Work Text:
It had been drilled into his head from an early age: Tell no one about your soulmarks. Winter had two problems with his soulmarks: the names weren’t IceWing, and there were names. Two of them. Completely unheard of for an IceWing. Dragonets were told horror stories about dragons with more than one soulmark; they were insane, one of their soulmates was fake, or they were real, and the dragon killed themselves because they couldn’t choose.
Winter didn’t want to go crazy and kill himself, thank you very much.
And, to add to his problems, one was pink and one was purple. The colors were fine, pink or purple soulmarks were perfectly normal; the issue was that since he had two of them, they could both be romantic. Winter wished he could give away one of his soulmarks to a dragon that had none (which was rare, but no unheard of).
Then he was sent to Jade Mountain Academy, and all anyone wanted to talk about was their soulmark. Some of the more naïve – or stupid, from Winter’s point of view – dragons (RainWings and MudWings, mostly) were brave enough to ask dragons from other tribes, delighted to find out that what was considered ‘normal’ varied from tribe to tribe. Winter was simultaneously relieved and terrified to discover that having more than one soulmark was considered common among some of the tribes. MudWings, for example, thought it was perfectly normal to have five or six soulmarks, all platonic, one for each of their brothers and sisters. Did this mean that Winter was less of a IceWing? Was this just more proof for something he already knew? He had known his whole life that he was an abnormality, the odd one out, but now he wasn’t sure what to think.
When he arrived he was greeted by a small, annoyingly energetic NightWing. Great, I’m barely here and already I have to deal with NightWings. She babbled some welcome message that was filled with inanities about “learning from others” and “inter-tribe cooperation”, and handed him a school guide. He glanced through it, checking his winglet and who else was in it.
Quartz Winglet: IceWing: Winter.
His heart skipped a beat.
A few lines below his name was another name he recognized.
SandWing: Qibli.
He quickly walked away from his sister, ignoring her annoyed glance his way. SandWing: Qibli. He looked at the parchment again, making sure he hadn’t miss-read it. Qibli. He had known that name since before he could read. Those same letters were etched in purple on his pale scales, under the joint that connected his wing to shoulder. Easy to hide but hard to ignore, just like his new clawmate.
Winter spent several seconds hoping that his soulmark would be unrequited, which was rare, but not impossible. It would be easier to suffer through an unrequited soulmark and let it fade away once I leave this moon-cursed place then…then whatever the alternative would be.
When he met Qibli, in their sleeping cave, he treated him the same as everyone else, with cold disinterest and condescension. Qibli made stupid jokes, acting totally casual, and Winter feared – hoped he was right, and the purple writing will fade away and he can forget about it. In an amazingly idiotic turn of events, the SandWing lets Bandit out, and they chase him through the halls, and into the prey center, and then there’s a NightWing holding his scavenger. She looks scared, and beautiful, and Winter needs to hate her.
“You have ten seconds to give me back my scavenger before I slice your face off.”
And she was panicking, not moving, and Qibli shot him a look that he didn’t know what to do with. Part of him wanted to curl up and say he was sorry and please don’t hate me, because now one of the two people who might love him was disappointed in him, and part of him wanted to threaten the NightWing again, just to push his soulmate away.
Coming here was a bad idea. Not that it had been his idea.
Winter threatened the NightWing, and Qibli tried to negotiate, and why are you helping? It felt as though the purple letter under his right wing were burning through his scales, melting him from the inside out. He thought it couldn’t get any worse, because his soulmate was helping, and Winter told himself that he wasn’t growing fond of his clawmate, he was just glad that he might have Bandit back soon.
And then it got worse.
The NightWing answered his question.
“Moon.”
Her name was Moon.
“Moon what?” Winter snapped, panic taking the place of blood in his veins. “Moon what? Come on, NightWing. We know your names are all lies.” Please, please, not now, not here. “So what’s yours?” I can’t handle you both, not together, not at the same time. “Moondestroyer? Mooneater? Mooncrusher?”
