The Letters You Send Me

Chapter 15: Reply

Moon, Turtle, and Kinkajou flew back to the dragon fruit orchard where Qibli and Snowslide were. Qibli's ears stood up and he tilted his head upwards, seeing his Winglet fly towards him. "Hey! Where'd you guys fly off to? You were in such a rush." Snowslide looked up and saw them land, walking to them with his basket which was full of dragon fruit. "Is everything alright?" He asked curiously, looking up at them. "Yes, Queen Glory just had her egg and needed us there."

"Which she greatly appreciated."

They looked back and saw the Queen herself, with Deathbringer and two guards behind them with spears. The Rainwing Queen had a small harness around her with the egg in the pouch at the front. "Your Highness, you shouldn't be out flying when you just had your egg." Snowslide said, looking concerned. "Oh don't worry, I'm alright." They landed in front of them "I wanted to thank you in person for everything. Even if I already did I just wanted to get the message through." Kinkajou giggled and ran to her friend, wrapping her wings around Glory. "You didn't need to do that Glory!" "But I wanted to and as your Queen you need to deal with it."

Kinkajou chuckled and pulled away from Glory who then looked at Snowslide and approached, closely followed by her mate. "You must be the new Icewing attending the Academy.." "Snowslide. My name is Snowslide Your Highness," he bowed, before raising his head to be met with a smile "it is nice to meet you Snowslide. Which Winglet are you in if you don't mind me asking?" Snowslide smiled "although it may seem like I'm in the Jade Winglet because I hang out with them, I am in the Gold Winglet since Icicle is no long attending the Academy."

"Still no Winter?" Glory asked, her smile being replaced by a frown. Moon shook her head, but then smiled, scratching Newsbringer's head with her claw "Winter is still missing, but I received a letter today from this messenger hawk. Isn't he just adorable?" Moon cooed, Newsbringer flapping his wings and cawing happily. "Aww, he's just adorable." Kinkajou said, looking at the bird perched on Moon's shoulder.

Deathbringer chuckled and walked towards Snowslide, extending his claw "I'm Deathbringer, it's nice to meet you." "'Deathbringer'?" Snowslide questioned. "Yes, back on the Nightwing island I was a trained assassin. Those days are behind me but I won't hesitate to kill again if some dragon tries to hurt Glory." The Queen rolled her eyes then looked at Kinkajou "if you ever need any help, you can just ask me, Queen or not I'm still your friend."

Qibli smiled "this was nice but we need to get back to the Academy, lunchtime is almost over and we need to eat something. Thank you for your hospitality." They all bowed then took to the air, returning to the academy.

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Moon sat at her desk in her dorm, accompanied by Peril and Kinkajou. Moon had a scroll in front of her with a small stone bowl with black ink inside. She sat there, staring at the paper nervously, her claw hovering over the bowl "what should I say?" She asked to herself, "tell him how it's going!" Peril chimed in, spreading her arms and leaning forward. "Yes but... How? I've never written a letter before." "Pretend you're talking to him." Kinkajou said, returning to  her leafy bed and lying down. 

Moon took a deep breath and dipped the tip of her claw in the black ink.

Dear Winter, 

I hope this letter finds you in good health. I hope you're doing alright and keeping yourself occupied. We miss you at the Academy, it's lonely here without you. 

The studying is going well, we took a break and went dragon fruit picking today. Queen Glory also gave birth to her egg, it's very beautiful. I've seen it's future and she's going to be one of the best and fair rulers of Pyrrhia. And she's going to get a beautiful baby brother.

We also got a new student at the Academy, it's an Icewing. He's very nice and I can tell he cares a lot. You both would get a long well! 

I hope everything is going well from where you are, I look forward to seeing you again and trying out your soup. It's really good!

Moon took a deep breath.

All my love,

Moon

P.S. I thought you should know... Kinkajou is with egg! (Although don't tell her that you know)

Moon smiled and rolled up the letter, before grabbing a candle and dripping the dark grey wax on the flap to form a seal, and putting the symbol of the Nightwings, (which was three moons over a mountain) on the wax.

She turned to Newsbringer and put the rolled up letter in his pouch, snapping it shut and making sure it was tight. She extended her forearm and Newsbringer jumped on it, and Moon walked outside her dorm with Kinkajou still inside. Peril was following close behind with a smile. "I saw what you wrote on the letter." She stated with a smile "'All my love'?" Moon blushed and looked away. "I-I know..." Peril giggled and gently bumped into Moon, who smiled, noticing the bracelet on the Skywing's wrist glow, as if her Firescales were absorbed into the rubies on the accessory.

The girls made their way down the halls, and onto the entrance of the Academy which was a large open cave with room for many dragons to walk around on a flat, rocky surface near a cliff. "I'll go stretch my wings for a bit," Peril said "I'll be right back." Peril opened her enormous orange wings and took to the air.

Moon stroked Newsbringer's chin and smiled "make sure Winter gets the letter, alright?" The bird screeched and Moon lifted her arm, Newsbringer launching himself off the dragon and flying away.

Moon suddenly felt cold. She hugged her wings close to her and sighed, looking at the trees in the distance that were blowing in the cold wind. She took a deep breath and turned around, bumping into someone. "Oh! I'm sorry... I didn't see you there!"

She looked up and saw Snowslide. He smiled "it's alright, what are you doing out here... All alone?" He questioned, looking around. "Oh, I was just sending out Newsbringer. What about you?" "I heard a screech. I thought I could grab a midnight snack but if it's Newsbringer I'll go somewhere else."

Moon chuckled "when Peril gets back maybe we could all go?" "Peril? She's here?" He asked, blinking in surprise. "Yes... Why?" Snowslide pointed to the ground "there would be scorch-marks on the rocks if she was here." "That makes sense."

Snowslide sighed "well, maybe next time, would you... Want to walk back to the dorms with me?" He asked shyly. Moon shook her head "thanks for the offer... But I'll pass." "Alright, maybe next time. See you later Moon. Get some rest."

Snowslide left, leaving Moon alone on the cliff, waiting for Peril to return.