Winter's PoV

Winter soared over the desert with Moon, until Moon suddenly stopped.

"What?" asked Winter, almost ramming into her, but managing to serve past her, stopping a few feet in front of Moon.

"Look." Moon pointed at a mountain, and Winter inhaled sharply, making a shhp'ing noise with his teeth.

"Never thought I'd see that again." He said.

"Never wanted to." Moon replied ruefully.

They looked at the place where Kinkajou had been attacked by Chameleon, both lost in thought.

"Y'know," Moon said suddenly, "sometimes I hate him."

This comment startled Winter so much that he whirled around, Moon hating somebody?

I mean, I know Chameleon was bad, but I didn't think Moon could hate anybody.

Winter colored as he again realized that Moonwatcher could hear him, "Arrgh! Sorry, I'm still tying to get used to you...y'know..."

Moon shushed him, saying, "What I really want to know is why I can."

Winter glanced at the ground, hundreds of feet below him, "Do you think we could talk about it later? I've been trying for weeks but no matter have hard I try, I can't get to make the story sound right.."

"Weeks?" Moon yelped, dismayed, "Winter, how long have I been out?"

"Ooohhhh....." Winter looked up at Moonwatcher, then down at the ground again, "I can't believe I haven't mentioned it yet, but so much has happened and—" Winter was cut off.

"Winter, how long have I been out?" Moon said, almost scarily.

"Uhh...." Winter counted on his talons, "about four moons."

Moon's PoV

At first Moon couldn't do anything, she couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't breathe. Black spots danced around her vision.

"Hey, hey," Winter said, grabbing her out of the air as she started to fall and started shaking her, "Hey Moon, stay with me."

Four moons?

She must have misheard, no one could be out for that long.

Winter must have read the disbelief in her expression and said, "Kinkajou kept you on regular doses of sleeping darts, because we had to keep you still while you healed." He gestured to Moons chest, where there were a multitude of scars, "You had major frostbite, major burns, seven serious wounds and some got infected, a multitude of minor lacerations, and you developed a raging fever," he recited, watching Moon's expression carefully, "you also had a concussion...from me..." He looked down shamefacedly, then said defensively, "I had to knock you out so that...horde...would think I was angry at you too...and then I got you out of there as soon as I could but..." He gestured towards her chest, "I was a tad too late."

You got that right. Moon thought detachedly. She seemed to be floating away from her body... Am I going through shock? Moon shook her head to get rid of the fuzzies, but only halfway succeeded. She suddenly realized that Winter had taken them to the ground.

"I don't think it's good for you to be flying so much after so long a dose," Winter said, his brows furrowed in concern, "I think the thinness in the air wasn't good either, we were flying pretty high..."

"I think I just need some rest." Moon said groggily, and Winter nodded.

"I'll stand watch." Winter said as he took up a sentry pose in front of a tree next to a berry bush, and his shiny form was the last thing Moon saw before she closed her eyes.

Winter's PoV

Winter took a berry from the bush next to him, crushed it in his talons, and, without thinking, sucked the juice from them. Surprisingly enough, it was delicious. Winter ate some more, shuddering as the dark berries stained his talons a bright red. It reminded him of a SkyWing's talons, which reminded him for Scarlet and Pyrite, which reminded him of Hailstorm. Everything he saw and thought of reminded him, with a stab in the gut, that he could never go back to his beautiful home again.

Winter shook off his nostalgia and watched Moonwatcher carefully, and, after making sure she was asleep, (he had never seen someone fall asleep so fast. Seriously though, it was kind creepy) he finally let himself relax.

It was the first time he relaxed since he had knocked Moon out, four moons ago. It felt foreign, like it was a rule that he had broken. Actually, it had been a rule, though an unspoken one. How strange it was to be free from the IceWing doctrines and never-ending, impossible expectations.

How strange it was to be protecting and guarding a NightWing.

The sun moved lazily across the sky as the minutes passed.

How long has it been since Moon fell asleep? Winter glanced at Moon, but she showed no sign of waking.  Arrgh.

Feeling resigned, Winter settled down into a more comfortable position against his tree, grabbed a talonful of those surprisingly delicious berries, and waited.