Author's Note – This jumps forward over two and a half years from the prologue. It is time to again meet some familiar characters.
Any differences between my portrayal and the film portrayal of the hidden world are because the hidden world must be a full ecosystem if dragons are to be able to live sustainably inside it. I want the hidden world to not break suspension of disbelief, even if preserving that suspension has some unpleasant or harsh consequences.
Ephemeral Hopes
Luna glided over the mushroom-trees and hidden waters in this familiar cave far from the New-Haven-range. All along the lengthy flight down the many passageways and through dark and light chambers, she thought about the previous meetings with other Light Fury pack-groups. There had not been many of those meetings in the almost two and a half season-cycles since all remaining sky-kin fled the above into hiding in the hidden world.
Many of the other sky-kin in the hidden world had not liked the change that she and the Night Furies had brought about. Her kind especially seemed to be very wary of anything that was new or different. That was especially true of the two-leg ground-kin now living in peace in the hidden ranges, specifically in the New-Haven-range.
The first such meeting with ranging Light Furies, or light wings as they called themselves, did not go well at all. Her fellow sky-kin saw the ground-kin two-legs in the New-Haven-range and immediately turned their tails on the range, vanishing into their hiding-fires without saying anything and never showing nose or tail again. They were not willing to give the ground-kin a chance to prove themselves as being... not monsters.
She sighed and closed her eyes while gliding.
I cannot truly blame the other Light Furies though. They are much like I was once.
It had been a very long journey for her to come to accept the two-legs as being good life worth naming as ground-kin. She had flown from the hidden world once she was fully grown, intending to find a life-mate and bring him back to live in safety in the hidden ranges that she knew. Before she flew, her great sire had shared with her a life-lesson that had some truth in its claws.
Two-legs are filled with danger, flee on sight.
She had followed that life-lesson through the season-cycles of searching for and not finding a life-mate. But she eventually became curious and got trapped by a monster kin, a great-tusk-Alpha, and its two-leg thrall, Drago Blood-Paw, or something like that. It was also possible that they had been more like flight-mates and similar to each other. It did not matter now.
The trappers took her to an island where she was held in traps for well over a season-cycle. Many bad things happened in that time, and she did not want to give those memories any lift by thinking much about them.
It was far more liver-warming to think about what came after. How the two-leg ground-kin named Kin-liver had healed her broken wings by using small vines to weave the tears in the wings together again. That was how she herself had regained flight, freedom, and eventually fire again.
Even more liver-warming was everything about her dear, warm, and much loved life-mate, Shadowwing. Most liver-touching were the kindness and care he showed her by bringing her food, fire, and small-bonding when her own fire was dead and she was too weak to hunt. He was also very patient with her not trusting the ground-kin while giving her time to heal and become stronger. She still wondered how anyone could be so good in their liver.
He did all that and more for her without asking anything in return. None of his kindness was out of mating-wanting or any desire to make himself stronger and claim status over her.
He was an Alpha, and that meant that he lived his life-flight for others.
He had won her liver just by being himself.
Even now, he was back in the mixed-range, sitting with their fourth egg and with their third little one, a male Dawn Fury named Night-Light. Night-Light was their first child to have both light and dark patches on his hide, wings, and scales. That difference in color marked him as different from those who came before, more so than his two older nestmates. Their first two, Moon-Dancer and Hidden-Hope, were about three and half and two and half seasons-cycles of age, as the above would count, and were very close for nestmate brother and sister. Both of them looked like true Dawn Furies in their shape, but their colors were pure dark for Moon-Dancer and pure white for Hidden-Hope.
She had wondered whether Night Furies and Light Furies had ever become mates before. She knew of no stories that they had. Her sire-father and dam-mother had not told her any such stories, but both of them had lived in packs of only Light Furies. Further, they had both flown from their packs because there were customs and pack-ceremonies they did not approve of.
It was possible that her little ones were a truly new type of life.
Shadowwing was a very warm sire-father to them all. He was always patient with them when he was frustrated by anything, firm whenever they complained or caused problems, and willing to play with them whenever he had time, which was often enough. He also never objected to them resting on his back or under a sheltering wing, at least when they were still small enough to do so. It was now only Night-Light who could do that with him.
Most impressively though, he never forced their flights. While both Moon-Dancer and Hidden-Hope were friendly enough with all the ground-kin, neither of them had a friend who would be a special life-bond-friend. Shadowwing never pushed them to get to know the ground-kin faster than they would want to on their own. That was even though he told her in private that he hoped they did find life-bond friends among the ground-kin.
She understood why he was so patient in that way.
He had once been a two-leg.
That was thoroughly twisting to think about, but there was no doubt in her liver. He had declared it to her, and Was-Grounded had also confirmed it. This twisted and secret truth explained how Shadowwing knew so much about ground-kin and why he held to his liver the idea of sky-kin and ground-kin flying the winds of life together.
But his life as a two-leg had not been a very warm one, apparently. His sire-father, the former Alpha of his pack, had tried to force two-leg Shadowwing's flight into one he did not want to fly: that of a fighter. That had hurt their kinship much in that past-life.
Shadowwing had also confided in her that he was not going to make the same mistake with his own young, with his children. While he would like to see the same bonding and life-togetherness that he had enjoyed once with Toothless, he was not going to force their flights.
Though, she did sometimes wonder about how well he was able to be a good Alpha, sire-father, and life-mate, all at the same time. Between his Alpha duties for the mixed-range and his sire-father duties with his little ones, he sometimes did not get to give her as much of his life-flight as she would have liked. But that was a necessary part of his being an Alpha.
She and her flightmate flew out over a large waterfall, the almost-rain it made sparking in the light from several glowing light-rocks. There was a small pack of fire-scale sky-kin swimming in the water down below. She stared attentively down at them as they both passed over the water.
The other sky-kin in the hidden world, even aside from the much not-trustingness of the Light Furies, were a source of danger and worry now. What had happened in the cycles since flying from the above was, looking back over her tail and through time, very easily seen coming, though no one wanted to talk about it now that it was all in the past.
Those cycles were too terrible to think much about. There had been many, many waking-cycles of guarding the new range in which the Furies, some of the bonded sky-kin, and the ground-kin all lived in. The fighting that happened in the beyond was also the reason why almost none of the ground-kin were allowed beyond that good range. It was not safe for them out there.
She also had a new life-flight in some ways. She was the speaker for the ground-kin in any meetings with the other Light Furies. It was good thinking to have a fellow sky-kin like them help the talks go well. She could tell the other Light Furies about how bad two-legs could be and also how different ground-kin were.
If only the other Light Furies would listen to her. None of the other Light Furies had been interested in the possibility of meeting the ground-kin in peace.
At least I am not flying alone for this.
