to go through the same pain as you ever again.”

Poley looked away, his expression showing that he still wasn’t ready to let go of what the shopkeeper did.  “What did you do when you lost your mom?”  He blankly asked the wall.

Snowfall looked within herself for the answer.  “I guess…  I panicked.  When mom died, I didn’t just lose my mother, but I gained the responsibility of caring for the entire kingdom she left behind.  And, well, I guess I never got over that feeling of not knowing what to do.”

“Did you do anything fun with your mom?  Eagle would always play Tag with me.”

“What’s Tag?”

“It’s a game human kids play.  It’s when someone who’s ‘it’ chases around his friends to try and touch them, and if he touches someone, they become ‘it.’”

Snowfall giggled a little.  “That sounds fun.  Honestly, that’s way more fun than what my mom did with me.”

“Also, whenever I felt sad, Eagle would always be there for me with a big warm hug.”

“Well, while I can’t say IceWing hugs would be very warm, mother would sometimes wrap her wing around me when I cried because I failed at something.”

Poley sighed, his eyes beginning to glisten a bit.  “Do you miss your mom?”

Snowfall paused.  She was so concerned with protecting the Ice Kingdom that she never wondered if she herself missed her mother.

“Yes, I guess I did.”

“What makes you not feel sad about it?”

A flash in her head gave her the answer.  “My little sister.”  Now her eyes began to glisten.  “And now she’s all gone!”  She began sobbing.

Poley looked surprised at her sudden breakdown, but then did something Snowfall herself didn’t expect.  He slid up to her leg and wrapped his arms around it, squishing his entire body into it.  Snowfall had never felt anything like it; his body wrapped around her leg was soft, and warm, and for some reason reminded her of sitting in front of a fire at night, surrounded by friends and family.  She began to feel like a little bit of the weight crushing her heart was lifted.

Poley let go of Snowfall’s leg.  “Feel better?”  He asked, his unnaturally big brown eyes staring into hers.

Snowfall began to sob again.  She picked up a slightly shell-shocked Poley into both her talons and squeezed him up against her chest as if the tiny warmth of his body could thaw her frozen heart.

“Ow, Snowfall!”  Poley squeaked; his voice muffled from being pressed up against her scales.

Snowfall loosened her grip, but she also felt something else now.  She felt like she had new strength; a second wind.  She sat down Poley on the bench and asked him from her heart: “Do you want to join my family, Polestar?”

Poley looked down at his feet, clearly thinking very hard.  “Do I get my own bed?”  He asked her, “Yours is too cold.”

Snowfall barked out with laughter.  “Of course you will!”

“Okay then.  I’ll join.”

Snowfall laughed again, “That’s your only reason?”

“Not just that, Ice Mom!  You said you’d let me join your family!  All I ever wanted was a family!”  Now a tear came out of his eye, but it seemed like this was a tear of joy.

“Ice Mom?”   Snowfall laughed, “Oh, so now I have a nickname!”

Poley laughed.  “Of course you do!”  He looked around at his surroundings.  “So, what now?  Did you catch those crazy dragons?”

“No.  And they got my sister.”

Poley gasped.  “What!?   That’s terrible!”

“I have something that can save her…  But it won’t open for me!”

“It’s Cottonmouth, isn’t it?  Did he take over your sister’s mind?”

Snowfall nodded gravely.  “I have another magic artifact called the Gift of Purity, but she has to drink it for it to work, and the cork’s stuck!”

Poley scratched his chin. “Did you try a corkscrew?”

Snowfall laughed.  “It’s a magic bottle.  If it doesn’t want to open, I doubt a tool will help.  However…”

She took the Gift of Purity out of her purse and looked over the attached label again.

All it asks is to be used by a heart full of compassion.

“Opal was right…”  Snowfall whispered to herself.

Poley let out a tiny squeak that was translated by her bracelet as “huh?”

Snowfall pulled on the bottle’s cork.  It came off with no effort.  She stared dumbfounded at the open bottle.  She put a drip of the water inside onto her talon, and she wiped it on Poley’s blood-spattered coat, earning her a tiny annoyed “Hey!” from him.  But despite the boy’s annoyance, she saw what she wanted to see.  The bloodstains disappeared.

