For years, Shiver longed to feel the snow between her claws, and the chilling breeze in her face.

The caves weren't terrible. In fact, she was glad to have grown up here. But every now and then, her mind wandered back to the Ice Kingdom. What her life might have been like if some other egg was chosen.

Which was why she'd spent the last few weeks studying the ways of her tribe. She needed to be prepared for the day they finally left the caves and ended the war, and the day she'd meet her true family. She needed to know how to behave herself- assuming her family was upper class. She hoped they were. From what the scrolls said, it seemed as if IceWings from the lower circles were completely miserable. She didn't want that for her family.

But then, what about this family? The one she grew up with? She probably wouldn't leave them forever- at the very least she would visit.

Shiver shook her head. Focus. She needed to finish this scroll about the royal family. It would be smart if she knew all their names, for when she'd eventually have to meet them (she assumed she'd have to meet them).

A noise nearby caught her attention. Shiver raised her head, glancing around the small library. Had Meadowhawk come to take another scroll? Shiver huffed, hoping she wouldn't take one of her IceWing scrolls. The HiveWing had a tendency to misplace things.

Her nerves were replaced with slight irritation when her brother, Atlas came sneaking in, burying himself under a pile of pillows.

"What are you doing?" she grumbled.

"We're playing hide and seek!" Atlas replied, poking his head out of the pile. "Chestnut's it. Come sit over here! Then I'll blend in."

"I am not going to sit on you," Shiver huffed.

"Not sit on me!" Atlas hissed. "Just- kinda lay on the pillows!"

"Is that cheating?" Shiver asked, sitting up.

"Only rule is Beautiful can't camouflage," Atlas explained. "They didn't say anything about hiding under pillows."

"Whatever," Shiver sighed, walking over to the pile. She plopped her front talons on top of the pillows, opening her scroll back up.

"You always have your nose in those dumb scrolls," Atlas commented. "Play with us for once!"

"They're not dumb scrolls," Shiver hissed. "They're important."

"Yeah, for when we're actually saving the world," Atlas argued. "Not when we're just trying to live life."

"Sometimes I don't understand you guys," Shiver sighed.

"Yeah yeah," Atlas huffed, before going quiet. Thank the moons, Shiver thought.

The IceWing didn't bother facing Chestnut when they entered the room. Half for Atlas's sake, half because she didn't care.

"Have you seen anyone come through here?" Chestnut asked.

"Nnnope," Shiver answered, her eyes glued on the scroll. "Why do you ask?"

"We're playing hide and seek," Chestnut said, looking around. The LeafWing glanced back at her.

"Well I don't know anything about that," Shiver said. "You should probably move along."

Chestnut eyed her suspiciously. The LeafWing stalked closer and jumped at her, earning a yelp from both Shiver and Atlas.

"Ow!" Atlas whined. "Darnit! How did you even--"

"I know what a normal pile of pillows looks like," Chestnut giggled. "Plus, your tail was sticking out."

"Wh- Shiver! You didn't warn me!" Atlas whined.

"I wasn't paying attention to your dumb tail!" Shiver huffed.

"Whatever," Atlas grumbled, getting up. Chestnut giggled at them.

"C'mon!" they smiled. "We gotta find the others."

"No thanks," Shiver snorted, going to grab her scroll. Atlas quickly snatched it up. "Hey!" Shiver hissed.

"You get it back if you play with us," he smirked. "Plus, you owe me for giving me up!"

"I did not give you up!" Shiver said. "Now give that back!" Shiver swiped for the scroll, but Atlas scrambled away. "Atlas!" Shiver hissed, chasing after him.

The two raced down the hall, Shiver nearing closer and closer at Atlas's tail. She lunged forward and crashed into the SilkWing, sending them both tumbling across the floor. Atlas landed against the wall, dropping the scroll in the process. Shiver quickly rushed over and grabbed it.

"Jerk!" Atlas hissed.

"You started it," Shiver huffed. Atlas stood back up, shaking his head.

"Come on! You never play with us anymore!" he whined.

"Because IceWings don't play," Shiver argued. "They're supposed to be dignified."

Atlas burst out laughing at that. Shiver snarled and whipped around.

"Those scrolls have a chokehold on you, huh!" Atlas snickered. "You don't have to pretend to be all high and mighty."

"That's how IceWings are supposed to act," Shiver hissed. "Not running around like a headless chicken, like you."

"But you're not any normal IceWing," Atlas said. "You're our Shiver."

"Well someday, I'm gonna have to be," Shiver explained. "When we end the war, and I get to live with my family."

"You really have your whole future figured out already, huh?" Atlas questioned. "Hope it works out for you."

"It will," Shiver huffed. She could already see it now. Her family welcoming her back with open arms, the tribe hailing her as a hero.

Oh, she couldn't wait to be free from the rock they called a home.

