The Call of Fate (Angel)

The Call of Fate is a WoF Fanfiction written by Angel Of Madness 001. It follows a young Night-Ice hybrid named Frostcaller through the struggles of a horrid mother, a caring father, and a secret gift of prophecy. This fanfic has finished chapters posted to discussions, as well as the page where all chapters can be found. Please do not steal Frostcaller, or any other characters/writing from the story.
This is based off of Shubkin the fluffy derg's fanfiction Split Scales for their OC, Nitrogen. Shubkin formerly owned Starclaws and Shard, and helped with the development of Frostcaller. Links to current chapters for Split Scales can be found here, as well as at the end of posted chapters of The Call of Fate.
Split Scales - Chapters 1, 2, and 3
Split Scales - Chapters 4, 5, and 6
=== Credits ===
-Shubkin the fluffy derg
Starting this whole thing out, the former owner of Shard and Starclaws. And, while he's not in this fanfic, go check out Frostcaller's sister, Nitrogen!
-Moonwatcher908
For allowing me to use their OC, Rime, in (currently) Chapter 3.
-BLuFeather
For letting me use their OCs, Star, Frost, Scall, and Vengeance, in (currently) Chapter 3, and Permafrost in (currently) Chapter 8.
-Kippec
For letting me use their OC, Skift, in (currently) Chapter 8.
-PrincessSharpThrustOfTheThornWings
For letting me use their OC, Chill, in (currently) Chapter 8.
=== Pages of Characters in this Fic ===
WARNING: Some of these pages may contain spoilers for The Call of Fate. Explore and read these pages at your own risk of spoiling the story.
Frostcaller (Angel)
== Prolouge ==
Starclaws looked down at her egg–her egg. She had been told that she’d never have an egg, that no dragon would love her, and she’d be alone forever. Yet standing right here in front of her was the love of her life-Who cared if he was an IceWing? (Her parents, apparently) His name was Shard, and everything about him was perfect. From the long, glittering spikes along his back, to his whip-thin tail, and back to his curved, serrated claws. Everything we’ve been told about IceWings is wrong. Because I’m standing here, right now, in front of one that defies everything.
She studied her own claws, wondering how she’d ever hold something so small and fragile as a dragonet. “How do you think they’ll look?” she asked, lifting her head and looking up at Shard. Even with his head lowered, he was still a lot taller than she was. Must I have picked one so tall? I mean, of course I love him-but moons above he’s tall. 
Shard shrugged, looking up at the stars far above. “I think…they’ll be beautiful. With starry eyes and the moons captured like glass in their spikes.”
“That…wouldn’t be very easy to see, Shard. How could you tell all of that, anyway?”
He pointed up at the sky. “Astronomy, coupled with the native NightWing astrology. When the moons are full, you all seek your powers. And judging by the last moon cycle, there should be one full moon tonight,” he said, as if nothing mattered more in the world than these celestial bodies.
Well, I’ll make him care about me and this dragonet more than his boring studies. He’s got a family now! And if he doesn’t care, then fine by me. I’ll even name the dragonet myself.
Hm…Celestial…Elegant…Moonreader…Stareyes, if Shard is correct, bah. I think Celestial is pretty. Yes, Celestial it is.
She opened her mouth to tell Shard the name when the moons broke through the clouds-One crescent, one half, and one full. The light cast by the smallest, full moon seemed to reach down and surround her egg, like it might snatch it away and carry it far. Well, if even the moons tried that I’d tear them apart! She thought, curling her claws a little. 
From inside the egg, the dragonet began to squeak and push open the eggshell. A silvery white claw jabbed through the very top, followed by another claw near the bottom. And after a long, baited pause, the whole eggshell came crumbling away with the force of the dragonet’s spiked tail. 
Shard gasped and slowly, gently reached out, picking up the young dragonet and cradling her in his talons. As Starclaws looked, her heart felt like it was ripped in half, then again and again. Her dragonet…
“They’re a freak,” she whispered, not bothering to even try and stop the crystal-like tears in her eyes. I’ve…what have I done? I love Shard, but…is this what we’re destined to do? Hatch a little monster? 
“Don’t say that!” Shard said, his eyes shooting up and his tail rearing on the defensive. His talons gently curled around the dragonet, her wide eyes staring up beyond Shard, beyond Starclaws, at the moons above them. “She’s beautiful, like I said she’d be.”
“What, are you a prophet now?” Starclaws said, upset and frightened by the little hybrid she’d hatched. She watched as the little dragonet shivered in Shard’s talons, before they gave a small belch of flame. Shard yelled and passed the dragonet over to Starclaws in an instant, patting the small burn on his chest. 
Starclaws stared at the dragonet, and she stared up at Starclaws. “Arrrrk?” she chirped, reaching hopefully for Starclaws’s snout. Instead, Starclaws hissed and recoiled, but then held the dragonet close to her own chest. You better not burn me, you little monster, she thought. Slowly, the dragonet’s breathing became deeper and more even, like she was asleep.
“What are we going to name her?” Shard asked, stepping closer and putting his wing around Starclaws. It seemed like his burn was frosted over now–he probably had used a small dab of his own frostbreath on it. She sighed and leaned close to him. 
She’s too ugly to be named Celestial. That’s the regal name for a pure NightWing. Ooh, we can name another dragonet Regal, good idea. But what to name this one?
“Well?” Shard said, nudging Starclaws. “Whaddya think of that one?”
“Er…say it again?”
“We can name her Frostcaller.”
== Part One - Frozen in Time ==
=== Chapter 1 ===
Five years later…
Frostcaller shuffled on her stony bed, pulling the polar bear fur covers further up until they covered her snout and practically drowned her in white fur. She’d do anything to sleep in for just a bit longer. Even though she lived on the outskirts of the Ice Kingdom, it was still so cold. Frostcaller didn’t understand how her mother could withstand this frozen wasteland.
