Fourth Wheel ||Qinter||

Chapter 5 - Confession

A/N
Aaaaaa I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long, I was kinda busy with tests and stuff...
ANYWAY, please forgive meee!!! 😖 🙏
Ok, enjoy!!!

"I think I have something to tell you guys," Turtle blurted.
"You... think?" Moon asked.
"I know."
"Go on, then."
Turtle took a deep breath. "Okay. Winter, I'm an animus."
Winter glared at Turtle. There was something familiar about his eyes. And his scales. He just couldn't put a claw on what it was.
"Andithinkimslowlylosingmysoulbecauseforsomereasonicantcontrolmypowersanymore." Turtle squeaked hastily.
"Um, what?" Qibli asked.
Moon looked terrified. "No."
"What, NightWing?" Winter asked. Qibli felt a pang of jealousy. Relax. He probably doesn't have feelings for her. Qibli thought.
Moon just shook her head. "It- it's not important." Winter squinted at her but didn't say anything more.
"So, how do you want us to help you?" Qibli asked Turtle.
"I was thinking that maybe it had something to do with the prophecy... maybe." Turtle replied uncertainly.
Moon stared down at her claws. Would she...?
Qibli growled, frustrated. "We need to figure out how to fulfil the prophecy before we go anything."
"Alright then," Moon said. "What is the prophecy telling us to achieve?"
"I dunno," Winter said dryly. "Maybe we should seek the one with infinite life? Sounds pretty straightforward for a prophecy."
"Wow!" Qibli dared to joke. "You actually have a few brain cells when you're not complaining in History class."
"Watch it, SandWing," Winter hissed, scowling.

Moon furrowed her brow and tilted her head so that her dark green eyes caught the dim light in their cave and glittered like emeralds. She was clearly concentrating. "Who has infinite life?"
Turtle shuffled around nervously, his claws scraping the stone floor as he opened his mouth to speak. "A few days ago, in History class, we read a scroll called Animii Through the Ages. The main animus dragon we studied was the Darkstalker, a NightWing myth who may or may not have existed a long time ago."
Moon shuddered. Being a NightWing, she clearly had heard the myth before. "We don't speak of the Darkstalker," she said shakily.
"The Darkstalker," Winter growled scornfully. "A traitor. We don't speak of him either."
Qibli felt another jolt of bitter jealousy shoot through his body. It's nothing, he tried to console himself. They're just agreeing with each other. There's nothing wrong with that.
Turtle continued, "I heard of this other animus who lived on one of Pyrrhia's coasts. She was a SandWing named Jerboa."
"But Jerboa died thousands of years ago!" Qibli pointed out.
"No," Turtle countered, not unkindly. "Jerboa had a daughter who was also named Jerboa."
"Creative," Winter muttered. Typical Winter, Qibli thought to himself.
Turtle shot Winter a look that meant, Be quiet. "Her daughter was an animus, and the first Jerboa used her magic to make Jerboa the second immortal. She might be the one with infinite life the prophecy is referring to."
"But how can she help us?" Qibli asked, puzzled.
Turtle shrugged. "Only time will tell."

Moon trotted quietly into the library. She saw Starflight nearby, sitting behind his desk. An image of his burnt corpse flashed through her mind, and she shuddered before pushing the thought out of her head and greeting the blind librarian.
"Hello, Starflight."
"Who is it?"
"It's Moonwatcher. Moon for short."
"Of course," Starflight said with a smile. "In the Jade Winglet. Well, how may I help you, Moon?"
"Do you have a copy of Animii Through the Ages that I could have a look at?"
"I'm afraid not. There was only one copy of that particular scroll in the library, and Webs is currently using it for his History class."
"Oh," Moon said crestfallen. She was about to ask for scrolls on Jerboa the second when she stopped herself. If she asked for a scroll on such a specific dragon, Starflight, being an intelligent dragon, would know that something was up.
I have to risk it, though. For the sake of everyone at Jade Mountain, She decided.
"Do you have any scrolls on Jerboa Junior?" She asked nervously.
"Why do you need them?" Starflight asked, with a suspicious edge to his voice.
Moon's heart pounded in her ears. This was exactly what she had feared. "For a History project," she lied.
"Of course," Starflight said, calming down, his usual slight smile returning to his snout. "Fatespeaker will find something for you."
As a female NightWing Moon hadn't noticed before shuffled away to find scrolls, Moon couldn't help but feel guilty for lying to the blind librarian. It was either lying to him- she remembered the grisly sight of Starflight's burnt body lying motionless on the ground and shivered- or that.

A few minutes later, Fatespeaker scurried back with a bundle of scrolls in her talons. She handed them to Starflight before pressing her dark scales to Starflight's and twining her tail around his. Starflight's smile widened slightly as he handed the scrolls to Moon.
"Here you go," he said. "Enjoy, and I hope you do well on your project!"
What proje- oh. Moon remembered. "Thank you, Starflight." Moon left the library with a single task in her mind - she had to get to the Jade winglet cave and give the scrolls to her friends.

Moon dumped the scrolls on an unsuspecting Qibli. "Ow!" He whined. She chucked one onto Winter's bunk and tossed one in Turtle's direction. Turtle said nothing and opened the scroll. Winter hissed, alarmed, and stopped snoring.
"Study up," Moon said. "We'll need all the information we can get before we go and find Jerboa."
"You're just as bad as Webs," Winter and Qibli grumbled in unison. They glanced at each other and looked away just as quickly once their gazes met. Qibli had a vibrant crimson blush on his snout, and quickly buried his snout in his scroll. Winter was also staring at his scroll, and it was hard to tell, but Moon could've sworn she also saw an opaque layer of sky blue heat draped over Winter's normally pale blue snout.
Is he... blushing?