Claws clicked delicately on ice, the sound like a thunderclap in the sickly silence that engulfed the cave. The stench of death swallowed the noise, demolishing anything that stood in its way.

"....Ghost?" Wolf repeated, a little more softly. "Ghost?" The whisper was immediately stolen away by the heavy air, weighing on him.

He approached, hesitant, practically tiptoeing across the ice. Actually, scratch that. He staggered his way towards Ghost, still in shock.

Wolf gazed down at the limp form of his friend, guilt and shame settling heavily in his stomach, threatening to make him hurl.

'Your fault,' an ugly whisper echoed inside him. 'Your fault, your fault, your fault....'

"No!" Wolf cried, clutching at his head, eyes shut. "No, stop it! Stop it!!" He shook his head back and forth in agony, trying to get rid of the horrible words. Yet still they lingered, like whispers on a breeze. They invaded his mind, plaguing his being.

If he'd had looked closer at the hybrid, he might've noticed the slight movement of his ribs, or the strained breathing. He might've realized that Ghost was, in fact, not a ghost. He was still flesh and blood and bone, not entirely gone.

With a wail, Wolf collapsed, sobbing. "I'm sorry," he choked out. "I'm so sorry. I would take it all back if I could. I didn't want it to turn out this way. I wish I could go back in time--" his words caught on another sob, tears staining his elegant face. Somehow his grating, raspy voice made it all the worse.

Ghost heard his words. He wanted to say, "It's fine. We're still friends, don't worry." He wanted to comfort the other dragon, just as broken as he was.

But he couldn't.

He couldn't shake that terrible feeling of abandonment as he watched his only friend turn his back and betray him. It was the second time he'd been rejected. First Avalanche, and then him. The pain was still raw, and his heart broke even more as he listened to Wolf's jagged sobs.

'I'm sorry too,' he thought. 'But sometimes sorry isn't enough.'

Through his heavy lids, he watched as something fell, dropping to the ice and shattering.

A single frozen tear.

Broken into thousands of pieces, just like his heart was when Wolf turned away.

'I trusted you,' he raged through the cloudy haze. 'I thought we were friends. I wanted to believe you were different, that you weren't like the others. But I was mistaken. Because apparently rank is more important than my life.'

'Fine, go ahead and throw me away. Toss me to the side like an piece of trash. See if I care, because you've come crawling back. But this time, it is I who will turn my back on you. An eye for an eye, no?'

Ghost could barely see through the fog that clouded his vision, but a jolt of searing white-hot pain overtook him, blacking out his vision completely.

'This is it, Wolf.  You're on your own now.'

A slow, mocking clap broke the silent suffering. "Well, well, well. Wasn't that....touching," sneered a voice, colder than icicles.

Ghost's eyes nearly shot open, but unfortunately for him, his eyelids were glued shut, frosted over. A small layer of ice had sealed his lids; apparently some of Wolf's tears had fallen onto him.

Wolf pinned his ears instinctively, not having to turn around to know who stood behind him. His tail twitched and his talons dug into the ice.

"Kodiak," he snarled harshly, wincing as his jaw cracked, the sound of bones grating against one another echoing eerily.  "What a coincidence."

Narwhal had the indecency to act hurt. "Don't talk to your friends like that, Foxy. You could hurt their precious little feelings," she drawled, an exaggerated pout on her face. However, her facade couldn't hide the rage in her eyes.

"I'd put you in the Second Circle for that performance," Wolf shrugged, even tossing in a small eye roll as he slowly pivoted to face them. The rest of his sentence went unspoken, yet everyone heard it.

Close, but not close enough. Good, but not great. Second, but not first.

Jokull's words rang in their mind: "Second is just a fancy name for loser. You better be the best, and nothing but the best. Anything below first, first, first, means you're worthless."

But the gang wasn't fooled. They could see his legs shaking, the nervous twitch of his ear. The way his claws scratched at the ice anxiously. Skrritch, skrritch, skrritch.

Wolverine simply shook his head. "Tsk tsk. You're the one who's talking: you're stuck in the Seventh Circle. What would you know about the upper Circles?"

Ox finished Wolverine's sentence for him. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing," he spat.

Kodiak stepped forwards menacingly, a frown breaking his face. "It reeks in here," he snarled, wrinkling his snout. "I suppose that's the rotting carcass of walrus fat over there." He waved a paw in Ghost's direction, the disgust clear in his dark eyes.

'Ha. In my dying moments, I still can't get any respect. Disgraced till my last breath,' Ghost shook his head mentally.

"I suppose he'll be dead soon if he isn't already," Wolverine shrugged, turning back to face Wolf.

"Oh, don't worry," Wolf grimaced, his jaw evidently hurting him. "I'm sure he's gone."

"Well, then. What a shame," commented Kodiak. He shook his head mockingly, ruff of horns clattering lightly.

"What? What's a shame?"

The quarter merely grinned, fangs and talons glinting, light reflecting off the ice, shadows dancing.

"You'll see."

**A/N: yooooo so I'm still alive, sorry. My life's been fairly hectic, and I haven't had a lot of 'me' time. There are some complications and stuff to work out still, and it's been pretty rough and stressful. Ummm so I'll be gone for like a week, starting July 30th because of camp.

Ah geez I missed you lot. If you're still here, you have my sincere thanks. I don't know where I'd be without you--friends, supporters, readers. You're what inspires me to push my writing boundaries, I wanna give you guys the best story possible. I'm sorry if this doesn't live up to your standards. I'm sorry I've been really slow with updates and everything. I'm working on it, I promise. Please, I know it's a lot to ask, but....stay? Stay by my side....all I need is a friend....someone to encourage me to keep writing.

If you're feeling kind, a vote, comment, and/or share would be greatly appreciated.**