As if the thought had brought her, Frostcaller’s mother–Starclaws–suddenly barked at her in a harsh tone. “Get up, Frost,” she said. Frostcaller fought the urge to groan, hearing the sharp tapping of talons on the stone floor beneath them. She slowly, methodically sat up, huddling in the blankets like an overgrown seal. “It’s not that cold,” Starclaws said, not for the first time. “A hybrid like you should not be feeling this weather.”
Frostcaller bit her tongue and ducked her head. She was already five, but had never told Starclaws or Shard–her father–that the cold bothered her far too much to be normal. That it wasn’t a chilling freeze she felt in her stomach, but instead a burning heat. “Apologies, mother,” she said, shaking the covers off and pausing to neatly fold them up, knowing she’d come back later that night and snuggle up once more.
As the two stepped outside, the sun loomed ahead of them, beautiful in the pink and yellow sky. Frostcaller couldn’t remember when it started, but Shard would take her out early in the morning to let her watch the sun rise, and Starclaws would watch the sun set with her. “Where’s father?” she asked, though the answer came to her but a moment later. 
Ah, safe and sound in the palace’s guest rooms. Was it last night, when that one came to me? Or the night before? She tried to keep her expression normal, but sometimes Frostcaller liked to intentionally get lost in her thoughts, lost in the endless stream of possibilities that spread out before her whenever she focused. 
“Off in the palace, presenting his latest astronomy findings to the queen,” Starclaws replied, and Frostcaller saw a smile grace her mother’s face. “With these findings, he says that we’ll be able to locate the missing IceWing sailors,” she said.
“Is that why we’re out here, at the crack of dawn?” Frostcaller asked, though she regretted it right away. She saw the blow coming before it landed, but didn’t react fast enough to move away or defend herself. 
In a blaze of pain, claws dug into the side of her head and pinned it to the cold snow. Frostcaller shivered from head to talon, wondering how long she’d be kept like this for. Never before had Starclaws drawn blood–or left a mark–but it certainly hurt for days afterwards whenever she attacked Frostcaller.
“No, in fact,” Starclaws said, serious enough that her face seemed to be carved from ice. “Come on,” she said, dragging Frostcaller by her ear. 
She yelped and reached to free herself from Starclaws’s grip, but it was no use. Every twist, turn, or feeble attempt at escape just made her mother tighten her iron grip. “Quit squirming or there will be a terrible accident,” she hissed, suddenly tossing Frostcaller in front. 
Frostcaller flung out her wings to stop her momentum, and her front talons skittered off the edge of a clump of snow. She flapped her wings in a panic and managed to get back onto solid ground, but watched as the snow she’d moved tumbled into crystal clear, ice cold water. It was a smaller stream of fast flowing water, fueled by the melting ice around it, and Starclaws’s favorite spot to discipline Frostcaller. “Surprise,” Starclaws said quietly, almost tauntingly, as she grabbed Frostcaller by the horns.
“NO!” Frostcaller cried, a moment before Starclaws dunked her in the bone-chilling water and let go. She tumbled against the current for a moment, the cold sapping her strength as well as paralyzing her. Rocks dotted the stream further ahead as it widened, and got mildly warmer, and images flashed in Frostcaller’s head as she focused on how to not split her head on a rock in the water. 
Water closed over her head suddenly, and she let out a scream that showed as a stream of pathetic bubbles in front of her. She felt so cold, like being locked away in an ice chamber and being forgotten. 
She managed to claw back up to the surface, gasping for air and coughing water. As a large rock formation loomed in front of her, Frostcaller reached out her claws and was slammed into the rock by the current–but she had to hold on. Her muscles cried in pain, and her claws felt sore, but as soon as her grip was better, she opened her wings and pushed off the rock to soar up into the air. Scanning the snowy ground below, she noticed the speck of black against the white and landed beside her mother, collapsing in the snow like a half-drowned owl. Which, to be fair, she felt half-drowned.
Starclaws sighed and gently picked up Frostcaller, like she hadn’t been hurting and trying to kill Frostcaller moments earlier. “Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up before Shard gets home,” she said, soaring off towards their house again.
=== Chapter 2 ===
The sun was high in the sky when they got home, casting a warm glow over the world and tickling the snow on the ground, making it dazzle and gleam in the light. Frostcaller shivered, a combination of the thought of the snow below and the biting wind that stung into her scales. Starclaws softly growled, and Frostcaller dug her claws into her arm to stop her shivering. 
They walked back into the small stone house and Frostcaller bolted to her room, grabbed the fur covers and huddled inside of them like her life depended on it. She didn’t even notice how soaked they were getting, or how she dripped water across the whole floor and on her bed. If there wasn’t so much ice in the house, she’d have dared to use her fire to warm up. If she could just sneak outside and use it…
Starclaws poked her snout into Frostcaller’s room and snorted. “Fine. Be a little freezing, begging lizard. We’re going back out in an hour,” she said, before turning and shutting the door with a harsh slam.
As soon as Starclaws’s talonsteps died down, Frostcaller threw herself at her pillow and sobbed. Why did her mother hate her so much? Had she done something wrong? Where was her father when she needed him? Frostcaller had so many questions that never received an answer–so many times where it felt like her pillow was her only friend. 
Eventually, Frostcaller felt like she just couldn’t cry anymore. Trails of tears still marked her snout, once warm but now inviting the bitter cold into her body. She drew her curtains and threw the covers over herself, determined to figure something out. 
The futures were so mangled in her head, like kite strings caught in a tree. All of the nearest ones were dim, dark, and dreary. There was hardly anything happy or beautiful about what was to come of her. If she couldn’t avoid these futures, though, at least she could study them more. Frostcaller longed for scrolls to write down the most important notes, but she couldn’t ask her parents. Starclaws would turn her down, and if she did give Frostcaller some scrolls, the contents would probably make Starclaws do something drastic.
On the other talon, though, Shard would want a good reason for giving her blank scrolls–and then the truth would come out about her headaches and nightmares, how they weren’t products of her imagination, but instead the future. 
