Winter


 * "When you stole Arctic, you stole all our future gifts, everything that we might have become, and I can see why some dragons would think that's unforgivable. But... this. This imprisonment, for centuries, keeping you alive only to die over and over again. I feel like... I feel like perhaps you've been punished enough."
 * —Winter to Foeslayer, Winter Turning

Winter is a male IceWing dragonet and the main protagonist of Winter Turning. Formerly a student attending Jade Mountain Academy as a member of the Jade Winglet, he has since resigned from the school and is currently settled in Sanctuary with the Talons of Peace, where he studies scavenger behavior. He is a former prince and warrior of the Second Circle.

Appearance Edit
Winter has glittering pale blue scales the color of a frozen pond or lake. He has icy blue and white scales like overlapping shards of ice, that become slightly darker along his spine and the edges of his wings. He has dark blue eyes that were described as "arctic pools" by Moonwatcher, silver-blue wings, and razor-sharp silver claws. He wears a small wolfskin pouch tied to one of his ankles that contains a small skyfire stone. Kinkajou once mentioned that Winter always looks a bit angry. He is smaller than Pyrite, but broader than Qibli. He was described as a very handsome dragon by many others.

Personality Edit
When he was younger, Winter was very cautious. According to Hailstorm, he was very amusing and a lot more fun to tease than their sister Icicle. He tried hard to place well in the Circle rankings, but still had a lot of trouble with them; Hailstorm wished that Winter could relax. When Hailstorm was captured by the SkyWings, Winter blamed himself heavily and thought that his decision to escape was cowardly. He wants to learn more about what other tribes can do.

Moonwatcher described Winter's mind as very confusing. She also mentioned that Winter is a better dragon than most. She said that he is not the kind of dragon to betray someone's trust, and that he can think of what is best for Pyrrhia instead of just one tribe. She thinks he is honorable and brave- one of the truest, best dragons in Pyrrhia- but everything inside him is confusion and mirrors and pain. He is not the type of dragon to kill someone, and he likes to know where he fits into the world. Pyrite thinks that he is an enormous grump. Hailstorm described him as courageous and honorable, and he behaved with courage and intelligence on his quest to rescue Hailstorm.

Even after seeing what the Pyrite enchantment did to Hailstorm, Winter was certain he would still be himself underneath. He does not want anyone to feel sorry for him.

Winter is also shown to be more comfortable next to his non-IceWing friends since he chose to sit down next to Qibli. Winter once described his feelings as furious, trapped, frustrated, grateful, safe, alone, on fire, wanting the wrong things, hating himself, and confused.

Bandit Edit
Although Bandit was a disappointing pet, Winter still cared for him, and felt a flash of pity when Bandit appeared afraid. He constructed Bandit's cage himself for days. He also let Bandit run away, showing that he cared if the scavenger froze to death.

Moonwatcher Edit
Moonwatcher is one of Winter's closest friends, and Winter is in love with her. Moonwatcher once stated that she would never be Winter's enemy, no matter what he said. She wanted Winter to come with her to solve the Jade Mountain Prophecy, and her face crumbled into disappointment when he refused. Since Winter began wearing skyfire, it is a lot easier for Moonwatcher to talk to him. Winter sometimes jokes with Moonwatcher, but he feels a twisting feeling in his chest when he thinks about her, and hearing her say his name was described to be like a spell that runs warmth through his bones. Winter had never met anyone who seemed to be as interested in scavengers as he was until he met Moonwatcher. She is determined to support Winter whether he wants her help or not, and Winter has had quiet thoughts that Moonwatcher is different from the other NightWings, and perhaps different than most dragons in Pyrrhia.

Winter once thought that where Narwhal and Tundra saw Winter as nothing more than a gray lump of ice, Moonwatcher saw dazzling mountain peaks, and she regards him as one of the best dragons in Pyrrhia.Moonwatcher finds Winter's mind to be very confusing, but Moonwatcher regards Winter as someone who can think bigger than the things that affect him personally. She trusts Winter and thinks that he is honorable and brave, and Winter felt a rush of gratitude for her understanding of how important rescuing Hailstorm was to him. Winter often cannot tell when Moonwatcher is joking, but he looks at her in a loving way, and felt hollowed out when he pictured Moonwatcher and Qibli together. He was afraid of what he might say to her alone in the dark. Winter's heart told him to rescue Moonwatcher when their group was attacked by Shapeshifter, and while he initially felt guilty about being Moonwatcher's friend under the judgement of Hailstorm, he felt a second wave of guilt after realizing how much Moonwatcher had done to help him. After Narwhal and Tundra intended for Winter to die during the Diamond Trial, he thought that Moonwatcher would never have done something like that to him. When Moon chose Qibli over Winter, he wondered how long it would take his heart to heal.