“Winter, you need to seriously cool down!” Qibli yelled, “Get it? Because he’s an IceWing? I know, I’m hilarious.” he had turned his attention to Moon, trying to dissolve the tension with jokes, and it felt like all the air was sucked out of the room, Winter couldn’t breathe, but thank you, thank you for not caring about me, thank you for distracting her.
The little RainWing standing behind Moon that Winter had barely noticed stepped forward and told Winter, the big scary IceWing prince, that there was no hope.
“It’s Moonwatcher.”
Winter’s world crumbled.
Like frozen soil at the edge of a mountain, like a roaring avalanche tumbling down a ravine, like purple and pink letters peeling themselves off his scales and fluttering to the ground.
“Moonwatcher,” Winter repeated, wishing someone, anyone, would correct him. “No, you heard her wrong, it’s Moonthrasher, it’s Moondust, it’s Mooncrusher, not Moonwatcher.” No one stepped forward.
So Winter shut off. He’s the royal IceWing prince, and there is a NightWing holding his scavenger. Don’t think about soulmates, don’t think about what-ifs, think about being an IceWing prince.
And Sunny came, and told Qibli he could change winglets if he didn’t like Bandit, but Qibli said “I don’t mind the scavenger. His owner is the one I might be allergic to.” And even though Winter’s stomach sank, a small corner of his mind whispered thank you.
Winter left, wandered around, went to his room, and slept, all the time trying not to think. The next morning he and Qibli walked to their first class. Winter entered the room, noticed who was in it, and felt his heart sink down his tail.
Qibli he could handle. Sure, it was difficult to ignore his soulmate when they were sharing a cave, but they barely knew each other, and Winter was still hoping it was unrequited.
But this…he couldn’t do this.
The name under his left wing joint, exactly the same spot as the one that read Qibli, spelled out Moonwatcher in neat, pink lettering.
And here she was, watching him apprehensively as he and Qibli entered the cave. Now I can keep an eye on her.
I’ll find out why she knows so much about scavengers. I’ll find out everything about her. But no, that wasn’t right, he was supposed to avoid her, and let the pink name fade to ice white, just like the purple one on his other wing.
And then, as he joined the circle of dragons, a small voice in the corner of his mind whispered I wonder what she thinks of me.
They introduced themselves, but Winter wasn’t paying much attention. He was too focused on the fact that he had just met his two soulmates in the past day (neither of whom were IceWing, but he had already known that), and now he was stuck in a ‘winglet’ with them. Then the SkyWing, Carnelian, asked “Are we stuck with this group?” and Winter’s mind went Thank you for asking.
“That’s not quite how I would put it,” said Tsunami, “But yes.”
“What if we would prefer to be in a group with other IceWings?” Winter asked, hoping maybe I won’t have to say with them, “Such as my sister?”
“That’s not how the winglets are set up,” Tsunami said, “But you’ll be in some bigger group classes with her and have plenty of time to make other friends as well.”
Winter doubted that, but he didn’t say anything. Moon seemed scared of him and stepped back when he moved towards the food Tsunami had offered. She’s frightened of me, he thought, and his heart sank a little, but he thought determinedly Mother would be so proud. Qibli was talking to her again, and she seemed dazed, nervous. She can’t know, Winter told himself, It’s impossible. They were instructed to introduce themselves, and Moon said she grew up in the rainforest, which really didn’t help Winter. I have a NightWing for one of my TWO soulmates, and she grew up in the rainforest, like some sort of RainWing. Then his other soulmate, the SandWing (Winter refused to think of him as Qibli), introduced himself, saying “I’m Qibli, I was one of Thorn’s Outclaws before she became queen. My plan is to learn everything as fast as possible and then get back to help her run the Kingdom of Sand.”
Before he could think better of it, Winter said sarcastically “I’m sure she’s lost without you.”
“And I’m sure you’re perfectly essential to the operation of your kingdom.”
That hurt. Winter knew he deserved it, but it still stung. Like a SandWing tail. How poetic.
