Hidden Flames

Aurora was getting rather frustrated with being a flight-leader. It was so tail-twisting having to always watch out for her annoying nestmates. What if one of them wandered away or got snapped at by other sky-kin? Any hurts to her nestmates or their ground-kin would be on her wings as the flight-leader.

She also had no idea where they were in the hidden world. True, she could lead them all back to the New-Haven-Range from here just by memory, but the ranges they were flying into were completely strange. She had no idea where they were flying, which was entirely expected and the point of the flight: to explore and find new ranges.

Whatever. At least Alvor was enjoying this adventure.

Having him with her so much was also frustrating, mostly because she had to follow him around just about everywhere! The only time they could be apart was when they went off to relieve themselves. Flying, eating, and sleeping had to be done together, all for the safety of the ground-kin. And also for her nestmates so she could watch over them.

Whatever. The things she had to do for her nestmates and life-bond ground-kin!

There was no way to know how many sun-cycles had passed on this long adventure. The number of sun-cycles was easy to know back at the New-Haven-Range from the watching cycles she and her nestmates flew on the island above, but that was not possible here and now. Some waking-cycles or flying and searching were longer than others.

She glanced over her tail just to confirm that the flight was still together, which it was. Good. She had not lost anyone yet. It would be so annoying to need to go search for someone who was liver-flamed and flew off on their own. If someone did fly off, she would give them a good paw-to-nose beating.

Though, the only one likely to do that was Rock-Climber, since he was the most adventurous and knew the least about life. Mist-Wings was also blind to how harsh and hurting life could be, but she had Kin-liver with her to keep her from wandering off. Rain-Eater was good and clear-thinking enough to not be a problem, and Moon-Dancer had shown no interest at all in leaving the flight. The kin Dawn Fury was responsible, which was good of him. One less thing to worry about.

Grr, where are we even flying to? What is the point? We are just wandering now... is that the point?

"Aurora? What's wrong?" Alvor asked.

"Nnothinng!" she barked back in annoyance.

"You sure about that?"

"You wannt to fly insstead?"

"Sure, I can't carry you though!"

"Nnot happenninng!"

"Well, fine. If you say nothing is wrong."

Why did he think anything was wrong? He was probably just eager to continue with the flight and find... whatever they were searching for out here. At least his liver was still in this. But he did not have the responsibility for the flight. He was just a passenger on her back. At least they could talk to pass the time.

Or maybe not. Silence was good too.

Valka gingerly hopped down from Mist-Wings's back, but she didn't leave the Fury's side. Alvor and Safiya did similarly with Aurora and Rain-Eater while Moon-Dancer and Rock-Climber landed nearby.

This chamber was very rocky and had a heavy misty fog all throughout. The few trees they could see were covered in vines and had furlike bark on their trunks. However, there were a lot of fruit bushes and edible mushrooms also visible.

Well, this looks spooky.

"See anything?" she asked.

Aurora huffed, "I ssee trreess."

Mist-Wings chuckled and proudly stretched out her wings, "Annd misst..."

Despite the potentially dangerous situation, Valka grinned at her wit.

"Clever girls, I meant do you see any other dragons here?"

"Nno," Aurora answered.

Rain-Eater nodded, "Me nneitherr."

Everyone considered the hovering mist ahead. It was so thick that she couldn't see more than a stone throw into the forest.

"Alright, let's rest here for a while and gather some food. No one go alone. Moon, Mist, Rock, how about you three stick together?"

"Ssurre," Mist-Wings purred.

Valka then helped her and Moon-Dancer out of their saddle and gear, all of which she just dropped where they were standing. The Furies enjoyed every opportunity to have all of that stuff off themselves.

Everyone began wandering. Moon-Dancer, Mist-Wings, and Rock-Climber went off as a group of three, quickly vanishing into the mist together. She stayed beside Alvor, Safiya, Aurora, and Rain-Eater. Alvor and Safiya took off their Fury-look helmets, probably also glad to have them off after a long flight.

"Gods, it's good to have that off," Alvor sighed.