The two were cut off by a loud roar from the other side of the cave. "Dinner!" Atlas yelped. "Race you!" He dashed off passed Shiver.

"Wh- Come back!" Shiver started, hurrying after him.

The rest of the dragonets were already gathered in the dining area by the time Shiver and Atlas got there. The cave was filled with the smells of roasted meat and chicken. Shiver knew she probably shouldn't be eating cooked things- IceWings typically ate their food raw. But she couldn't help it. Frog's cooking was just so good.

The IceWing took her seat at the rock table with the rest of her siblings. As much as they got on her nerves, she still loved them more than anything.

There was Aether, the SkyWing dragonet. He was smart, but just as rowdy as Atlas. Boulder was the MudWing dragonet. They were normally quiet, though still supportive. Cascade, the SeaWing, was typically very jumpy and timid. Beautiful, the RainWing, was usually calm and kept to herself, while Meadowhawk, the HiveWing, was more playful and clumsy. Starseer, the NightWing, was probably the smartest of the bunch and stuck to studying. Dusk, the SandWing, was definitely the fiercest, with how much he liked to train.

Then there was her. Shiver, the IceWing Dragonet of Destiny, with her strange scales that stuck out like a sore claw. Some days, she wished she could take Beautiful's color changing abilities and make all those dark patches melt right off. Then she'd really be a perfect IceWing.

"Hope you guys are hungry!" Frog smiled. "We're almost done here- Aardvark! You've done enough taste testing!"

"I'm hungry!" Aardvark whined.

"So are the rest of us! Now sit," Frog huffed. Aardvark gave a dramatic sigh and headed over to the Guardians' table. Aether snickered at them.

"I caught a frog in the playroom!" Meadowhawk smiled, opening her talons to present a small green creature. Cascade yelped and backed away.

"Aww, look at him!" Atlas cooed.

"How'd that get in here?" Goliath asked, peeking over Meadowhawk's shoulder.

"Can we keep him?" Meadowhawk asked.

"Mm, he might get stepped on," Goliath frowned. "Here, I'll put him outside."

"Aww," Meadowhawk sighed, handing the little frog over to the SilkWing. Goliath held the creature close as he headed to the entrance of the cave.

"He'll be happier out there!" Frog smiled.

"I guess so," Meadowhawk sighed.

"Ah, quit moping!" Frog giggled. "C'mon! Food's ready!"

The dragonets hurried to get their shares of food, the Guardians coming after them. Beautiful and Atlas picked from the pile of fruits.

Shiver sat back at the table, wasting no time tearing bits of meat away. While food wasn't extremely scarce, the dragonets were typically only allowed to snack on fruits, in case hunting didn't go very well.

"Do you guys know when Diamondback is coming home?" Dusk asked as he sat beside her. "He's been gone for what.. a week now?"

"No clue," Aether answered. "I don't know why the Talons called him out to begin with, honestly."

"There were some IceWings thinking about joining the Talons," Boulder explained. "They wanted him to help persuade them."

"Are there not enough IceWings in the Talons already?" Beautiful asked. "Why did they need him?"

"Who knows," Boulder shrugged.

Shiver sighed and pulled out her scroll. The dragonets usually didn't talk about anything that interested her, and she was almost finished with the scroll.

As of the day this scroll is being written, the current queen of the IceWings is Queen Vortex, it read. She is the daughter of Queen Krill and King Oxen. Her only living sister is Princess Shard. It is believed the Queen had the others assassinated.

Her husband is King Gentoo. He is the son of two first circle IceWings, and has no known siblings.

Their only dragonet is Princess Glimmer, who is currently three years old. Not much is known about her, as she's never been seen outside the palace.

The Queen also has two brothers, Prince Fang and Prince Icecap. Prince Icecap has a wife, Princess Moss. They currently have no dragonets.

The IceWings currently stand with Pyrrhia in the war. Some believe Queen Vortex was bribed into it with treasure by the MudWing queen. Others believe she's in it for Pyrrhia's dignity. Whatever the case, the tribe is fairly safe from enemy attacks. No army has been able to make it through the freezing cold, so the war isn't a big worry for most.

"Oh Shiver, there's a totally cool rainbow bat flying around," Chestnut sang.

"Mhm," Shiver responded, before her brain fully registered the words. "Wait-"

Atlas chuckled. "She's lost in her stories."

"Eat a toad!" Shiver hissed.

"Gladly!" Atlas smirked. "Where did Goliath put that frog?" He got up.

"NO!" Meadowhawk yelped.

"Leave the frog out of this!" Aether snarled.

"The frog did nothing to you!" Beautiful added.

"I kid! I kid!" Atlas yelped. "Gosh. So sensitive."

"I got my eye on you," Aether growled, sitting back down. Atlas rolled his eyes.

Shiver chuckled softly at the group. Loud and obnoxious as they were, she could never bring herself to hate them.