So, everything she knew was just the memories of what she’d seen.
Frostcaller wound herself deep in the many paths, the splits along places where things changed or happened a certain way. None of these paths lead to a true, lasting happiness for her. Any victory against Starclaws’s wrath would always be temporary. But one of those nearer, more pressing and urgent timelines, was something so cruel and vicious that Frostcaller couldn’t believe it.
She followed that path, ignoring the branches from it–it was only this timeline, the most plausible one, that the horrific event happened. Moments away from seeing it, a huge scene of Shard and Starclaws screaming until their throats caved. Frostcaller wasn’t to be found, until she looked closer and saw her own starry spikes crumpled in the corner. 
She wasn’t breathing. 
She wasn’t moving at all.
Frostcaller slammed herself out of that vision, refusing to acknowledge that possibility. She couldn’t die. How would she? The leadup to that path showed no clear signs of what may lie in store for her. Something had to change. Something, anything to drag Frostcaller out of that timeline. Frantically, she rifled through the nearby branching threads and grasped at their strings, trying to make sense of it all. Several of them looped back around to find herself once again in that moment of her parents fighting, with her own body in the corner. Like a broken, forgotten toy. 
As soon as she’d seen these images, a sharp pain stabbed through her eyes and brain, like claws trying to tear her open from the inside out. Words led by a voice that wasn’t her own escaped her tongue in a low, chilled voice. 
“If the stars can be put inside ivory claws,
If the winter itself can be tamed in iron jaws,
Then the path will be set to thaw the night.
A fight for a life,
A fight for a love,
Place trust in the ruler of divine right,
And hide away, or forget the light.”
Frostcaller’s eyes shot open and she scrambled out of the covers. What could that mean? It was a prophecy, but…for who? What were ivory claws and iron jaws? Who was the ruler of divine right? Hide away was clear, but what does forget the light mean? She had to tell someone this prophecy. She couldn’t decipher it on her own, despite how she’d done it before. 
But who? Clearly not Shard or Starclaws. She didn’t have any other siblings. Queen Polar, despite being friendly and good friends with Frostcaller’s father, couldn’t be trusted to keep this from anyone. She didn’t have any friends, either. Well, there was one friend she’d made a few years ago, but they fell out of touch lately. 
Well, maybe that friend remembered her. After all, it was hard to forget a face like Frostcaller’s. An hour of down time before she’d be forced back into her mother’s scornful gaze. Starclaws would be furious if she was back late. But her mother didn’t know where she was going, so Frostcaller wasn’t worried about anyone suddenly bursting down the door. She reached beside her bed and her talon fell on an old strip of cloth, one she’d kept for the vivid memories it carried with it.
One of the few times where Starclaws truly loved her.
Holding on to that happy thought, Frostcaller crept out of the house and leapt into the air, headed for the outermost city in the Ice Kingdom. It was called ‘Beyond-The-Arctic-Seas’, and was just barely warm enough for Frostcaller to stand it. Inside lay thieves and murderers…but at the very heart of the icy town, if Frostcaller remembered right, was a large home where several poorer families lived. One of those dragons had bothered to befriend the odd hybrid, but as she swooped down over the town, all Frostcaller could do was hope that Alpine remembered her.
=== Chapter 3 ===
Frostcaller landed on the edge of the town, signified by an icy oval in the middle of all the messy snow piled about it’s entrance. Houses dotted the narrow streets, which were roughly plunked slabs of stone wherever the ground was flattest. It was far out from the rest of the kingdom, and hardly tended to by the queen.
Which was kind of why Frostcaller loved it so much.
Her claws hooked into the ice, securing her to the ground no matter how cold it was. Snowflakes glittered around like drops of the sky falling on her, and when the wind blew those drops doubled. She began to head into the town when a shiny IceWing ran past her and bumped into her, knocking Frostcaller clean on the ground.
“Watch where you step, freak,” they huffed, before shooting a blast of frostbreath at the ground in front of Frostcaller. She yelped and shoved herself away, burying in a mound of snow rather than an icy tomb. The dragon continued muttering as she poked her head out and shook off the snow.
“Wait!” she called out suddenly, surging out of the snow pile and after the dragon, who Frostcaller noted had green ink sketched across their chest before they turned away completely. “Please! Stop!” The mysterious IceWing paid her no mind. Instead, they kept walking and ignoring her. She sighed and ducked her head, trying to lay low and keep warm as she walked into the town. 
Dragons bustled around her, some glaring at Frostcaller, others hissing as she passed. A few even paused to marvel at the glittering spike crest along her neck, a dark navy blue capturing pinprick stars of white. Frostcaller wished she could hide, or turn invisible like a RainWing, or something else to escape the stares her mere presence earned. All around her, dragons watched her every move, like a performer in a play she didn’t know the words to.
A loud crash sounded up ahead and every dragon stopped looking at Frostcaller, for once. IceWings around her got up and shoved her aside, heading for where a loud commotion was beginning to take place. Despite her main reason for coming here, Frostcaller’s curious side won over and she picked across the crowd, ducking under small spaces adult dragons couldn’t fit into until she had a decent view of what was going on. 
A few IceWings, five to be exact, were facing off against four other dragons. The IceWings wore glossy armor, with serious faces that seemed chiseled out of stone. They held sharp spears like long, deadly icicles. Frostcaller knew these were royal IceWing soldiers, but they usually only came out for a few reasons, so her curiosity grew. It peaked, however, when she caught the features of the four dragons facing off against these soldiers. 
There were two IceWings, one a pure glittering white and the other a frosted blue, off-white color, but next to them were a SeaWing and a SkyWing. Other tribes in the IceWing territory wouldn’t stand, even by Queen Polar’s lax standards. No wonder there were guards here. Frostcaller couldn’t tear her eyes away from the SeaWing and the SkyWing, though her ears still picked up on the conversation–more of a shouting match–going on around her. 
