Lily stepped to the side of the passage between boulders. The young fledgling opposite her, barely old enough to count as such, glared weakly.
"Move," Silva squeaked, trying to walk around her.
"No." Lily crouched low and sidestepped again, blocking the little female's path once more. She was so much bigger that doing so was easy. Silva wasn't getting by unless she decided to let her.
"Dam says," Silva growled, lacking the volume and depth of voice to make herself sound threatening, and instead just sounding cute.
"She's not here to see," Lily countered. She was well aware that Diora had sent Silva over to linger by the plateau, having spied on the two of them for much of the morning. Silva was barely old enough to walk around the valley, much less alone, but Diora didn't seem to care.
"Dam said," Silva retorted, sitting on her hind legs and purring. She seemed pleased, now. Lily could almost see the thoughts running through her little mind. Dam couldn't be mad at her if someone else stopped her from doing as told. It wouldn't be her fault.
Lily snorted, glad to see some defiance in the little female. Dew and Pina had done well in giving her playmates from time to time, and ensuring Silva was not totally cowed by her Dam's terrible treatment. Lily hadn't known Pearl at this age and thus couldn't compare, but she felt Silva was doing just as well, if not better.
That didn't mean she was going to move, though. Silva had been sent to get Claw's attention at such a young age that it was absolutely sickening to contemplate Diora's motives. It wasn't going to happen. Not today, and not any day after this one if she could help it.
"Lily," Pina called out, flying down to land on an empty rock beside the two of them. "What is happening here?"
"Nothing much," Lily lied, knowing full well that Pina understood what was going on. She had been the one to tell Lily that Diora was beginning to send her daughter out on her own despite her young age. But Silva didn't need to know that.
"Do you plan to stand there all day?" Pina asked, playing along. "And do you need Silva to be here? I find myself one fledgling short of a game."
"Game?" Silva ran over to the rock and lurched upward, placing her tiny paws as far up the rock as she could, straining to reach Pina.
"Sounds like I found a volunteer," Pina warbled. "You can do whatever it is your Dam wanted later." Or never, if they had their way.
Lily purred contently as Pina and Silva left. That was one good thing done today, one positive action. She would need the good feeling. The other thing she had to do this morning, before Honey turned over the hatchlings, was going to be far less pleasant, if no less necessary and good.
O-O-O-O-O
Crystal couldn't know it felt like cold claws gripping her heart and squeezing. She couldn't know, because if she did, she would fall back into hiding her hurts and not sharing them, and she would be absolutely miserable. This had been building since she laid her second egg, and needed to be discussed.
So, Lily held her pain in and listened calmly to her friend.
"And I know, I know we are trying," Crystal was saying in a low whine as she absently picked at the ground with a claw, "but it is taking so long, and I fear for him and the egg, I really do. I do not know what to do."
"We are trying," Lily reassured her. "I am trying. Right now I'm working on Root," and that was another pain that she hid with the first, a pang of pure frustration, "and after the ceremony Mist will explain to Ash and Danda and Cedar and Liona, and Root's parents will be grateful, and that is all going to lead to more openings."
"Yes, I know," Crystal sighed, leaning her head against Lily's neck, her hot breath ghosting across her back, "but it is not logical, my fear, and it feels like nothing important has changed in moon-cycles."
That, Lily reflected sadly, was because she was stuck. Root was the key to all of the progress she spoke of, and he wasn't cooperating. She had no real answer to his conundrum. The lack of an answer was better than having a faulty plan and false confidence, but that was not saying much.
But she couldn't say that; Crystal needed to be comforted, to be reassured that they would depose Claw before her children came under threat, and telling her that they would just convince her son not to challenge just wouldn't work. Her bad experience with a male she loved challenging wouldn't let her believe it.
"It's going to be fine," Lily hummed soothingly. "Just because it does not look like change is happening does not mean it isn't. It just means it is all subtle and hidden, as it should be."
"Thank you," Crystal whined with a brief nuzzle. "I know it is not fair to complain about this not being fast enough."
"It's not fair you have to worry for your children," Lily retorted. "It all evens out."
"I just wish I could send them away," Crystal moaned, going back to picking at the ground. "Here is not safe. It hits me every time I have to take him over to Dew and Pina for the night, it feels like a kick in the stomach."
"Better that than the alternative," Lily murmured, feeling the constant bruises and aches in her body at the very reminder. Crystal regularly had to send Burble to spend nights with Dew and Pina because he was old enough to hear what he shouldn't when Claw came and violated them.
None of this was new, though. Crystal was just taking it harder now, and Lily couldn't even say she was overreacting. They were both numb to much of their lives out of pure necessity, but this was a new way to fear, and numbness had not come for Crystal yet. Hence her fruitless hopes of sending her children away. She was used to the pain and danger for herself, but not for them.
Lily arched her neck and nuzzled her friend behind the ears. "You want progress?" She had thought of a way to possibly cheer Crystal up.
"It would be nice," she sighed hopefully.
"Here's progress," Lily said firmly. "If you have not settled on a good name for your son by… three days from now, we are going to sit down and pick one. No squirming out of it. It is high past time. And if you do not, I am going to start telling him that 'Burble' really is his name."
"No, do not do that," Crystal chuckled, slapping Lily with her tail even as she pulled away. "Nobody would want to be named for the sound they liked making as a hatchling!"
"It's your fault for deliberating so long and letting me come up with a nickname in the meantime," Lily chided playfully. She was serious about the name deadline, though. Crystal had held off for an almost ridiculously long time, and it was time to end that. "That is progress."
"Okay, fine," Crystal huffed. "I guess I can decide. I just wanted to wait until a really good one came to me."
"I know the feeling. Now go do something fun," Lily advised. "Stop worrying for a little bit."
"Will you come with me?"
"I might join you later," Lily lied, knowing she wouldn't. Crystal could have fun, she wasn't the one responsible for making sure everything turned out all right. Lily knew her own time had to be used more efficiently.
Crystal sniffled and wiped her nose, gave Lily one last thankful nuzzle, then stood to shake herself and stretch. "Well, whatever you do, be sure to exercise," she said sternly. "You are watching them tomorrow, remember?"
"I remember," Lily said wryly, gesturing with a wing. "Now go."
Crystal cast her a distinctly unamused look and leaped up from their spot just on the outskirts of the burial grounds. She was soon one more white blur among the many enjoying the warm sky.
