Author's note: I can't think of a working title for this chapter.

Winter's POV:

I found it hard to look directly at Qibli after yesterday's incident.

Do I love him? Or is this some meaningless crush? What if he doesn't return my feelings, it could ruin our friendship forever.

I sighed deeply.

" You okay there, Winter?."

"Yes," I replied, without facing Qibli.

We were walking towards our next class with the rest of the winglets. We were about to head through the class's entrance, my mind was still on Qibli, then suddenly Moon cried out. I turned and saw her clutching the sides of her head, as though she was in serious pain. Kinkajou ran to Moon's aid, just when the NightWing came out of her seizure, her eyes wide.

"Moon, are you okay? ," I asked in concern. Every dragonet in the hall was starring at the NightWing now.

Moon drew sharp breaths, then suddenly ran to the entrance to our class, and leaped in front of it, just when Icicle was about to go in. "Don't go in there! ,"Moon yelled urgently, spreading her wings to block as much of the opening as she could.

" What's wrong? ,"Qibli asked her.

Moon shook her head vigorously, saying nothing.

"This is ridiculous! We'll all be late if you don't get out the way! ," snapped one of our winglet, Carnelian the SkyWing.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with the SkyWing,"said the NightWing that I guessed is named Bigtail.

" I'm sure there's nothing wrong, Moon,"Tamarin reassured her friend.

Moon just shook her head more. "Trust me, you can't go in there, it's dangerous! ."

" Get out of my way, NightWing! ,"Carnelian growled, and shoved Moon aside.

She went in the class, along with Bigtail and Tamarin. Icicle was about to go in next, when suddenly the cave exploded.

There was intense bright light, earsplitting bang, and I was thrown across the floor by the blast. Qibli ran over to me, and helped me up, while I stared in horror as flames licked out of the cave.

"Tamarin! She's still in there! Along with two other dragonets! ,"I yelled through the panicked screams of the dragonets in the hall. "I have to save them! ."

Qibli shook his head, and held on tight to me. "No! You could get killed! ."

" So could they! ,"I screamed, and managed to wiggle out of his grip, and plunged through the flames.

I was blinded by smoke, and the heat from the fire made me lightheaded, but I mustered up enough strength to breathe frost around the room. I extinguished the flames as best as I could, while searching for the three dragonets. My eyes flickered to a spot on the floor, where I saw three forms through the smoke. I ran to the dragonets, and looked down at them in dismay. Tamarin was severely burnt, the parts of her body that wasn't charred black, was deathly pale, but thankfully, she was breathing. As for Bigtail and Carnelian.... They were both equally black and crippled, that I couldn't tell them apart, and they were both still. I didn't need to be a doctor, to see that they were dead.

I thought about carrying their bodies out, then dismissed it. They were both too big for me to carry, plus, I have to save Tamarin. I gently lifted the RainWing onto my back, then ran to the exit, while breathing more frost. When I came out of the cave, I slowly lowered Tamarin to the floor, Kinkajou wailed when she saw her friend in pain.

"What's going on here?! ,"snapped a familiar voice.

Webs came into the hall, along with Tsunami and Clay. All their eyes widened when they saw the burnt body before them. "Clay! Quick, get her some help! ,"Tsunami yelled.

Clay obeyed, and lifted Tamarin onto his back, then bolted away as fast as his injured leg could carry him. Tsunami suddenly turned to me. "Did anyone else get hurt?."

"There are two dragonets in that cave ," I answered, then added hesitantly. "They're... they're both dead."

"Three moons... ,"Tsunami gasped, then turned to Webs. "C'mon!." They both ran into the cave.

When they were gone, Qibli suddenly grabbed Moon's arm, and practically dragged her to one spot in the hall that was out of earshot from the other winglets. Me, Kinkajou and Turtle, followed him.

"How did you know that was about to happen?,"Qibli demanded Moon.

" Hey, stop that, can't you see that she's hurt! ,"Kinkajou snapped.

That's when I saw the tiny spikes protruding out of Moon's shoulder, along with a streak of her blood.

"She knew that cave was going to explode,"Qibli said, then eyed Moon suspiciously. "Didn't you?."

Moon hesitated for a long while.

I didn't know what was going on, and a part me was worried about Tamarin. "I'm going to check on Tamarin," I decided.

"Tell me if she's okay,"Kinkajou said.

I nodded, then went in the direction that Clay took. I glanced back to see Moon's mouth moving, but I was out of earshot, and I couldn't really hear what she was saying.

Qibli's POV:

" You can what!? ,"I almost shouted, after Moon explained everything.

Moon winced, as if I just hit her. "I was going to tell you guys! But... ,"she trailed off.

"So, you invaded our privacy? ,"Kinkajou said, her eyes welled up in betrayal.

Moon shook her head. "I can't control my mind reading power! I would never read your minds without your permission! ."

"But still, you lied about your powers, I thought we were friends! ," Kinkajou cried.

Moon frowned. "We are friends, Kinkajou."

Kinkajou shook her head, as though trying to clear her thoughts. "I need time to think about this ." Then she ran off.

I was still frozen in place. She could read minds, does that mean she heard all those thoughts I had about Winter?

"Yes I did, Qibli ,"Moon said. "And I wanted to say this for a while now, your feelings for him are deeper than you realise."

