If Foeslayer and Prince Arctic Had Never Fallen in Love

AU FANFIC BY YOHIOLOID56! Contains text from Winter Turning.
== Prologue ==
In the Ice Kingdom, the Icewing princes were flying together into Skywing territory.
Hailstorm did a flip in the air. "“The currents are mine to command!” he shouted. “Can you catch me? No, you cannot! No one can! I’m the commander of the sky!”
“I think the SkyWings would disagree,” Winter called. He twisted to watch the empty sky behind them.
“Stop worrying!” Hailstorm said, spinning into a dive. There weren’t any dragons within flight-sight. It was a perfect day for Winter’s first expedition into SkyWing territory, especially if he really wanted to find a scavenger.
“This doesn’t feel safe,” Winter observed as they landed. His talons sank into a pile of leaves and he jumped back, eyeing them with suspicion. “Yikes! What are all these flappy things on the ground?” 
“They come from the trees,” Hailstorm said, laughing. “No need to panic, little brother. We’re here for your weird little obsession. So get excited!” He took a deep breath and sneezed loudly. 
“SHHHHHH,” Winter protested. “This is the Sky Kingdom! There could be enemy soldiers everywhere!” 
“Lounging around in the woods near a scavenger den?” Hailstorm said skeptically. “Doubtful.”
Winter couldn’t hide the excitement spilling over his face. “Is there really a scavenger den here?” He blinked at the trees, as if hoping a scavenger would suddenly fall out of one of them.
“That’s what the patrol reported,” Hailstorm said with a shrug. “They said they saw at least five scavengers, and that many usually means a den nearby.” 
“What are you going to do if we do catch one?” Hailstorm asked, turning over a fallen log and checking underneath. Nope. No scavengers there. “You know they can’t survive in the Ice Kingdom. You won’t be able to keep it.” 
“I just want to look at it,” Winter said. “Have you ever seen a scavenger up close? I read that they wear other animals’ skins on top of their own skin. Isn’t that bizarre? Why would they do that?” 
“Same reason Mother has that necklace of SkyWing teeth,” Hailstorm said authoritatively. “To make themselves seem more dangerous and scare off any possible predators. Obviously.” 
Winter glanced at the sky. “Speaking of SkyWings . . .”
“We’re FINE,” Hailstorm insisted, tempted to jab Winter’s worrying snout with one of his claws. “We’re several mountains away from Queen Scarlet’s palace. No one is going to find us here.” 
“But won’t Father be furious?” Winter asked, twitching slightly. 
Hailstorm ruffled his wings as though he was trying to shake the idea of their parents right off his scales. “Who cares?” he said. “I’m going to be second-in-command of the IceWing army one day. Queen Glacier already said so. Mother and Father can’t do anything to me.” 
“They can do plenty to me,” Winter said. 
“Not if you get high enough in the rankings,” Hailstorm said with a grin. “Which you do by being brave and strong and bold.” 
“I thought it was by being smart and following orders,” Winter said. 
Hailstorm dismissed this. “Dragons in the Third Circle and below can worry about following orders. First Circle dragons have to prepare to be leaders one day. Besides, I’m the best fighter in the Ice Kingdom. Even if we do get caught, I think I can take a couple of SkyWings.” 
“Oh, really?” said a mocking voice behind them. “How about fourteen SkyWings?”
Hailstorm and Winter turned around to see the fourteen SkyWing soldiers behind them. Winter gulped. "Um, Hailstorm? I think now would be a good time to leave."
“Second-in-command of the IceWing army?” said the one who’d spoken, a dark red female dragon with an unusually long neck and tail. Small rubies glittered from between the scales around her eyes; larger ones clicked together on spiky silver rings around her claws. “Then you are a prize, aren’t you? Mother will be so interested to meet you.” 
“Let us go,” Winter said fiercely. “Queen Glacier will have your heads on spikes by morning if you dare touch us.” 
“Oh, very attached to you, is she?” the dragon said, arching her brows. “That’s absolutely our favorite kind of prisoner. Seize them,” she ordered the other SkyWings. 
“Perhaps you can take us,” Hailstorm said, drawing in a hissing breath. “But how many of you are going to die first? Do you know what happens when frostbreath touches your eyes? Do you know what it feels like to watch your leg snap like a broken icicle? Or how long it takes frozen ears to turn black and fall off?” His voice was cold, his threats slicing the air between them like a freezing wind. 
Winter raised his tail and inhaled, working up a gust of frostbreath of his own. 
“So a few dragons die,” said the female SkyWing with a shrug. The other SkyWings exchanged uneasy looks. “You’ll be our prisoners in the end, either way.” 
“Here’s another idea,” said Hailstorm. “Take me and let Winter go, and nobody has to die.” 
“What?” Winter cried. 
“You don’t need him,” Hailstorm said, ignoring his brother. “He’s completely useless. Queen Glacier won’t trade any prisoners for him — nobody back in the Ice Kingdom would care whether they ever saw him again. And he wouldn’t even be interesting in your queen’s arena. He can barely fight. He’d be dead in two heartbeats.” 
Winter looked as though the world was crumbling beneath his talons. “Is that true?” he whispered. “Hailstorm, is that really what you think?” 
“If he’s so useless,” the SkyWing asked, “why do you care if we let him go?”
Hailstorm lifted and settled his wings again. “Call me sentimental. He’s my little brother and I quite like him, even if I wouldn’t want him beside me in a battle. Besides, I know I’m worth trading, whereas he’ll be bones in your arena sands before the month is up.” 
“Ouch,” said the SkyWing, giving Winter an amused, pitying look. “I think I’d probably rather die in battle than listen to my brother talk about me that way.” 
“I’m not useless,” Winter said furiously. “Fight me and you’ll see!” 
“Oh, go home,” Hailstorm said, swatting Winter’s wing. “You want to be useful? Fine. Get out of here. Go tell our parents where I am.” 
“I’m not leaving you,” Winter protested in a halfchoked voice. “I’m not going to hand you over to them without even trying to save you —” 
“Yes, you are,” Hailstorm said. “This is the real war, little brother. Go away and let the true warriors fight it. Nobody wants to watch you pathetically flail around and then die pointlessly.” 
Winter's heart seemed close to breaking. Then, he realized that the SkyWing closest to him was holding a spear. Winter thought, almost to the spear, I wish you could just kill all the SkyWings that want to kill us. To his surprise, the spear yanked itself free of the SkyWing's talons and pierced each of the soldiers' hearts before falling on the ground. Winter and Hailstorm gaped, Winter's eyes widening. He looked at Hailstorm. His expression was a mix of astonishment and fear.
"Hailstorm..." Winter said breathlessly. "I'm an animus." 
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)