Aurora shoved him with a paw, "Rreally, nnow we cann ssee yourr face."

"Ha, ha. Very funny. I have to stare at the back of your head all the time!"

Valka, bemused, wandered over to Rain-Eater and Safiya, resting against the Fury's side. Safiya looked slightly disturbed, or maybe just lost in her thoughts as she stared into the circling mist.

"Safiya, are you alright?"

"Yes, Elder."

Valka had no idea what it would be like to have a daughter, or even a son for that matter, but she was especially fond of Safiya, Alvor, Erevan, and Helga, being the other young adults who were closest to the Furies. They were almost like grandchilden, in a way.

"Out with it, child. What is bothering you?"

Safiya slumped slightly, "I miss home."

Rain-Eater hummed, "Me alsso, a little."

Valka sighed and leaned against her staff, "I understand. Me too. Did you know I left my home decades ago, though I didn't intend to? I had... reasons why I didn't go back."

She couldn't really say any more without giving away unwanted details. She had not planned to be taken from Berk. However, neither had she made any great effort to return once that was possible; she stayed away even though that meant not being there to be a mother for her infant son. That she had chosen to stay away was a choice which she regretted now, though she and Shadowwing had reconciled. Theirs was not and could never be a normal mother-son relationship, for obvious reasons.

"Where was that home?" Safiya innocently asked.

"A place that... is gone now."

Rain-Eater glanced at her, "Wass that place Havenn?"

"No, I lost my first home long before that."

She said nothing else, instead taking the time to fill in more of the map from her memory. This far away from New Haven, the only important details were what the passageways were like and whether there were any places where humans could live. It would help a lot if they could find some friendly Light Furies who would be willing to explain where best to go in these unknown caverns.

With that task finished, she returned to everyone else.

"Well, we should go find some food. Who is with me?"

Everyone there followed her lead into the nearest bushes and trees. One good part of the hidden world was that there was an abundance of fruits and berries to pick from.

"I saw something!" Rock-Climber shouted from ahead.

Moon-Dancer and Mist-Wings eagerly bounded after him, dashing around large trees and scrambling over boulders while in pursuit of him.

"Brother, wait!" Mist-Wings cried.

Thankfully, Rock-Climber settled down, tail still swaying with eagerness.

"What did you see?" Moon-Dancer asked.

"A twisted sky-kin!"

"Twisted how?" Mist-Wings wondered.

"It was there and then not there!"

They looked where Rock-Climber was pointing with a paw. There was nothing there among the bushes and small trees.

"There and then not there? Like it has fade?" Moon-Dancer asked, confused.

"Was it a Light Fury?" Mist-Wings added.

Rock-Climber grumbled, "No, it was not a Light Fury, and there was no fade like you have. There was no hiding-fire."

Moon-Dancer thought about it and agreed with that much; they would have seen another kin's fire if it flamed itself or anywhere near it. He trotted over to the bushes to scent them, curious if Rock-Climber had seen anything after all. There was indeed a strange sky-kin scent there.

"There was a sky-kin here," he said.

"Told you so! We should hunt it!" Rock-Climber exclaimed.

"Hunt it?" Mist-Wings barked in shock.

Rock-Climber hopped forward and slapped her side with his tail while laughing, "Finding-hunting! Follow me!"

Moon-Dancer and Mist-Wings snorted and followed after him.

"He never changes," Moon-Dancer huffed.

"No, he is always like this. As long as he does not run off on his own," she agreed.

They kept running until they arrived at a pawful of small but bright light-rocks. Tiny flying bugs were buzzing around the light-rocks.

"What are you?" Rock-Climber barked in alarm from ahead in the nearest trees and bushes.

The strange sky-kin they saw hiding behind the bush were ones they certainly had not seen before. The sky-kin were small, only a little bigger than grown ground-kin. They also had big claws and no scales at all.

Moon-Dancer blinked in surprise and recognition. He had not seen these sky-kin before, but Kin-liver had told stories of this sky-kin kind: changewings.

The changewings must have been surprised by his and Mist-Wings's appearances. Changewings, like most other sky-kin, had no words and could not answer any questions. But that did not stop them from showing their liking or not liking.