She glanced over at Was-Grounded. The sky-kin Night Fury, nestmate brother of her life-mate, was a strong, proud High-Alpha who commanded respect and deference from all other sky-kin. He had some old hurt marks from won battles, most vividly the sky-light hurt marks on his neck and one deep clawing on his lower back.
Truthfully, she would have been a little afraid of flying alone through some of these passageways now. But she felt no fear or chill at all with Was-Grounded flying at her side. Not only was he a High-Alpha, but he was also like a nestmate brother to her. He had helped Shadowwing rescue her long ago from the rotted two-leg Grimmel-Alpha, and he had proven himself as kin to her many times aside from then, such as when he let her sleep in his cave-den with Green-Wings after a different attack on her own cave-den.
Not to mention that she, Shadowwing, Was-Grounded, and Green-Wings all hoped that Moon-Dancer and Aurora might eventually start looking at each other as possible mates. Aurora, while she was old enough to want to find a life-mate and nest of her own, had not seemed much interested in doing so yet. She preferred being more active in the mixed-nest and providing for all. Also, Moon-Dancer was not yet mature, though he was getting closer to being grown. Their becoming mates would only further join their nest-packs closer together, if it were to happen. But that was their choice to make eventually and only if they wanted it and could not find other mates.
She grumbled and looked ahead in the cavern.
That is all in future skies.
For now, all she could think about was the coming meeting and how to help these Light Furies trust her and her kin.
She thought long and hard during the swift flight, all while hoping that this time could be different.
Was-Grounded hummed to himself as he flew at Luna's side.
Several pawful of sky-kin raised their voices in acclaim at his passing, and he roared back at them in acknowledgment. It felt so recent even after two and half season-cycles had passed: his and his brother's rise to become High-Alphas in this part of the hidden world. Both of them had stood upon the same great light-rock that he and Luna were now flying to.
He and Shadowwing had presented themselves to all the gathered sky-kin and implored them to give the two-leg ground-kin a chance at peaceful together-life. Many sky-kin had not been willing to do that. More significant though than the general reluctance of many sky-kin was that none of the other Light Furies had been there. There had been one far-flier who then flew away to warn its pack about the ground-kin being in the hidden world.
Flies-With-Sun, Luna's nestmate sister who had been flying under a different name, had explained that there was one large pack of Light Furies in a very far range. There were many smaller packs throughout the hidden world. Most of the Light Furies preferred flying among their own kind, though they were mostly peaceful with the other sky-kin they did share ranges with.
Maybe they prefer flying on their own because they are different from the other sky-kin. They have words like us.
A lone Light Fury had flown into the New-Haven-range in the last waking-cycle. That male had been escorted by Flies-With-Sun and Dawn-Singer for a while. Then the male Light Fury saw the ground-kin within and had demanded to meet with the kin-Alpha of the range.
That male had been very surprised that there were two Alphas, himself and Shadowwing. They had spoken briefly, and then the male, a Far-Flier for a small family-pack, had told them that the pack-Alpha wanted to meet soon in the flock-making chamber, which was where he and Luna were flying.
They dropped down a level into a long pass that led into their final destination. These were very familiar passageways to him since he had made this flight many times already on his own. He had to leave his presence-scent on the great light-rock-perch to remind the other sky-kin that the place was his and Shadowwing's only.
Their situation was a twisted one, in that it was unlikely that they could share such power and status as Alphas if they were not kin to each other from both lives. That sharing of power had started from that first moment when, flying together as one attack-flight, they had driven off the rotted great-tusk-Alpha that had killed the good one at the ice nest.
That deep trust and sharing of many parts of their life-flights which he and Shadowwing had was the reason why he felt no twisting fear about leaving Green-Wings and Shadowwing together. It was also why Shadowwing had asked for him to fly with Luna on this flight.
He glanced at Luna as she flew at his side. She was pure white with no shine of other colors on her scales, wings, or hide. She did sparkle a little if the light bounced off her in just the right way though. She was the smaller of him and her, slightly smaller than Green-Wings also, and she had faint, old hurt-mark lines on her forehead. There were also some small claw-scratches on the sides of her belly. Those were the only marks of very bad times long ago.
She was beautiful, but she was not his. Green-Wings was his, and she was more beautiful than Luna, in his eyes.
He, his brother, and their mates were two pairs of life-mates who trusted each other in all parts of life, having been through so much together already. Luna and Green-Wings teased each other now as though they had always been nestmate sisters.
He and Shadowwing had worked out a splitting of Alpha-duties. He was more the Alpha over all sky-kin, and Shadowwing was the Alpha for the ground-kin. This was a good flight for them both, mostly because Shadowwing, for obvious reasons, knew far more about ground-kin ceremonies and thinking.
He huffed as he remembered Shadowwing sitting among groups of ground-kin while hearing their complaints and answering them.
Aloud.
Shadowwing had learned how to speak with words like a ground-kin.
Mostly.
That learning had changed much about the mixed-range when it became known to all. All of his own young and Shadowwing's young had immediately started demanding to be taught how to speak also. Kin-liver, their young's life-bond ground-kin friends, and Shadowwing had volunteered to help teach them as much as they could. Some words and sounds could not be made by a sky-kin because their mouth-shapes were not good. New sounds had been made to fly in the place of the other ones as the ground-kin young and his kin started making a new mixed-way of speaking.
The young learned this new flight with much eagerness in their livers.
But it was too thought-twisting to him, and he had not learned much of it at all, except for a few important words, mostly just names. However, his seeing the greater bonding that giving words through talking allowed warmed his liver very much. He remembered many cold-season sun-cycles as hatchlings in which he and Shadowwing, then flying with his old two-leg name Hiccup, had done nothing except sleep by the fire and learn words.
Well, Shadowwing had done the learning, and he had done the teaching. He had been the adult back then... at least in thinking and life-experience.
They flew out into the very big chamber filled with the almost-deep-water plants, a far area of water, and many red-colored rocks. The largest light-making rock of them all rose from the ground, making a very bright ledge and perch like a sun that could be seen from all around the chamber.
He purred deeply as he remembered his and Shadowwing's dual rise into being Alphas together. How their voices had joined together into a commanding roar that echoed through the entire chamber. How so many of the sky-kin from the Haven-range had bowed their heads and wings after protecting their ground-kin from flaming and biting sky-kin.
How many of the sky-kin did not listen to their plea and would not give the ground-kin a chance. Many of the sky-kin remembered bad that they had suffered in the above. While he and Shadowwing could give commands as Alphas, they had no thinking-controlling power and could not force an unwilling sky-kin to do what they wanted done. Those that were not willing to accept them as Alphas had all flown off to other caves and ranges to live on their own, seeing neither paw nor tail of ground-kin. That was their right to do so.
Finally...
He tucked his wings and dove, only throwing them wide again at the last moment as he spun down over the bright ledge. He touched down and pranced to a stop, his tail sliding up next to his front paws.
