Fourth Wheel ||Qinter||

Chapter 7 - Falling

I am Darkstalker. Now free me.

~~~

Winter froze midair. He was unaware of anything except for the fact that The Darkstalker had just mindlinked him. His wings felt like stone as he plummeted towards the dense canopy of trees far below.
"WINTER!" Qibli screamed, diving after the falling IceWing. For Winter, time was slowing down. All he could see was the cold, clear icy blue sky above him and all he could feel was the wind buffeting his glossy blue scales as he fell, and his mind felt as cold and frozen as his scales. The Darkstalker was alive.

Suddenly, Winter was jolted back to reality as he felt warm talons clasp around his tail. "Winter!" Qibli yelled again over the roaring of the wind rushing by. "Spread your wings!" Winter hadn't yet processed Qibli's words when he felt warm liquid trickling down from the tip of his tail. As it dripped down his horns he saw the distinctive, striking, ruby red colour of it. Qibli's talons were bleeding from the spikes on the end of Winter's tail. Winter inhaled sharply. Why is he doing this for me? Finally he realised what was going on and spread his wings. He stopped plummeting abruptly and it felt like his stomach kept on going. He suddenly felt weak with shock. He could've died, and he had to have a SandWing save him.

All of a sudden is wings felt frail and thin, and they barely seemed to catch any air currents at all as he flapped them. Qibli tried to haul him up, but their momentum was to strong. It dragged them down to the ground and they crash landed in an awkward tangle of fire and ice, yellow and blue. Qibli finally released his grasp on Winter's tail and flopped onto the ground. Winter got up and coughed before his shaky legs gave way again under his own weight. Qibli was breathing heavily, and Winter shuffled closer to inspect Qibli's bleeding talons. The holes in both of his talons were so deep they almost went right through to the other side. The dry, cracked dirt beneath them was stained red with SandWing blood. "Why did you do this for me?" Winter asked, his voice hoarse and his breathing ragged. "You've ruined your talons. They will never completely heal. Why would you sacrifice anything for me?"
Winter pressed his own talons against Qibli's bloodstained ones in an attempt to stop the bleeding, and Qibli rasped, "I- It's because I..." his voice faltered and he closed his eyes.

"MOON! TURTLE! TAMARIN!" Winter screamed towards the sky, where the three other dragonets were rapidly circling down. "WE HAVE TO TREAT HIM QUICKLY, OR HE'LL DIE OF BLOOD LOSS!" Tamarin was the first to swoop down and hit the ground sprinting, expertly navigating through the trees so well you wouldn't have known she was blind. She stopped when she reached Qibli's motionless body and said, "Right now I think he's passed out from the pain. He'll die of blood loss if he doesn't get treated soon, though. I'll go find something to treat him with. Just keep putting pressure on the wounds to slow the bleeding."
As Tamarin hurried away, Moon and Turtle reached them. "THREE MOONS," Moon gasped. "What happened?!!"
"I was falling," Winter said quietly. "Qibli saved me, but the spikes on my tail almost went through his talons."
"Why were you falling?" Turtle asked, confused.
"I can explain everything later. Right now we need to make sure Qibli survives." Winter replied. Moon and Turtle glanced at each other. Winter wasn't usually like this, but it didn't bother them because who wouldn't love Winter's new personality?

Soon, Tamarin came back with bundles of long grass and a few yellow leaves. She chewed up the leaves and quickly wove the grass into two bandages and spat equal amounts of the chewed-up leaves onto the bandages. She wrapped them around Qibli's two front talons and stepped back. "The leaves are from the Golden Shower tree," she explained. "I believe they can protect from infection."
The dragonets waited for Qibli to wake up. Winter took Tamarin to go hunting, saying that Tamarin's hearing and sense of smell would be useful, and they could collect some more leaves and grasses while they were out hunting. Moon and Turtle waited patiently at Qibli's side, occasionally chatting quietly and exchanging small talk. They took turns sleeping to rest up before they continued on their journey.

It was almost nightfall when Qibli stirred. Moon shook Turtle awake, and as Qibli woke up, his two friends were sitting there watching over him. Moon gently picked up one of Qibli's talons and gently said, "Oh, the things we do for love."
"Shut up, Moon," Qibli grunted drowsily, blushing. "Where's Winter? And Tamarin? Did she make these bandages and get the leaves?"
"Yes," Moon answered. "Tamarin proved useful. She can recognise plants, even ones with medicinal properties. She's out hunting with Winter." When Moon said that, Qibli flinched. She quickly added, "Don't worry, I don't think they have feelings for each other." At that, Qibli relaxed and rested his snout on his front talons. The three dragonets heard flapping coming from above, and when they looked up, they saw Tamarin and Winter descending with prey clamped in their jaws. They dropped the prey onto the ground and Tamarin said, "I'm a vegetarian RainWing, so I'll go find some fruits. You have your meat. Don't know why you like this stuff so much." She wrinkled her snout as she flew away to find fruit.

Winter sat down beside Qibli. "Thanks," he said. "For saving me." He nudged a piece of deer towards the SandWing. "Eat."
Qibli chomped down on the meat, famished, as Moon lit a small campfire nearby.
Soon, Tamarin returned with lots of fruit. "Qibli, Winter, Tamarin, you guys sleep. Get some rest. Turtle and I will keep first watch."
Tamarin curled up around her small pile of fruit and Qibli and Winter curled up next to each other, warmth radiating from both Qibli's scales and the campfire. As Moon and Turtle kept watch, the steady crackling of the fire slowly soothed them all to sleep.

A/N:

*pumps fist in air*
Yess I finally updated on schedule
Also finally a chapter that doesn't end in a cliffhanger(ish thing)
Qibli and winter are THE cutest couple ever

-Victory