Day 1. 6 to go

Thump, boing. Thump, boing.

Moon blinked awake from the warm darkness of sleep. That was the most restful night she'd had since..... Ever. Moon lifted her head, looking for what was making that weird noise, to see Qibli, jumping on the bed, knocking a few pillows off in the process.

He grinned when he saw her looking at him, and started shouting, "Get up get up get up GET UP. Your in Possibility! You can't sleep the day away! Wakey wakey, eggs and bacey! Wait no," Qibli stopped bouncing for a second to consider what he just said, "there's no eggs. Just bacey. Which is bacon. Which is pig. Which I got," he pointed to the table, which had a roasted pig lying on it, some part already sliced and on plates, and a basket of blueberries in the middle.

Moon gasped when she saw it all, "Qibli! You didn't have to get breakfast! Plus, you can't keep pulling favors like this!"

Qibli laughed and plopped down next to her, " relax Moony-"

"Moony?" Moon interrupted, raising her eyeridges, "don't call me that,"

"Ok. Moony," Qibli smirked at Moon as she rolled her eyes, before continuing, "I only pulled one," he waved a claw in Moon's face, causing her to snort and bat it away, "count it, one favor, for this," Qibli pulled out a brown bag about the size of his entire talon, and as he did, it jingled, signaling that it had coins in it, "there were two, but I had to pay for the rental," Qibli tossed the bag from talon to talon, "this will cover the fee if we decide to go see a show or do anything other than worry," He shot his signature grin at her to show he was joking.

Moon nodded absent minded, and slid onto the floor, "well, before we do anything, we have to go see Kinkajou," last night had been so nice, she had completely forgotten everything else that had happened, and now Moon was swamped with guilt.

Qibli jumped down beside her, and shot Moon his signature grin, "of course we'll go see Kinkajou. What kind of friends would we be if we didn't? But before we do that, let's eat, I'm starving. You took forever to wake up,"

Friends. There's that word again. Winter's words struck her again, and she felt her heart ice over. Moon glanced at Qibli and felt it melt it again. Winter wasn't coming back. And she was fine with that. What mattered now was that she was with Qibli. They were friends. And after last night, maybe even a little more than that. Moon smiled as something that felt a lot like hope sneak into her heart.

~time skip~

The clinic was easily the most miserable place Moon had ever been. It was a long wooden building, with wheeled beds lined up on either side of the room. Some of the beds had dragons that didn't look to badly injured. At least, compared to Kinkajou. Most were taking to what looked like a family member, other were asleep, and some were being taken care of by dragons with white scarves tied around their necks, who Moon assumed were nurses. There was a double door at the back of the room where Moon assumed they kept the medical supplies, treated patients, and had the more seriously injured patients sleep. The last part was because when Moon looked around she couldn't see Kinkajou and thought that Kinkajou might have needed to be closely monitored.

Moon and Qibli were standing in the doorway, looking around, not sure what to do, and Sandwing with a white scarf came up to them, "can I help you?" She asked kindly.

"Yes, you can actually, we're here to see Kinkajou," Qibli told the Sandwing. Moon was glad he said something because she was to shocked to talk.

The nurse tilted her head at them and smiled, "oh, you must be Moonwatcher," the Sandwing said, nodding at Moon, "you signed for her to come here, right? I didn't realize that you were a dragonet... It doesn't matter though. Kinkajou is in our urgent care section, but it can't hurt for you to see her," at that the nurse turned, motioning for them to follow, and walked through the beds, with Moon and Qibli following her.

As they pushed through the doors at the back Moon felt a twinge of satisfaction at seeing she was right. Right as they entered, there was a storage room stocked with herbs and medicine on one side of the hall and a Seawing getting bandaged in the room across from the herbs. Moon walked along, trying not to look in any of rooms,

As Moon sat by Kinkajou's bed, she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. Kinkajou had been transferred form Mayfly's because Mayfly could only treat one patient at a time, and if Kinkajou stayed, business would stop for Mayfly. Moon understood that. But Qibli had said Mayfly was the best. Which meant the clinic wasn't the best.