“So it works now?”  Poley asked upon noticing his newly-cleaned coat.

Snowfall nodded.  “Now we just need to get it into Mink.”

“I don’t think Cottonmouth is going to let you just pour that stuff down her throat!”

“But there’s one possibility.  It doesn’t seem like Cottonmouth’s mind control is absolute.  Vespa was able to break it, but only for a few seconds.  If we could somehow get Mink to break free, just for a little bit, we’d have a chance of freeing her!”

“That’s a good idea!  But…  what do you think would cause your sister to break free?”

“I have no idea.  Wait…”

She had flashbacks of the days since Eagle was killed.  Almost every interaction with Mink since that time had involved scavengers.  Just like Winter, she had a heart filled with compassion for humans…  And now that she knew Poley, Snowfall guessed that she did too.

What if Cottonmouth attempting to make his controlled slaves do something they’d never, ever do in real life causes them to break out of the control?  Like, the emotional overload is too much or something?

Snowfall took off the Gift of Strength, causing Poley to tilt his head in confusion.  He cried out in surprise when Snowfall picked up the little human and placed him where the tiara had been.

“Snowy!  What in the Ice Floes are you doing!?”

“I don’t need that Gift anymore.  You’re all the strength I need now.”

“That’s really sweet and all, but why am I on your head!?”

“Because with you there, Mink won’t want to lay a scratch on me.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Sixteen

“So why exactly am I your freaking security totem!?”   Poley shouted as she ran.  It had taken quite a lot of talking to get her guards to let her out of the palace after she had just commanded them to lock it down, but now she was free, running towards the market with her tiny human "son" riding atop her shoulder.

“Just trust me!  No one will be able to lay a scratch on you!  I’ll protect you with everything I have.”

“That’s still not very comforting considering you’re taking me into a freaking battlefield!”   He gestured wildly to the crowd of dragons ahead that clearly had whited-out eyes.

“You said yourself that Cottonmouth was fighting for humans!  Maybe he won’t try to hurt you!”

“Snowfall, I never said that to you!”

Whoops, right, that was in the vision, not our actual conversation.

“Sorry then!   My ghost friend told me that!”

Poley groaned.  He gripped Snowfall’s shoulder as tightly as he could, but clearly if she kept up at this speed, he’d lose his grip.  It didn’t help that her cold, icy scales were pretty slippery.  Or that he was nervous due to all the dragons around who were under Cottonmouth’s control.

Snowfall’s head swiveled around, looking for her sister.  A guard ran up to them, with its claws aiming for Snowfall’s neck.  But something was wrong.  This dragon had blue eyes.

“Cease attacking at once!”   Snowfall shouted at the guard as she dodged.

The guard shook with shock then exclaimed, “Your majesty!?”

“Of course it’s me, you dunderhead!  What got into you that you thought attacking your Queen was a good idea!?”

“I-I’m sorry, your majesty, but we were told…  That the Breath of Evil got you.”

What?  “Who told you that?”

“Cottonmouth did.”

Snowfall groaned.  She really needed to start choosing guards based on intelligence.  “UGH.  Whatever.  Spread the message, and tell the troops this: I’ve returned to the battle, and I need to get to Mink!”

“Yes, your majesty!”  The guard ran off.

“That was close,” Poley commented.

Snowfall nodded.  “Definitely.”  How much of my kingdom thinks I’m gone now?

She walked around the market she had last seen her sister in.  Snowfall admitted it was convenient having a second set of eyes on her body, as it was clear that Poley was helping her be on the lookout.

She passed by Vespa’s limp body; her face still encased in ice.  She felt like she had gotten what she deserved when she had done that to her, but really it wasn’t Vespa’s fault Mink had been infected.  It was Cottonmouth’s fault.  Wherever that horrible excuse for a human being was hiding out, she swore that she’d devote the entirety of the Ice Kingdom’s resources into finding him and killing him.

And that was when she saw her.

She wanted to cry out her name, but she knew better, since the mind in control of her sister would probably preemptively attack her if she knew she was coming.  She speed-walked towards Mink, who still had her back turned to Snowfall.