There was something about the light-making rocks that neither he nor Shadowwing could understand. The rocks were bright without warmth, but his paws and belly felt warmer after sitting on one of these rocks for much time. He felt warmer and stronger within, though the greatest strong-feeling came from sitting on this particular light-rock. Even his fire felt hotter.
That had to be because of the warming memories this place carried with it. That sitting here was a sign of his special status... probably helped also.
He glanced to the side down the slope up which he and Shadowwing had strode together. That place was where both of their families had stood as one. The place where a hidden hope for the together-future for sky-kin and ground-kin had been made like an egg inside its dam-mother. That egg was now growing in the far, mixed-range that was now theirs.
A rush of wings passed over him as Luna dove and touched down on the rock several paces away from him. She pranced to a stop and turned to look up the slope at him. Surprisingly, she looked somewhat twisted by something. Her swept-back ears and worried warble showed that.
"Luna? What is twisting your tail?"
"Should I be up there? I am not an Alpha," she nervously shuffled on her paws.
He snorted and tapped the light-rock at his side with his tailfins.
"Why does that matter? You are kin to me, and you are the life-mate of an Alpha. Yes, this is your place. Come here."
She slowly padded her way up the slope, her claws clicking with every step. She sat down on her haunches next to him, and then she looked out over the massive chamber.
"I remember the last time I was here. I still carried Hidden-Hope's egg then. That was over two and half season-cycles ago," she sighed.
He dipped his head toward her and purred softly while his ears lifted. She had not been the only female who was carrying a life inside her back then.
"I do remember. Green-Wings was very heavy with Rock-Climber's egg also."
Luna then lay down fully on the light-rock and hid her head under her white tailfins, apparently to get some rest before the meeting. He remained attentively watching the hidden skies, waiting for the arrival of the small Light Fury pack.
Seeing nothing and hearing nothing, he walked away from her to roll on the light-rock and leave his scent there to mark his territory. He and Shadowwing both had to make sure that no other sky-kin tried to claim this perch as their own. Though, he was the one who sat on this light-rock far more. Shadowwing had more Alpha-duties to the ground-kin.
In the meantime, he flew his thoughts to his own flock. He had passed so many season-cycles thinking that he would never sire eggs or have a nest of his own. Then, after making a liver-tearing choice in which he learned to fly on his own, he had flown far into the sun's flight and had found Green-Wings in a far, barren range. They had hunted together, slept away the cold-season together, fought against a liver and thought-rotted Night Fury, licked each other's hurts, and became mates in that range far from all he knew before.
Now, Green-Wings was back on the very liver-warming shared-ledge here in the hidden world, tending to their sixth egg, which would probably be their last for many season-cycles. She was a very warm dam-mother, and she saw no greater flight in life than to tend to little ones so that they would be strong in life, have many words and thoughts, and be warm-livered to all.
Though, she also greatly enjoyed twisting his and Shadowwing's tails when the opportunities arose.
And his young ones, his liver-warming flock, his children, he could not restrain a warm hum at the thought of them: Dawn-Singer, Aurora, Rain-Eater, Mist-Wings, Rock-Climber, and the little one still unhatched.
He and his four oldest children took turns watching the above on that flight for seven sun-cycles at a time. Doing that helped the ground-kin count time and also kept the island safe. That watching was a flight that someone had to fly to help protect the hidden world. While it was unlikely that any bad two-legs would ever find that island, it was still a risk that someone had to watch for and protect against.
Dawn-Singer was currently flying the above, keeping watch on the island that had the very big cave leading down into the hidden world. He was also Flies-With-Sun's life-mate, and the pair had a fledgling, Moon-Pinner. She was a one season-cycle female Dawn Fury, and she greatly enjoyed attacking white tails, hence her name.
Aurora, now fully grown and with a beautiful mix of dark green and blue on her hide and wings, did a lot of flying in nearby ranges to help learn more about them. She was also, in his opinion, the most word-biting of his young, though she was only gentle to the ground-kin.
Rain-Eater, now with over four season-cycles and grown to his full size, was the strongest-thinking of all his young. He had become a planner and future-thinker for the mixed-range and regularly helped Shadowwing with thinking-flights that no other sky-kin could understand how to fly. He had started out as rather adventurous and a very strong flier, which he still was, but he lived more in his thinking now.
Mist-Wings was very kind-livered to all, sky-kin and ground-kin alike. She had helped much with the smallest of the ground-kin by being almost like a second dam-mother for them when the true sire and dam had much work to do. She also liked learning about plants and what different plants could do for those who eat them or use them.
Rock-Climber was already looking like he would be the most adventurous of all his young, despite being only two and half season-cycles old. That had started shortly after his hatching when he started climbing and playing a lot more than his older nestmates had done.
They were all very dear to his liver. Another part of their lives that was very liver-warming was that several of them, Dawn-Singer, Aurora, and Rain-Eater, had ground-kin whom they held especially close to their livers. It reminded him of another Night Fury, himself, who once held a dear two-leg close to the liver.
He returned to Luna's side, and she eventually awoke, got to her paws, and started pacing, her claws gently clicking on the rock underpaw. She still looked twisted by something, as if her twitching tail did not speak loudly enough to that.
"You were not truly only twisted by thinking that this is not your place, were you?" he hummed.
She briefly glanced over her shoulder at him before looking away again. Her ears fell.
"True."
He had one guess what was probably nibbling at her.
"Is this about his hurts?" he asked.
She winced at that and deeply sighed.
"Some. Sometimes I see him alone on the ledge or off relieving himself, and he holds a paw to his chest-hurt. Or he hurts when we are sleeping and I touch one of his hurts. He even hurts some when we are together as mates. At least, he started hurting after we made this egg and after the fight happened."
He remembered very well the terrible night in the above which led to this problem. The bad Alpha two-leg who made its life-flight to hunt Night Furies, Grimmel the Grisly, had attacked the Haven-range using his death-grabbers. They took Luna after burning her and Shadowwing's cave-den and almost killing Moon-Dancer. Then most of Haven, sky-kin and two-leg, had flown to fight the attackers and their very large flight of water-walkers. That led to him, Shadowwing, and Luna fighting against a true monster sky-kin.
None of them had ever seen anything like it before and hopefully never would again.
Shadowwing killed it with sky-light, with lightning, but he was burned by the sky-light and then almost killed when Grimmel shot him with an arrow-bolt in the chest.
He and Luna had both mourned for Shadowwing, thinking for a few life-twisting and tearing moments that he was lost. He had lived, but he had gotten a deep wound in his chest and burn marks all over, both of which still pained him even though the chest-hurt was worse. He himself had to tear the arrow out of his brother's chest, though doing so hurt his brother much and made him lose a lot of life-water. Doing that for him was one of the worst and most liver-chilling things he had ever needed to do.