"Here we are," the nurse said, stopping in front of a room with white curtains pulled in front of the door. Moon and Qibli pushed past them, and stopped next to the bed with had their friend curled up on it. Kinkajou looked like she did yesterday-which was to say, small, white, bandaged, and worst of all, broken.

As tears gathered in Moon's eyes, part of her numbly felt Qibli put his wing around her, but a larger part didn't. Moon leaned forward to lay her head near Kinkajou's "I'm sorry Kinkajou. I am so, so, sorry," Moon sobbed feeling terrible.

"It's not your fault Moon. It's that Nightwing's. He would have gone after Kinkajou regardless," Qibli tried to comfort Moon, "we should go. You standing here feeling guilty won't help Kinkajou,"

Moon sighed, "I guess your right, it won't help her," Moon stood there for a second thinking and looking down. She gasped and perked up a bit as an idea hit her, "but I know what she would have wanted is to do!" Turning quickly she dashed out of Kinkajou's room, out of the clinic, and out onto the street. Moon panted as she ran through all the complications of her idea in her head.

"Moon, wait!" Moon stopped quickly, grinning and blushing, embarrassed, as she remembered Qibli. Turning around she waited for Qibli to catch up.

"So, where are we going?" Qibli asked, as he slowed down beside her. They continued walking slowly down the street as they talked.

"Normally I would say something clichè like 'you'll see' but I actually have no idea how to get there," Moon replied, craning her neck to look over the buildings, seemly in search of something.

Qibli blinked at her, confused, "what?" He asked.

Moon sighed, "never mind," and then winked at you.

Qibli blinked again, "you just winked at nobody. Or was it somebody? If so do you like them better than me?"

Moon snorted, "it was nothing. Anyway, Kinkajou would have wanted for us to keep looking for the lost city of night. Since we can't leave town, we'll look for it.... In the library!" She finished grandly, like she giving a speech.

Qibli smiled, "of course you want to go to the library Moon,"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Moon asked.

"Nothing! Nothing!" Qibli yelped throwing his wings up in surrender, "anyway I know where the library is. They made a new one right before Queen Thorn came to rule,"

Moon nodded, "ok Qibli," she said, "lead the way,"

~time skip~

Moon rolled a scroll back up in frustration. They had been searching for hours for anything about the old Nightwing home. Well, the old, old, one. All the scrolls about where Nightwings previously were about the volcano. There was nothing about where the lived before.

Qibli looked up from the scroll he was reading. "I can't find anything either," he sighed frustrated. He looked out the window, at the setting sun. Moon didn't know how long they had been in the library, but it must have been hours.

The librarian, a young male Seawing, poked his head corner of the shelf, startled at seeing them, I didn't know there were any Nightwings in possibility, his thoughts went. But he was much more polite out loud, "sorry to bother you," he said, "but the library's closing soon, so you you should probably finish up. Is there anything you want to check out?"

"Um," Moon thought for a second, then reached for the scroll she was going to read next, Pyrrhia: Our Home, "this one please," Moon said, showing the librarian the scroll.

He nodded, "okay, bring it to the front desk, so I can mark it down," the Seawing turned and continued checking the library for any stray dragons still reading.

Moon started to walk toward the front desk when she heard Qibli call out, "don't worry I'll just clean up by myself,"

Moon quickly turned around and rushed back over to the table they were at, "oh my moons, I an so sorry Qibli!" She apologized breathlessly.

Qibli laughed, "Don't worry Moon, you know I'm just teasing,"

Moon blushed in embarrassment, so to cover up, she bent down and started picking up scrolls. In the corner of her eye she saw Qibli do the same. Searching for something to say, Moon blurted out the first thing she thought of, " I'm not really sure what I thought we would find here. I mean it's not like there's a scroll about the Nightwing home before the volcano," just like I'm sure why that would be a good conversation topic Moon thought to herself.

But Qibli was, ironically, pretty cool about the library being a waste of time, "well, you did get that scroll," he pointed out, "so it wasn't really a waste of time,"

Moon blinked startled, then demanded, "how you do that?"

Qibli tilted his head in confusion, "how do I do what?"

"I was just thinking about how this was a waste of time, and then you said it wasn't," Moon gasped, "can you read minds? Is that earring enchanted?" She poked him, joking now. They had finished cleaning up, and were now walking toward the front desk.