"What should we do for our hatching day?" Meadowhawk asked. "It's coming up soon."

"Oh right--" Aether started. "That- Yeah. I didn't forget."

"You amaze me sometimes," Starseer commented, a hint of sarcasm weaved into his words.

"Good. You should be amazed," Aether nodded. Starseer sighed.

"We probably won't do much," Dusk shrugged. "Just- not have to train or something."

Their hatching days weren't exactly the most exciting things they had to look forward to. How fun could a celebration be when there was nobody else but the dragons you lived with to celebrate? But the Guardians tried their best to make those days special with what little they could do, and Shiver appreciated that.

This year they'd be turning five. Shiver saw it as one year closer to leaving the caves and finding her family.

"I'm sure we'll do something special," Chestnut said. "We're not gonna just sit around."

"Maybe we'll get to go outside," Aether smiled. "I hope we do." The group had rarely been allowed outside since a SkyWing patrol discovered them three years ago. The day Mallard and Leafstalk died. The Guardians managed to kill each soldier, but still kept the dragonets locked away in case anymore troops came searching for the missing dragons.

"We haven't been outside in forever," Chestnut sighed. "I wanna see the sky again."

"Me too," Atlas agreed.

"Imagine how much we'll see when we finally leave.." Beautiful wondered.

"I bet the world is wondeful," Meadowhawk smiled.

"Is it?" Dusk questioned. "With all the war and.. everybody killing each other."

"Besides the war!" Meadowhawk huffed. "Plus, our whole job is to end it! So! We'll get to see the world the way it's supposed to be! With no fighting."

"Right," Atlas nodded. "We'll fix everything!"

"And then after that?" Shiver piped up.

"Then we can see the whole world together!" Meadowhawk smiled.

Together. That didn't exactly fit with Shiver's plan. Of course, she didn't want to leave her siblings forever, but she wanted to be with her real family. She wanted to experience the life she missed out on, one that all IceWings were meant to live.

Hopefully she'd have it all figured out by the time they were older.

The dragonets went on in their conversations, Shiver paying little attention. When they'd finished their food, Dolphin told the group to wash up and get ready for bed. As per their usual routine, the dragonets headed down to the underground river.

Shiver dipped her claws in the water, splashing it over her face. Cascade leapt into the river, sending droplets everywhere. Shiver quickly shielded herself with her wing.

"Hey!" Aether yelped. He swatted his talon over the water, sending a spray in Cascade's direction. The SeaWing quickly dove back under the surface. Shiver rolled her eyes at the two.

"Careful!" Meadowhawk yelped. "Some of us have sensitive wings!"

"Yeah guys! Look at her poor wings!" Atlas teased. "Already shriveling up!" Meadowhawk whacked his chin with her wing. "Ow--"

"Guys, enough," Starseer frowned. "Now isn't the time for rough housing."

"You're no fun," Atlas complained.

"If being no fun means having to take care of you guys," Starseer sighed.

"I think you do a great job taking care of us," Beautiful smiled.

"I think he's bossy," Dusk grumbled.

"I think someone around here needs to be a voice of reason," Starseer huffed.

"I'll show you voice of reason," Dusk growled, before lunging at Starseer.

"Guys!" Meadowhawk yelped. The two dragonets scuffled for a moment, before Starseer successfully pinned Dusk down. Dusk snarled.

"You were saying?" Starseer smirked. Dusk blew a puff of smoke in Starseer's face, causing him to jerk away as he started coughing.

"Alright, knock it off," Shiver huffed, walking away from the river bank. Cascade climbed out of the water, shaking himself off before following after her.

The dragonets gathered in their sleeping cave. It was a bit small, but cozy enough. Each dragonet had their own spot, but most of the time huddled together in the middle of the cave.

Shiver curled herself up on the edge of their little cuddle pile. Her side was pressed against Boulder's back, the heat of their body radiating onto her scales. It wasn't the worst feeling if she was being honest.

"We should go hunting for bats tomorrow," Atlas commented.

"Go to sleep," Starseer huffed, thwacking his tail over Atlas's head.

"Owww," Atlas whined. "You all are so mean," he pouted.

"You deserve it," Aether said.

"I'm gonna stuff a mosquito in your breakfast tomorrow," Atlas huffed. "One of those big gross ones Frog talks about."

"Have fun finding a giant mosquito," Aether smirked.

"Enough," Shiver growled. "Go to sleep."

"Alright alright," Atlas said. "Goodnight." A chorus of "goodnights" came from the rest of the dragonets.

Shiver curled her tail over her nose, her wing covering her body. Yes, the cave was fine, and she was happy here. But a piece of her wasn't satisfied at all, as if there was more waiting for her beyond the mountains. And she knew exactly what that was.

She hoped their 7th hatching day came quick, when they could finally see the world and end the war. She couldn't wait.