They flared their wings and hissed very loudly at him, Mist-Wings, and Rock-Climber, even though they did not show any threat-signs toward the changewings.

Maybe we are in their territory. Yes, that has lift.

He was about to propose that they leave the territory the changewings claimed when one of the changewings threw a mouthful of hissing green mouth-water at him. The mouth-water bounced off his back and dripped onto the ground, where it started eating the ground.

The changewing looked very surprised, and dropped its threat-displaying. All the changewings dropped their threat-displaying when he, Mist-Wings, and Rock-Climber growled and roared softly at them.

The pawful of changewings began shimmering, as if their hides were fading, until they were only blurry shapes that light flew through. It was almost like they melted or faded into their surroundings whenever they wanted, all without any hiding-fire at all. Then the shimmering shapes began dashing away deeper into the trees, bushes, and thick mist.

Moon-Dancer snorted, "That went well."

Rock-Climber smugly purred, "We just got attacked! That was so fun!"

Mist-Wings groaned and slapped him with a wingtip, "You would think that. We or those changewings could have been hurt!"

Rock-Climber rolled his eyes, "We are Night Furies and a Dawn Fury. We would win the fight!"

Mist-Wing spun away from him and faced Moon-Dancer, but she froze as she stared at him. Her eyes narrowed on him.

"Moon! What are you doing?"

"What?" he grumbled, completely confused by her surprise.

"Look at your back!" Rock-Climber bellowed.

If they both were surprised and confused, then something twisted must be happening, so he looked and barked in alarm. His back was shimmering in very strange colors, almost like how the changewings had faded. The shimmering was only where the burning mouth-water had struck him. But he was not doing whatever they had done; he could not do what they did, since he was not a changewing, but something was happening.

He was almost faded without any hiding-fire. But that partial fade went away very quickly, almost like a warmth was chilled and gone. Very confused, he glanced at Mist-Wings and Rock-Climber. They both looked tail-twisted and confused like him.

"I... do not know what that was. I cannot fade like they do."

Mist-Wings hopped next to him and cautiously pawed at his back where he had been fading. His hide there felt maybe a little warm.

"Nothing is strange now. Are you sure you do not know what was happening?" she asked.

"I do not know."

She grumbled, clearly wary of whatever had been happening, "Fine, but we should go back to our kin. Why did we wander away from them?"

He snorted at Rock-Climber and pointed a paw at him, "Because he wanted to chase a strange sky-kin."

Rock-Climber stuck out his tongue at him, "We have to have fun when we can!"

As the three of them walked back through the mist together, Moon-Dancer could not stop thinking about how he had almost faded without any hiding-fire. It was so twisted to think about. Night Furies had no fade. He only had fade from the Light Fury part of him he got from his dam-mother.

Maybe the changewing mouth-water was like hiding-fire somehow.

He glanced over his tail toward where the changewings had vanished. There was what looked like faint shimmering near the ground around several of the trees, or maybe there was no shimmering and he was only seeing there what he wanted to see. The changewings did not behave like they wanted to follow them. Not out of curiosity anyway.

"Drragonnhearrt, we founnd channgewinngss," Mist-Wings purred.

Valka answered in surprise and worry, since Changewings were very territorial and defensive, "Changewings, here?"

Moon-Dancer sat down next to her, "Yess, we wennt onn theirr terrrritorry by accidennt."

"Annd they wannted to fight!" Rock-Climber shouted with glee.

"Did you winn the fight?" Aurora asked.

Mist-Wings purred and slapped Moon-Dancer with her tail, "Yess, Moonn sscarred them away, ssomehow."

Rain-Eater snorted in amusement, "Well donne, Moonn."

Moon-Dancer preened slightly, looking very pleased with himself.

Valka just shook her head at the Furies' antics. She had not seen Changewings in many years. Those dragons were among the most reclusive of them all, mostly because they were smaller dragons and lacked true scales. Their only defenses were their acid spit and ability to disappear against any background. It was probably for the best that those Changewings were going to leave them alone.