“You two have been exiled from the kingdom,” the lead IceWing guard said, her voice crisp and cutting through the cold air like a knife. She lowered her spear and pointed it towards the two IceWings, who seemed to have opposite yet similar reactions. One of them lifted their chin in a half gloating, half defying way, whilst the other bared their sharp teeth against the guards. “We have given you a chance before to leave, but you come back with more enemies.”
“They’re not ‘enemies’ anymore,” the angrier-looking IceWing said, puffs of crystallized air hanging around their snout. They turned their head and Frostcaller realized that they weren’t mad–in fact, they were smiling! “This isn’t truly IceWing territory, and we all know it,” she said, sweeping a wing over the watching crowd, most of whom ducked away in fright. 
“Rules are rules. You were told if you set even a claw in the cold again you’d have your claws cut off and your body cast into the sea. Now, I am a forgiving captain, so I shall spare you if you leave now. And remember–”
The other IceWing suddenly chimed in, cutting off the guard. “And remember that the gracious Captain Snow Owl let you live!” he said, his voice a mixture of mockery and genuine enjoyment. “Everyone’s heard it before.”
“Yeah. We ain’t looking for a fight,” the SkyWing behind them added, spreading their vast wings over the entire group. The head IceWing looked behind her and gave a dazzling smile to her crew that could have split the moons, Frostcaller was sure of it. 
The IceWing guard, Snow Owl, flicked her tongue in and out. “It’s a fight you’ll get.” She raised her talon in a gesture to hold, the soldiers behind her arching their backs and hissing, pale mist billowing out from their jaws. But it only took a single step from the lead IceWing rebel to start the violence.
The street erupted into chaos at the flick of a tail. Dragons were screaming, clamoring over each other to get away from the fight that had broken out, away from the deadly frostbreath and singing fire. Frostcaller couldn’t get out so easily. She was small and kept getting trampled by the horde of dragons, some of which suddenly leapt out and joined the fight against the small group. 
She herself was shoved into the center of the fighting, all the noise around her while claws and teeth gleamed and blood sprayed, staining the snow mostly blue with bits of glittering red. Frostcaller ducked her head just in time to avoid a swipe of the SeaWing’s tail, and a burst of frostbreath veered just to her left. She couldn’t escape. Dragons all around were screaming and shouting, too panicked and furious at the fight to care. Above her, IceWings grappled with the SkyWing, and one of the IceWings fell with a cry directly next to Frostcaller. 
She peered at the IceWing and regretted it instantly, their wounds fatal and the dragon gasping. “Please…Help me…” they begged, before Frostcaller pushed herself away and forced down a lump in her throat. Claws swiped all around, and for a moment, it looked like one of the IceWing Soldiers was about to fight her, but turned to battle the SkyWing instead.
Frostcaller tried to leap for the sky, but a dragon tackled her from the air–someone much larger than herself and much angrier than these other dragons. She screamed, before talons clamped around her snout and pressed into her throat. The world seemed to dance for just a moment, then slowly fade to black as she lost consciousness.
=== Chapter 4 ===
When Frostcaller awoke, everything felt sore. She was cold and hurting, and she didn’t want to open her eyes. Her senses were numbed, as were the extremities of her body. Frostcaller couldn’t even think through the haze of pain.
Something jabbed her tail, sending a jolt all through her spine. Frostcaller tried to open her eyes, but it was too much effort for her to give. Voices spoke in a muddy, jumbled sound around her. Without warning, something very fast and very cold slammed into Frostcaller, and she jerked violently, but still couldn’t find the effort to get up. It was too cold, too much pain, too much everything.
“She might actually be dead,” a voice said, Frostcaller suddenly able to register words. “I mean, it looked like the guard was just choking her, but maybe he crushed her throat entirely.”
“No. She can’t be dead, not now!” A second voice broke, louder than the first. “I just killed a member of my own tribe for her! And now you’re telling me it’s hopeless?!” Frostcaller wished she couldn’t hear again as a shriek of pain sounded right next to her. Warmth dripped onto her scales, before quickly becoming cold again.
“I said might!” the first voice wailed, pain lacing their words. “Please, sir, I’m just doing my job!”
“And I’m doing mine,” the second voice growled. Cold fluff kicked into Frostcaller’s face as she heard the sounds of something horrible happening. If she could just wake up now, she might be able to stop it. There were a few paths, but she had to get up now.
With her might, Frostcaller lifted up her arm, then dropped it again. She gave a weak roar and her eyes fluttered open for a moment.
The sounds stopped as snow crunched under talons. “Holy moons,” the second voice whispered. “She is alive. Frostcaller!” they howled, practically in her ear. “Frosty, get up!”
“Easy, easy,” the other dragon sputtered, a garbled noise in their voice. “She’s had a bad shock, and you can’t just-”
“Zip your snout or I’ll freeze it for you, walrus-breath.”
Talons lifted Frostcaller’s face up off the ground and pried her eyes open. With all her strength, Frostcaller was barely able to keep them open. “Frosty?” the voice said, a pale teal snout dancing in her vision. “Oh, thank the great ice dragon you’re alright,” they said, lifting Frostcaller up into a huge hug. It was cold, but it still felt nice.
Words were still to hard for Frostcaller to form, but at least she could take in the world around her. She was lying in a huge pile of snow, and her head and throat hurt a lot. Silver stained the snow around her, and Frostcaller realized with a start that it was her own blood in the fluffy white piles. Gathered around her were two IceWings–One, a majestic teal dragon with white edges and even a bit of blue to their scales, and the other a drooping blue dragon with a large gash across their throat, still dripping fresh navy blood.
Memories hit Frostcaller like a hurricane, harder than any vision and in some ways, more painful. Alpine, she thought, looking at the teal one. She was so much older than before, with a few battle scars to show and thin armor gracing her legs. A thick scarf of furs was draped over her neck and part of her back as well. The other dragon, Frostcaller never learned his name. All she remembered about him was that he lived in the house with Alpine, and was usually there to interrupt their playtime by dragging Alpine away.
