Silenced Voice

Chapter 21 Winter

Winter didn't want to wake up. The dream was so sweet and realistic that he didn't want to leave it and face the feeling of hopelessness that awaited him awake. He wanted to enjoy his sleep a little longer, but no matter how hard he tried to keep it from going, sleep eluded him. He kept his eyes closed nonetheless, trying to grasp the feeling that lingered on his scales.

His eyes fluttered open. He could actually feel the touch on his scales!
Wren was on his left, but had moved further away from his coolness in her sleep. He slowly turned his head and his breath almost stopped.

Was he still dreaming? A very realistic dream. He blinked and jabbed himself with the tip of his claw on the toe of one talon. Ouch! He had to be awake for real, but he couldn't believe what he was seeing; Moon slept beside him under his wing! Moon's wing was tied with a strange looking bandage and she was breathing calmly, resting her head against his front leg.

Winter nudged Moon's cheek lightly with his snout.
"Hey", he whispered. "How are you here?"

Moon whinnied and opened her eyes ajar.
"Morning Winter. I found you guys", she smiled sleepily. "It's not morning yet is it?"
"No. It's not. You can still sleep", Winter said quietly and sighed.

Whatever miracle had brought Moon here, he would now enjoy her closeness no matter how soon he would have to give her up again.
I'm not good enough for her... He tried to stop himself from imagining too much so he wouldn't be disappointed. He assured himself that as long as he knew Moon was safe and happy, it wouldn't matter where or who she was with.

The sky was still dark. The first reflection of the morning could already be seen on the other side of the mountains, but it didn't reach here yet. He looked at the two moons that were almost full.
Moon, Moonwatcher, loved looking at the moons, but now she clearly needed sleep.
Had she followed them all night, or had others brought her? Where were they now? What had happened on the mountain after they left?

Moon will surely tell us everything when she wakes up. I don't want to question her. She will tell if she wants to.

The moment felt unreal. He was afraid that if he moved, the image would shatter and disappear like a reflection on the surface of water. He couldn't sleep anymore, but he also didn't dare to think about what would happen the next day. That's why he just focused on watching how the light increased moment by moment and the stars started to fade from the sky. Sometimes he looked at sleeping Moon in wonder.

Finally, Moon yawned and opened her eyes. Wren was still asleep.
"Morning", Winter said to her in a quiet voice. "Quite a surprise."
"Sorry if I startled you. I didn't want to wake you up at night."

"I thought I was dreaming when you had appeared next to me, and I had to stung myself", Winter laughed, showing a bloody spot on his toe.
"Ouch, if I had known you were going to torture yourself, I would have woken you up", Moon laughed quietly. "I guess I owe an explanation?"
"Maybe a long story short... If you want to tell", he quickly added. "Otherwise, I imagine the dream will still continue."
"Did you dream about me?" Moon asked shyly.
"I wouldn't have wanted to wake up, but if I had known that reality was better than a dream, I wouldn't have lingered..." he replied, looking at his claws.

"Did a bear attack you? That looks really nasty", Moon changed the subject, nodding towards his side.
"Hmm, not really. It attacked Wren..."
"And accidentally hit you...?" Moon stated in a suspicious voice.
"Exactly", answered Winter with a crooked smile.

"Winter is too modest!" A voice suddenly came from the other side of them and Wren walked, stretching in front of them.
"Moon, it's nice to see you! Truth be told, Winter dashed between us when the bear attacked. I'd be in pieces without him", Wren said with a smile and hugged Winter's snout.