"Alright, good. We refilled our stock of berries and nuts. You all ready to leave? We probably shouldn't linger in the Changewings' territory."

Aurora snorted and got to her paws, "I agrree we sshould leave!"

Rock-Climber brayed annoyingly, "If the flight leaderr ssayss sso!"

"Sshe doess!"

Valka returned to Mist-Wings, and mounted her while Alvor and Safiya did the same with Aurora and Rain-Eater. They all glanced back at the trees and bushes before taking flight. It was difficult to tell from a distance if there were any Changewings secretly watching them, but they felt like they weren't alone.

Aurora roared in command, and the flight resumed for a distant set of tunnels which sloped downward. They had no better path to take now, since they had not met any Light Furies who could tell them where to go.

Aurora grumbled, her tail thrashing the rocks in her annoyance. They had flown into a couple tunnels that ended in nothing, just walls of rock and some sky-kin bones on the ground. After finding nothing important, the flight had flown back to the other passes which they were now considering.

There were two tunnels ahead. One had bright light-rocks but the other one, the one which sloped downward, was totally dark.

"Which way?" Alvor asked from the saddle.

"Doess it matterr?"

"Fair point. But that's part of the adventure!"

"I guessss sso."

"But how are we supposed to see in the dark?"

"You do nnot. We cann!" she smugly purred.

"Right."

Kin-liver raised a paw, signaling them to all gather close for flight-planning.

"So, are we going down into the dark path?"

Aurora nodded, "Yess, we sshoulld. I ssmell morre inn the path with lightss. We might finnd a hiddenn place passt the darrk. If nnot, we jusst fly back herre annd take the otherr path."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Kin-liver held out her staff, fitted it with the can-be fire-air container, and got Mist-Wings to start the small fire. Her staff would burn with some light for maybe a waking-cycle before the fire died.

"We sshould fly!" Rock-Climber shouted while stretching his wings.

Alvor chuckled and tapped her shoulder, "We shouldn't keep him waiting! Let's fly!"

"Arre you the flight leaderr?"

"Nope, that's you, dear dragon sis."

She snorted in his face. The way he called her his sky-kin nestmate sister was so twisted, but maybe liver-warming... a little.

"Ugh, do you ever wash your mouth?" he groaned.

"Yess, what about you? Do you everr take bathss?"

"Yeah, and I smell fine!"

"Forr a humann!"

"Whatever!"

She led the flight down into the darkness. Their calls of sound-seeing began bouncing through the darkness, shaping the path in their heads and thoughts. The cave was wide enough and high enough that there was no danger of crashing into any spires or rocks.

There was also no sign of any other sky-kin. Nothing moved in the darkness, and there were no life-fires visible around them. Still, the darkness was not total, since Kin-liver had her staff held aloft. Even that light was only bright enough to make her nestmates' flights almost visible and make their eyes glow.

She had never flown with her kin through a darkness as total as that surrounding her now. Everything before and behind was unknown and mysterious. Her only comfort and reassurance was everyone else flying with her.

Even if they were her annoying nestmates and other kin whom she held... close to the liver. Were they always going to be there at her side? They had been so far in life. The only times she had been away from her nestmates were when she and dam-mother went practice hunting and when she had her duties as watcher in the above. Always being around her kin was frequently liver-twisting.

But it was also reassuring having them with her on this flight, even if they were her responsibility. Maybe she did not appreciate them enough.

She snorted, catching how twisted her thoughts were. Maybe her thinking was just trying to reach out and grab whatever was warming and close to her right now.

All five Furies were perched on a series of large spires which marked the beginning of a new cavern. The cavern was very deep and filled with many arches of rock and spires. However, no one was interested in going inside, for obvious reasons.

Valka had never seen anything like this place. In all her time in the wild, she had only lived in the Bewilderbeast's ice nest or the surrounding lands when on missions.

The chamber was filled with lava, the ambient heat of which hovered in the air even where they perched.