Lily heaved a sad sigh, now free to let her true feelings show. It hurt to hear she was not doing enough, and Crystal was right to say it. But she couldn't take her mind off of Root until his future was safe, and she couldn't make it safe, no matter how she turned the problem over in her mind.
She only had one plan, and it was a bad one. In about a moon-cycle, she'd be forced to put that plan into action, and it would probably work, but if there was any better solution, she needed to find it.
So, she really wasn't doing anything useful, at least not recently. Once the ceremony had come and gone she could go back to focusing on generally gaining support, but until then she had to think, and she had to think hard.
O-O-O-O-O
"Take him, please," Honey blurted out, hastily dumping her hatchling in front of Lily. "I will not be back until late tonight." She rushed out of the side-cavern without another word, almost tripping over herself in her haste.
"Do you know why she's so frantic?" Lily asked Crystal, putting out a paw to prod at Wax, who seemed to have slept through his Dam abandoning him for the day. He was curled up in a little ball, his tail looped around the back of his neck and tailfins in his mouth in a way that looked mildly uncomfortable, but he seemed to be sleeping easily enough.
"I think, though I am not sure," Crystal groaned, "that Claw wanted her to join him on the plateau today. She was squealing about it to some of his other mates yesterday."
That would explain it. Getting asked to lounge on his plateau was supposed to be a privilege, and it made sense he'd ask Honey. She was the perfect, obliging mate, the few strangely introspective moments Lily had seen notwithstanding. Lily did not expect herself or Crystal to ever receive any such invitations, which she considered a privilege in itself. Spending all day on a small rock with Claw and his most enamored mates sounded like torture.
"And as long as the troublemakers are sleeping, I am going to go try and talk to my Dam," Crystal decided, rising with a quick shake of her wings. "I will start by asking her about hatchling names. Was there something I needed to do other than that?"
"You are asking me?" Lily quipped, nonplussed.
"Oh, I feel off today," Crystal admitted. "Nervous. Finally giving him a name is a big deal."
"It wouldn't be if you had done so much sooner," Lily chided. She could tell Crystal was still worried about her children; she got flustered more easily and forgot things when she was preoccupied. "Try not to take your Dam's issues too much to heart."
"I will not let it bother me," Crystal promised. "I want to just have a nice, innocent talk about hatchling names. You should come up with some too, just so that there are options."
"I will think on it," Lily reassured her friend. "And whatever you do, don't take any terrible suggestions like Honey did." Wax was not a bad name, as names went, but Honey had settled on it for lack of other ideas, and it did not sound like a particularly flattering thing to be called.
"I will not- Oh, and I will bring fish before I go," Crystal blurted out. "That is what I was forgetting." She rushed out of the chamber almost as fast as Honey had.
Lily curled her tail to her side, hugging the egg and slumbering hatchling Crystal had left with her close to her body, and pulled Wax in to rest against her chest, under her head. Ideally, she would get to spend today thinking, working over Root's dilemma in her mind, but past experience had taught her that the hatchlings could easily steal and keep her attention for most of the day if they felt like making trouble.
But either way, today would be a day like any other.
O-O-O-O-O
Lily sighed as she hummed and did her best to ignore Wax's wailing. Crystal's son was whimpering too, but he was only making a small fuss, and that because Wax was hurting his ears. Once Wax quieted down, he would too. She knew this pattern well enough to recognize it in action.
"Come on," she purred in the nicest, most comforting voice she could muster, her tail and side holding Wax still as he struggled. He was weak and tired, as he should be after playing with Burble for the better part of the morning, but he didn't want to sleep. "Be a good hatchling and sleep," she crooned.
His wailing died down a little, and he stopped pushing so hard against her tail. She knew those signs, too, and let her crooning die out but continued to hum.
Sure enough, he stopped struggling entirely moments later, and she felt the little snorts of distress he had been making turn into a steady, normal pattern of hot air against her tailfins.
"Thank you, Dew and Pina," she murmured, nuzzling Burble and shifting him to lie against her in a more comfortable position. Without their advice, she wouldn't have known that Wax's protests were normal, and she would have feared she was somehow hurting him. He certainly sounded mortally wounded whenever someone stopped him from doing as he wished. Maybe it was preference for her best friend, but she liked Burble better, and considered him better behaved, though he had his moments too.
A stench filled the air, and she recoiled, breathing through her mouth. She slowly looked down at the two hatchlings, moving to examine them. Luckily, this time around the smell was just that, a smell, and she was pretty sure it had come from Burble.
Just as she was thinking she liked him better, too… She shook her head and tried to ignore it. Nobody had ever told her that hatchlings produced the worst odors imaginable; she suspected that was something every Dam or caretaker got to find out for themselves, as it had to be smelled to be believed.
It wouldn't be so bad if they were out in the open, but they were in a cave. She raised her wings and flapped as quietly as she could, hoping to disperse it to bearable levels. It was a good thing they were alone, else she'd be hearing complaints about spreading the stench around.
That done, she found herself devoid of immediate concerns, and her mind swung around to pick at Root's conundrum, as it always did these days. She settled herself in for a long session of likely pointless deliberation-
Then something rocked Lily's world, casually shattering what she knew. It started as several sets of claws on stone, but then Crystal slipped into the side-cavern, followed by something new.
Someone new. A dragon, a female by her shape and lithe figure, but one of another kind, alike in form but not appearance. Shades of blue and grey intermixing and flowing, she was striking in a way no light wing ever could be, a mirage that almost blended into the side of the cavern despite Lily's good vision.
There was only one obvious answer to this strangeness, but what in the world was a dark wing doing here? Lily growled, instantly defensive despite the lack of threatening movement from the dark wing. Unexpected was not usually good in her life. "What is this?"
"A friend getting my children out of here," Crystal answered. "Pearl is back, but she's not staying. Lily, she is so different!" That was said admiringly.
That was a lot to process, to say the least, and Lily fought her reeling mind from her expression. Pearl was back, but this dragon was not Pearl, and more importantly, Crystal was sending her children away. But if Pearl was back, and if Pearl was willing to take them, that might actually be an answer worth looking at…
"In what way?" Lily warbled suspiciously, still not sure what to think of all of this. Despite the approving tone, she wasn't sure if it was a good thing. Crystal was not stupid, but she was somewhat desperate to get her children to safety, so she might be overlooking or misinterpreting something in her haste.
"She beat the dragon dung out of Claw and had fun doing it," the dark wing supplied in a voice Lily could only identify as smug. "He is still alive, but he will be stuck on the ground for a season-cycle or so."
