The Letters You Send Me

Chapter 26: Courage

Winter and Qibli walked together, catching up with the rest of their Winglet. "What are we supposed to do before we put our plan into action?" Qibli asked Winter, looking at him. Winter looked back at Qibli.

 "What we can. We'll do what we can."

Qibli nodded "hey Winter? Where were you when you left? I'm kind of curious." Winter looked up, thinking. "It was a small island. A little ways off the shore of the Sandwing Kingdom. The island was half-covered with a forest, the other half being a small field. It was a perfect spot for fishing and the soil was good for growing plants."

"I think I've heard of that place. Could you take us there one day?" Qibli asked to which Winter chuckled "I'd love to."

------

Winter and Moon were chilling in Winter's dorm during their study period. Moon was reviewing her notes for an upcoming test on her leafy bed, and Winter was on a small stool, hunched over a desk and taking notes for the exams he missed, Moon occasionally quizzing him on the material.

The rest of their Winglet were going to meet them when their periods end, so they could all review their lessons together.

Moon was reading intensely, before seeing the same vision of Winter getting stabbed. She whimpered and lowered her head, causing Winter to look up from his scroll and stare at her "you alright Moon?" He asked, putting his scroll down and walking to her, and sitting down right in front of her.

Winter reached his claw to cup Moon's cheek, but she gently brushed it away. "Winter... I-I think you should leave." Winter blinked in disbelief. "Why?" "Just leave until the rest of us deals with Snowslide."

Winter gasped quietly "I can't, you know I can't Moon."  Moon looked down at her talons and intertwined her claws. "But you need to okay? The rest of us can-" 

"You saw something. Didn't you?" He asked, but it sounded more like a statement.

Moon looked up at him nervously.

She nodded.

Winter clicked his tongue and got up, lying down next to Moon and leaning her against him. "It's alright. You know that sometimes you see things but they can change." Moon shook her head. "You don't get it, it's a certain future! It will happen! You can't be here or else Snowslide is going to- to-..." 

She hugged Winter tightly and he wrapped his arms around her, gently stroking her cheek. "It'll be alright Moon." She shook her head.

"NO! YOU'RE GOING TO DIE WINTER!"

Winter froze, hearing Moon crying and gripping onto him for dear life. Winter sighed. He was always ready to give up his life if it means Snowslide would be defeated. But now that he had a mate, he wondered if sacrificing himself was the right thing to do. He would do anything for his friends and especially Moon, but she would be heartbroken if he died. 

He knows she wouldn't be able to recover from that.

He wrapped his wings around her and kissed her forehead "it's alright, I won't die. I promise. I'm not going anywhere." Moon nodded, and kept crying. Winter tilted Moon's head up with his claw and smiled, using his other claw to wipe her tears.

"It's gonna be okay Moon. I promise you." She nodded and sighed, hugging him tightly. "But you're going to get hurt!" Winter smiled "I'll take a thousand spikes to the heart to keep you safe." Moon sniffed her tears away and kissed his cheek. "Very sweet" she sniffed "but that would break your 'no dying' promise."

Winter chuckled and gave her a small kiss "alright. Let's just focus on the now and not worry about the future okay?" Moon sighed "kind of hard when you're a dragon that can literally see the future." Winter chuckled "come on, you want to take a nap? I can tell you're over-studying."

Moon wiped her tears "no it's alright, I can keep studying." Winter gave her a suspicious look, before draping his wing over her, Moon lying down right next to Winter. "No, nap time." 

As soon as Moon rested her eyes, and laid her head on her claws, she fell asleep. Winter smiled "I guess you got tired from crying earlier. But I bet it felt good getting that off your chest." He smiled and nudged in closer to her, resting his head on hers.

The room suddenly got very cold.

Winter heard talons scrapping against the floor and he quickly put his wing around Moon as he felt a chilling breath against his ear.

"This so-called 'peace'  of yours isn't going to last Winter." Winter growled lightly, careful not to wake up Moon. "I will end you and your mate." Winter hissed, pointing the spikes on his tail toward Snowslide as he opened his dark blue eyes only to be met with Snowslide's obsidian eyes.

"So why don't you do it now? Or are you afraid someone is going to walk in and see you murder us?"

Snowslide retracted, slapping Winter's tail away with his. "Unlike you, I'm not afraid to admit my weaknesses." 

Winter raised his head, and growled "we'll kill you. And the Icewings can finally rest easy at night." 

"You're going to protect them?"

"Yes."

"Right. Because that worked soooo well with Gelid."

Winter froze.

He stood up, lifting his wing from Moon as he faced Snowslide, raising his tail toward him. "How dare you say his name." He spat, lunging at Snowslide and knocking him over, sending him into the wall. Snowslide let out a hiss and swung his tail around trying to hit Winter, but he dodged and bit Snowslide's tail, drawing blood.

Snowslide growled and lunged at Winter and scratched Winter's neck, sure to leave a scar. Winter refrained himself from making a sound so he wouldn't wake up Moon.

Snowslide pounced toward Moon, but Winter slammed his side into the Icewing, sending him out into the wall which made a cracking noise. Winter panted and gently brought one claw to his neck, feeling the blue blood running down his neck and leg, pooling on the ground.

The enchanted Icewing shook off the rubble and stood up, glaring at Winter. "I'm surprised you're still conscious." "Yeah well, I've grown stronger over the years. Just waiting for my moment to end you."

Winter growled and pounced on Snowslide, jumping on top of him and scratching his neck and wings, leaving a scar on both. Snowslide yelled in fury and threw Winter off him, "you little-"

"Yo Winter! Everything alright?"

They both snapped their heads up to the door, hearing Qibli's voice down the hall. "Well. Looks like my time's up." Winter spread his wings, covering Moon "I know that you told your Winglet about me, but I'm here to kill you and the Nightwing." Winter hissed, pieces of ice and snow rising from his nostrils before falling on the ground.

"Farewell."

With that, Snowslide left.

Winter groaned, and shook his head, looking back to see Moon yawning awake. As she looked to her side, she was frightened to not see Winter beside her. "You- You alright Moon?" Winter panted, her head snapping toward him. "Winter! Oh three moons what happened to you?"

Winter smiled, "gl-gla-ad you-'re... O......Kay....."

Winter collapsed on the ground, the last thing he saw was the talons of his Winglet walking toward him as Moon cradled his head in her arms.