The little MudWing introduced himself, talking about his brothers and sisters in a way Winter had never heard any IceWing talk about their family, and once he finished, it was Winter’s turn.
“Well, I am Winter. Queen Glacier’s nephew.” Qibli said “Queen Glacier’s nephew” at the same time Winter did, clearly teasing him.
“Don’t mock me,” Winter threatened, but this just seemed to encourage the SandWing.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Qibli said innocently.
“If you’re head of school,” Winter addressed Tsunami, “does that mean you’re the dragon to talk to about getting a private cave?”
“Why, yes, I am.” Tsunami said. “The answer is no.”
“See, I’m your destiny,” Qibli said to Winter, giving him a cheerful little shrug. Nonono! Winter felt like he was flying in a thunderstorm and his wings had just disappeared. He can’t – We can’t – This has to be unrequited! He can’t know! Please, please tell me he was just joking. Being friendly, that’s all. He doesn’t realized that he’s my – that I have his name.
Qibli wasn’t paying attention, thank the moons, he was smiling at the NightWing – my other soulmate – who had stifled a laugh at his joke, but when he glanced back at Winter, he must have realized that something was wrong, because he didn’t make another joke at Winter’s expense for a while.
After their History class, Winter walked back to their sleeping cave. Qibli was already waiting for him, a (relatively) seriously look on his face.
“Winter,” he said, and was that hesitance in his voice? “I think we should talk.”
“About?” Winter said archly, pretending to fuss over Bandit’s cage, when in actuality he was watching Qibli out of the corner of his eye. The SandWing was fiddling with his amber earring in an annoyingly endearing manner and watching the entrance to the cave.
“Well, I think –” Qibli cut himself off, tilted his head to the side, considering, and then restarted. “I’m sorry if I upset you with my joke earlier.” See, I’m your destiny “What’s considered normal for IceWing soulmarks?”
Winter felt a shiver run down his spine. He a never felt cold, really, truly cold, before. He turned to face Qibli, trying not to let any of his alarm show. Over the course of the last two days his whole world, everything he had known, any control over his own life, had been torn to pieces. Qibli’s black eyes met Winter’s blue ones, and for once Winter could see that Qibli was just as tense as him.
“Because I don’t know about you, but I have several soulmarks, I think one of them might be –”
“We’re soulmates.” Winter said.
Winter couldn’t believe what he’d just said. Why would you say that? He could hear his father’s voice reprimanding him, What is wrong with you? His mother was yelling, Do you even realize what this could mean? Then Icicle, snidely stating I’m so glad I’m not a freak like you, and…and Hailstorm, laughing, saying Winter, you idiot, I always told you those soulmarks would cause trouble.
I’m sorry, Winter thought, wishing he could curl up and disappear, wishing he could run away from everyone, I don’t know why I said that, everything is wrong with me, I didn’t ask to have two soulmarks, I know what this means, it could mean scandal and ruin for the whole family, it could destroy Icicle’s chances for the throne, yes, they are trouble, why couldn’t I be
“Oh.”
The words from Qibli, my soulmate, snapped Winter back to their conversation.
“I guess I knew that,” he continued, “but I wasn’t sure – sometimes soulmarks are unrequited. I – Mine is purple; your name is in purple.”
Winter nodded, they added in a slightly dazed voice, “Yours too. Your name is purple.”
Clearly realizing that Winter was a bit shaken, Qibli said cautiously “This doesn’t mean that – You probably don’t want a SandWing for a soulmate, so if you want to let your soulmark Fade, that’s your choice.”
Winter really wished Qibli wasn’t being so understanding and kind; it made everything so much harder.
Winter nodded again, trying to think about ramifications for the family and the strategic benefits and positives versus negatives, but all he could think was I found my soulmate, and he doesn’t hate me.
Purple. That mean we could be romantic or platonic. But my other soulmark is pink, which is romantic. Does that mean Qibli and I should be platonic?
“For SandWings, it’s considered normal to have two or three soulmarks,” Qibli said, then added, “You have two soulmarks, right?”