Lily considered that. Her mind struggled to even attempt a mental image of that event. It sounded absolutely absurd. Pearl, quiet and unhappy Pearl, taking on and defeating Claw physically?
And what of Claw? She would hope he had been deposed, but that felt far too easy, and Crystal would have led with that and not spoken of sending her children away with Pearl. So, logically... "Humiliated, but still in control by popular demand?" she asked sarcastically, concealing her surprise and confusion.
"Exactly," Crystal agreed. "She and Storm are friends, and they are leaving soon. Storm has agreed to take my children with her."
"Are you sure she's trustworthy?" Lily asked suspiciously. Crystal sounded convinced that this was a good idea, and in theory if Pearl was now strong enough to fight Claw, she could more than care for two hatchlings, but the dark wing was the one she was trusting.
"I swear to personally ensure both of Crystal's children live full, healthy, and happy lives." Storm bowed her head, meeting Lily's eyes, and then Crystal's. "I will treat them as my own, but I will also bring them back one day to meet their true Dam, and they will not live in ignorance of her existence. This I also swear."
"I… yes, please," Crystal agreed happily. "I trust you."
"And I cannot find any stronger proof of your intentions," Lily agreed after a moment, feeling slightly less suspicious. There was unfakeable sincerity to how the dark wing had said that, and she trusted her ability to read people's emotions. "You will hold to your word."
"Yes. Is Crystal the only one with children who need to be saved?"
"No, but the others would not consider this possibility," Lily readily replied, entirely sure. Crystal was the only one of their little group who would consent to a stranger taking her children away, even to a better life. She was the only one desperate and worried enough to condone it.
"They are optimistic." Crystal shrugged. "I spend way too much time with you to be so sure we can do this in five season-cycles."
"It will take much time," Lily agreed. "I don't dispute your assessment of the situation."
"Do you have any children you want me to take?" Storm asked hesitantly.
Lily had to take a moment to process that. She was being asked if she had children? The absurdity was almost amusing, but the hint of pity in the dark wing's voice removed any true humor from the question.
Lily laughed sourly. "My Sire might be corrupt and perverted beyond reason, but I am not. I think I will never be able to have children, but that was the intention." She had explained enough to forestall questions, though it was a risky move, one she only took because Storm was an outsider who would be leaving imminently.
"Never?" Storm whined sadly. "I am sorry."
Genuine pity from a total stranger. Lily found herself putting her mentality into words far more easily than ever before, simply because she felt the need to truly explain if only to reassure herself.
"My children are here. This entire pack acts like a bunch of particularly dense fledglings, so it is an apt metaphor." Lily shrugged. "Crystal made her choice, and I made mine. We all do what we must." She unwound herself from the egg. "Do you have a mate out there?" It was a good question.
Storm laughed ruefully. "Still looking. We are rare out there. This is the largest group of Furies I have ever seen in one place, regardless of specific type. Pearl does though."
Oh. That was... very interesting. She really didn't know how to take that. It could be an issue, given Pearl's state when she fled. Was it Gold?
"She does?" Crystal barked in shock. "Really? Is he good to her?"
"Very. They make me sick." Storm shook her head. "She chose well, once she was given a choice."
Probably not Gold, given the wording. "She deserves to be happy," Lily noted. "None of her season-cycle knew what Claw was doing to her until Crystal told us. Not that there was anything a few fledglings could do. Now we have some small measure of power and leverage." Silva would not follow Pearl's path. They were already taking steps to prevent it.
"You will end all of this," Storm asserted. "You seem smart enough to do it."
"If only to spite my Sire, yes." Lily purred evilly, amazed that this outsider could be so sure. Did her intelligence shine through that obviously? Maybe her pack was as oblivious as she thought if none of them saw it. "Watching his little empire fall around him while he is blamed for it will be an apt punishment. What Pearl did is good, but this will destroy that which he built, and not just his pride."
"He built this system?"
"We came here, according to a friend who was there, because we were tired of wandering. The system of the alpha mating with multiple females was decided upon as a temporary emergency measure to increase our numbers. Claw inherited the title and disposed of the 'temporary' part, slowly adding customs as necessary as the older generation faded away, dying of age. This is all his work." Lily snorted. "And he will live to see it die. Then we can kill him." That was necessary as more than the best possible revenge, but Storm did not need to know any more than that. It was quite helpful to be offloading all of these secrets upon someone who had to leave and would not be coming back for a long time. There was no risk in telling Storm, because she was an outsider, and one who was stealing hatchlings and eggs, or so people would assume if she was caught. Nothing she could say would matter.
"A more thorough way of destroying someone than I could ever implement," Storm agreed with a small measure of awe. "I wish you luck."
"You are aiding us by helping Crystal. That is worth more than luck. If this depended on luck, then I would give up now. Claw is a lucky one."
That was a fact, one Lily knew for sure. Claw had luck on his side. Everything important had gone his way for as long as she had known him. She was going to end that streak.
"I'll destroy him with planning and strategy," she continued. "He never really understood that, save for when his interests were involved." Lily nodded to the egg she was curled around, moving away. "This is Crystal's."
"And so is he." Crystal picked up her hatchling, holding him in her toothless mouth. "Will you and Pearl be able to take them both and Silva?" A question for Storm.
"You're taking Silva? Good." Lily growled happily, seeing her life made a little easier. "Pearl's Dam is a problem. She is influential and besotted with Claw, for whatever reason." The influence was an understated thing, and one she only really knew about through Dew, but it was there all the same.
"There are three of us. Me, Pearl, and Ember. It will not be a problem. Follow me, and I will take you to... the ledge we rested on last night." She gently picked up the egg, and she and Crystal left.
They left Lily, who was still reeling inwardly from that last parting blow to her mind. Ember. The same Ember Pyre had spoken of? What did that mean? Did it mean anything? And why was he here? She didn't believe in coincidences that great, there had to be more to the story.
She stood to follow, to investigate-
And then realized, just as a questioning huff from a small body reached her ears, that she could go nowhere Wax could not go. That meant she was still stuck here. She could take him with her, but if Honey came back to find her hatchling missing on a day like today, she would raise alarms.
Lily sunk back down, absently tussling with the hatchling, eliciting a happy warble and growl, not feeling like trying to soothe him back to sleep once more. Her mind was on the ridiculous encounter she had just muddled her way through.
