The Tale of Verglas

Chapter 1: Snowflake

A 5 year old Icewing dragonet peered out their window from the Ice Palace, gazing at the tundra that seemed endless from his perspective. The prince had always recognized his kingdom's lack of color. It was all just white and empty and lifeless. Bleh. He stuck out his tongue before slipping back into his room and glancing at his brother. Icewings don't have much color either, do they? He thought to himself, looking over his brother's scales. What I'd give to have a Rainwing's scales. He wrinkled his snout slightly and scooted closer to his bed, not looking away from his brother. "Diamond, don't you ever think the Ice Kingdom is a bit.. bland?"

Next to his brother sat a tall, sharp-looking icewing dragonet.  He was exactly the same age as his brother, but his height made him look at least a few months, possibly a year older.  His scales were a pale smokey gray and when he glanced over at his brother he didn't turn his head, as if he were practicing his straight posture.  "Maybe a bit, but, it's not horrible I don't think."

Verglas frowned slightly, his face shifting into his That's-Not-The-Answer-I-Wanted look. "But don't you ever wish there could be just a little bit of color around here? Or on you? Or somewhere?" He glanced over at his brother again, curiosity prickling under his scales before he straightened up and looked ahead of him again.  "Sometimes." Verglas sighed before leaping into the bed and lying down, staring at the wall which was not yet decorated with the several paintings Verglas made over the years. Ugh! Even our room is bare. "I think it is bad. Icewings just come in white and blue! But the Rainwings.." He thought of the varieties of colors Rainwings came in. Pink, yellow, blue.. EVEN CHOCOLATE! He LOVED chocolate. And the ability to change their scales to any color they desired.. he'd kill to be able to do that.

Diamond just blinked slowly before slowly beginning to lay down from his straight posture and position.  "Well, maybe you can find away to add more color around our room." Verglas hummed in thought, squinting at the wall a bit. "Hmm.." A sinister grin suddenly stretched across his snout as he sat up. "I think you're right." He climbed out of the bed and hurried out of the room, slamming the door behind him as he left. "Thanks Diamond!" He called out from the hall as he ran off.

Verglas landed in the entryway to the Ice Palace, glancing around. If I can't find anything lively or colorful in the Ice Kingdom, I, erm.. guess I'll have to look farther. He glanced behind his shoulder again before turning around and leaping into flight. Next stop, the Sand Kingdom! I can't really say Sandwings are that colorful either, but they sure are lively! More than Icewings, at least. He grinned from ear to ear, starting to quicken his pace. Don't worry, Diamond. Soon, I'll come back with something so bright and amazing, you'll go blind! Of course, he didn't actually want his brother to go blind. That would be bad.

After a while of flying, he twisted into a dive and clumsily landed in the snow. He huffed, nearly falling over before catching himself. This is making me really tired.. I wish Diamond were here to carry me. I miss Diamond. I REALLY miss Diamond. I  wish Diamond was here to give me food and comfort and hugs. Verglas yawned and started to stretch before pausing, ears perking. His hearing was horrible, but he could've swore he heard some music in the distance.

He gasped, now smiling widely. MUSIC! LIFE! DRAGONS WHO DON'T HAVE A STICK UP THEIR ASS! He quickly bolted into a sprint, running towards the direction where he thought he heard music. Not long after, he skidded to a stuff, eyes going wide at the sight. The streets were filled with small little buildings, all lined with thin and scrawny looking dragons that were smiling for the first time in a while. The streets seemed a bit more lively and people were washing themselves off in the freezing water, while others who actually had houses were preparing a limited amount of paints and ice canvases. Verglas looked around, gawking at everything. Wow.. everyone is smiling! Icewings barely smile at the palace. He was about to waltz right in, before freezing mid-step. Wait- won't they recognize me? Gah! It's so hard being popular. The prince looked around before scooping up a pile of snow and dumping it on his head. No one will know it's me. He grinned and trotted up to the area, glancing around. Everything looked great, but the paints and ice canvases were the things that caught his eye. Wow. He dipped his head before approaching one of the houses. "Um.. excuse me?" He pointed to a bucket of paint. "Is this for sale?"

The Icewing glanced up at Verglas with a raised eyebrow before laughing slightly, shaking his head. "I'm afraid not, good sir! These buckets of paint are for the contest. Only the contestants can use 'em!" He hummed in thought, eyeing the buckets carefully before perking up and squinted at the other Icewing, tilting his head a bit. "Wait— contest? What contest?" The unnamed gentleman chuckled at the dragonet's curiosity before gesturing towards one of the stands. "See that stand over there? You can take a poster from over there. On it, has all the information you need." Verglas' face lit up and he nodded, smiling. "Thank you for your help, Sir!" He politely dipped his head before turning around to leave. "Wait.. stop." He stopped dead in his tracks before slowly glancing over his shoulder at the older man. "Yes..?" The Icewing narrowed their eyes slightly at the dragonet. "What's your name?" His breath hitched and he tensed, clenching his talons. Oh moons, he's gonna know it's me. What do I do? Come up with something! A name! QUICK! YOU PROBABLY LOOK VERY SUSPICIOUS RIGHT NOW! He inhaled, trying to think of a basic Icewing name. "..Snowflake." He replied, forcing a small smile. The old man smiled and nodded. "Pleasure to meet you, Snowflake. I'm Shiro." 'Snowflake' smiled as well, dipping their head again before hurrying off.

That was close. TOO close. But hey.. at least I made a friend, right? Snowflake's faint smile would've faded a bit. It sucks that I probably won't see them again. He would've looked down at the posters and carefully picked one up. The prince squinted, quickly reading the words over before a smile tugged at his cheeks. This is just what I was looking for. He rolled the paper up and glanced around before heading over to the area where several Icewings were gathered together, writing their names down on the scroll to sign up. "Excuse me—" Snowflake tried to weave himself through the crowd before being shoved away. The prince grunted as he hit the ground. They shoved me! He was about to yell at them before remembering that they didn't know who he was. They didn't know he was royalty. Verglas' ears angled back as he glared at the crowd. Right now, he had the strong urge to reveal his identity right now and tell them that they had just shoved PRINCE to the ground instead of making way for him. As he scrambled to his feet, Verglas opened his mouth to speak before pausing.

This. This is what he hated about Icewings. Always thinking lower of others and expecting the dragons below them to worship them— But that's what he was doing right now, wasn't it? Assuming everyone was supposed to treat him with respect because he thought he was better than everyone here? Maybe I'm not as different as I thought. The prince looked around, observing the houses in poor condition, the unhealthily thin Icewings. How am I not supposed to think I'm superior to all of this after being told so long that I was? He glanced back at the crowd. Maybe it'll help if I think I'm less of Verglas, and more of Snowflake? He inhaled before stepping forward, once again trying to get through the crowd. Snowflake pushed past a couple of Icewings before grabbing a quill that was available and wrote down his name. Here goes, I guess.