Winter looked at him, shocked, and thought this SandWing is smarter then he lets on. At first he wanted to deny it, but he knew there was no point. “Yes. How many do you have?” Winter felt justified in asking, given that Qibli had just openly stated how many soulmarks Winter had.
“Four,” Qibli said, and Winter nearly collapsed then and there, “I used to have five, but one was unrequited and faded away. Now I have four; three purple, one blue.” And I thought I had it bad with two. Unrequited! He actually had an unrequited soulmark. I wonder who it was for.
“My other one is pink,” Winter volunteered. Next I’ll be telling him about Hailstorm. “One soulmark is considered normal for IceWings, but some dragons don’t have any,”
Qibli looked scandalized, “I can’t imagine not having a soulmark.”
“Icicle doesn’t have a soulmark,” Winter said, not feeling remotely bad for sharing a private detail about his sister. Aside from the fact that she regularly called him a freak for having two soulmarks, she didn’t care who know about her lack of soulmarks. She was actually proud of it, and liked to talk about how she was lucky she didn’t have to wait around for a stupid name on her scales. “I’m a deformity. I’ve never heard of another IceWing who has two soulmarks.”
He saw something, maybe anger, flash through Qibli’s eyes. “Don’t say that. You’re not a deformity.”
“Like I said, three soulmarks is normal for a SandWing, but three purple and one blue is rare, especially when two of them are distinctly not SandWing.” Qibli paused for a moment, hesitating. Winter tried to look supportive, something he wasn’t used to doing, but it must have worked, because Qibli continued. “When I was little, before Thorn took me in, my mother would periodically try to get rid of those soulmarks.”
“Get rid of? What do you mean?” Winter could feel anger, hot and heavy, boiling in his stomach.
Qibli sat down, holding out his right forearm. There were two names in neat purple writing on the inside of his arm; Winter and Moonwatcher.
Moonwatcher. We both have her name.
But that wasn’t what caught Winter’s attention. The scales that the writing was on, and the surrounding ones, were scarred and disfigured. “What did she do to you?” Winter was amazed by the amount of rage he was feeling on behalf of his clawmate.
Qibli shrugged, as if it was normal, acceptable. “She tried pulling out the scales, but they always grew back with the same names, so she tried burning my soulmarks off. Obviously, it didn’t work.” Qibli smiled at him, but Winter could see the pain underneath. “She was the one I had the unrequited soulmark for. Blue, obviously.” He paused, then continued, obviously making an effort to sound up-beat, “Anyway, Thorn took me in, so it’s irrelevant now. And I found you!”
Winter nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
“These are my other ones.” Qibli showed Winter his other forearm. This one said Umber in purple and Thorn in deep sapphire, and the scales only had a few small blemishes.
Winter was astounded by the trust Qibli was placing in him. No one had ever really trusted him before, no one had voluntarily told him anything so personal.
“My pink soulmark is Moonwatcher,” he offered, hoping Qibli wouldn’t be upset by the news that they both had Moon. The SandWing seemed fine with the news, asking “Have you talked to her yet?”
Winter frowned and muttered “No.”
The next day Winter caught up to Moon outside the music cave.
“I want you to look at my scavenger,” he said. Don’t make eye contact! Don’t think about her! You’re a disgrace to the royal IceWing lineage, Winter! Your brother would never have been so weak!
Talking with Qibli had helped, but when he woke up this morning, all he could think about was his parent’s reactions. Qibli was understanding, but Winter didn’t want to take a chance with Moon. Who knew how she would react? And there was still a chance his soulmark was unrequited.
He brought Bandit to the library, his mind whirling the whole time. Moon and her little RainWing clawmate were in the library when he got there, along with the grumpy SkyWing.
“Did you build all this?” Moon asked, inspecting the cage.
Winter nodded. “All the stuff inside. I thought he’d like it, but he’s hardly used any of it – he won’t climb on the swing or use the running wheel.” Moon watched him intently as he rambled about Bandit’s habits. She’s actually interested in what I’m saying. Winter had never met anyone who was as interested in scavengers as he was.