The biggest thing she needed to take from this, she decided after going over what had just occurred, was that being caught off guard was dangerous. She hadn't asked anywhere near the right questions, not really, and she had given out far too much information to a stranger, though she still thought doing so was safe if she had the measure of the pack and how they would react if a stranger started hurling accusations around. Especially when this particular one seemed sympathetic to her side of things.
She was out of practice, after moon-cycles of having to approach people and thus being in charge of when and where each conversation happened. She wasn't used to being put on the spot and having to adapt. That was fine; she could regain the right mindset easily enough, now that she knew losing it was a problem.
The other big mistake she had made was less simple; she had let Crystal trust a dark wing and Pearl to care for her children. Sure, it was Pearl so it was probably safe, but that wasn't a decision that should be made on a whim-
But Crystal had already made the decision moon-cycles ago as a then futile wish and had only lacked the means to make it happen. She also knew Pearl far better than Lily did, and had seen her take down Claw, a mental image Lily still could not conjure.
Maybe letting Crystal make the important decision had not been so foolhardy with those reasons taken into account. She hadn't consciously thought them at the time, but they were there nonetheless.
On the other paw, there were other problems with what was already happening, obvious was going to notice that Crystal no longer had a hatchling or an egg. Lily didn't want to set the pack on Storm and Pearl, but there had to be an excuse ready, and soon. The knowledge would find its way to Claw soon enough.
Lily tried to think of a good lie about where Crystal's children had gone…
After a few long moments of absolutely nothing, she realized that there wasn't a plausible lie, or at least there weren't any that didn't depict herself or Crystal as neglectful or worse. There wasn't going to be any hiding this; it just wouldn't work.
But that wasn't the end of the line. There was going to be no hiding what Crystal had done, but as long as Claw saw it as merely a move out of spite towards himself, another small taunt from Crystal not worth punishing too harshly, it would all be fine. Giving one's egg and hatchling away was not in any way a small taunt, but Claw did not care for his young anyway, so it might work. Or it might not. As long as the dark wing and Pearl got a good lead, it would work out fine for the ones who stood to lose the most.
And they were taking Silva, a fact that was only now promoting itself to her attention, something almost slipped in amidst a barrage of surprises. Truly, that was a relief, a permanent solution to the problem Lily had needed to solve anyway.
So, assuming all would work out as intended, what had been accomplished? Three lives of many saved, but they were safe, which was more than Lily could currently say for anyone else.
Safe, as long as Storm and Pearl could be trusted. But if Pearl could not be trusted to care for hatchlings, then no one could. That was something Lily knew she had to let go. It was out of her control.
It was very hard to let go, especially of three she felt responsible for. She couldn't do it. They were still hers, just away and under someone else's care.
"Storm, if you lied, I will end you," Lily growled to herself, still allowing Wax to attack her paws. "I'm trusting you."
The hatchling looked up, his eyes wide.
Whoops. Lily turned the growl into a playful one, swatting at him and putting him on the defensive.
It was out of her paws. She needed to focus on what was. Like this hatchling, who had apparently grown tired of defending himself. She recognized the reluctance that would soon transition into whining and yowling if she pushed him. He was still tired, and grouchy because of it.
"Another game, maybe." She slid a wing under him and slid him down onto her back. "Go explore." This way, she could watch him without actually watching, feeling the small claws and weight on her back move slowly, cautiously walking forward.
At this age, it was quite easy to keep a hatchling occupied. That was good. It gave her time to think about the other news, aside from what Crystal had done. Pearl, fighting Claw and winning.
Lily felt an overwhelming desire to move. She wanted to see, to walk around the valley and observe, to ask questions. Things had changed, and she needed to understand just how much, and what it meant. Not to sit in this cave with a hatchling and wait. She didn't have enough information, and what she did have was tantalizing.
But wait she did. Eventually, Crystal returned, her face drawn and her eyes sad.
"They have gone?" She hoped the answer was not some variation of 'yes, they already left', because if Crystal couldn't reassure her as to the safety of her children and Silva, she wanted to go make sure all was well.
"Soon. I told Pearl that Silva needed to be taken too. They will be gone as soon as she does that, I guess." Crystal sighed. "I am doing the right thing... right?"
"You tell me," Lily declared. "You think they can be trusted?"
"Pearl and Storm showed up together, and I know Pearl would never be bad to any little one," Crystal said firmly. "She is more confident now, and stronger, and happier, from the little I saw. She and Storm together, and with a good male too? They will be raised better and safer than we could ever manage before being rid of Claw." Despite the sadness evident in her every word and movement, she sounded sure of that.
"And she did swear to bring them back," Lily added. "Did they tell you where they were going?"
"I had Storm tell me about the place, but not how to get there," Crystal said firmly. "I did not want to know where to go. If I do not know, nobody can force it out of me."
"What did she say about the place?" Lily asked, nodding in approval of her friend's caution. Was she rubbing off on Crystal? Not wanting to know the location in case Claw tried to beat it out of her seemed like something she would do.
"That there are other dark wings there, a whole family, old and young, all kind and friendly." Crystal sighed, a long and sad sound that matched her downcast eyes. "She did not make it sound like paradise, but it sounded good."
"She wasn't trying to convince you of anything?" Lily checked.
"Not that I could tell. She did say that she does not know anything about raising hatchlings, but that Ember and her parents did, so it would be fine. That did not sound like someone trying to convince me."
"Then it sounds like a small risk, if any at all." Lily would have asked about a dozen more questions were it her accompanying Storm in Crystal's place, but that just wasn't an option, and the decision had been made. "What if they just never come back?"
Crystal whined piercingly. "Then I suppose they decided it was not worth the trip."
"No, that's not what I meant," Lily clarified, before thinking better of what she had meant to ask about, which was both unlikely, if she and Crystal were adequate judges of character, and unsavory. "And they would not do that. Storm swore, and I believed she meant it."
"So, it was the right thing to do?" Crystal whined.
"Yes, it was." It had been premeditated, at least on Crystal's part, a sacrifice to ensure there would be no greater tragedy in the future, and it was the right thing to do. She had traded uncertain horror for certain sadness.
"I did not name him," Crystal whined, eyeing the hatchling on Lily's back. "And now he will not know me when he comes back."
"But you will get to know him then, and after," Lily reminded her friend, leaning in to nuzzle her. "He will be around, strong and confident, not a follower of Claw." Since they had finished wondering whether it was the right choice, she was going to speak as if it was certain Crystal's son would ever return.
"I will. But it still hurts." Crystal looked down at the ground. "So..."
"You need to stop worrying about it," Lily said firmly. "Celebrate. You just got your children out. Were you not just telling me you wanted that?"
