Winterwatcher Fanfiction ~ Chapter Eight

Instructions

Winter stared at Moon in alarm. “What?” he cried. “Me? Are you sure?” Moon sighed and nodded solemnly. “He started saying how you were just trying to make me give you a chance so that you could push me and him apart. He told me he was the right dragon for me and that since I had already…. You know…. Chosen him and told him that I wanted to be with him and all that….” She paused, blushing, and quickly went on, “Well, he said that since I already told him all that, you aren’t allowed to try and interfere and that I wasn’t allowed to talk to you anymore about…. Stuff like this.” She waved her talon around expressively, gesturing to the mountain and their twined tails. “But…. That’s not like Qibli at all!” Winter burst out, dismayed. “He’s always the kind, friendly, funny one. He’s always been nice to me even when I’m awful to him, not the other way around. And, and he has no right to tell you who you get to talk to!” He scowled, feeling his heart thump furiously inside his chest. Moon looked up again with tears in her eyes. “I know, Winter. That’s what I told him. But he wouldn’t listen to me.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, though. I’m scared of this Qibli. I have no idea why he’s acting like this, and it’s completely the opposite of his usual personality.” Winter shifted so he was sitting closer to Moon. He moved his talons so they were touching hers and stared down into her emerald eyes. “You’re right. But there has to be SOMEthing we can do.” He paused. “Moon, the other day…. When I came to see you at Jade Mountain…. Qibli confronted me on the way out. He was absolutely furious and started shouting at me to go away and never come back again.” Winter turned his head to gaze out towards the mountain range around them, his wandering eyes settling on a crystal clear lake nestled in a valley. He heard a small gasp from Moon. And then, more quietly, he said, “Qibli told me that I didn’t deserve to be friends with you. He yelled about how you chose him and…. And that you’re his and no one else’s. He was literally fuming when he shoved me out the entrance. But that’s not him at all. It was like it was someone else…. Controlling his mind….” He trailed off, leaving an empty, shocked silence hanging in the air between them. Moon tilted her head back and they looked at one another. “Winter, that’s terrible,” the NightWing mumbled. “There must be some way to make Qibli see sense… I mean, I don’t want to live in a furious love triangle like this my whole life…” She swallowed. “And if there’s something, anything, we can possibly do to make Qibli go back to his normal self, we have to do it.” Winter sighed sadly and nodded. He hesitated, then leaned forward to rest his chin on Moon’s head. “We’ll figure it out, don’t worry,” he whispered. “We’ll figure this out…”                                  *** Ten minutes later Winter was flying off into the sky, beating his powerful silver wings as fast as they could go, heading towards the crystalline lake near Sanctuary, where he hoped to meet Kinkajou. Moon had pulled away from him, told him to go and talk with Kinkajou, try to think of something that would work, while she headed back down into the mountain to consult the library and try to find anything about dragons getting brainwashed and their personalities being changed. She didn’t think it was the breath of evil again; that danger was over now, and this was a different kind of mind-control. But then, what in the moons could it possibly be? Winter tried to focus on the worrying, dangerous part of the situation, but one thing about what had just happened kept resurfacing in his thoughts as he flew: Moon, giving him a chance; Moon, telling him she liked him, too; Moon, twining her tail around his and moving closer to him and whispering to him, letting him know they would be okay. Moon truly was all Winter could think about. Her silver teardrop scales always shone, her emerald eyes always gazed at him, even when he was nowhere near her. *But how can we ever be together with this Qibli problem?* he thought worriedly. Guiltily, he had expected to feel… Well… happy that the SandWing’s behavior was bringing Moon and him closer. But when he searched down through his heart, he was relieved that he could not find it in him to feel that way towards his friend; instead, there was only a desire to help Qibli get back to normal. But still… would Qibli continue to refuse Moon’s longing to be with Winter, even after this was all solved? Winter tried to shake off the negative thoughts. *It’ll be okay. We’ll help Qibli snap out of it, and then… hopefully… hopefully he’ll understand if we want to be together.* Winter kept his head up as he flew on, squinting at the shape of Kinkajou in the distance. They would figure things out. Everything would be fine. It had to be. -End of chapter eight-