Hailstorm Edit
Hailstorm is Winter's elder brother. He viewed Winter as amusing and fun to tease, but after Hailstorm was captured by the SkyWings, Winter blamed himself heavily, and there was an old familiar guilt surrounding his brother. Winter thought that even if he returned to the Ice Kingdom and was placed at the bottom of the Seventh circle for deserting Jade Mountain Academy, it would have been worthwhile if Hailstorm could have returned home. Hailstorm's death also hurt Winter so much each time he thought it happened. Winter was able to push aside the Circle rankings and the opinions of Glacier, Narwhal, and Tundra in favor of doing whatever was necessary to rescue his brother. Hailstorm thinks Winter is courageous and honorable, and when Hailstorm was attacked by Hope during the Diamond Trial, Winter rushed to save his brother's life without a second thought, even though he could have won the Trial had Hailstorm died; he cares more about Hailstorm's life than the rankings. Before Hailstorm's capture, he and Winter would often go hunting together, and it is one of the things Winter missed most while his brother was imprisoned.

Icicle Edit
Icicle is Winter and Hailstorm's sister and the niece of Glacier. She was always around him and other IceWings in school. When Winter found his sister trying to kill Starflight, he tried to stop her with Qibli and Moon. He refused to help her when she asked him to kill the other dragonets of destiny after finding out about Hailstorm. She called Winter weak and worthless multiple times in the book, though this could be because she blames Winter for what happened to Hailstorm in the first place. This suggests they may not have the best of relationships.

Despite this, Winter cares deeply for his sister. In Winter Turning, even though she constantly berates him, and is on her way to do something horrible, he constantly tries to give his sister the benefit of the doubt, thinking of her as his perfect sister. He makes note of their parent's expectations of Icicle and believes she's just trying to save their brother, and this is the only way she can think to do it. He truly believes that if he can find her, he can stop her, and they can find another way to get Hailstorm back together. When he discovers that she killed an innocent NightWing he initially doesn't want to believe it until he sees the body. He wants to find his sister but doesn't want to discover she did anything else horrible. However, after the NightWing is uncovered he realizes there's no going back for Icicle. When he finally finds her in the old NightWing city he is shocked by what he sees. His normally perfectly pristine sister had been forcefully keeping herself awake by scratching herself and burning her wings with the lava to avoid talking to Scarlet. Winter attempts to reach out to her, but she continues to shy away and insult him. Then Icicle gets hit by a sleep dart, and desperately claws at her brother, telling him to keep her awake. Winter tells her to let Scarlet come, then lies to her, telling her he'll kill Glory for her in order to appease his sister, and buy them some time. Winter continues to watch after his sister's unconscious form, refusing to leave her side. Then Moon discovers a clue as to Scarlet's location in Icicle's dream, and Winter decides to leave and track down Scarlet, and hopefully their brother. He is still shown to be worried about his sister, later asking Glacier about Icicle's fate.

Kinkajou Edit
Kinkajou is one of Winter's friends. He would never abandon her, even to save Hailstorm, and after realizing that Narwhal and Tundra had intended for him to die during the Diamond Trial, he thought that Kinkajou would never do something like that to him. After realizing that Kinkajou survived being imprisoned by the NightWings on the NightWing island, he felt respect for her. He would never want her to die.

Lynx Edit
Lynx is likely one of Winter's childhood friends. She and Winter trained together before the Diamond Trial in familiar combat patterns. She seemed happy for Winter when he placed first in the Circle rankings, and congratulated Winter on his adventures. Winter has always found her unusual blue markings pretty.

Narwhal  Edit
Narwhal is Winter's father. Winter speculated that Narwhal views him as nothing more than a lump of gray ice,and after Hailstorm's death report, Winter's father refused to speak to him for a month. Narwhal's mantra of '''Be strong. Be vigilant. Strike first. ' did not sit right with Winter after the events of Winter Turning''. Winter suspected that Narwhal would have wanted Winter to complete a necessary task in any way possible, even if it was immoral. He is sharp and demanding towards Winter. When Winter and Hailstorm returned to the Ice Kingdom, Narwhal told Winter that he had hoped Winter would never return. Winter suspected that Narwhal placing Winter in first place was merely a way of maintaining his own status, and Winter thought he heard a tiny note of impatience in his father's voice when he spoke to him. After realizing that Narwhal had intended for him to die during the Diamond Trial, he felt hurt in a deep place where he had thought his family could not hurt him anymore.