"I was, I did," Crystal admitted, looking up. "I did it. Pearl and Storm and all the other good people Storm told me about will raise them. They will never even know their horrid Sire."
"And however he takes it, that's certainly a slap in the face," Lily laughed, choosing to ignore that potential issue for the moment. Right now, Crystal needed to feel the relief she should by all rights be feeling.
"A slap to the face is the least of his pains right now," Crystal warbled, her spirits lifting even further with the reminder.
"Don't just taunt me with your knowledge," Lily requested eagerly, ignoring Wax's gumming of her frills. If he was busy with that, he wasn't distracting her.
"Where do I start?" Crystal purred, sitting down across from her and then standing up again, too excited to sit still.
"Claw." Lily specified. "Start with Claw."
"He is grounded, humiliated, and probably whining louder than a tantruming hatchling." Crystal took in Lily's look of disbelief and quickly elaborated. "Pearl drew it out, making it hurt. She seemed to be enjoying it."
"Any permanent damage?" Now Lily was wondering why Pearl hadn't just killed Claw, if she had been so capable of doing so. Maybe she just didn't have the heart to kill anyone, no matter how vile.
"She said his tailfin will grow back eventually," Crystal began.
"His tailfin." Lily shifted the hatchling to the floor between them, as Wax's biting had started to hurt, though he didn't have much to speak of in the way of teeth.
"Pearl tore half of it off as punishment for... you know," Crystal said happily. "No one really believed her except for the people already on our side."
"But the news is out," Lily mused. "That will be a powerful tool." Now she could use it, as Pearl herself had revealed it to everyone.
"She is different," Crystal repeated, purring. "She called him out, attacked him, and even taunted him in the end. I wonder what happened out there."
"So do I," Lily agreed. "And that's all? She shows up, beats the dragon dung out of Claw, tells everyone he violated her as a fledgling, and then… What after that?"
"I do not actually know." Crystal shrugged her wings. "That was when I figured out the dark wing must be with her and went to her to try and get my children out."
"So you didn't see if she did anything else." Lily nodded to Honey's hatchling, who was alternating between staring at one or the other of them, intrigued by their enthusiasm, if nothing else. He was not quite eloquent enough to say most of what they were saying, but he was probably going to pick up a few words-
There was an important thought for the future. Soon, they'd have to watch what they said in front of him, for fear he'd repeat it.
"No," Crystal replied. "I think there was something else, but I did not see it."
"I'll get that information from someone else," Lily decided, standing as she spoke. "Could you take over with him? I want to get the whole story, and get an idea for the mood out in the valley right now."
"Confused," Crystal supplied helpfully. "Go ahead."
Lily was almost out of the side cavern before she thought about what she was doing. She turned to look at Crystal, who was staring at Honey's hatchling.
"Are you going to be okay?" Maybe she shouldn't leave.
"I will be fine," Crystal said quietly. "And they will be fine, which is more than I could do. It is better this way."
Lily walked back over, impulsively nudging Crystal towards Honey's hatchling. "You did well by them. They will thank you when they come back some day."
"Maybe..." Crystal sighed. "I know. I really am fine. Go."
"Okay..." Lily left reluctantly, her need to investigate battling her need to comfort her friend. Investigation only won because it was past noon, and she could come back to Crystal as soon as she had taken stock of what was different.
And there were definitely going to be differences. There was no question about that. A runaway had returned, fought and defeated Claw, and then left again. Things would not be the same.
The cavern was mostly empty, and those inside knew nothing of what had happened. But the moment Lily got out into the valley itself, she could see and hear changes.
Light wings huddled in groups, talking quietly. Some laughed, some sounded angry, others thoughtful.
"Attacked the alpha..."
"What if she was not lying?"
"Now what? A female beat the alpha."
"She seemed really sure of what she was saying. She was his mate, so she would know?"
"Are you kidding?! She would kill you for even approaching her!"
Lily slowed down to listen as she passed a familiar pair of dragons, Cedar and Ash. She continued to eavesdrop as they spoke.
"Come on, it is perfect! One for each of us!" Ash insisted.
"What about Gold?"
"I do not see him, do you? I think she told her Dam he was dead."
Lily blinked, surprised by that information. She had assumed that since Pearl made it back alive, Gold would have too. She wasn't sure how she felt about him being dead, and put her feelings aside to keep listening. She could think about it some other time.
"Where did you hear that?"
"I was there, idiot."
A snort. "Eavesdropping, you mean." Cedar shrugged his wing shoulders. "They will not be staying, or if they do, Claw will claim them. I am not going to hurt Liona just to chase an exotic female who will not be mine anyway."
"Good, I wanted the exotic one," Ash rumbled. "Your loss."
Lily smirked at that as she continued onward, leaving them behind to their bickering. Storm was already gone, and not coming back. It meant nothing, save that Ash's stupidity extended to wanting to drop Danda in order to chase another female. She would have to keep that in mind for the future.
Back to the task at paw. She tried to get a sense of the feeling in the valley right now, and came to a conclusion easily enough, thanks to the murmurs and nervous fidgeting of everyone she passed. Uncertainty was everywhere, covering the valley like a low cloud. People were not questioning Claw's rule... but they had just had their view of the world shaken. They were thinking, if only a little.
They were thinking, talking. Lily felt a surge of adrenaline. This could be exactly what she needed to speed things along. People would be less wary of Claw while he recovered, more likely to question thanks to Pearl's words. She could change minds quicker and with less fear of repercussion. Claw's foundation of power, while still rock-solid, was shaking now, and might be unstable. It could be kept unstable with the right actions. This was something she would never have been able to arrange on her own in less than season-cycles, a fundamental shift in the balance.
Season-cycles of slow movement shrunk to moon-cycles in Lily's mind, her logic unaffected by but still agreeing with her emotions, her ever-present impatience. Pearl had given her an opening, and now she could strike more effectively in gathering support.
Then she felt something different. What was this? She could not identify this odd feeling.
So, she turned to something else. Leaping on top of an unoccupied rock gave her a good view of the plateau.
There was a small crowd, and likely Claw in the middle, being tended to. His pride must be hurting, to be so publicly humiliated.
Lily leaped closer, moving around the plateau in a distant arc, hoping for a glimpse of Claw. Eventually, she caught one-
And after a moment of shocked silence, almost fell off the rock she was standing on, desperately holding in her mirth.