Sunny came over, and made a few suggestions. Moon agreed, and recommended that Winter befriend Bandit.
“How am I supposed to do that?” Winter demanded. “This is useless.” He picked up the scavenger’s cage and left the library, but he couldn’t get Moon’s face out of his mind. Stop thinking about her! He scolded himself, you’ve already talked to your stupid SandWing soulmate! If you keep this up, everything will be ruined!
He returned Bandit to the sleeping cave, read for a little while (he had taken out a scroll on soulmarks differences between tribes), and decided to go to history class a little early.
In the hall outside the history cave, he found Moon partially collapsed against the wall.
“What is wrong with you?” he asked, trying to mask the worry in his voice with condescension. Is she alright?
“Winter,” Moon gasped his name, stumbling upright.
“Some kind or NightWing seizure?” he moved to step past her, to see if Webs was in the cave, maybe he’ll know what to do.
“You can’t go in there!” Moon grabbed his forearm. We’re touching – she’s – I’m – her scales against mine – I can’t want this – “What are you doing?” he snapped, but he didn’t pull away.
“Please don’t go in there,” she begged, “Something terrible is going to –” she broke off again, shivering.
“What something terrible?” he shook her, trying to get her to continue, “How do you know?”
“Hey, leave her alone,” a voice interrupted.
Qibli! Maybe he can help.
“Stop!” Moon cried, throwing herself in front of Qibli and Turtle. “Don’t go in! No one can go in!”
“Whoa, calm down,” Turtle tried to soothe her, “You’re having some kind of panic attack.”
“No,” Moon panted, “Please listen. Please, please, don’t let anyone go in there.”
“I’m listening,” Qibli said gently, crouching down to her, “We’re here, don’t worry.”
She grabbed Turtle’s talons, mumbling “Kinkajou. I have to stop Kinkajou.”
Moon was clearly panicking. They tried to calm her down, but their efforts didn’t seem to make a difference. The SkyWing, Carnelian, ignored Moon’s frantic warning and went into the history cave, and
BOOOM.
The cave had exploded.
Winter glanced around, spotting Moon, Qibli, Kinkajou, and Turtle. He ran towards Moon, Qibli right next to him.
“We have to get her out of here,” Qibli said, “The smoke –” he started coughing. A few moments later, the burning SkyWing, Scarlet’s murder pet, Peril, ran past into the cave.
She reemerged with a body. Carnelian.
“Maybe I can –” Winter tried breathing a small amount of frostbreath onto her neck, but he couldn’t tell if it was helping or making it worse. He couldn’t even tell if she was still alive.
Kinkajou’s RainWing friend, Tamarin, was pulled out of the fire. She’s wasn’t as badly burnt as Carnelian, but she was unconscious. Clay and a few others took Tamarin away to the underground lake.
How did she know? She knew something was going to happen. Did she set this up? No, she wouldn’t have stopped us if she had done this. That means – no, that’ not possible. How did she know?
Winter grabbed Moon’s arm and pulled her along behind him, bringing them to a small narrow cave where the air was clear enough to breath.
“You knew,” he snarled at Moon, “That’s why you tried to stop us from going in. You knew about the explosion and the fire before it happened.” He took a step towards her. “So, how did you know?”
Moon seemed like she was still in shock, not responding to their Qibli, Turtle and Kinkajou’s questions.
“There’s only one explanation,” Winter hissed, “You did this. You set the fire. I don’t know why yet, but I will find out.”
“I swear I didn’t,” Moon pleaded, “Please believe me.”
But she still wasn’t answering their questions.
“I will give you one chance, NightWing. You have until midnight tomorrow to tell me the truth – or I’m going to tell everyone what you did. I knew NightWings couldn’t be trusted, but I was starting to think maybe you were different.” I thought maybe I could trust my own soulmate, “Clearly I was wrong.”
Winter left.
She has to be the bomber, that’s the explanation. She can’t – NightWings don’t have any powers.
I already have a SandWing and a NightWing for soulmates; I don’t need one of them to be able to see the future.