That got me confused, but before I could ask her what the hell she meant, Turtle suddenly spoke to her. "Moon, you're hurt, let's get your shoulder patched up."

Moon nodded miserably, then followed the SeaWing out of the hall.

I just stood there after they left, I was about to head in the direction Winter took, when suddenly Icicle roared. "Someone tried to kill me! I know it! ,"she shrieked.

I eavesdropped, curious.

"How do you know that? ,"someone asked.

"Don't tell me what I know! ,"Icicle snapped. "I could've been the first dragonet to enter that cave. I could've died! When I find the one who did this, I'm going to turn them into a glittering ice statue, and smash them to pieces with my tail! ."

I listened intently, and suddenly remembered the spikes in Moon's shoulder, they had looked strangely familiar. Then it hit me. There was this cacti that exploded if in contact with any heat source.

Dragonflame cactus.

Someone intentionally tried to blowup the cave! Could Icicle be right about someone trying to murder her? Even though she was a vicious she-beast, she was still Winter's sister, and he would be pretty bummed if another one of his siblings died. Not to mention, who's to say Icicle was the only IceWing on this murderer's list?

I had to find this dragon, but I needed some help.

(Magical time skip brought to you by Jambu the RainWing)

I found Moon in the main hall, her shoulder was all better now, but she still looked pretty sad. I told her what I heard from Icicle, and about the dragonflame cacti. She believed me, and after much discussing, we agreed on a plan to seek out the culprit ourselves, with the help of Moon's powers.

We already spied on two potential suspects: Flame and Pike. There was a chance that Icicle wasn't the target, it could've likely been Bigtail and Carnelian, who both happen to have gotten into fights with Pike. Flame was the other suspect, because the SkyWing army did destroy the SeaWing Summer Palace with dragonflame cacti. So far, Moon found nothing in each dragon's mind.

"What do we do now? ,"she asked me.

"I don't know ,"I admitted, then after much thinking, I asked. "Moon, what did you mean by my feelings for Winter are deeper than I think? ."

Moon shrugged. "It's just that...you think of him almost all the time,"she started. "You constantly worry about him, you miss him when he's not around, I know how much you really care for Winter."

I looked down at my feet, feeling the blush rush to my cheeks. "That doesn't mean anything...Winter and I are just friends, nothing else." For some reason, saying this brought an ache to my chest.

Moon suddenly sighed. "I know this is non of my business, but you need to face your feelings about him,"she said, then took a deep breath, before saying. "Qibli, Winter is in---."

"Hey guys! ."

We turned to see Umber coming towards us, a somewhat worried expression on his face. "Hey..have you two seen Sora anywhere by chance? ."

"No," We answered simultaneously.

Umber sighed. "She usually walked with me when we go to class,  but I think that was for the best, since with that exploding cave and all."

Moon and I shared a quick glance. Every dragon was there when the class exploded, except for Sora. "Did you search everywhere for your sister? ,"I asked the MudWing.

Umber thought for a moment, then said. " I didn't check the medicine cave yet."

"That's where we're going next ," I said, and ran out of the main hall with Umber and Moon following me.

Winter's POV:

(Magical time skip because I'm lazy now, and we all already know what happened)

I walked towards the library, because I needed some place to clear my mind. Tamarin was sleeping, but I still didn't know if she'll be able to survive those burns. I just can't believe the cave exploded, I mean, caves just don't explode like that! And how had Moon known what was coming?

I sighed, and was about to enter the library, then paused when I heard voices, two of them happened to be my sister's, and Qibli's. I rushed inside, and was shocked at what I saw. Icicle had her extended claw hovering inches away from Starflight's throat, Qibli and Moon were standing a safe distance from her, but looked ready to attack if needed to.

"What is going on?! ,"I gasped.

Icicle turned towards me. "Dearest Brother, do me a favour, find Sunny and kill her."

My eyes widened. "What?."

"She's working for Scarlet! ,"Qibli told me, not taking his eyes off Icicle.

My breath caught in my throat. What? Scarlet, the former psycho SkyWing Queen? "It's not true ,"I croaked, then turned to Icicle. " Tell me it's not true!."

"Just help me, Winter,"Icicle said plainly." C'mon, what does it matter to you if I kill this NightWings. NightWings killed every IceWing in that arena, along with Hailstorm. Worse, they did it when they were in chains, not giving them the chance to fight back. How cowardly. " She hissed at Starflight and Moon. "What does it matter to you if they died?."

I didn't hesitate, I ran up to Icicle, and bashed the side of her face with my tail. The spikes connected with her scales, and cut them. Icicle made a grab for her bleeding cheek, on the same moment when Starflight elbowed her in the chest. She fell off him, and then growled at me.

"You idiot! ,"Icicle snapped. "Don't you see why I did this? Hailstorm is alive! ."

I felt my heart skip a beat. "No, that can't be, you're lying! ,"I hissed.

Icicle made a serious expression. " Scarlet has him, she said she'd give him back to us if I did this simply task,"she said, her eyes narrowing into slits. "And now, he's probably going to die now, because of you! ." She ran towards the window, and before I could stop her, she leaped out, and was soon a dot in the sky.

And then she was gone.