"He is very strong. He told me that he would do all that again if he had to," he answered.
"I know," she softly whined, "but I wish I could do more for him. The hurting has gotten worse since the fight with the fire-scale."
He growled at the memory of that fight. A lone and thought-rotted, or just very angry, fire-scale had flown into the shared-range when Shadowwing was being the watcher for the shared-range. His brother had fought off the fire-scale with fire and power-light, but it lunged and hit his chest very hard. His old hurt had not hurt as much until after that fight.
Luna then gave a soft and very sad warble.
"There is more. I remember how the last meetings with my kind did not go well. They would not listen. I hope that this one will be different," she sighed.
"It will be, or it will not be. Just tell them the truth, and what they do then you cannot change," he shrugged.
Luna grumbled softly to herself and turned her attention back to the hidden skies and far passageways. A lot of waiting followed. Several other sky-kin flew through the chamber and continued on down other passageways without stopping here.
She was just starting to get restless when motion caught her attention. This chamber was mostly empty of kin, there being no hunting in it, and that lacking made any movement stand out.
Her gaze narrowed on the approaching shapes as her breath caught and her tail froze.
Flying from a far distant cavern were just over a couple pawful of Light Furies. She could make out what looked like three pairs of adults, a lone flier, and one pawful of fledglings.
She lifted her voice to them with an eager roar of greeting which they answered in kind. They all swooped down toward the rear of this light-rock-crystal and began to land. They were all various shades of white or grey with some shines of other colors on their hides. The young, apparently two or three seasons-cycles of age based on their sizes, immediately began playing with each other, pouncing and growling happily as they rolled down toward the ground, while their sires and dams stayed nearby or played with them.
A lone adult turned toward her and Was-Grounded and began to approach. The Light Fury, a female, was the largest of the pack, and she had several large scars across her chest and side. There was a small and scabbed hole in her right wing. The female was larger and stronger than her. Further, this female was clearly one with a leadership role among the pack, possibly even the pack-Alpha.
Do not be so twisted, Luna. You know what to do...
She took a very deep breath, finding some inner-strength from her own thought-voice, and stepped forward toward the female Alpha. Then she sat down on her rear, stilled her tail, and waited.
The Light Fury stepped up immediately before her, close enough to scent her, and snorted softly.
Luna inclined her head and spread her wings slightly in two signs of respect and well-thinking toward the newcomers.
"Greetings, far-flying light wing."
"Are you an Alpha here?" the female asked while slightly bending her head as well.
"No, I am not an Alpha. My mate and Was-Grounded are the Alphas of all sky-kin in these closest ranges. What is your name?"
"I am Red-Paw," the female answered.
Luna blinked and tried very much to not think about how Red-Paw may have gotten that name. Red-Paw was clearly a strong female and was as large as any male Light Fury. She knew how to fight to protect her own as flight-leader.
"I am Luna. Like-the-great-night-sky-rock."
Red-Paw blinked in surprise and leaned in toward her, "You know about the night-sky-rock? You have flown the above? That much dangerous place with Monsters."
"I did. I was searching for my life-mate. I found him and now we live here in the hidden ranges."
Red-Paw looked between her and Was-Grounded and then she purred, "I did not know that dark wings and light wings could be good mates. Do you have young together?"
Luna and Was-Grounded glanced at each other and snorted in amusement.
"We are not mates. My mate is in a far range. He is sitting with our next egg," she answered.
Red-Paw glanced between them both in confusion, "Your mate let you fly alone with an Alpha male?"
Was-Grounded stepped closer and spoke.
"Yes, her mate, Shadowwing, is my nestmate. We trust each other, and our nest-kin live much of life together."
Red-Paw purred, "That explains what Cloudburst told me. You live very differently from what most packs do. But my pack is somewhat like yours. My three little ones, their mates, and their young fly with me now. We all fly together for safety."
Luna purred in approval. Then she wondered if this pack might have some answers that she had been searching for.
"Red-Paw, where did your pack come from?"
Red-Paw sighed and thrashed her tail, "We lived in an above-range far away in the warmer ranges across many waters. Two-legs started living closer to our range and hunting us. We fled from the above when we heard the great calling. We have lived on our own since then as we hid from other kin in the great much-fighting."
Just the mention of that terrible time made her shiver and remember certain flashes of those dark and twisted waking-cycles.
Fires. Screams of fear. Watching and guarding the entrance against any unknown kin. Threat. Driving others away.
Most of that badness had faded though, and there were only echoes now living in the actions of the sky-kin throughout the hidden world.
"I understand that. All in our home-range stayed in hiding also in that time."
Red-Paw winced slightly and briefly looked away from her. That seemed odd.
Luna took a breath and decided to fly the question that she most wanted the answer to.
"In your flights down here in these ranges, did you ever find a pair of light wings named Hope-In-His-Liver and Paws-At-Bright-Flowers? They are my sire and dam, and I do not know where they are or if they live."
Red-Paw purred softly, "No. I do not remember any by those names."
Luna bowed her head in pained acceptance. It was unlikely that they would have found her sire and dam, but there was no harm in asking. Though, the negative answer did cause a chill in her liver.
Red-Paw looked back at her with her ears flattened to her neck, "Luna, I heard something that was very... twisting. We have been flying far to find a place where we can live safely and in peace. One of my pack, Cloudburst, told me that he saw a range filled with light wings, dark wings, many other kin, and... things... that should not be in the hidden ranges," Red-Paw softly hissed.
"What did you hear?"
"That the far range has two-leg Monsters in it."
She glanced at Was-Grounded and took some comfort from his soft purr. He was standing aside though, letting her be the flight-leader for this.
"Those words are false. There are no two-leg Monsters in my home-range."
Red-Paw sighed in obvious relief, "That is good. I hoped that Cloudburst was only seeing things. Maybe he ate too many light-plants that made him see twisted-visions," she chuckled.
Luna half-grinned with a soft warble, "Red-Paw, your far-flier did not see false. There are two-legs in the range now."
The female Alpha stared back at her. Something changed in Red-Paw's eyes as she stared back and her ears flattened to her neck.
Red-Paw spun away, trotted down the slope of the light-rock, and returned to her pack. She and the three mated pairs began whispering and hissing to each other. Their tails kept twitching and their ears went back in alarm and worry.
Luna's own eagerness and hope in this meeting began to fade the longer the family-pack spoke on their own.
She glanced again at Was-Grounded. He also looked very alert and worried as he padded over to her side.
"Have care, Luna. I do not think she has much warmth in her liver."
"I can feel that, but I must try with her. Stay with me," she purred.
"I will."
The three pairs of mates then retreated to the base of the light-rock. They settled down and watched over their playing young on the ground. Then Red-Paw slowly returned, a very calm look on her face, as she trotted up the slope.
"How did those Monsters get in here?"