Once she got closer, she slowed to a quiet stalk, almost as if her sister was a polar bear she was hunting.  She came closer and closer, then…

“So, you’re back,” Cottonmouth sneered without even bothering to turn his head.

“Let my sister go.”

“I’ll let your sister go…  If you surrender to me and submit yourself to my mind!”

“Vespa’s dead, Cottonmouth.  You can’t infect me, or any more of my subjects!”

“That’s where you’re dead wrong!”  Cottonmouth triumphantly declared, “Any host I infect can produce the essence I need to some effect.  And I’ve discovered that in this specimen, I can infect…  through my claws!”

Snowfall managed to dodge just in time as Mink kicked out with her back paws, the claws on them narrowly missing her.  Snowfall raised her wings to protect Poley, but as Mink turned around, she caught a glimpse of the human.  Snowfall could just barely see a tiny hint of blue return to Mink’s eyes, but it was quickly washed out again by white.

“Well, well!”  Cottonmouth declared, “Using a human shield, huh?  Very clever!  Though I think that strategy works better when you’re not a billion times bigger than him!”

“Don’t hurt Snowfall!”  Poley shouted at Cottonmouth, “She’s my family!”

Cottonmouth launched into a tirade of laughter that lasted for a solid ten seconds.  “HA!  That’s your mommy, huh?  You got so desperate for a family that you turned to the same dragon that wouldn’t bat an eye to finding you on her plate if it weren’t for her precious magic Gifts?”

Poley shivered.  Both he and Snowfall knew that unfortunately Cottonmouth was right.  Without Opal or the Gift of Understanding, Poley would still have only been an animal to her.

“That changes nothing!”  Snowfall shouted at Cottonmouth, “I know he’s not some animal anymore!  And I'm going to raise him into the strongest man he can be!”

Another bout of laughter from the controlling mind, though once again she could see bits of Mink peeking through his eyes.  “I offered you a spot as my prince, kid,” he told Poley, “That offer still stands.”

Snowfall looked down at Poley.  Shockingly, he still looked like he was considering his offer.  “Poley, he’s not going to take care of you,” Snowfall told him, “He’s just going to turn you into another one of his slaves!”

“Who said that?”  Cottonmouth argued, “I certainly didn’t.  Come on, Poley, don’t you want a father who loves you?”

Cottonmouth was certainly good at putting up a façade.  And Snowfall was worried Poley wouldn’t be able to resist the offer of a loving home, even a false one.  The little human’s grip began to loosen…

“Poley, I love you.  Don’t listen to him!”  Snowfall this time believed what she said. After the experiences they had shared together, it really was hard to imagine the boy as anything but her son.  The boy’s grip tightened on her shoulder once more, then the cub scrambled up his neck onto her head, appearing truly as the gift of strength he was…

No…   Snowfall corrected herself, The Gift of Peace.

“You silvery snake,” Mink laughed, this time in the voice of his tiny dragon “partner.” “You actually think you love that scavenger!?”

“Yes, I do!”

Mink’s eyes flashed again, this time for slightly longer.

“Urrgh…”  Cottonmouth groaned, “This dragon I’m controlling really likes that kid.”

His voice changed to the little dragon’s.  “Well hurry up and finish off this Queen then!”

Mink nodded, and Snowfall jumped back as her former sister lashed her claws, which she now noticed were dripping with a green fluid, at Snowfall’s face.  Snowfall dodged narrowly, but Mink continued to advance, swiping again and again.

If those claws scratch me even once, it’s over!   Snowfall continued to back up until her tail touched something solid, and she realized she had backed into a market stand.  She looked forward, and saw the claws growing closer…

A tiny furry figure jumped off of Snowfall’s head towards Mink’s face, but it didn’t reach its target, and was swatted out of the air with a piercing “EEEK!!” and was sent flying into the ground next to the stand where it lay still in the snow.

Snowfall waited for the end to come.  But no razor-sharp claws touched her.  She looked once more at her sister.

Mink was standing there, a horror-struck look on her blue- eyed face.  “I…  I…”  She clearly couldn’t believe what she had done.

NOW!  