A part of Frostcaller was happy to see him mortally wounded.
“Frostcaller, you worried me sick!” Alpine said, looking her in the eyes. “We thought you were dead! Why would you ever get yourself into a fight like that?!” Her old friend once again hugged Frostcaller, clearly displaying a mixed range of emotions, but mostly happiness.
Frostcaller slumped over and shook her head. “Didn’t…mean to,” she whispered. The other dragon approached her and that was when Frostcaller noticed he had a missing leg. That’s new…I mean, I think it is.
She wound herself deeper into old memories, her and Alpine eagerly pouncing and rolling on the ground like the naive hatchlings they were. The cold floor of the ice home she had shared with a friend for so long. All the times they laughed, cried, fought, and sang together were there, sprinkled with emotions, before finally ending with the last memory they had shared.
Frostcaller and Alpine giggled, wings spread out as they laid on the cold ice. “Y’know, I really like when we can just hang out like this,” Alpine said, smiling. “It’s been a while, since…y’know…”
“You’ve been off at training,” Frostcaller finished.
“Yeah, training. It’s harsh, sometimes. But every four-year old is expected to be able to fight. Or at least hold their own in one.”
Frostcaller sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. Then, the sound of shattering ice: Someone broke into the house, accompanied by the screams of dragons all around. Frostcaller was struck by a vision of what was to come, but it was already happening. Alpine shoved her out the door, locked it behind her, and that was the last they saw of each other.
Frostcaller would have assumed Alpine was dead, except she kept hearing the name whispered around town every now and again. The other IceWing next to Alpine hobbled over, still dripping polished blue blood everywhere, and choked out, “You don’t recognize me, do you, Frostcaller?” he asked, clutching the wound on his neck.
“Should…Should I?” Frostcaller asked, sweeping her tail closer to her.
“Well, maybe. I was always there with Alpine, k-keeping him safe,” he said, starting to stutter over his words.
“You could be anyone,” Frostcaller retorted, eying Alpine as she just watched this dragon suffer and try to talk. Who is he? And...wait...why did he just refer to Alpine as a 'him'?
“It’s m-me, Blizzard.”
Those were his last words before he collapsed in the snow, and Frostcaller could see he was no more in every timeline. 
=== Chapter 5 ===
Alpine turned her face away as Frostcaller’s stomach lurched. “Aren’t we going to-”
“He’s beyond helping, Frosty,” Alpine said, cutting Frostcaller off. “That wound I gave him was fatal. I made sure I got one of his arteries, but I also got part of his esophagus for good measure,” she said, flicking blood off her claws and spattering blue onto what white snow was left around them.
Frostcaller shakily got to her feet and stared at the snow. “Alpine, did you know this dragon?”
She sighed. “It’s a long story. Let’s just say he didn’t deserve to live–a narwhal headed carp is what he is. Was.” She corrected herself and picked up a spear that Frostcaller didn’t see before. 
Frostcaller reached out, curious and confused. “Why did you-” 
“You’d best scurry on home soon, Frosty. Visit again soon, alright?” Alpine twisted the spear around and gave her a wide smile, like Alpine hadn’t just killed an IceWing, apparently two of them.
Frostcaller ducked her head, and just as Alpine took to the air, she remembered why she’d set out to find Alpine in the first place. “Wait, WAIT! ALPINE!” she hollered, and the teal soldier stopped and turned, hovering. 
“Forget something? What’s up?”
Frostcaller pointed at the ground and dug her claws into her forearm to stop the frightened tears welling in her eyes. “I-So-There’s-” Her throat closed over, unable to conjure the words to speak. 
“Come on,” Alpine said, patting Frostcaller gently. “I do have places to be soon.”
“Icanseethefuture,” Frostcaller said, blurting it out quickly and covering her snout. Did anyone else hear? Is everything okay? Is the world about to-
“Run that by me again? You spoke so fast I couldn’t even tell.”
Frostcaller inhaled to say it again, but saw a figure flying towards them and closed her mouth. Alpine tilted her head, then turned to see what Frostcaller was looking at and groaned. “Great, am I gonna have to get more blood on my talons?” The approaching dragon was clearly an IceWing, but not wearing armor or anything, instead carrying two large rolled-up scrolls in their arms. 
As Frostcaller studied closer, she saw a glint of something shine in the dragon’s ear-a blue diamond earring with a small pearl at the top, and two sapphires embedded in the side of their face, just under their eye. Alpine inhaled, and Frostcaller grabbed her friend’s arm quickly. 
“Alpine, no! Don’t!”
“But he’s probably some nosy scientist for the queen or something like that, and I am not about to get involved,” Alpine flicked her tail and scattered the bloodstained snow around as the dragon above them suddenly opened their mouth. Frostcaller, at first, was worried that she’d mistaken them for another IceWing, and was about to meet an icy fate, until the dragon landed beside them in a clean patch of snow. 
“Frostcaller, my beautiful diamond!” he said, discarding his scrolls to lunge at Frostcaller. She was wrapped up in cold wings, pressed into a large hug, and the IceWing let the silence afterwards hang in the air like a crisp wind as father and daughter embraced each other.
“I heard about an awful fight in Beyond-the-Arctic-Seas, and normally I’d still be next to Her Majesty, making the newest chart of the stars, but then Captain Snow Owl burst in to tell the queen about the fight, and she mentioned a gray hybrid and I just knew it was you!” He gently stroked her head and squeezed her closer, before releasing her. 
“Father,” Frostcaller breathed, glad he’d shown up. “It was horrible,” she whispered, thinking of the dragon she’d watched die in front of her eyes. I didn’t even see it coming. It was just…BAM. In my face. 
“You’re safe now, I promise. Please, darling, why would you go there alone? You know it’s full of dragons looking to start fights,” he said, looking Frostcaller in the eyes as she averted his. 
“I believe she was looking for me,” Alpine said, coming back into the conversation and not at all sounding pleased. “Then some thugs from other tribes started some trouble, and she got lumped in because of who her mom is.”