"They are not Monsters. They are life much like us. They are warm-livered to all sky-kin. They are here because the kin in that range flew them here into hiding to live in peace with us."
"They are two-legs. Kin-hunters, thrall-makers, and killers!"
"Not them! Not our ground-kin."
Red-Paw snarled and parted her jaws with a hiss.
"Yours?"
Luna breathed very deeply to kill the frustration flaring inside her liver. Getting angry would not help this meeting be better.
"They are ground-kin to us and to all the sky-kin who live in the range with them."
Red-Paw's mouth hung open in disbelief and confusion, "That is the most rotted, thought-twisted thing I have ever heard..."
"It is different and new, yes, but it is good..." Luna objected.
Red-Paw stepped away and walked over to the edge of the crystal. She sat down and curled her tail around her front paws. She stared down at the young ones in her flock who were playing, biting and snapping at each other down on the rocky ground.
Luna warily padded over to her and stood next to her.
"Do you know why I am alone? Why my life-mate is not flying with me now?" Red-Paw softly hissed.
"Two-legs?" Luna whimpered.
"Yes! They caught him in a trap when he was hunting four-leg prey. They killed him and cut off his hide while I hid our little ones. We did not hunt the two-legs. We did not burn their dens. We only hunted their prey-thralls because the two-leg packs caught all the prey and emptied the forests. We had no choice but to take those prey to eat."
"That should not happen."
"No?" Red-Paw spun around and glared, "What I learned is that two-legs fill the ranges where they go. They make many young and change the ranges they live in. They push out kin and empty the ranges of prey that we can hunt. Some of them hunt us without pretending to be peaceful. They caused this. They hunted us, and I watched my life-mate die while I sheltered my young under my wings!"
"Those were bad two-legs who have kin-hate in their livers. They are not all two-legs."
"They cannot change what they are! Why do you not see that? They are all rotted in their livers! We cannot live in peace with them!"
Luna sighed, remembering well a time long ago when she had thought the same thing. She stepped closer to Red-Paw and bent her head toward her while also fanning out a wing.
"Do you see my hurt-marks on my head and my wings?"
She wanted Red-Paw to clearly see the line-hurt-marks that the Grimmel-Alpha's thralls had given her after she was taken from the Haven-range. More moving would probably be the old hurt-marks where Kin-liver had healed her wings.
Kin-liver flew with Jumps-Through-Clouds right now, her being the only ground-kin who knew how to safely live among truly wild sky-kin after over two tens of season-cycles doing so in the fallen ice nest. She would have wanted Kin-liver to be here now if she were available to meet with these Light Furies.
"Yes."
"Two true Monster two-legs gave me both of those hurt-marks. One cut my head and the other cut my wings so that I was grounded. Do you know what another two-leg did for me? She healed my wings strong so I could fly again. She put helping-healing-plants on my head-hurts."
Red-Paw grumbled and looked away from her, "Even if that is true, it only helped you so that it can use you or make you a life-thrall! Cloudburst told me about the kin that the two-legs use for work and thralled-flights."
"That is very word-twisted and not true! There is no thralling in that range. We kin work to help them," Luna sighed.
"Is it? You dark wings, light wings, and all the other kin in that range must hunt and work for the two-legs. What do you get from them? Nothing."
"Together-life is not nothing."
Red-Paw snorted with derision, "You are all life-thralls and do not even know it. That is a very clever trap."
Luna again winced at that familiar thinking so like what her own had been. She was also getting very frustrated with Red-Paw. Not understanding was different from not wanting to understand.
"Why do you care if we are thralls?" she hissed.
"Because the two-legs are dangerous, and they have already twisted your thinking. Will they only stay in that range where they are now? They will think it is a trap and will get out of the trap into the other ranges."
There was some truth in that. There had been talk of wanting to go out into other hidden ranges for need and also for exploration. But the way Red-Paw was saying it was twisted and meant to sound worse than the truth.
"Maybe other two-legs try to break and control other life. Not ours. We will not let them."
Red-Paw snorted, "You think you can control their rot and change them, but you have fouled the hidden ranges. You have betrayed all kin."
Luna stepped back and turned away from Red-Paw at those words that bit so deep. It was one thing to disagree with bringing two-legs into the hidden world because of old hurts that twisted thinking and judging. But to say that she had turned her tail on all sky-kin?
Then a deep growling echoed from behind them both as Was-Grounded stepped closer with his wings slightly flared in threat and warning. His nose, jaws, wings, and the fins on his back were glowing a very faint blue.
"Red-Paw, we have greeted you in peace, but your words to Luna are only claws of ice. Do not threaten her again, or you will see what happens when anyone, sky-kin or two-leg, threatens those I hold to my liver!"
Red-Paw stepped back from both of them, clearly surprised by the display, though she showed no fear and even had a very faint white glow on her back.
Luna understood why Red-Paw was so strong. Red-Paw was an Alpha of her pack and a fearful dam-mother who wanted to protect her flock from what she saw as a great danger. She was just very mistaken about the ground-kin, and also very confused because of bad things that had happened in her life-flight.
"Why do you protect those... things? Surely you know how bad they can be," Red-Paw hissed.
Luna stepped forward without hesitation, leaning forward to within a few paw-lengths of Red-Paw's nose.
"Yes, I know how bad two-legs can be! I was held in a trap as a mating-thrall and they forced wrong-kin on me to try to give them eggs! And I hated those two-legs! I helped kill some of them and their trappers, and I liked killing them! But I do not hate two-legs who have not wronged me or kin!"
"They are all two-legs. They cannot change what they are!" Red-Paw defiantly continued.
Luna stepped back and turned her shoulder on Red-Paw, having finally realized or accepted the sad, twisted truth. Red-Paw could not understand what she was saying.
Red-Paw only wanted to think in groups of two-legs on one paw and all sky-kin on the other paw. For one group to gain meant that the other had to lose. Together life-flights could not be in such thinking.
As for herself, she thought about the good and the bad that each two-leg or kin does on its own, and then judged each one for what it does. Thinking in groups would put any rot that the group may have onto ones in the group who do not have rot in their actions or thinking. Thinking in groups necessarily forces groups apart and makes them enemies.
The two different ways of thinking do not overlap their flights.
"What will you do now, Red-Paw?"
Red-Paw looked down on her pack on the ground.
"We will fly to a far range where many light wings are flying to. The far packs think it is safest to live with our own kind. We agree. We will not live near the Monsters."
"If... if you must. You are wrong about them."
Red-Paw hissed and held her head proudly, "I have been flight-leader for my flock for four season-cycles now. I have not yet led them false. If the Monsters stay in the range where they are now... that is bad, but them leaving into more ranges would be worse. I will protect my flock from them if I ever see them out in the hidden ranges. They will be prey to me."