Snowfall ripped the Gift of Purity out of her bag, and uncorked it.  With a deft stroke from her talon, she poured a sip of the enchanted water within down Mink’s throat, and an instant later, she went as stiff as a board, her whole body shaking.

Mink let out a cry of agony as she fell to the ground, and green smoke began to emanate from every opening her body had.  When the last of the smoke dissipated, she lay there, unconscious.

Chapter Text

Chapter Seventeen

“Mink?”  Snowfall slowly approached her sister.

Snowfall jumped back as Mink rushed to her feet, icy tears streaming from her eyes.  “That scavenger—How could you!?”  She dashed over to where the bundle of polar bear fur had landed, a desperate look on her face.

Snowfall passed out of her adrenaline rush and realized just what that pile of fur was.  “Oh Moons, Polestar!!”   She joined Mink at the boy’s side, her heart pounding with worry.  Please be okay!

Thankfully, Poley was conscious. He rolled around onto his back, but cried out and winced when he attempted to move his right arm.  “Owww…”  he whimpered.

“Oh, Poley…”  Snowfall cried, “You saved both of us!”

Except this time Mink’s talon did hit Snowfall.  Her talon smacked her across the cheek, causing her head to whip to the side.  “What were you thinking bringing him here!?”  Mink screeched at her, “Look at him, his poor arm’s broken!”

Strangely, none of the other controlled IceWings were coming near them.  All of them seemed to be standing stock-still, blank (Even blanker than normal) looks on their faces.  Then all of them collapsed, green smoke coming out of all of them, too.

Moons above, if all these dragons were connected by a hive mind…  Did I just “purify” every dragon that guy had under his control?

“Hey, guys!”  An unfamiliar human voice called out, “Are you all okay?”

Snowfall turned her head to see a very strange looking human running towards them, with an even stranger weapon-ish thing held in its paws.  The (apparently male) human had very pale skin and the fur atop his head was a shining gold.

“Who are you?”  Snowfall asked.

“I’m Bolt Mitchell from the Union Society.  I was told to come out here and check on your tribe.”

“Huh,” was all Snowfall could say.

“Wait, you’re the Bolt!?”  Mink squealed delightedly, and apparently she was able to understand him for some reason, “You’re so much cuter in person!”

Bolt blushed in response, then continued.  “Anyway, what happened here?  It looks like I got here on the tail end of a battle of some sort.”

“We should talk inside,” Snowfall offered, “You’re probably really cold out here.”

---------------------------------

“Oh, boy,” Bolt sighed as he sat on a cushion that had been brought into the throne room, another one of the Gift of Diplomacies around his neck, “So this other continent on this planet is being ruled by some kind of tyrannical hive mind?”

Snowfall nodded.  “But it seems like with the help of the Gift of Purity, I disrupted or possibly even destroyed this hive mind.  We’re likely safe, at least for now.”

“What about Poley?”  Mink asked him, “Is he okay?”

“I put him into a restoration chamber on my ship,” Bolt explained.  Snowfall and Mink both tilted their heads.  “Or in layman’s terms, a kind of ‘healing machine.’  His arm should be all fixed by now, in fact.”

Just then, Poley came running into the room.  “Guys, Bolt’s magic machine made my arm all better again!”

“That’s great, Poley!”  Snowfall called back to him as he took her side.

Bolt looked him over.  “So this boy, he’s…?”

“To make a very long story short, Polestar is my recently adopted son.”

“So how does that affect your lack of laws regarding treatment of humans?”  Bolt probed, “Because there’s a fine line between an adopted human and a pet one.”

“He’s my son, maybe not by blood, but certainly in my heart.  He’s even going to be given the title of prince, when I get the chance to make the changes to royal law.”

One of Bolt’s furry eyebrows raised upwards, “A human prince of your kingdom?  That’s quite a personality change for a dragon that sent my council a letter last year saying, and I quote, ‘never will we ever ally ourselves with monkeys.’”

“Hearts can change, Bolt.  I was actually just about to fly to your city to formally make our application for the Union Society when this mess unfolded.”

“That’s, well, amazing!   We’d love to have you.”