Shard narrowed his eyes at Alpine, a fine white mist curling from his snout and dancing in the air. “Don’t speak ill of my mate,” he warned.
“Wasn’t speaking ill,” Alpine said, “Just pointing out a reason why.”
Shard and Alpine stared at each other for a few more seconds before Alpine shook her head. “I’d best get back to training,” she spoke, twirling the spear in the air like a proud trophy before settling it against a strap on her side. “Captain Caribou will be wondering where I am.”
“Then I bid you safe travels,” Shard said, dipping his head in a graceful nod. Alpine rolled her eyes and leapt off the ground, quickly gaining height and leaving the two dragons behind on the bloody snow.
Once Alpine was well out of sight, Shard looked Frostcaller over and winced. “Frosty, you’re bleeding.” He traced his claws along the edges of some of her wounds and she yelped at the touch. “Oh! Sorry!”
“It’s f-fine Dad,” she said, exhaling. I should tell him something. Like I can see the future, and I’m worried that I’ll end up dead, or that Alpine will do something drastic or another dragon will die. At the very least, shouldn’t I finally tell him I have fire? She couldn’t. All these years and it wasn’t right to be hiding something like that, but she wanted to be as IceWing-like as possible for her father. She wanted to be loved by him and not have him look at her the same way Starclaws did. 
“It’s not fine,” Shard said, flipping Frostcaller’s talons over. “These are pretty bad. I should get you home so me and your mother can patch this up.”
Frostcaller pulled back and looked at Shard with pleading eyes. “No, don’t take me home. Please,” she begged. Her father leaned down and twined his tail with Frostcaller’s. 
“Listen,” he started, “The palace is so far away that I don’t think we should make the flight with you in this condition. Our home is very close-only a short flight or walk away.” He paused, then gently put his talon on Frostcaller’s cheek. “Please tell me-did Starclaws yell at you again? Is that why you don’t want to go home?”
Frostcaller slowly nodded. It felt awful to lie to her father, and it was throwing her mother under the claw too, but the truth about sneaking out that started with Starclaws’s attack and ended with a prophecy…it was too complicated to explain. Shard sighed and wrapped his wings around Frostcaller, and as they sat there in silence, Frostcaller could see that the path ahead of them was not a happy one-at least for Shard. Oh Father, I’m so sorry. I can’t protect you. I can’t risk that you won’t love me anymore.
=== Chapter 6 ===
Frostcaller and Shard had been walking across the snow for a long time now, and were only just reaching the small house. Her claws ached and felt sore, and she was cold inside and outside. “C-can we go in?” she shakily asked, wondering what layed inside.
Shard shook his head. “I’ll go in first. To make sure that your mother isn’t in a bad mood,” he said, setting his jaw with grim determination. He gently rapped on the door, and a loud thump was heard from inside, followed by a shout of a swear in Starclaws’s voice. 
“Who is-” she stopped dead when she opened the door and saw Shard standing there. “Darling!” she cried, throwing her wings up and hugging him. “Oh, today was so boring without you,” Starclaws cooed, eyes closed and seeming blissful. She arched her neck to fit perfectly with the curve of Shard’s, like two pieces to a puzzle of life. 
“It’s wonderful to see you too, Star, but I need to talk to you about something,” Shard said, gently prying Starclaws’s claws off his shoulders. “Also,” he scolded, “No cursing in front of Frostcaller.”
Starclaws’s expression turned sour and she resettled her wings. “Oh, alright,” she said, obviously biting back another one. “What-What do you want to talk about?”
“It’s about Frostcaller. Here, let’s head inside and talk a little more privately,” Shard suggested, nudging his way inside with Frostcaller clinging to his tail. As she passed by Starclaws, Frostcaller looked up and saw the burning, festering hatred in her mothers’ eyes. Quickly, she ducked her head again and looked at Shard’s calming blue scales.
They stepped into the glossy, iced interior and Frostcaller tried to relax a little, but the  atmosphere was too tense for anything like that. The way Shard stared at Starclaws, all the years of abuse Frostcaller had put up with, everything. I just want to be loved, she thought, dragging her tail behind her and leaving little gouges in the ice. At Shard’s concerned look, Frostcaller lifted her tail again with a little nod. 
“Why don’t you go to your room, Frosty?” Shard suggested, though Frostcaller could tell his voice was restrained, holding back emotions while only showing a calm care for his daughter. Frostcaller reached up and grabbed Shard’s snout, pulling it a little closer to her own until their snouts touched. 
“I love you, Father.”
“And I love you too, daughter.”
Starclaws gave an annoyed huff in the background. “What did you want to talk about, darling? Something concerning Frostcaller, I assume?” 
Shard lifted his head and walked over to Starclaws, putting his wing around her as he spoke. “Yes, but let’s go into our room. This is a rather private matter, Star,” he said. Starclaws nodded and let Shard lead her into their shared room. Frostcaller felt sparks of jealousy ignite in her mind–something about Shard treating Starclaws so nicely, and the way Starclaws seemed to melt over him yet loathe her own daughter rubbed Frostcaller the wrong way. Maybe it’s just because I am said daughter. 
She trudged to her room, thinking, A quick nap will clear my head. Just take my mind off things for a little while. As she hauled herself onto her bed and wrapped up in her blankets, Frostcaller heard the conversation between her parents through the thick walls. It hadn’t become a shouting match–yet–which she was grateful for. But it was still a loud argument, and every word stuck to her despite not being able to make out which parent was talking.
“No, I would never!”
“Then what? She could never make up a lie!” Frostcaller winced when she heard that one.
“She ran off just for a moment and probably didn’t want you to know!”
“That doesn’t sound like our dragonet. Tell me the truth!”
“I-I don’t know! Please, darling you-!”