Just the thought of that was too terrible for her to think about. Even in her own most angered and liver-flamed moments toward two-legs, she had never thought of them as prey for hunting and eating. No. They were more than beasts and other small life without great thinking. They had the same great life-fire-spark in them. Bad ones had to be killed for her own protection, but they were not prey-animals.
"You will not need to hurt them. I hope that you learn that."
"They do not belong here. We should be apart for our own good. I hope you learn that."
Red-Paw grumbled and leaned forward off the crystal, throwing her wings wide to glide down to the rest of her pack.
Luna watched as she touched down and padded over to her kin. The three pairs of mates immediately strode over to her, and they started speaking together. Several glances were thrown her way up on the light-rock. Each of their glances was accusatory.
Why is she so cold! So untrusting! She does not want to listen or even think that she might be wrong!
Her tail twitched behind her as she gave a soft snarl.
Why do they follow her as Alpha? She does not know how to lead! Her thinking is rotted! She is...
Then she froze when she saw what was happening down below.
The young Light Furies had bounded over to Red-Paw and were dancing around her in play with their tails eagerly swaying. Red-Paw stepped away from the discussion with the adult pairs, bent down, tackled a pair of the young to the ground, and started licking their bellies.
The fledglings' happy, warm cries of laughter reached her ears from down below and melted the anger she felt within her liver as she watched the play.
Red-Paw, despite being pack-Alpha, took the time to play with the young of her little ones.
Those young sky-kin would hopefully never know the bad that two-legs could be, if Red-Paw kept them away always as she wished to do. They would never know being hunted or driven from den and range.
They would never learn to share words with ground-kin. They would never feel the warmth of a ground-kin paw on their nose or hear the warming roar of a ground-kin feeling the sky from on their backs.
They would always be wild sky-kin living apart from ground-kin.
What would that do to them? How would they react when they did eventually see ground-kin?
It was hard for her to think of that isolation being good or making trust more likely when the groups did meet. Or, maybe it would be good because they would never meet again. There was a certain peace that could be if two different packs never met at all. But it still felt like peace only because of separation was not true peace at all, only a lack of fighting.
Red-Paw finished playing with them, shared a few more words with the pairs, and then the flock took to the sky. They turned for a distant passageway that led into far ranges away from the New-Haven-range. The adults shot their hiding-fire into the sky before them, and all, adults and fledglings, vanished into the fire-clouds, leaving the sky empty.
Luna stared after them, looking long into the apparently empty path as silence fell over her.
The faint wind tickled her fins and wings as she perched on the ledge.
It swirled around her, her failure with the pack and the other Light Furies' liver-chill. Doubt and uncertainty was flaring in her liver. An old fear was wiggling, buried deep within.
Then she heard the click of claws on rock behind her.
"Luna?" Was-Grounded asked as he padded up next to her.
"I... do not know..." she wearily sighed.
He remained silent as he too stared out toward where the other Light Furies had flown.
She eventually gave a pained cry and jumped from the ledge, throwing wide her wings and turning for the passageway they had both flown through. Was-Grounded followed behind her.
They both spun higher into the massive chamber filled with the strange rock-shapes growing from the ground, the glowing lights, and the great, strengthening, life-warming perch that overlooked all.
She glanced over her shoulder and tail one more time at the glowing crystal perch.
There were other great chambers far away in which sky-kin flew to make flocks. Several of Was-Grounded's young had flown far away on their own to learn what they could of the hidden ranges.
Each kind of sky-kin had its own preferred chambers and ranges to roost in. Each also had its own Alpha they looked to, though most gave special respect to Shadowwing and Was-Grounded on those occasions when those other Alphas or flocks flew here. There had to be some reason for that.
Their own range was beyond doubt the strangest of them all, between the different types of sky-kin flocking together and the ground-kin who lived there also.
But this massive chamber would always be a special place in her liver. It was where her life-mate had become a High-Alpha. It was where the many pawful of sky-kin who were willing to trust the ground-kin had listened to Was-Grounded and Shadowwing and had bowed their wings in acceptance of them as High-Alphas.
The hidden world had already been changed once by what happened there in the past. While she had failed with this last pack of Light Furies, that liver-warming place might yet see something new be hatched in the future.
Then she looked away from it and let her thoughts drift on the wind as she flew. Some of Red-Paw's words came back to bite her thoughts, fouling what should have been a safe and peaceful flight.
'They cannot change what they are!'
'We should be apart for our own good...'
It was a much longer flight going back to the New-Haven-range than it had been flying from it. The flight from had been filled with eagerness and hope. The flight back was filled with chill more than anything else.
Was-Grounded remained attentive throughout the flight though. These were still ranges in which strange sky-kin occasionally flew, and he was not going to have to tell his brother that Luna was attacked while he was off staring at light-rocks or licking his own tailfins.
He was also attentively watching her flight because she seemed very slow and weak. Almost as though the fouled meeting with her kin had taken much strength and life-fire from her.
Even so, he was very surprised and worried when she suddenly tucked her wings and dove toward the ground. She swooped lower and deftly touched down on the shore next to a flowing river and a forest of the tree-things that do not grow in the above. She pranced to a standstill next to a patch of brightly-glowing moss on some rocks in the sand. He landed behind her and slowly padded up next to her as she sat down on her rear.
"Luna, do you need rest?"
She curled her tail around her front paws and then hung her head, refusing even to look up at him. Something was very wrong or twisted with her.
His fear was confirmed when she started keening softly, a small and almost weak cry of chill, sadness, and failure. This was nothing like the lost-empty-wrong-mourning that had torn from her liver as she held Shadowwing's apparently lifeless body in the above.
But it still pained him to see her so hurt. He could easily guess what was hurting so much now.
Without any hesitation, he stepped over to her side and extended a wing over her back. He stood there with her, gently comforting her as she let out the hurt and chill from inside.
She leaned against his shoulder and gradually stopped trembling after many wingbeats had passed. Her soft whining also faded under his wing.
"Luna?" he gently hummed.
"I... do not... understand... why... my kind is so... cold..."
She sniffled.
"Why... do they not... want to trust or... try to understand?"
She then looked up at him with hurt shining in her light blue eyes. She clearly looked to him for reassurance in that moment.
He gave a small shrug and warble.
"The ones who lived in the above probably know and remember the bad of two-legs hunting them. Those who lived in the hidden world do not know they can trust these very different life. Or they have already heard stories of how bad two-legs can be," he answered.
She shook her head softly and grumbled.
"But our ground-kin are not two-legs. They are different, new life in their livers."
"Yes, I know that. You know that. All of our two flocks and all the sky-kin in the mixed-range know that."
"But why do the Light Furies hate those who have not hurt them? They clutch fear and not-trusting in their livers and..."
She sighed.
"I do not know what to do with them. I... do not understand."
He purred softly.