“There’s just one small problem first…”

Snowfall stood at the Gift of Defense, the Great Ice Cliff that she had been told her whole life was there to protect against invaders from the other lands of Pyrrhia.  Except now it was clear that a simple wall could not protect in totality, and in the case of the attempted invasion that did happen, it became clear to her that it would have been much easier to defend her kingdom if she could have called for help from the other tribes.

She took the Gift of Strength out of her purse, and placed it atop her head.  She reared back a punch, and with all the strength the Gift could afford her, she smashed her talon (As Poley had taught her) into the wall.  With the sound of a massive avalanche, massive cracks appeared in the cliff.  She kept hitting it until the cliff was no more, a pile of rubble sitting between the Ice Kingdom and the Sand Kingdom.

She’d imagine her change of heart would shock and even anger a lot of her advisors and fellow IceWings.  But she was Queen, and it was her decree: the IceWing tribe was going to have some changes.  There was one more animus curse she needed to smash.

--------------------

“Your majesty, are you insane!?”   Tundra screamed as Snowfall stood in the rubble of the former Gift of Order.

“Quite sane, actually.  This thing is a relic of the past, and it’s time for our tribe to move on.”

“Mom, are you okay?”  Polestar dashed up to her, worry written all over his little face.  Tundra, visibly disgusted, shifted away from him.

“I’m fine, Polestar,” Snowfall replied, “Just doing some cleanup.”

“Cleanup!?”  Tundra shouted, “That’s thousands of years of IceWing tradition you just destroyed!"

“Exactly, Tundra!  What do dragons who lived thousands of years ago know about us!”

Tundra snarled, but then ran out of the room, almost tripping over Polestar as she went.

“Anyway, Poley, how about we head over to Union?  Bolt’s probably waiting for us.”

“Yes, let’s!”  Polestar’s eager face squeaked.

Chapter Text

Chapter Eighteen

“We apologize for the delay,” Queen Snowfall addressed the Union Council, “But we, the IceWings, are ready to join your organization.”

“We are pleased to hear of this,” a NightWing she had been told was named Nightcrawler responded, “We were quite worried for your tribe, due to the lack of contact over the last few years.”

Keeper looked over at Snowfall.  For a dragon who was clearly not of noble descent, the SandWing carried himself with a dignity and grace that was definitely quite regal, though his eyes betrayed the infinite kindness within.  Bolt, as he sat next to him, grinned widely at Snowfall, his tiny teeth unusually white for a human.

“Very well,” A human named Mint said, and he passed a piece of paper that was far larger than he was onto the table in front of Snowfall.  “We will need your signature on the treaty.”

Snowfall looked over the treaty.  It was fairly simply written, and it already bore the signatures of all the other Pyrrhian monarchs as well as the tiny, barely readable signatures of the humans who signed it.

The signers agree to never again allow the consumption of humans in their kingdom.   Done.

The signers agree to treat humans within their kingdom as equals.   Agreed.

She looked over the other, less important points of the treaty, such as points regulating co-education of humans and dragons as well as clauses regarding trade between member states and another maintaining the sovereignty of both the dragon kingdoms and the designated human territories.  All in all, it was a pretty solid treaty.

She took the quill in her talon, took a deep breath, and signed the treaty.

Snowfall stood up straight.  “And that, everyone, means that all of Pyrrhia is now one in their unity with humankind!”

Both the humans and dragons in the chamber burst into applause, with the dragons stamping their talons and the humans clapping their hands.  Mink rushed up and hugged Snowfall, her wings wrapping as far around her as they’d go.  She could see Poley nearby jumping for joy.  All in all, it was a pretty happy scene.

---------------------

“So, uh, you’re Snowfall’s friend?”  A boy who looked a bit younger than Polestar approached him in the Union Hub’s lobby.

“I’m her son,”  Poley responded excitedly, “Prince Polestar!”

“Wow, that’s gotta be awesome!  I’m Puff, by the way, Puff Mitchell.”

“Bolt’s got a son too?”

“Yep!  Hey, listen, Dad said for me to give this to you.”  Puff handed Poley a silver bracelet with a stretchy band and a weird opening on its side.  “Put it on, and any dragon you meet will be able to understand you.  It’s technology from Dad’s home planet.”