Qibli  Edit
Qibli is one of Winter's closest friends. Winter was disgruntled to find he agreed with Qibli on something, but Qibli likes the fact that Winter would try to save anyone, and thinks Winter is honorable. Winter saved his life from a flaming scavenger spear, and Qibli was sincere and genuine in his thanks. Qibli is also sometimes affectionately exasperated with him, and he once joked that he was nearly sure he would rather have Winter around than Pyrite. When Winter was in the Ice Kingdom, imagining what Qibli would say in response to Tundra made him laugh for the first time since he had returned home. After realizing that Narwhal and Tundra had intended for Winter to die during the Diamond Trial, he thought that Qibli wouldn't do something like that to him. Winter is often irritated by Qibli's observant tendencies, but he knows Qibli well enough to see when he is deliberately trying to annoy someone, and he looked to Winter to decide whether or not to reveal valuable information about Scarlet. When Winter initially failed to find Hailstorm, he felt despair and hopelessness, but Qibli fiercely told Winter that he was not allowed to stop searching until Hailstorm was found. In addition, Qibli made sure to pair Moonwatcher and Winter together during their search in hopes that Winter find solace in her, even though Qibli was also in love with Moonwatcher. After Winter told Moonwatcher and Qibli that he should have nothing to do with them or the prophecy, Qibli sounded genuinely angry. Winter felt hollowed out when he pictured Moonwatcher and Qibli together.

Tundra Edit
Tundra is Winter's mother. After Winter dropped into the Fifth Circle due to a failed polar bear hunt, Tundra made him memorize long sagas for months about dragons who had attempted the Diamond Trial, including about a hundred verses speculating how gruesomely they may have died. Tundra made it clear that no dragonet of hers would reach their seventh hatching day any lower than the Second Circle, even if it meant risking their life for the Diamond Trial. Winter speculated that his mother sees him as nothing more than a lump of gray ice. For a month after Hailstorm's death report, Tundra did not speak to Winter. He felt elation and pride when Tundra thanked Winter for rescuing Hailstorm, but she then added that it was the least that Winter could do. After realizing that Tundra had intended for him to die during the Diamond Trial, he felt hurt in a deep place where he had thought his family could not hurt him anymore. Winter suspected that Tundra would have wanted Winter to complete a necessary task in any way possible, even if it was immoral. She is sharp and demanding towards Winter.

Turtle Edit
It is shown that Turtle and Winter are friends and that Winter respects Turtle. That is shown when Winter tries to get Turtle to come back to Jade Mountain Academy. Also, Winter thinks that if an IceWing acted like Turtle did he would be stuck in the seventh circle forever, but Winter still respects him despite that.

Darkstalker Edit
Before Darkstalker enchanted Winter, he was deeply suspicious of him. After Darkstalker put the spell on him, Winter basically worshipped and trusted him completely, looking at his magic as a first resort shown when he rushed to tell Darkstalker about the IceWing plague. But when Qibli broke the spell, Winter swore revenge, promising that Darkstalker's death will be bloody and long-winded.

QuotesEdit

 * "You have ten seconds to give me back my scavenger, [...] before I slice your face off."
 * ― to Moonwatcher when she was holding Bandit (Moon Rising, page 41)


 * "That is my scavenger, [...] My idiot clawmate let it out, but it is mine and I did not bring it all the way here to see it eaten by a lying, smoke-breathing NightWing."
 * ― to Moonwatcher when Moon refused to give him back Bandit (Moon Rising, page 43)


 * "Moon what? [...] Come on, NightWing. We know your names are all lies. So what's yours? Moondestroyer? Mooneater? Mooncrusher?"
 * ― to Moonwatcher when she only tells him half her name (Moon Rising, page 45)


 * "I only mentioned it, [...] because it seems entirely obvious to me that the niece and nephew of the IceWing queen should each be given a private cave, so I wanted you to know we wouldn't have to be clawmates for very long, as there has clearly been some kind of mistake."
 * ― to Qibli about him being the nephew of Glacier (Moon Rising, page 47)


