Fourth Wheel ||Qinter||

Chapter 12 - A New Destination

"Well, isn't this ironic," Qibli grumbled. "We can't find Clearsight. CLEARSIGHT, of all dragons."
"Yeah, apparently we don't have clear sight after all," Winter agreed drily.
"Because we can't find Clearsight," Turtle explained to a slightly confused Moon.
"Your puns are terrible," Tamarin told them, not bothering to sugarcoat her comment.
"Does anyone even know where we're going, or what we're looking for?" Moon interrupted.
"We're looking for Clearsight." Qibli told her.
"I know, but that's not what I mean. She's alive and she's on Pyrrhia. Pyrrhia is massive, though! Where can we go to find her?"
Winter mulled Moon's question over and over in his head. "I think we're doing everything in the wrong order. We should go to the Ice Kingdom first." The other dragonets stared at him quizzically, and he reluctantly sighed. "I have something I need to tell you guys."

"You had a dream like that and you didn't tell us?!" Turtle exclaimed in shock.
"I didn't think it was the right time to," Winter said defensively. "Besides, you know now."
"Guys," Qibli reminded them. "We don't have time to argue. The whole continent and the lives of all the dragons on it are at stake. Let's change course for the Ice Kingdom."

~——❄️——~

"STOP!" Winter called out to the rest of the group. "We're getting too close. We have to fly over the ocean to avoid being shot by the Dreadful Ice Cliff."
Moon raised a brow. "Isn't it the Great Ice Cl-"
"Dreadful Ice Cliff," said Winter stubbornly. "It's an ice cliff, and it's dreadful. Hence the name dreadful ice cliff."
Moon decided to leave it at that as she examined their environment. It was snowing, each individual snowflake winking in the setting sun, creating an atmosphere that was a little too glittery for Moon. She had to squint her eyes to see the outline of the Great Ice Cliff. Only then did she realise how alarmingly close to it they were. It loomed imminently ahead of them, the sun's rays that did little to warm the shivering dragonets piercing through thinner parts of the translucent ice. Qibli thought it was like Winter. Uniquely beautiful. Maybe even a little dangerous. A lot dangerous, Qibli decided as he shuddered in terror at the thought of being impaled by the cliff. The cliff gave off a similar feel to Winter. Something along the lines of, 'Don't get too close or I'll stab you and you'll die slowly and painfully as you regret all the life decisions that led you up to this moment.'

Removing his gaze from the Great Ice Cliff, he turned to follow the rest of the dragonets toward the ocean to take a detour that avoided impalement. Suddenly, the wind began to howl, the sudden squall sending barrages of snow hurtling toward them. The air currents became unpredictable. Moon shouted a command over the roar of the snowstorm. "EVERYONE! FLY WING TO WING, DON'T LOSE THE PERSON NEXT TO YOU!" All of the dragonets obliged. Qibli's right wingtip found Moon's star-speckled one, and his left wingtip connected with Winter's icy one. Qibli shivered at the contact, trying to pry his attention from the sensation of frozen scales pressing against his wing. The coldness Winter emitted felt different from the snowstorm. It as an almost calming type of coldness. It made Qibli want to roll himself in the wing and fall asleep. You can sleep later, Qibli scolded himself. Right now, just try not to let anyone die.

~——🌨——~

As their talons touched solid ground (or at least partially solid, under all that fluffy new snow), Winter felt Qibli's warm wingtip pull away from his. He almost missed the warmth it emitted, like a small sun. He almost wanted to stretch his wing further just to reach the enticing warmth to his right. Winter shook his head and turned to face the others. "Right," he said. "Now that we're through the snowstorm, we just have to find whichever ancestor Darkstalker was going to manipulate and kill."
"Wow," Tamarin remarked. "You say that so casually."
"It doesn't make a difference how I say it. I mean the same thing," Winter pointed out. "Anyway. Does anyone have any ideas?"
"Arctic," said Turtle immediately. "I remember reading about Arctic, the IceWing animus considered a traitor by the rest of the tribe."
Qibli nodded, his dark eyes shining. "Of course! Darkstalker's father, and IceWing royalty." One of my ancestors, Winter realised.
"But..." Qibli continued. "-isn't he dead?"
"Darkstalker was the one who disemboweled him. He could have easily kept him alive with his animus magic," Moon suggested.
"Exactly!" Turtle agreed. "We've narrowed it down from Pyrrhia to just one kingdom, but the Ice Kingdom is still massive. Where could we find Arctic?"
"The Diamond Caves," Winter whispered.
"What?" Asked Qibli.
"I said, the Diamond Caves."

"The Diamond Caves is the name of the cave system where the IceWings hold the Diamond Trial. The Diamond Trial is a last resort for hierarchical IceWings in last place to challenge the dragon in first place. The two dragons enter the Diamond Caves, where they unfreeze a dragon deep within the caves. They kill the dragon, then fight to the death. If the survivor is the dragon in last place, they move to first place. If the survivor is the dragon in first place, they remain in first place."
Tamarin frowned. "Thanks for telling us the secrets of your tribe, but why would Arctic be there?"
"Because the dragon that you have to kill is Foeslayer."
Qibli inhaled sharply. "Artic's mate?"
"One and the same," Winter confirmed.
"How will we get into the caves, then?" Moon asked.
"You won't. Tamarin and I will go."
"Hey!" Tamarin objected. Who said I agreed to that?!"
"Me," said Winter bluntly. "We need at least two dragons to go, in case something goes wrong and one of us has to fly out to get help. There's no way Moon can get in, with her night-black scales. Turtle's glowing green colour will stick out like a sore thumb with a backdrop of ice. Qibli's scales are basically the opposite colour of the ice. Plus, his scales are so warm they may even melt the ice. We can't leave any traces."
Qibli didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult. "..thanks?"
"I was simply stating facts," scoffed Winter. He turned to face Tamarin. "Anyway, that's why you and I are going."

A/N:

I'm not dead! *shocked pikachu face* But you know what is dead? My Discord server. It relies on the flow of new people joining to stay alive, and since I haven't posted a new chapter in so long it's practically a graveyard now. Invite link in bio ;)

Sorry for the long wait. I have 5 massive assignments all due on the same day this week ;-;

See you (hopefully) soon!