Poley took the bracelet, and slipped it onto his wrist.  A little bit of light ignited from a tiny “bulb” on its surface.

“Also,” Puff said as he pointed to the Gift of Diplomacy, “Let me have a look at that. I don’t like doing this, but that thing barely fits you.”

Poley took the “bracelet” off of his neck and handed it to Puff, who took it in both hands.  As he stared at it, his left hand began to glow, and before his eyes the bracelet sized for a dragon shrunk down into one sized for a human.

“Here,” Puff handed the bracelet back to an enthralled Polestar, “In addition to its original enchantment, now it’ll resize itself for whoever’s holding it.”

“Wait, so you’re magic?”

“Shhh!”  Puff said, “Don’t tell anyone.  Except Dad or Keeper, that is.  Last time too many people knew about my magic…  A lot of bad stuff happened.”

“Oh…  Well, thanks anyway!”

“It was nice meeting you, Polestar!  Good luck with ruling the Ice Kingdom!”

Poley giggled, then said, “Hey, that’s what dragon Queens do, Puff!  I’m going to be a King!”

“Whatever, man!  I’ll see you around!”

As Poley waved goodbye to Puff, he turned around and saw a huge brown dragon, who he had seen in the council meeting.  “Hi there!”  The dragon said buoyantly in Human, “You must be Polestar!”

Poley puffed out his chest proudly.  “That’s Prince Polestar to you!”

The dragon laughed deeply.  “Don’t let that go to your head and all.  Anyway, Founder Bolt wants to speak with you.  Could you follow me please?”

Poley shrugged.  “Sure.”

The dragon began walking down the hall from the lobby and towards a dual staircase that had dragon-sized steps on the outer edges of the steps, and smaller human-sized steps in the middle.  At the top of the steps were a row of offices, and each door had labels in both Human and Dragon stating who worked in them.

He approached a door labeled “Bolt Mitchell, Founder and Human-Dragon Liaison” and the dragon opened it for him.

“Thanks, Fen!”  He could hear Bolt inside say, and then, “Come on in, Polestar!”

Poley nervously stepped inside Bolt’s office.  Surprisingly, it was very sparse, with the only furniture being a desk with chairs on both sides, and a small table off to the side that seemed to be used for more intimate meetings.  He looked on his desk to see that besides the business papers strewn around, it also had a small stack of books and a small picture frame that was turned away from Poley.

“I thought that since you were so important…”

“That my office would be all big and fancy?  Nah, I don’t really like that sort of thing.  I grew up in the wilderness, so I guess you could say by my standards this workspace is pretty darn luxurious.”  

“Huh,” Poley breathed, and he walked up to the desk and sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk.  “So you said you wanted to talk to me?”

“Yes, Polestar.  I wanted to get your point of view of the events that happened the past few days.  Frankly, Snowfall’s change of position regarding humans, it was kind of abrupt.   Not that I’m upset about that, but it’s still kind of weird.”

“Well Snowfall did say there was some kind of ‘ghost’ that she said talked to her from her ring.  I never heard it speaking, but apparently it was very good at changing her mind!”

“Just like in ‘A Christmas Carol,’ then.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, sorry.  Where I come from there was this really old story taught in school about some bitter old man who has a change of heart when three ghosts from the past, present and future show him the impacts of his actions through visions.  If whatever happened to Queen Snowfall was anything like that, it’d actually be pretty funny.”

“If you say so…”

“But anyway, all in all, these changes, they’re genuine?”

Poley nodded.  “It’s like she...  Grew, right in front of me.  And it feels like I had something to do with it!”

“Well, I’m certainly happy about that.  I heard you helped Snowfall save her sister from the Breath of Evil; that was very brave of you!”

Poley blushed.  “Oh, it was nothing.  Snowfall really loves her, and I had to do something!”

Bolt nodded.  “Indeed.  Anyway, I should probably get you back to your family.  Oh, actually, I have one more thing I need to give you.”

Bolt took a little box out of his pocket.  “This will allow you to talk to me, no matter where in the world you are.  If anything bad happens in the Ice Kingdom, like the Breath of Evil returning, I want to know as fast as possible.”