That one glimpse had been all she needed. Claw, riddled in cuts and bruises, his face utterly disgruntled, being licked better, so to speak, by his mates, clutching a mangled and flightless tail in his paws. He had emanated utter embarrassment, and that was what was setting her off. Never, in her entire life, had she seen him embarrassed. It was hilarious, in a spiteful way.
After a while, she came back down to reality, and that other feeling slowly returned. What was it?
Envy. She finally put a name to it after puzzling over it for what felt like far too long. She was envious of Pearl.
It made sense, really. Pearl had gotten to leave, had apparently found a mate and learned to fight, and then... then she had come back, gotten her revenge on Claw. To top it off, she had probably already abducted Silva, saving her little sister from an awful future, off to go live happily ever after, while the rest of them had to deal with this mess.
No, that was too harsh, she knew it wasn't all perfect for Pearl. Nothing ever was, for anyone. And she was taking Crystal's children with her, so she was not just taking a good future for herself.
Besides, if anyone deserved a perfect, happy future, it was Pearl. She deserved this.
Lily banished her envy, consciously choosing to feel happy for Pearl. With that, her priorities shifted again, and she made her way to a place near the rock of Pearl's family.
It was easy to find because Diora was raging nearby, shouting and roaring at no one. It was no surprise that Ivy, Pearl's Sire, was not around. Why would he want to hear any of that?
She did not see Silva, and it made sense that she was probably already gone, along with Pearl. Lily would have found Pearl if she was still here because she would be the center of attention, good or bad.
"Lily."
Lily jumped, totally startled. She hadn't even noticed the light wing sneaking up on her, the male...
Ivy. She had not expected to even encounter him today, but it was not so odd that he was around. What did he want? She waved her tail to acknowledge him.
"Down here," Ivy said commandingly, pointing to a dark place between rocks. "I need to speak to you... privately."
There was something off about him, something that made Lily want to snarl. Wasn't he a passive and spineless male, basically Diora's subordinate in all ways? She had never gotten any other impression from him.
Nevertheless, she dropped down and faced him, willing to hear him out. "Yes, Ivy?"
"You have something that stops eggs. I want it." A flat, smug tone underlaid with an almost inaudible tone of fear. Not fear of her, she was sure.
Then again, she was the one who felt afraid. How did he know? What had given it away? "What makes you think that?" she asked, hiding her unease.
"Stop playing around," he growled. "Your own Sire takes you, and you happen to never give him eggs. Convenient. Too convenient."
Well, she certainly could not argue that it was convenient, but that sort of reasoning was false. Coincidences did happen. "And who says that means anything?"
"I do. Tell me what it is. Now."
Okay, that was enough. Lily snarled, stalking closer in the narrow passage they were both hiding in, her teeth bared. "Speak to me like that and you get nothing but pain." All she had ever seen of Ivy indicated he would be easily cowed.
"You are Claw's toy, to be played with at will," was his dismissive reply. "You have no power and cannot harm me. You are beneath me in every way. Give me what I want."
So that was how he saw things? Well, it explained why he was talking to her like that. He must savor being above anyone, so low in the pack hierarchy, below Claw and even his own mate, who constantly belittled him...
Maybe, just maybe, this could be useful, if handled correctly. She could very much use a male who was known to be one of the most spineless, least important in the pack... and he wanted something only she could give.
Yes, this could be quite useful... And it was Pearl's actions that had brought her this too, by giving her leverage and sending Ivy to her.
Lily no longer envied or resented Pearl. This one day had brought everything far closer to a possible end than any other day in the past season-cycle. It was impossible to resent someone who had helped so much and suffered so much.
An end, in one way or another. It was going to start here, now, with Ivy. She could no longer stand to be slow and cautious to the point of moon-cycles of no progress. Some risks were going to be taken now, calculated risks. She had already begun by telling Storm so much.
Lily purred smugly, and watched as Ivy's smug confidence faltered for an instant. He was only confident because he thought he had her in a corner, and beneath him. She was going to poke that misconception so full of holes that it would fall out of the sky and splatter on the rocks, so to speak.
"I am waiting..." A threatening growl emanated from Ivy, though it was underlaid with a tremor of nerves. "Tell me how you stop from having eggs."
Lily decided on a plan of attack. "Give me a reason to."
"I will-' Ivy began, but Lily cut him off with a laugh.
"You'll do nothing because under Claw, you are nothing." She needed to get this just right. "Under Claw, anyway."
"And so are you," Ivy retorted angrily. "Of less worth than the fish we eat every day, something to be used. At least I am recognized as someone of some worth. You are not even worth pity."
That might hurt if she believed it, which she didn't. It was good to know Ivy could be this spiteful, and that he cared so much about what the pack thought. Clearly, he was a different dragon when around only those he considered inferior, and capable of hiding how he felt around everyone else, even from her for a time.
"It will have a price," Lily remarked, ignoring the insult. "One you cannot pay when you see me as lesser. You will need to adjust your way of thinking."
"No." Ivy sneered. "Tell me now."
"No," Lily retorted just as simply. "I think instead I'll tell Diora about this, reassuring her that I know of no way to do what you want anyway."
Ivy wilted, his ears drooping. "No, she will not..."
"Oh, but I think she will believe me," Lily whispered cruelly, moving closer. "I have power over you, it just isn't direct. You gave it to me yourself."
"You are worthless," Ivy whined almost petulantly.
"No, I am not," Lily growled. "And neither are you, though you let others tell you differently."
Ivy blinked, confused. "What?"
"You want power, prestige." Lily didn't like the trade-off that was occurring to her, but it was a good one, if distasteful. "Right now, you want power over your mate, Diora."
"No, I want to survive!" Ivy whined. "I need your help... to survive..." His face contorted as he realized what he had just admitted.
"You are not above me, Ivy," Lily hissed confidentially, moving closer; she had no idea what he was talking about, but she'd use it nonetheless. "And you know it. So, this is going to be a trade. An unfair one, because I don't have to help you, and I don't particularly want to."
Wait... on second thought, she did want to give Ivy this, though she wasn't about to let him know that. Preventing Diora from having more fledglings was a great idea, given her way of raising them, if raising was even the right word for what she did.
"Just tell me what you want," Ivy sighed, reverting back to the defeated, spineless persona Lily had assumed was all there was to him in the past. She knew better now. He was an oppressed, petty individual who would lord over anyone he considered inferior at the smallest opportunity. Not a good person, though it was possible he was only like this because of outside pressures, Diora and Claw belittling him at every opportunity.