Qibli laughed again, "I do read minds, in a way, but the earrings not enchanted. I call my mind reading," he paused and look around like he was going to tell her a secret, and whispered, "noticing,"

Moon burst out giggling, and Qibli smiled, like he had just won an award.

The hopelessness Moon had felt weighing down on her a moments ago vanished as she and Qibli laughed together.

Laughing with Qibli is more fun than worrying Moon thought to herself maybe I should do it more often.

~time skip~

After going back to the cottage to drop off the scroll, Moon grabbed a fish from river, while Qibli caught a few lizards basking in the last few rays of the setting sun. After eating they made they're way back through the town.

When we get back I'll have to study the map for places where the old, old, Nightwing home could be, Moon thought as they walked, it won't be much but- she was distracted from that thought process as she heard Qibli singing.

"I know a girl,

Who likes to drink her coffee black.

Cause suger, no she don't got time for that.

Leaves her desires at welcome mat,

When she walks in,"

Qibli stopped when he noticed Moon staring, "um-" Qibli tried, embarrassed.

Moon smiled and started singing too,

"I know a boy,

Who like to keep his burner on.

He's always running with no one to keep warm.

It's like he's flirting with a smoke alarm,

His fires fading,"

Qibli smiled at Moon, and they stopped in the middle of the slowly emptying square, and sang together,

"But still we laugh,

We cry,

We fall,

We go fly,

Just like we were kids,

Just like we were kids again.

And when I'm,

I'm feeling small,

You get me through it all,

Just like we were kids,

Just like we were kids again,"

They were flying now, quiet for a few moments now, swooping next to, over, under, and around each other, until Qibli started up again,

"I know a girl,

Who never tries to settle down,

She wears her loneliness just like a crown,

But when she smiles, all the Kings will bow down, down,"

Moon smiled at Qibli and started her own verse,

"I know a boy,

Who's broken every vow he's made.

Who's spoken every cowards phrase.

But he listen like a rainy day.

And drown. It. Out,"

Moon felt Qibli take her talons in his, their wings beating in unison, then they started up for the last verse,

"But still we laugh,

We cry,

We fall,

We go fly,

Just like we were kids,

Just like we were kids again.

And when I'm,

I'm feeling small,

You get me through it all,

Just like we were kids,

Just like we kids again,"

After they were done, Moon let out a breathless laugh, "I didn't know I could sing! Or that you could sing for that matter,"  she told Qibli.

He laughed too, "almost all Sandwings can. I can't believe you know that song too! It's so good, but yet, nobody knows it!"

Moon gasped, "I know! Isn't that weird? There are some really stupid songs the are so popular, and all the really good ones are basically unheard of!" Before she started living in the Nightwing village, Moon had never heard a song. Luckily, she had found a music scroll in the library that Rainwing/Nightwing tribe had slowly begun building, and when she asked about it, a few Rainwings had played her a few songs, and Kids Again was one of the first.

They continued flying back, discussing what songs they liked, which they didn't, and singing a few lines back a forth.

Later, when Moon was wide awake, and staring at the moons through the window next to the bed she thought, six more days here in Possibility, then when Winter doesn't come, Qibli and I go and search for the Lost City of Night. Maybe even Kinkajou if she's better by then, Moon turned away from the window and closed her eyes, it'll be like a little vacation. Qibli will distract me enough so I can relax, then we can worry about the apocalypse, even with the possible deadline, emphasis on the 'dead' as in everyone will be, Moon was okay with doing something else for a while. She smiled a little as she fell asleep.

Maybe a week here won't be so bad.

~~~~~~~~~~~
PHEW! It's done! Sorry it took so long everyone! But this is a pretty long chapter (2468 words not counting this little note) and I have been SO busy and distracted! I won't be updating like this in the future, I'll just post the whole thing completed. There's to much stress to a get an update out in a reasonable amount of time. And yes, I know dragons don't know what some of the words in the song are, but I'm too lazy to think of any replacements. Oh, and the song belongs to Artist vs. Poet, and you should totally go check that out. This book will probably have about 5 more chapters and the epilogue. Then I have a sequel planned! Plus a lot of other books. So I better get writing! Stay with me fingers, we're just getting started.
~Starlight