Poley took the little box in his hand.  “How do I use it?”

“It’s easy, you just press the button on the front, and it’ll make my side start making a noise so I know to start listening to you.”

“So is this animus magic or...?”

“Not exactly.  It’s technology from my homeland, which is way more advanced than what Pyrrhia has.  It’d take a long time to explain.”

Poley shrugged, and placed the “talking box” into his pocket.  “I got to meet Puff before I came up here.  You have a son too?”

“Recently, yes.  His mother died in a dragon attack, and I decided to raise him.”

“And he’s magic?”

Bolt stiffened, then rubbed his forehead.  “Yes, he’s magic.  But don’t tell anyone, okay?  I just managed to restore some normalcy to the world; I don’t want his powers becoming common knowledge again.”  His wrist flashed with a strange noise.  Bolt glanced at it, then sighed.  “I have to go meet with someone.  Snowfall should be waiting for you downstairs; good luck back home, okay?”

Poley and Bolt stood up, and the latter held out his hand.  Instinctively, Poley reached out to it and shook his hand, then the two of them went back into the lobby.  With some formal goodbyes from the rest of the Union Society, the IceWings and their new prince flew back home.

Chapter Text

Epilogue

Back in the Ice Kingdom, cleanup was still underway after the incident with Cottonmouth.  Various carts were picked back up, Snowfall provided money to repair the market stand she smashed Vespa into, and speaking of Vespa…

“What do you mean you killed her!?”  Poley was beside himself.

“She just took over my sister’s mind, Polestar!  I was upset enough to not really care if she died!”

The little human shook his head.  “I still think there was some way you could have saved her.”

“At the very least we should give her a proper burial, I suppose.”

Snowfall took the Gift of Healing in her talon and tapped it to the frozen husk that was Vespa’s head.  The ice melted, revealing her face, and confirming to them that the HiveWing was indeed dead. Her eyes and mouth were open wide, showing her terror in her final moments and confirming to them that in those final moments, Vespa had full control and awareness of herself

“Vespa…”  Poley whimpered.

“I’m sorry, Poley,” Snowfall whispered, now admitting that she regretted her actions upon seeing the corpse, “I guess I lost control over myself.”

Poley sighed.  “I’m sorry too, I guess I should have known Vespa wasn’t a good dragon.”

Snowfall was shocked he’d say such a thing.  “Poley, no.   Vespa wasn’t a bad dragon.  She didn’t know she had the Breath of Evil in her…  There was nothing she could have done.”

Poley walked up, and in that typical warm, human way, he hugged Vespa’s leg.  “I’m sorry, Vespa.”

“That’s enough sorries,” Snowfall finished, “Let’s get her to the burial site.”

---------------------

A day later, Snowfall and Poley returned to the little igloo the boy had grown up in.  The polar bear carcass had been picked clean by other animals, and only its yellow-white bones were left.  A couple of the spears had fallen over and were partially buried in snow after the blizzard.  Snowfall had a large sack with her to store the spoils of this little raid.

“Alright, Poley,” she said, “Go get your soft stuff!”

Poley ran back into his igloo, and soon rushed out with his arms stuffed full of little pillows.  As he made subsequent trips the pile grew ever bigger until he finished with a massive blanket and let out a little “huff.”

“That’s everything?”  Snowfall said.

Poley nodded.  His mood dimmed significantly when he knew what came next.

Snowfall reached into her purse and pulled out Eagle’s old cloak.  The blood on it had turned a decomposed brown.  Snowfall reached down and handed Poley the cloak, who shivered when his hands touched the bloodstain.  There was a stone stuck in the ground nearby, with writing in Human painted on it accompanied by the handprints of a human cub and a human hatchling.  Poley had told her that his parents were buried there.

Snowfall picked up another sizable stone, dug a hole, and stuck the stone inside of it.  Poley approached the stone, a paintbrush in his hand, and he set to work painting his brother’s name on the stone, then covered his hand in the paint and pressed it into the stone.  With his mark left on the stone, he turned to Snowfall.