She let none of her thoughts show. "First, I want to know why you would accept what you think I can give."
"Pearl will kill me if I give Diora another egg," Ivy admitted sourly. "I believe she is serious in that promise. But Diora will kill me if I refuse to try..."
Lily didn't believe Diora would go quite that far, but Ivy would suffer in that scenario, for sure. Could a female force herself upon an unwilling male? The mechanics of that were a bit iffy, but Lily was sure Diora wouldn't need to go that far if Ivy was recalcitrant. And then Ivy would be under Pearl's...
Threat. Promise. Pearl was harder now, more dangerous, though Lily totally agreed with the other dragon's actions in this case.
"You think I can help you," Lily said out loud, drawing it out. "What can you offer me in return?" She knew what she wanted, but first, he needed to realize he had nothing else she would want.
Ivy shrugged. "You have no mate, and eventually Claw will become suspicious. If you are only against having his eggs..."
Lily shuddered. "I wouldn't want yours either, Ivy. And besides, some people just can't have eggs. Claw is not suspicious of Pina, for instance." Again, it was bad that Ivy was unfaithful, but his circumstances might be causing that... or they might not. She could not fairly judge him as things stood.
"Then I have nothing," Ivy admitted.
"Something," Lily countered. "I want something only you can give."
Ivy spread his wings the little distance allowed by the narrow passageway they were standing in. "I have no choice," he admitted submissively.
"No," Lily purred smugly, "you do not. I will give you what you need, if you promise to obey me when I give you orders."
This was incredibly risky, but she had Ivy by his greatest weakness. She had dirt on him, so to speak, dirt both of them were moderately certain would get him killed in one way or another if revealed. Mutually assured pain, but his fate would probably be worse than hers, as all she was asking for was his obedience. She could have asked for his loyalty, and for him to break his word to Claw, but that would be damning evidence against her. This was less dangerous.
Ivy, on the other hand, had not known this was coming, and definitely didn't know Lily's reasoning. He didn't even react immediately, his mind clearly stuck in a loop of confusion born of disbelief.
Lily waited patiently, counting heartbeats to pass the time. Ten... twenty...
Ivy shook his head. "You want what?!"
"I want your word that you will do as I say, as long as it is not directly contradicting Claw," she explained. "I say fly, you say what direction. I think control over you is a fair trade for your life, and I do not plan to use it often at all."
"You want my obedience..." Ivy glanced up, checking to be sure they were not being watched. "And if I give you that, you will tell me how to prevent eggs."
"No, I will give you something that does so." Lily shook her head. "You will rely on me for the continued effect. I am not so stupid as to give it to you entirely. You will have what you need so long as you do as I ask, on occasion."
He grimaced. "Deal."
So easily? "I do not believe you."
"I follow the strongest, and you hold my life in your claws by extension." He sounded extremely unhappy with that. "Pearl is the danger, but you have made yourself my protection. I cannot refuse."
"Swear it." She made her voice soft. "I need proof."
"I swear to obey you, second only to my alpha, Claw," Ivy said quietly but clearly, sounding miserable.
"Done." Lily nudged Ivy gently, a gesture of praise. "Not so hard, right?"
"Do not tell Diora," he pleaded, the perfect image of a powerless weakling. She would have believed that was all there was to him if she had not seen contrary evidence just moments ago. He was deceptive to the core. "She would not like this."
"No, she would not." Lily was pleased this had worked out. Now to set some safeties, given Ivy didn't seem to consider his own word at all unbreakable. "You know, of course, that in public absolutely nothing changes for now."
"Of course. And in private?"
"Do nothing abnormal, tell no one whatsoever. Once a moon-cycle, starting a few days from now, there will be three fish waiting in a clearing in the forest, one close to here. Eat them."
"Fish." Ivy cast her a flat stare. "The answer cannot be fish."
"It is not, but I am not giving you the knowledge," Lily retorted. "And what I put in the fish is not a simple thing to reproduce, so do not try and do so. It might get you hurt, possibly badly." That was both a truth and a way of ensuring Ivy continued to depend on her.
"And if I do that, I can do whatever Diora requires?" A hopeful warble.
"As often as needed." She shrugged. "No eggs will come of anything you do."
"Good." Ivy took a step back. "This did not go... how I expected."
"No, it did not." Lily laughed softly. "But you got what you wanted, did you not?"
Ivy left without another word, glancing back at her several times as he climbed out of the narrow passage and flew off. Lily waited a few moments before walking out casually as if she had just been passing through on her way to somewhere else. Everything was fine.
Everything really was fine. Why was she shaking?
Dangerous. That had been a dangerous situation, and though it wasn't now, there were so many ways that could have exploded in her face. She trusted Ivy's self-preservation and lack of overt hatred towards her to keep him quiet, but if another, similar dragon had done the same, she might have had no answer.
Even if Ivy did remain quiet, which she expected, this was still risky. It was an undeniable step towards downing Claw, and each step closer meant there was more to be discovered, revealed, outed.
She needed to keep moving forward, faster and faster so that whatever mistakes needing time to come back to haunt her were left behind. Or she needed to make no mistakes, but that was probably impossible.
With that in mind, Lily headed back to the caverns. There were lists in her mind, lists of people who might now need to be re-evaluated after today's events. She could use what she had observed to do so... But she didn't feel composed enough to continue her actual efforts right now. It was annoying, but she knew her limits, and the nerve-wracking encounter with Ivy had pushed her perilously close. She was still shaking.
She noted, in passing, that the plateau was mostly empty now, only a few females remaining, talking quietly. That made her purr. Recalling Claw's situation was a great boost to her mood. The rest of her trip back to the caves was made with a spring in her step.
That spring disappeared when she neared the cavern and heard fearful shrieking in the cavern. She rushed in, stopping just short of crashing into a wall of light wing bodies, then shoved her way through to the front of the crowd, silently cursing her pack's tendency to do nothing but watch in times of conflict.
The scene that met her eyes was one that made no sense. Claw, his tail still bleeding slowly, had one of the younger fledglings cornered, her tail and back to the wall. He was snarling at her viciously, sounding as if he was going to rip her limb from limb.
Young. She couldn't be more than two season-cycles old. What was he doing? And where was her Dam?
"You think it is funny?" Claw growled, flashing his teeth. "Do you?"
The fledgling whimpered, shaking her head wildly.
