Wings of Fire as Humans

The Enchanted Forest of Idiots

**INTERMISSION CHAPTER**
Greetings, all! Last night I sat down at around midnight and decided I would force myself to write, no matter what- good news, it worked! Not-so-good news, it's another intermission. This time, we've got a chapter that's basically one big ol' flashback, telling the story of the day that Winter first met (and got forcefully attached to) two other members of the JW. Side note: does anyone else remember the fact that Qibli had sort of an accent when he first appeared in book 5, but it just kinda...disappeared after that? Well, I guess now I'm bringing it back to tie up loose ends.

And it is the Winter season after all, so enjoy a snowy chapter full of flashbacks (and maybe some forming friendships too?)

Winter could vividly remember the day he had lost his dignity.

It was a snowy afternoon, and a rather picturesque one at that— silver flakes were still flurrying down from the sky, producing a soft but not very snowball-efficient layer of white that blanketed the landscape. Winter was relieved for that fact, as it meant that regardless of how hard they tried, no one would be able to throw a snowball at him and soil his new coat, or worse— his prized fuzzy hat. Not even his cousin's best friend, Lynx, who often tagged along on play dates and was notorious for being absolutely brutal when it came to snowball fights could touch him. And today, Winter would be taking extra precautions not to get caught in such a battle. How? Well, he was spending his snow day far from the other children— and in the great enchanted forest!

Okay, maybe the small grove of trees behind a suburban neighborhood didn't exactly count as an enchanted forest, but if Winter didn't have his imagination, what did he have?

Treading carefully, Winter clutched the fuzzy hat tighter to his head as he made his way into this supposed 'forest'. To most people, the snow may have seemed to be of a fairly normal depth— but to Winter, who had just turned the wise old age of seven and was subsequently still very tiny, trying not to sink deeper in was a struggle with every step. Still, he persevered until his weary travels had brought him to a log on which he could rest.
Taking a seat, Winter looked off in the direction of his clearly visible house and pretended he was squinting at it from somewhere far away.
He hated feeling so tiny, so small every day.
He hated the way that the other children all seemed to have their own talents, things that the adults recognized them for— things that they were praised for, and he just didn't. Winter had always loved to draw. He'd always loved to watch shows about animals. He'd always loved thinking about those things, but never loved talking about them to anyone. Why should other people care anyways? Why did he even—

Thump.

Something came flying threw the air, colliding directly with Winter's back and interrupting his train of thought. The boy craned his neck instantly to see what it had been, and wasn't at all surprised to see a wet patch in his nice, new coat where a snowball had hit. Of course he couldn't go one day without terrible misfortune.
He was, however, surprised to see two unfamiliar faces staring right at him from further down the snowy hill, both of their expressions wrought with a mix of glee, shock, and...guilt?

That was when it hit him. Almost like the force of the dreadful snowball that had damaged his dignity and his coat so, Winter realized that the two children who stood before him, around his age and probably also from his school, were the culprits. Which one, he didn't know— but he would be more than happy to yell at them both or 'relieve them of a few teeth' as Icicle would sometimes say when people made her angry. Winter didn't quite get what that meant, and he honestly didn't want to know. Charging down the hill near lightning speed, When Winter made it to the bottom he resolved to give the two rascals his very best death glare, hoping to intimidate them. Unfortunately, he didn't think it worked too well considering that one of them— a girl with pigtails, dressed in obnoxiously bright clothes that would likely (and hopefully) beckon some sort of bear or other predatory animal to mistake her as a chew toy and eat her whole— started cracking up with laughter.

"You are too funny!" She giggled, flashing Winter a smile that seemed a bit too genuine for someone who had likely just assaulted him with a snowball. She then turned to her companion, talking in a tone that would have probably been a whisper, assuming this girl had been capable of speaking in any volume lower than ear-splitting. "This guy's a bit silly in the head, don't you think, Qibli?"

The boy who was with her-- a bit taller, and wearing an expression mixed between smug and thoughtful on his freckled face-- replied. "I dunno," He said, tone much quieter. At least this kid knew what a whisper was. Winter would much prefer he shut up entirely, though. "Maybe we should just leave, I get the feeling he's gonna stare at us until we melt or somethin'."

"We can't just do that!" The girl hissed, paying no mind to Winter. "He's all alone! Plus, a snowball fight's no fun with just two people!"

"I happen to have an abundance of friends to play with, thank you very much!" Winter interrupted, rather offended as he tilted his chin upwards in an attempt to look aloof. He didn't particularly want to admit that he was here because he was scared of playing with the others— but even so, these two kids seemed pretty skeptical. He continued, "My friends are just invisible. And cooler than yours."

"Yeah, I'm sure it's real easy to aim at something you can't see." The boy, Qibli added.

Winter scoffed, somehow starting to feel a bit amused, though that seemed impossible. Still, he had no time for this kind of conversation. He needed to return to his 'act-sad-and-brooding-while-sitting-on-a-log' session. "Your fervent, profound display of stupidity amazes me. Unfortunately, I am too busy to ignore you right now. Please leave my sight." He huffed, then promptly turned around, starting back up the snow covered hill without even bothering to glance back at the boy and girl.

That is, until his precious fuzzy hat came flying right off of his head, landing in the snow before him, covered in the unmistakable white powder of a snowball.

"Oops." Said a small voice from behind him.

Winter saw red. He was utterly furious. Whirling back around, he did something he thought he would never do. The boy scooped up a handful of snow in his gloves, forming it into a ball and aiming at the two rascals before him, who were now giggling and making snowballs as well.

He'd always hated this game. He'd hated it for the way that the other children targeted him specifically, every time ending in Winter getting too uncomfortable and withdrawing shamefully. Yet, somehow, when playing with (and completely demolishing) these idiots who he had known for less than five minutes, it made the game a bit more bearable. He would feel a smile tug at his lips not just when he hit one of the others, but also when he himself would get hit. For once, it felt like an actual game instead of a battle to the death.

Winter hated it, but he knew he was having fun. He hated it, but he knew these kids were growing on him.

And he knew that, no matter how hard he tried not to, he'd long for more days like this when he grew older.

Wow, I am such a sucker for the way that Winter shows his affection through sarcasm and being awkwardly mean, even if it doesn't really show just yet :) Hopefully this wasn't too long for an intermission, since I've noticed that most of y'all are really looking forward to Qibli vs Raccoon next part-- and that at least a few of you recall the other chapter that this one is referencing...
Please, please, please vote and comment your thoughts if you like this book, it means a lot to me!

Also, this is definitely the start of Kinkajou's 'throwing-snowballs-at-all-my-friends-whenever-i-get-the-chance' arc:

Thank you all so much for taking the time to read and appreciate my work, and I'll see you very soon!! <3