The IceWing Queen dug a deeper hole in front of the stone.  Poley stared at the cloak for a few seconds, then gently dropped it into the hole.  When Snowfall swept the dirt back into the hole, Poley let out a little sniffle, then he knelt down and hugged the gravestone, holding onto it with all his strength.

Snowfall felt like she should honor Eagle in some way.  So, she herself knelt down and gave him her own race’s postmortem blessing like she had given Vespa and the other casualties of the battle the day before.

“May the Great Ice Dragon protect your soul, Eagle...  The brave and strong caretaker of children whose hearts yearn for love.”

Poley stood up from the gravestone, and walked up to her, and hugged her leg.  Snowfall wrapped her wing tightly around him, comforting him for as long as he needed.  When he was finished, she gathered all of Poley’s bedding into a sack and the two of them departed for the palace.

--------------------

That night, Poley slept in his pile of cushions next to the royal bed, and Snowfall once again had a vision.

“It would seem that my work is complete,” Opal stated as the two of them stood in the Forbidden Treasury.

“Is it really?”  Snowfall asked, “So, what now?”

“My ring can now be removed.  Take it off, and place it back on the shelf, and my spell will be lifted.”

“Wait...”  Snowfall said, “Can I have one more vision?”

“Of course.”

“Show me Eagle.  Whichever moment from his life that you feel like is most important.”

“Very well, your majesty.”

Snowfall was inside the mind of a scavenger cub, seemingly about nine years old.  He was inside the igloo, where to his right stood a tiny bed with a sort of “fence” surrounding it, within which was the first human hatchling Snowfall had seen.  If she felt Polestar as an older child was unbelievably vulnerable, then this specimen took the concept of fragility straight into the stratosphere.

Eagle looked over to the larger bed, where two adult humans, a male and a female lay.  They seemed to be only partially conscious, staring off into space, their hands occasionally twitching and their breaths coming in as heavy raising and falling of their abdomens.

“Mom?”  Eagle whispered as he approached the bed, “Dad?”

They didn’t respond, though his mother’s eye seemed to look in his direction.

What’s happening to them?   Eagle thought, a mild panic rising in him with his tears. Why are they like this?

“This is the day they died?”  Snowfall asked Opal.  Strangely, she didn’t respond.

Eagle took his mother’s hand, and just barely he could feel her hand tightening around his.  Eagle looked in her eyes, and saw that the light within them was flickering, fading.  Her hand loosened around his, and suddenly, Polestar let out a piercing wail behind him.

Eagle ignored Poley’s cries and instead took his mother’s and his father’s hands in his, his own hands shaking.  As their grip grew looser, his grew tighter, and his torso began to shake with the beginnings of sobbing.  Polestar continued to cry.

“I-I’ll take care of him,” Eagle promised, “I’ll make sure nothing happens to him...  I promise with my whole heart!”  The hot tears streaming down Eagle’s face became a river.

His mother’s eyes closed.  Seconds later, his father’s did too.  Now openly bawling, Eagle sprawled his body out over theirs, his tears staining the blankets.  As if he understood what just happened, Polestar’s wails softened to a tiny, somber cooing.  Eagle wouldn’t let go of his parents for the next few hours.

Snowfall returned to the treasury, and noticed that she herself was shedding tears.  “What happened to their parents?  What killed them?”

“Cancer.  Simultaneous.  Those two children were incredibly unlucky.”

“How could I possibly compete with Eagle?  He loved his brother way more than I think I could ever be capable of!”

“Love isn’t about just making a promise.  It’s about being there for each other.  Polestar jumped into the path of Mink’s talon because he was returning the love you showed him in saving him from Leopard.  But true love isn’t transactional.  The returning of love is a continuous exchange, one that never ends until the loved ones die.  So be honest.  Do you love Polestar the way Eagle did?”

Snowfall thought about her answer.  “I guess not.  But I can at least try to love him that way.”

“Effort is a good start, Snowfall.  Now, are you ready?”

Snowfall nodded.  She looked down at the ring, and she slowly took off her talon.  She stared at it, then looked up at Opal.

“Goodbye, Opal.  And thank you.”

Snowfall put the ring back onto the shelf.

Love you, Mom.  Rest in peace.

-JBH

To Be Continued