Lily hesitated, on the verge of interfering. Should she? She couldn't let a helpless fledgling be hurt or worse by Claw, not one of her own, one of the pack, but to force things now might set back or kill off all she was building up, a premature faceoff ending in her utter defeat and Claw's renewed suspicion. She balanced there, stuck between obligation to many and obligation to one.
"Claw," a female barked urgently, rushing out into the small clearing the watching crowd had created. "Stop, please! She is not laughing!" That would be the Dam. Finally.
"Not now." Claw turned his head to stare at the Dam, one of his mates, his eyes slits. "But she was."
"She is a fledgling!" The female pawed at Claw's side, carefully avoiding his bruises and cuts, though that wasn't an easy task given how many there were. "She does not know better."
"Does she not?" Claw whirled on the fledgling, his teeth now inches from her. "Then someone needs to teach her."
Okay, time to intervene. Lily took a step forward, her claws sliding out of their own accord. She was not going to stand by while Claw hurt or killed a fledgling. Not now, no matter the cost. That just wasn't who she was, or it wasn't who she wanted to be.
But then Claw abruptly took a step back, and the terrified fledgling darted into the crowd, safely away. Lily paused, confused.
"It is not her fault she does not know better," Claw growled. "It is yours."
"Yes," the female whined immediately, clearly willing to accept blame if it kept her daughter safe. If it kept Claw's own daughter safe from his wrath. But then again, it did not seem like the concept of family applied to any of Claw's children.
Claw lashed out without warning, cutting a shallow furrow across the face of the female, who jerked back with a bark of shock.
"Teach her better," Claw gritted out, before turning and glaring at the crowd. His eyes passed over Lily without really seeing her. "Next time, I blame the fledgling."
This was wrong. Not that she expected Claw to not be horrible, but this didn't fit with what she knew of him. He had hurt one of his own females for nothing more than what was probably an unrelated giggle from a child. Didn't Claw understand how terrible he looked, if nothing else? He generally kept a genial appearance around groups.
She caught another look at his eyes. Slits, darting from place to place, angry. So angry.
Had she ever seen him humiliated? Defied successfully and embarrassed?
No, actually. This was a new set of circumstances and a new side of Claw. A scary one, but also one that was going to be helpful. He was garnering no support like this, dangerous and cruel.
Claw stormed out of the main cavern, going who knew where. The female he had hurt was completely ignoring her bleeding cut, searching for her fledgling, the crowd parting before her. But no one was helping her look.
Something snapped inside Lily. She snarled angrily, drawing looks. Good. "Well? Help her!"
A nervous shuffling. She was really starting to hate the 'don't draw attention' mentality everyone had, especially when Claw was gone.
"Where is the fledgling?" Lily glared at everyone who met her gaze, hoping they felt ashamed. "And someone lick her wound," she continued, nodding to the female, who was still looking around. "She can't tend her own face."
Nothing happened. Okay, that was it.
"Stop standing around!" Lily knew she was roaring, but she didn't care anymore, and as it was all directed at the pack, not Claw, it was safe enough to say. "I could do it, but what's the point? Am I the only one in this entire cavern who will help another? Are you all really that cowardly?"
Still nothing. This was a group consisting of Claw's mates and fledglings. Not the pack as a whole. But still.
"She was... punished." A mutter, conflicted and ashamed. The female who had been struck at by Claw wilted, her ears drooping in shame.
Lily growled, knowing she had pushed too far. "And he said nothing about her being shunned too. That is your doing!" She took some of the pressure off of them with that and changed the direction of her accusation, but it had needed to be done. This group was not ready to directly, intentionally defy Claw.
They should still feel ashamed, though. Lily roughly shouldered her way through the crowd, making her way to the searching female. "Hold still."
The female shook her head. "I need to find Shalla first."
Shalla must be the fledgling, probably hiding in some small corner, terrified. She was too young to come out on her own after that. And still, no one was-
"Here," a young voice chirped. Three fledglings came out of the crowd, Shalla flanked by two even younger than herself. The one on her left had spoken.
Lily recognized the two who had brought Shalla as two of the three close sisters. Cara, Holly, and Aven, if she remembered right, though her memory was not good enough for her to know which two these were. She purred at them even as Shalla's Dam rushed over and comforted her traumatized fledgling, and they purred back before departing.
"Someone understands what is right," Lily announced loudly. "Fledglings act more honorably than any of you." She turned to Shalla's Dam. "Now can I help you?"
"I will." A different female volunteered, one Lily didn't know except in passing, her voice ashamed. "If you will let me?"
"Thank you, and yes." Shalla allowed the other female to tend to her wound. It would likely heal with only a small scar, but it was a nasty cut right across her forehead only barely missing her eye.
The crowd began to disperse, though through embarrassment or just a lack of spectacle, Lily didn't know. She felt more than a little discouraged with how... frustrating... her pack had been in this case. Why were they so afraid?
She understood why now more clearly than ever. Claw held power, and as long as no one questioned it, it was absolute. Each individual believed if they objected at all, that everyone else would oppose them, and thus said nothing, though in reality most people were probably feeling the same.
"Thank you," the female who had helped Shalla's Dam said to Lily, speaking quietly, not even looking up at her. "I am ashamed."
"You did something, so don't be." Lily groaned softly. "You are one of the few who should not feel shame here."
"I needed your... scolding." There was no hint of humor in that admission. It was clearly not funny to the female. "When did I forget what it was to act on what was right?"
"The same time everyone else in this miserable pack did," Lily griped. "I don't know how we got to this point, but it's a terrible place, where a Dam can be hurt by her mate and then shunned by her own community, though it was no fault of her own." That was also intended for the Dam in question's ears, as she was still close by.
"Pearl has awoken a danger for all of us," the female remarked, glancing around to be sure no one was listening aside from Lily and the Dam. "Claw is not usually hurtful."
Lily snorted at that. "Pearl says otherwise."
"That is a dangerous accusation," the female hissed.
"She says, speaking to the unwilling mate of the alpha, his own daughter," Lily retorted, deciding to push it a little. "Dangerous but obvious."
"But nothing can be done about it…"
"Right now, maybe, but if nobody ever tries then nothing will ever get better." She wasn't going to let on that she was doing anything about it, but… "Next time, will you need to be reminded, or will you do what's right from the beginning?"
"What's right," the female replied.
"Then that is enough," Lily purred, leaving them behind as she headed back to Crystal. She needed to lie down and shut up before she pushed her luck too far. Today was so dangerous, but what else could she have done? Pearl had created so many opportunities, chances to lessen the time needed to end this, and she couldn't help but take them.