"Maybe we do not need to do anything. The Light Furies want to live on their own. We should let them. Forcing their flights into our range might only make them have anger against us and the ground-kin. Peace with them might need life-cycles to pass until none of their kin remember a time when there were no ground-kin living in this world."
She froze and very warily looked up to meet his eyes again. Everything about her look spoke of fear and worry.
"Did I do a... good thing by bringing the ground-kin here with us?" she whispered.
He looked away from her and stared out over the slowly-flowing waters. The occasional sky-kin cried out to announce itself somewhere in the thick forest or the distant skies.
"Why do you ask?"
She looked up toward the nearest glowing crystals.
"Because if all the Light Fury packs turn their tails on us, how do we know that they are not thinking clearly? How can I know that my thinking is not rotted if they all fly against what I think is good? If they all think that I am wrong..."
She sighed.
"I cannot ask Shadowwing this question. What would you have done?"
He sighed as well as his ears flattened to his head.
Those times, those sun-cycles, had been filled with so much fear and worry between himself and Shadowwing. They had not agreed on whether to fly for the hidden world until Shadowwing almost died. Then his brother, after almost losing Moon-Dancer, Luna, and almost dying himself, had let go of his vision-hopes for a better world of sky-kin and two-legs together.
They had summoned all the sky-kin who would follow them, which was all of the Haven-range, down to the beach at sunset to have one final meeting and well-saying with the two-legs before parting with them for ever. The two-leg's livers were twisted by this, but they agreed to let their kin fly on their own to be safe and hidden from bad two-legs, which was likely all two-legs not in the Haven-range.
And then Luna had intervened, speaking out for the two-legs of the Haven-range to be brought into hiding with their bond sky-kin in the hidden world.
As one flight.
"I would have flown the sky-kin into hiding alone. I would have said that it was better to be free and fly on our own to be stronger. Hurt livers would heal with time."
He hung his head as well, refusing to say anything for many wingbeats until he knew what to add.
"But I had forgotten that kin and two-legs, sky-kin and ground-kin, are stronger together than we are apart. I had forgotten the life-lesson that I learned with Hiccup in a past-life. Yes, I would have broken the nest in two, but you did not. Why not?"
"I... do not know. I was... twisted. I was... somewhat warm to them. Why does it matter?" she grumbled.
"Because I want to know your reason. Why?" he insisted and hugged her a little closer with his wing.
She closed her eyes and gave a very soft croon.
"I did not want us to leave them because they looked as hurt as we would be. I knew when they let us go that we could trust them always. I looked at them, and I saw us. That probably sounds twisted of me..."
He grinned toothlessly and chuckled.
"It is less twisted than you think. I thought the same thing about Hiccup, and he told me that he let me live because he saw how similar we were. He looked at me and saw himself. Breaking the nests in two would only make the two packs, kin and two-legs, forget each other and would let rotted thinking and not-trust grow between them. I know that... now. You made the good choice."
Then he pointed with a paw back the way they had flown.
"We might not be able to change all the packs in the hidden world. We might not change any of them, but we can only live for our pack, for our ground-kin and little ones. I had to tell Shadowwing this many times in the Haven-range before you became mates."
She chuckled a little, finally showing some liver-warmth, which was very good of her.
"Are you saying that some of his twistedness is part of me now?"
"Yes!" he snorted, "Shadowwing changes almost everything he brings into his life-flight."
"Yes, he does," she sighed.
"Have you and he done more of the together-feeling-knowing?"
"Not in many waking-cycles. He and I probably should do more of that," she admitted.
"Then we should fly to our home-range."
He stepped away from her and spread his other wing as he crouched in the sand, ready to take flight.
"Was-Grounded..."
"Luna?" he glanced back at her.
"Thank you, brother," she purred.
"Always, sister."
They jumped for the sky and turned their flight back up the long cavern which would lead over waters, through shimmering ranges, over forests, along waterfalls, and finally into a narrow passageway filled with dark lights, caves, and hopefully the welcoming cries of watchful Furies.
Toward home.
The clouds rolled overhead, spinning and swirling with the breath of the wind. The sun's warmth flowed down from above as the light did in the brightest chambers in the world below, except that this was much brighter and warmer!
Dawn-Singer grumbled and rolled onto his back to let his belly eat up the sun's warm light. His wings were fully stretched out also to eat up as much light and warmth as they could. The only twisting thing about doing so was that resting on his back made him see the clouds overhead.
The clouds that he so desperately wanted to go touch right now!
But... that would be twisted thinking to fly that flight.
Taking to the sky during the day, as much as he wanted to do so, would let him be seen by any watching eyes, if there were any. There probably were not, but he had to be responsible.
He was up here on this mountain on this island in the middle of nowhere important for one reason only.
All sky-kin and their ground-kin were in hiding now. He knew that and understood why.
He remembered well the attack on the Haven-range by the many two-leg trappers who worked to trap sky-kin and put them in cage-traps. He and his nestmate sister, Aurora, had worked to kill the fires that the Grimmel-Alpha had his death-grabbers start in the Haven-range. He and she had sheltered the entire range and the not-fighters under watching eyes while the fighters flew off to rescue Luna and burn the enemy boats.
His sire-father and dam-mother had long ago explained that not all two-legs were warm-livered to sky-kin. Even those of Haven had once lived their life-flights to fight sky-kin, but they had changed after being shown a better life.
Others beyond the Haven-range had not changed.
That was why he had never flown from that range. It would have been too dangerous to do so when almost all two-legs in the world beyond would try to hunt or kill him even though he did not hate them or want to hunt and kill them.
Two-legs could be very twisting life, as he knew from the example of his life-bond ground-kin friend, Erevan Haffnar. He had known that ground-kin for over four season-cycles now. Erevan had once had some rotted thinking in his liver, thinking that he, Dawn-Singer, was a thing to use for flying. A four-leg winged thrall-life.
That rotted thinking had been thrown out after a very wild flight that he took Erevan on. That flight had involved dropping Erevan from the sky, then catching him, and then a long talk with picture-words. Erevan had dropped much eye-water in that talk.
But... it had worked and changed his friend's thinking for the better. They became better and truer friends after that fight.
He still wondered how his sire-father knew that such a flight had lift and could help to throw out a two-leg's rotted thinking and help make the two-leg into a ground-kin.
There was an itch on his back.
So he thrashed on his back and purr-growled when the rocks scratched at the itch. The rocks did not work as well as ground-kin paws would at getting itches out, but rocks were all he had available right now.
The itch finally defeated, he glanced backwards off the mountain toward the mouth of the massive cave that looked upside down from his perspective.
That cave was completely hidden from view on the water, which meant that any strange two-legs would not see it. That cave led down into the hidden world where all sky-kin now lived.
One of the first things which his sire-father, Was-Grounded, and his second sire-father, Shadowwing, had spoken to him about after life began to return to normal in the hidden range below was that the hidden world had to remain hidden. No two-legs not from Haven and now living in the hidden world could ever be allowed to find it.