A loud sound echoed through the house, like something heavy hitting the floor. Frostcaller shot upright, almost bolting to see what happened, but stayed put, her mind whirling. What if Starclaws had thrown something at Shard? Or hurt him? Was that him thumping to the floor? What had Starclaws done?! She heard no further conversation, and out of fear for her father she slowly crept out of her room towards where her parents were. 
Just outside their room, she pressed her ear against the cold door and heard quiet crying, and an apologetic, quiet voice that sounded like Shard. 
“I’m sorry–I don’t know what came over me, Star,” he said, faintly and hard to hear. “I would never do that again. You know that’s not the kind of dragon I am.”
“Why would you hurt me, darling?!” Starclaws cried, almost sounding like a beg. “Should I pack my things and go?”
“No! Of course not.”
“Then why?” 
Shard sighed. “I just want to keep Frostcaller safe. She said you yelled at her, and you were denying it so much that I thought you were the liar.” The faint rustling of wings passed through the air. “I’ll talk to her about it on the flight to school.”
Starclaws gave a content sigh. “I never stop thinking about you, Shard. I love you so much,” she said, a little dramatically.
“I love you too–My beautiful, blazing star.”
Frostcaller couldn’t let herself hear any more of this conversation. It was like tiny claws tugging at her heart, making every action painful. Her father still loved her mother, and she knew why. She knew it wouldn’t change.
But it still hurt.
She ran back to her room as the sun began to sink into the snowy horizon. She didn’t want to get up. She didn’t want to go to school tomorrow, or even get up to watch the sunset with Starclaws when she came to get Frostcaller. The fact her father thought she was the liar…well, it wasn’t entirely false, but Starclaws wasn’t innocent. She didn’t deserve Shard’s love if she wasn’t willing to share with Frostcaller. She grabbed the warm covers and pulled them over her head, as if this was all a bad nightmare she could sleep away. 
=== Chapter 7 ===
Frostcaller didn’t sleep well, plagued by dreams of her father leaving with her mother and the horrible things that would happen. When she woke up, the first thing she did was examine timelines where that happened, and was relieved to discover none. She would have loved to go back to sleep afterwards, but as soon as she closed her eyes, Frostcaller heard talonsteps outside her room. She held her breath as the door slowly opened.
“Frostcaller? Wake up, my beautiful diamond,” Shard whispered into Frostcaller’s ear, his cold breath tickling her neck. She pretended to have been asleep and slowly sat up, shivering in the cold. 
“I’m up, father,” she said quietly, remembering to smile at the end. Even if she didn’t feel like it, her smile always put one on Shard’s face, and that was more than enough to give Frostcaller the motivation to get up each morning. When he stayed overnight at the palace, or stayed out late stargazing, and she missed that smile…sometimes it felt too hard to get out of her bed. 
As expected, Shard smiled, adding a warm feature to his cold exterior. “Wonderful. Now, come on. We need to leave in just a moment. You know how strict Her Majesty is about making sure each dragonet gets a proper education,” he said, gently patting her head and running his talon over the heavy crest of spikes on her neck. Frostcaller sighed. Today, she hadn’t felt like going to school. Seeing her classmates, her teacher, the other teachers and even the few guards that kept the school safe. Seeing all of them and knowing that their parents were happy mates, knowing they had parents who loved them and cherished them every day. It made her jaw clench and her heart ache, craving someone else’s reality. 
Apparently, she’d made it obvious that she wasn’t feeling well, since Shard spoke on it. “Frostcaller, you’re usually eager to go to school. You always talk about how wonderful Brumal is. And don’t you like your classmates?”
She quickly fixed her face and patted his shoulder. “Sorry. I’m just tired.” Frostcaller got up and stretched a bit, trying to ignore the additional cold from Shard. After a giant yawn, she said, “I’ll be ready in a few minutes, you can wait outside for me.”
Shard nodded and gently got up, backed out of the room, and shut the door behind him. He was polite like that, unlike Starclaws, who tended to barge in, yell at Frostcaller, and then leave the door open on her way out. She sighed and rolled off her bed, checking herself in the small mirror on the wall. Everything seemed fine, no wounds from her mother, and she headed to the small table in her room to gather up the things she needed for school-her favorite feather quill, the scrolls they’d been reading in class (that she had neglected to actually read), and a single blank scroll meant for notes, which there were none of on the parchment.
After scooping everything into her soft fur pouch, she slung it over her neck and tried to cheerily skip to the door. The best she could muster was a bouncy walk. From her parents’ room, she heard Starclaws quietly snoring away, oblivious to the world around her. Something dangerous curled up inside Frostcaller, a caged beast of her rage from all the times she’d been abused that yearned to be free, and she had to fight to keep it from showing. 
She stepped outside and Shard smiled, politely taking her talon in his. “Ready?”
“Ready,” she nodded. Shard leapt into the sky, his white scales quickly moving away from Frostcaller until she also jumped up and began pumping her wings. The wind rolled down her body, through her spines, whistling in her ears like a blissful melody. She kept pace with her father, and for the first part of their trip, they flew in complete silence over ‘Beyond-the-Arctic-Seas’. Frostcaller glanced down, hoping to catch a glimpse of Alpine, but there was no chance at this distance.
As the small town became nothing more than a distant light and the temperature dropped, Shard started talking. “So, last night, me and your mother had a conversation,” he started, dropping down just a little so the two were now flying side by side. “It was about you, as I’m sure you could guess.”
She smiled, then nodded. “So what’s it about? Is it something I did?” she asked, trying not to give away the fact she already knew. 
“As a matter of fact, it is something you did.” He fidgeted with his claws for a second, then took a deep breath. “Starclaws, your mother, swears to the moons and back that she would never lay a single claw on you. You’re her daughter, and she loves you.”
Frostcaller had to refrain from snorting in amusement. How many lies had Starclaws told Shard just to keep him happy? How would he react if he came home early one day and saw the truth? Frostcaller hoped that he would yell at Starclaws, then storm out with Frostcaller. Maybe they’d go to Queen Polar for help. Arrest her mother. Perhaps, even, she could live in the palace with Shard, happy as could be. 