 * "No, he isn't. I offered him a piece of desert rat this morning on the way here, and a bit of walrus the day before that, but he didn't eat either of them. [...] In fact, he hasn't eaten since Queen Glacier caught him and gave him to me four days ago. I gather that scavengers eat rather infrequently."
 * ― to Moonwatcher, about Bandit being hungry (Moon Rising, page 49)


 * "I thought they said the NightWings couldn't read minds after all. So why did it seem like she read mine?"
 * ― to himself when he was thinking about Moon. (Moon Rising, page 55)


 * "Was that supposed to be me? Terribly unimpressive, if so. I haven't once said 'higgledy-piggledy' in my entire life. We would never allow such linguistic imprecision in the Ice Kingdom."
 * ― to Qibli, about Qibli's impression of him (Winter Turning, page 160)


 * "Stop liking her. Remember what Father said: They're all liars. Be strong, be vigilant, strike first. Trust nobody. Not even interesting NightWings with silver teardrop scales."
 * ― thinking about Moonwatcher (Moon Rising, page 92)


 * "I don't want them to come with me. In fact, if you could stick this SandWing in some quicksand while I get away from him, I will personally bring you a walrus to express my gratitude."
 * ― to Glory, about Qibli (Winter Turning, page 127)


 * "Because I think [Glory] is the kind of dragon you respect. And I think you wouldn't want to start a war between the IceWings and both of her tribes. I think you can imagine what killing her would do to Pyrrhia, and you know it would be bad. Also, you're her guest; she's welcomed and trusted you. You aren't the kind of dragon who betrays someone's trust [...] I've already been in [your mind] for one thing—I know you. And I've watched you. I saw you put out the fire in the history cave. I saw you save me and Starflight from your own sister. I think you can think bigger than just one tribe against another—you can think about what's best for all the tribes. I guess I just—I trust you."
 * ― Moonwatcher to Winter (Winter Turning, page 119)


 * "This is not about your place in the rankings. It's not about what Mother and Father and the queen think of you. It's about saving Hailstorm."
 * ― thoughts (Winter Turning, page 178)


 * "I'm an IceWing. That means I belong in the Ice Kingdom with my own tribe. I should never have gone to Jade Mountain. This prophecy, if it's even real, has nothing to do with me, and I should have nothing to do with you."
 * ― to Moonwatcher and Qibli (Winter Turning, page 230)


 * "Because happiness isn't where I am... it's who I'm with."
 * ― thinking to himself, after the Diamond Trial (Winter Turning, page 284)


 * "We're going to inflict Qibli's terrible fashion sense on this whole continent?"
 * ― joking about Thorn's plan to send copies of Qibli's enchanted protection earrings to all the queens and IceWings and SandWings (Darkness of Dragons, page 154)


 * "I can't believe Kinkajou is making more sense than Moon right now."
 * ― to Qibli (Darkness of Dragons, page 195)


 * "As weird as it is, they’re my new family now...my new tribe."
 * ― to himself thinking about Kinkajou and his friends (Darkness of Dragons, page 369)

Trivia Edit

 * According to Winter, if an IceWing acted the way Turtle did, he'd be stuck in the Seventh Circle forever.
 * In her blog about Winter Turning, Tui stated, "Ok, dragging myself away from work now, there's an IceWing in great turmoil who kinda needs a hug."
 * When he was one year old, Winter performed a ranking test in which he was to survive in a blizzard alone.
 * Before every meal, Tundra made Winter practice his guarding stance until she approved.
 * When he was two years old, Winter's ranking was lower than anyone in his family's had ever been.
 * According to Tui T. Sutherland when asked about the love triangle in a recent interview she stated, in arc two she wanted to try to challenge herself by writing a love triangle where "you really like all of them and any of the three can be together." This means that Winter is bisexual or pansexual.
 * Winter hates rain and being in the rainforest.
 * Winter thinks that black and white are the only colors for a dignified bird.
 * When he was younger, Winter would often daydream about swooping in upon the NightWings at the head of an IceWing battalion.
 * Winter has an excellent memory for faces, and thinks he met everyone in his tribe at least once.
 * Winter always dreamed that if he was an animus dragon, he would give the gift of observation: a scavenger den in the Ice Kingdom constructed so the scavengers could live without freezing, and Winter could study them.
 * Winter had a history tutor when he was younger.