Gray Skies, Cold Winds

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Read this for info about the tribes. (It's very much recommended that you read it, because otherwise you won't understand anything about this fanfiction; if you're reading this on the blog post, ignore this)
A romance story by Qibli77.
These stories all go together, basically it's the same story told with four different perspectives. You don't have to read them all but if you do and then comment on them that would be appreciated! :)
SO SO SO SO WIP
this is oLLLLLLD
<tabber>1-Platinum=
She stood on the top of the rock, the only thing taller than a dragon to be seen for miles. Dotted among grassland were tiny little shrubs where rabbits could be spotted hiding amongst the leaves.
When was he going to come? And where would he go?
She heard laughter on the wind and turned sharply. A group of four dragonets was gathered a while back, too far for them to hear her against the wind, but close enough for her to hear them. She pricked her ears and waited.
Nothing. It was as if they'd disappeared.
She spread her wings and lifted off, swooping silently over the scene. It took only a moment of concentration to fade her pale gray wings and talons to a translucent pearl color and then vanish them completely.
The dragonets were gone, as if they'd melted away.
But she'd been so sure... so sure.
They hadn't been WindWings. They were RiverWings.
----
Platinum sat on her heather-spread bed, trying to calculate how long her letter would have taken.
She'd put it in the post-box just last week, but it likely hadn't been taken until about three days ago, because Ouzel, the post carrier, only came twice a week. And that was in the summer. It was the middle of winter on the moor, so she had come yesterday, but not the day before.
And how long would it have taken to reach the Shadow Kingdom?
Ouzel usually traveled clockwise, from the Wind Kingdom to the Shadow Kingdom and then south to the River Kingdom and finally to the Kingdom of Thunder. But if the northern storms were too harsh, she might go south first, then east, then north, and then west back to the Wind Kingdom.
Which meant it could take about a month to get the letter delivered.
Platinum's heart sank. If Ouzel had gone straight to the ShadowWings, it would've taken her only about a week and a half to arrive at his village, but otherwise...
He might not be here for another six weeks.
She collapsed onto her bed. She couldn't bear not seeing him for that long. He was her one friend, her one connection to the outside world...
----
"Get up."
The harsh voice of Charcoal shot through the silence.
"This is not a slumber party."
Platinum hurriedly scrambled up alongside Ash, the dragonet she shared a room with. She attempted to correct her posture, even though she knew Charcoal's scowl would not disappear either way. Ash wasn't even trying.
"Stand up straight!" Charcoal barked at her.
There was no response from Ash; she did not obey.
"You heard me, young dragon, stand up straight!"
Still no response.
Charcoal stepped menacingly forward until his snout almost touched Ash's. "You will stand up in this class," he snarled, his teeth showing. "Or else."
He left it at that.
Ash still was not talking.
"Ex-CUSE me," Charcoal growled. His eyes had a fury in them that made Platinum feel like they were about to burn a hole in Ash's stomach. "Who are your guardians, dragonet?"
"I don't have any guardians." Ash spoke for the first time, looking Charcoal in the eye. Her words had a quiet coldness in them. Platinum could almost feel a chill in the air. "That's why they sent me to this school. Because I don't have anyone to take care of me. That's why every dragonet is at this school, and you know it."
Charcoal stared at the dragonet. Platinum would have feared for her safety, except she knew that he wasn't allowed to punish her. WindWing dragonets could only be "taken care of" by their guardians.
So leaving them without any had protected them, in a way.
Charcoal spat at Ash, then marched out of the room. The light gray dragonet faced Platinum.
"Sometimes you have to do it," she whispered. "Sometimes you need to do what your guardians can't do."
"Sometimes you do," Platinum agreed.
It was the first time they had spoken to each other since their arrival.
|-|2-Raccoon=
He shot through the sky, flapping his wings relentlessly and always striving for the horizon. Oh, Platinum, please wait. I'm coming.
But he knew it was impossible. Even if he flew straight there without stopping for days, the WindWing village would still be miles away. He needed to find a way to reach her faster.
Raccoon slowed, panting, and dropped to the ground. This was still ShadowWing territory, and so the familiar conifer trees still coated the landscape. He carefully climbed the branches of a large spruce tree and settled down to rest.
Suddenly his eyes caught a slight movement in the trees. He turned his head carefully to pinpoint it.
Yes, there was another dragon here. At the edge of the Shadow Kingdom. At sunset.
He understood that ShadowWings might like to stargaze by the ocean at midnight or something, when you can see almost nothing on land but you can hear the gentle waves. But at sunset? ShadowWings hated sunset; it was too bright even though the sun was already going down. Daytime was torture for ShadowWing eyes.
And Raccoon didn't think a WindWing or ThunderWing would travel all the way here to stargaze.
So it had to be a ShadowWing.
But what they were doing here, he had no idea.
----
Raccoon took a deep breath and concentrated on relaxing into the tree. He wasn't exactly the color of the trunk, but he bet that he would be hard to spot. The problem was, the dragon stalking in the trees was probably a ShadowWing, so they could probably see in the dark... and then would probably spot him if he wasn't hidden well enough.
So I'll just have to hide better.
He wrapped his tail around the trunk to make it look like a vine, then carefully inched up the tree, curled his claws in, and stuck his legs out so they looked like branches. His head would appear to be a hollow in the tree. This was something all ShadowWing dragonets in his village learned to do in case the village ever got attacked. (Not that they were expecting that to happen, but most ShadowWings liked to say, "Better safe than sorry.")
Now he bet that no one would ever spot him. Hiding in plain sight was one of his talents.
He heard a slight noise and pricked his ears. Aha! It was the mystery dragon.