“That being said, you told me she did yesterday. Now, I don’t-Frosty, you’re my beautiful, amazing, wonderful, and smart daughter. I love you with all my heart. But…” he trailed off, clearly not having the strength to finish the sentence. Her father couldn’t accuse either of the dragons he loved of being a liar. It just wasn’t him.
“Nevermind,” Shard said, gently turning right in the sky, towards the heart of the Ice Kingdom. Frostcaller shivered, but this was familiar to her. Her school was located in the main city, so it was quite cold. Thankfully, she’d been given many blankets by her teacher, Brumal, but still. 
As they neared the schoolgrounds and came to land, Shard wrapped Frostcaller in a hug. “I’m…I’m sorry, Frostcaller. I’m sorry that I’m not around most days. I wish my job allowed for more time to be with you. Just know that no matter how far away I am, I will always, always be thinking of you.”
She smiled, near tears, and fiercely hugged her father back. “I love you too, dad. And I can’t wait until school is over and we can go seal hunting tonight. You did promise we’d do it sometime this week.”
“I don’t know about tonight. Polar-Her Majesty-wants me to stay late to map out the next path the sailors will have to take in order to get to this tiny group of islands,” he said, drawing out his map for a second to jab at some dots he’d circled. “But if not tonight, then tomorrow, I swear by the Great Ice Dragon.” 
They stayed in that hug for a few minutes longer, until Shard gently touched his snout to Frostcaller’s cheek, slipped out of her arms, and flew away, leaving her again.
=== Chapter 8 ===
Frostcaller sighed, feeling alone again. Tears began to slip from her eyes, no matter how hard she tried to stop them. Every swipe at her eyes just made her cry harder, missing her father more and more as he left her alone with Starclaws. It took the hybrid dragonet a few minutes to remember she wasn’t at home, and was instead at school. Her school was mostly a safe place for her, one where her mother couldn’t harm her. Her teacher cared for her and spent extra time making sure she was warm, comfortable, and learning properly. Unlike most IceWings, Brumal just didn’t seem to have that same inherent hatred of hybrids.
The same could not be said for her classmates. As soon as she walked in, Frostcaller was instantly shouted or hissed at. This was normal, and even though Brumal was right there at his desk, he really didn’t do much to help her. Every time Frostcaller looked at him, she could see the flashes of a future unfolding before her, a painful time that was directly upon the poor IceWing. She wanted to help him, as a way to repay all the help he gave to her everyday. She wanted to help everyone, but a hybrid just couldn’t make it like that in the world. 
Someone tossed a lump of packed snow at her, which exploded into powdery fluff upon colliding with her face. She looked around for the one responsible, and unsurprisingly, it was Miyuki, a pain in Frostcaller’s tail from the start. When they met at orientation, Frostcaller and Miyuki actually got along. They’d formed somewhat of a fragile friendship, with the young IceWing being impressed by the hybrid’s ability to breathe fire and Frostcaller just glad to have a friend. 
Things had soured after Miyuki had been badly burned. Frostcaller looked over, and the dragonet raised her left talon, displaying the burn scar from the exact event she’d been thinking of. She’d never let Frostcaller forget what happened. What she did to Miyuki. From then on, nobody wanted to be friends with the weird, dangerous hybrid. 
She sighed and slumped over to her seat, getting a curious look from Permafrost (the only dragon ever mildly nice to her) as she passed by him. Instead of sitting with the other dragonets, on ice benches with nice birch wood tables, Frostcaller had a pile of pillows and blankets in the back of the room to help keep her warm. It made her feel warm inside that Brumal cared enough to accommodate for her lack of cold resistance, but it also made those pillows and blankets easy things to use to mess with Frostcaller.
Like now.
As she stood in front of the pile of pillows, she shivered and growled a bit. Someone had decided to take her seat, just out of spite. Normally, Frostcaller could scare them out of it with a little bit of flamebreath, but today it was Chill who decided to be rude like this. And despite everything, Frostcaller was scared of him instead of the other way around. Chill liked to be rude just for the sake of being rude, and didn’t care if anyone got mad for it.
“Chill, you’re in my seat,” she said quietly, teeth chattering. The dragonet looked up, his soft green scales the only soft thing about him. He made a ‘tsk’ sound and shuffled further into the pile, spreading out his wings a bit to make himself extra comfortable.
“Well, it’s my seat now,” he scoffed, lifting his head and closing his eyes like some haughty noble. It made Frostcaller so angry, and she knew just how badly she could ruin these dragons. Fire burned IceWings extra, it seemed, and even just a tiny lick of it could send the toughest soldier yelping away. The beast writhed inside her, the one that fed off of her hate and pain. The urge to get violent and put everyone here in their place. It was growing, consuming her, too hard to quell, until she heard talonclaps at the front of the room.
“Frostcaller? Chill? Is there a problem back there?” Brumal asked, in that tone that meant she knew what was happening, but was giving Chill a chance to own up. The pale green dragonet stuck his dark tongue out, and Frostcaller gave up any hope of getting her seat back.
“It’s fine, Brumal,” she said, quietly, pacing over to one of the sleek benches and getting herself situated. The contact with the ice felt like needles pricking into her tail and talons, and she tried to keep moving, just a bit, to keep herself from going numb. Next to her, Skift looked Frostcaller up and down, took in the scene, and grimaced. They then dug her claws into the icy floor beneath them, and ever so carefully scooted her bench a good bit away from Frostcaller. To her left, Miyuki did the same.
She sighed, flopping her head on the desk in frustration. Why couldn’t she have at least one school day where…well, where nothing went wrong? Brumal cleared her throat and began with the lesson for that day, but Frostcaller couldn’t be bothered to focus, even though she normally could. It felt like all of her was turning to ice, it was so cold. She just wanted to get out of here as soon as could. 
She just had to hope it wouldn’t be long.
=== Chapter 9 ===
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
Category:Genre (Adventure)