It was unlikely that any would ever take their boat-water-walkers to this island and then start looking around. But the massive cave that glowed from within with faint light would look suspicious.
There had to be watchers in the above to keep the hidden world safe, so that is what he was doing now.
Well, almost...
He closed his eyes, yawned and sighed, letting everything go limp. The warmth was making him very sleepy.
Being up here alone with nothing to do was boring.
His flight was very simple. Stay in the above on this island and watch for danger. He was to fly below and warn the Alphas if strange two-legs found this island. He was not to greet the two-legs on the boats or attempt any peacemaking. It was entirely possible that strange two-legs who appear on a boat and find this island would have to be... killed to protect the secret, although he truly hoped that would not need to happen. None had found this island yet, so that killing had not needed to happen.
This watching and protecting had to be done, and he was willing to do it to help protect all he held to his liver. He, his nestmates, his sire-father, and Shadowwing alternated this duty every few sun-cycles so that no one of them had too much time up here alone. Was-Grounded and Shadowwing were not flying this flight much now, mostly because they were helping their mates sit with the newest eggs and because they were both Alphas.
Today was nearing the end of the cycles he was to be in the above, and he very much wanted to go back below.
There were many liver-warming things about flying the open sky outside the hidden world. For one, there was no rain in the hidden world. Standing in the rain could only be done in the below by standing in waterfalls. Another good thing about the above was that the air smelled different, somewhat cleaner. There was stronger wind here in the above to tickle his wings.
But the most frustrating thing about being below was the limited amount of flight that a sky-kin could do. The caves, while very big, were still bounded. The hidden sky was not as big as this sky. There was no horizon to fly to below and therefore satisfy a deep wanting to fly to a horizon just because he could.
Sky-kin were life meant to be in the sky!
His two favorite things to do when he was being the above-watcher were to sing loudly his joy at each new dawn and, once each new night came, to fly very high up beyond the clouds and then tuck his wings into a freefall.
Neither of those could be done in the hidden world.
He rolled over and got to his paws, stretching and yawning widely as he did so. Then he slowly walked higher up the mountain. Jumping from rock ledge to rock ledge as the long grass tickled his belly, he ascended the mountain..
Finally, he stood at the top of the grassy mountain, all the snow having melted off during the hot-season, and stood tall on his hind legs while flaring his wings wide in the wind. He slowly spun in a circle, looking toward the horizon in every direction.
As usual, there was nothing there to see.
He dropped down to the ground and curled up, vanishing under his tailfins and a wing. One very twisted part of his duty always nibbled at his tail in such moments. He was probably the only sky-kin in this world now... the only Night Fury for sure...
The worst part of this duty was the being alone. The sleeping alone on a mountainside with no pair of warm purrs coming from under his wings was not warming. No tail was wrapped around his right now.
He could not restrain the purring of warmth at the thought of them, of those two most important people in his life.
His life-mate, Flies-With-Sun, and his fledgling, Moon-Pinner. Flies-With-Sun, also Luna's nestmate sister, was the only other true Light Fury who had flown to the New-Haven-range and stayed. She had flown there out of curiosity after hearing strange things from other Light Furies who knew about the ground-kin who were living there.
He had taken on the flight-duty of showing her the range and the ground-kin. While she had been very wary of them and did not know what to think at first, she had learned to trust them and had even started treating Erevan's nestmate sister, Helga, as a friend of her own. Maybe even as a life-bond ground-kin.
From what she had shared with him in the past, Flies-With-Sun had also been very frustrated with how the Light Fury males in the hidden world were not what she wanted in a mate.
He was what she wanted.
Moon-Pinner, his dear-to-the-liver first-hatched daughter, was a special sky-kin since she was, very appropriately in his true opinion, a Dawn Fury. Her wings were mostly dark with some white spots, her paws and legs were white, and her belly and tail were dark. Her neck had many different white and dark spots. In shape, she was between Night Fury and Light Fury, the same as Shadowwing's and Luna's youngest ones.
She was still at the age when she played much. It was good that she had young Night-Light, Shadowwing's male third-hatched, as a younger playmate who looked very similar to her. She knew only a pawful of the written picture-words and was starting to learn much more of the spoken ground-kin words.
But she also needed to start learning some responsibility.
What can we do to help her?
He thought long about it, eventually flying his thoughts back to his own life-flight. What was it that his sire-father and dam-mother had done to help him grow in that way?
They had made him bring back fish for Aurora and Rain-Eater and also help them learn their picture-words. Doing those things, even though he did not want to do them at the time, had forced him to think about and do good for another who was kin to him but not in a place of power over him.
He suddenly flicked up his tailfins, lifted his head, and stared off toward the horizon while purring deeply. An idea had hatched in his thinking. It was an idea that he had thought before.
"Moon-Pinner needs a nestmate!"
That was a very good idea. He liked it very much. How to make it happen though? It was not going to be as easy a flight as he would have liked.
Shadowwing and Was-Grounded had explained that all the Fury-kin living in the New-Haven-range could not have as many little ones as they would like. There was not enough food in their ranges in the hidden world for all to have very big nest-flocks. The agreement since flying into hiding seemed to be that any new pairs would limit themselves to two eggs or would need to fly away into other ranges, which no one wanted because it would break the flock.
He and Flies-With-Sun had been one much back when they first became life-mates. They had both dearly wanted a hatchling and had made sure that they would get one. They had not been trying for a new egg since then.
He lay back down and covered his head with his tailfins.
Grr, how am I going to do this? She is always with Moon-Pinner, Helga, or Luna. I need to get her alone somehow. Maybe I can catch her while Moon-Pinner is with Luna and we are swimming. She did say that she would make me truly have to catch her the next time! And I will...
Or maybe I should leave hints first and get her to jump at me! That would be better, much better!
The plan started to fly together.
I should bring her strong-life-hatchling flowers one at a time and leave them for her to find in our cave. I can hold her tail more when we sleep. And I can tell her how good it is that Moon-Dancer has Hidden-Hope and Night-Light to play with!
He grinned and purred. Somehow, he knew that his plan would work... eventually.
Dawn-Singer stared off with the sun's flight toward the horizon as the sun was falling out of sight again, filling the sky with its orange glow as it did so. The temperature began to fall as the wind died away and the grasses slowly waved in the end of day air.
It was time for the ceremony.
He spread his wings wide and bowed his head to the fading sun while softly purring with a twisting mix of warmth and chill in his liver. He always felt that each time he did this ceremony.
He did not look up again until the sun was hidden under the far horizon and gone from the world.
With the little remaining light, he looked toward every horizon one more time, saw nothing, and then jumped for the sky.
His solemn roar pierced the calm wind and echoed off the mountain as he turned for the cave and put his tail to the world above.