They came out into the clearing and looked up into Raccoon's tree. His heart was beating about a thousand times per second, and he struggled not to even twitch his nose. He really had to sneeze.
The dragon looked down again. Phew. They didn't see me.
And then they leapt into the tree.
----
Raccoon burst upward in a flurry of wingbeats. I won't let them catch me. I'm so close to the sea. He hissed down at the dragon, dodging as he did so. The dragon lashed a claw upward, almost catching Raccoon's underbelly. Raccoon sped straight upward, pausing in midair to watch the tree.
The dragon hadn't noticed him lift off, so Raccoon went even higher, just in case they realized where he'd gone. That was a good idea. The next thing he saw was a black shape smoothly taking off from the tree.
Raccoon began to spiral upwards, slowly and carefully so that he could keep watch on the other dragon. He began to fly west as he did so, just slightly. If I can get to the water before they notice...
Raccoon was a better swimmer than most ShadowWings his age. He didn't swim often in the cold northern sea, but he bet he could do it just to throw off the other dragon.
|-|3-Violence=
Prince Violence hated diplomatic missions.
The reason was because he always had to accompany his parents, the queen and king of the Kingdom of Thunder, on them. And because he was expected to sit there silently and "look royal."
Whatever that meant.
And usually he was expected to go talk to the other dragonets. "It makes us look more welcoming," Queen Brightflash had said.
It did not. Most of the RiverWings, ShadowWings, and WindWings thought Prince Violence was mad and unstable because of his name and his reputation, and so stayed far away from him. It was taken as a threat if he was present at a "diplomatic mission."
So he was running away. Not for long, mind you, but long enough that his parents would get worried and then never make him come to a diplomatic mission ever again.
Yeah, there was absolutely no chance it was going to work. But Violence loved adventure; he loved the experience of seeing something you'd never seen before and always wanted to see. He loved the exhilaration of being out in the unknown with the knowledge that you might get lost and never get back to your home. It was a thrill, a real thrill, and Violence loved it.
----
One morning when every dragon was busy preparing for the "diplomatic mission", Violence shoved open his window and squeezed through it. It wasn't easy, but he was still small for his age, and eventually he managed to get through. Before he hit the ground, he threw open his wings and took off.
He didn't know where he was going, but he thought he might try to fly to the double border with the ShadowWings and the WindWings. It was very clearly marked. All the borders on Noctuidae had actual borders that marked where each tribe's territory ended and began. Except for the Outcast Islands, which were divided from the River Kingdom by the sea.
He flew over mountain peaks, tall ones and short ones and craggy ones and smooth ones, and stopped occasionally to drink from the clear streams that burbled down the hills. It started to rain once, but it only lasted a few minutes, and he, being a ThunderWing, could easily shake it off.
When he got hungry, he stopped to hunt, and sneaked up on a rabbit chewing some grass by a stream. Electrical fire shot out of his mouth and shocked the rabbit to death. He ate it up quickly.
He didn't get to use this ThunderWing power very often, being a prince. No one made him learn to hunt, despite the fact that his parents were constantly telling him that princes should learn to do everything.
He noticed that they didn't tell his sister Fulmination that she had to learn everything.
It was because they thought he was a male.
But he wasn't.
He wasn't a female either. He was agender.
No one had ever asked him, so he supposed he never had to tell.
|-|4-Sweet Fish=
"Sweet Fish, dear, you didn't finish your breakfast."
"I know," she called back without turning around.
Her mother stamped her foot. "But it'll go to waste!"
"No, it won't," she answered. "Just give it to Trout. He'll finish it. He's always complaining about being hungry anyway."
Sweet could tell her mother was about to argue, but then realized that her idea made sense. She heard Dolphin's talonsteps retreating into the house.
Why does she always have to baby me? she thought furiously. And Sweet Fish is a horrible name. I can't wait 'till my birthday. Changing my name'll be the first thing I do.
And why did her father Crayfish keep sending her on pointless expeditions? Tomorrow she was scheduled to fly out to the Wind Kingdom with her brother Trout. He was eight months older, but in her opinion, acted about two years younger.
Despite that, she had to admit Trout was a good brother. He never judged anyone until he had known them for at least two weeks, and he was always helping. Always. If Sweet mentioned to Trout that her room needed cleaning, everything would be gone from the floor in a day. And that was saying something, considering how messy her room was.
So maybe the expedition wouldn't be so bad after all.
She still wished she didn't have to go, though.
----
With the landscape spread beneath her, the wind roaring in her ears, and the comfortable sensation of Trout soaring next to her, Sweet flew as she'd never flown before. She felt as if she would die before she failed to reach the Wind Kingdom. Nothing could stop her now.
Sweet swooped downwards, relishing the feel of the breeze upon her wings. This was what she most enjoyed about her travels. Not the departure—it was always her mother being weirdly sentimental but in a way that suggested she didn't really care about her dragonets at all, while her father pretended he was pretending to be happy while he was actually very depressed even though all he truly wanted was to get rid of them. Nor the arrival. All that was was Sweet looking around at her surroundings, taking notes for Crayfish, and then sleeping a bit, and then repeating. No, Sweet loved the flight more than any other part of her missions. This was when she got to really tour Noctuidae, to really experience the beautiful nature that she never got to see otherwise.
They were passing over the eastern Shadow Kingdom now, and Sweet saw groves and groves of pine trees passing beneath her, sometimes so close she felt like she could pick them up with her talons. Then they would swoop high again, almost to the clouds... sometimes Sweet wished she was a WindWing so she could fly that high.
In a few days they'd reach the Wind Kingdom, and then...
And then she didn't know what she'd do.
</tabber>
Category:Inspired by Fiction
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Genre (Romance)
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
Category:Content (Qibli77)