A lake of red, melted rock bubbled at the base of the cavern. There were a number of Gronckles buzzing about in the super-heated air or resting on the very hot ground. Further, there were large tunnels in the rock walls, but those tunnels did not look natural. They looked like they had been cut into the rock itself.

She had never seen dragons living so close to lava, but she had heard of a place almost like this.

Was-Grounded told her, though Shadowwing translating, that dragon island had been similar, a lake of melted rock at the base of the nest. That heat allowed the dragons to live in warmth year-round, despite the cold and devastating winters. Fortunately, there were no signs of any very large dragons feeding on these Gronckles and what were likely Whispering Deaths.

Further, there was no reason to enter this chamber, since it could not safely support the tribe and there was no reason to disturb these dragons. Even these dragons likely only rested here for the inherent warmth. They had to go elsewhere for food at the very least.

"We should go," she said.

Aurora huffed and shuffled in place, clinging to her spire, "I agrree! That rrannge lookss danngerrouss!"

"Very."

Mist-Wings glanced to Valka on her back, "Wherre sshould we fly?"

"Higher, probably. Aurora?"

"Yess, back thrrough the darrk annd up the otherr path!"

Everyone packed in together in a small crevice to the side of the chamber. All the end-of-cycle duties and needs had been attended to, and everyone had eaten their portions from the supplies and from one fresh catch. It was time to start settling down for rest in preparation for the next flight.

"Sso, what sstorry nnow?" Mist-Wings asked as she shuffled in place.

Alvor threw a hand up, "I have an idea! First, a question."

"Out with it then," Valka nodded.

"What did that fire chamber remind you of?"

Valka thought for a moment and realized what he was referring to, "Muspelheim."

Alvor and Safiya nodded in understanding. They remembered their Nord mythology. However, several confused Fury grunts followed, likely because they had no idea what was meant.

"Wait, you never explained our mythology to them?" she glared at Alvor and Safiya.

Both teenagers looked slightly embarrassed. Whether that was because she, their Elder, was disappointed in them or because they had just neglected to explain this to their Fury friends she could not tell. It didn't really matter either way.

Aurora barked in annoyance, "What is Musspelheim?"

Valka settled into place, crosslegged on the ground before the two other humans and five Furies. She had become adept at giving out words of wisdom and advice through her occasions of acting as the tribe's Elder. Telling stories was a relaxing way to fill the time in each cycle while also passing on ideas that would make life better for those who came after her.

"First, know that these are stories that might be true or not. No one knows where the stories first came from. Muspelheim is a place deep underground: a glowing world of fire and fire giants. The fire giants were not dragons in the stories I learned when I was young, but maybe they were meant to be."

Many of the Nord myths about the beginning of the world in some way involved the underworld and dragons nibbling at the foundations of the world. However, to her knowledge no one in the above knew about the hidden world, hence why it was... hidden.

"Yeah, I thought we might find Surtr here!" Alvor reverently and fearfully said.

Aurora grumbled in evident confusion, so Valka continued with her explanation, "Surtr was a... fire-god, a fire-creature that wasn't a dragon. He lived in that fire world and would appear at the end of the world. The fire world was not only bad; the sparks of fire that escaped from it formed the stars and the sun at the beginning of the world."

Moon-Dancer hummed in curiosity, "My ssirre-fatherr told me sstorriess about the god-ssky-beinngss. I do nnot knnow what to thinnk about them."

Safiya solemnly answered him, "They are the gods. We must honor and respect them."

Rain-Eater nudged Safiya's side, "Ssaf, you humannss assk thosse god-ssky-beinngss for help, yess?"

"Many Nords do, yeah. Not everyone does though," she answered.

"But you nneverr ssee the godss. What if they do nnot annsswerr yourr asskinng them forr help?"

Valka shrugged, knowing that the answer she gave to the rest of the tribe was not entirely a satisfying answer for herself.

"The gods work in mysterious ways. If they don't answer a prayer, there must be a reason."

Rain-Eater hummed in thought, "If thosse godss arre rreal, do they lisstenn to drragonnss?"

Valka chuckled, "We might never know if they are real or not. Ask them for help, do the best you can on your own, and accept whatever happens. That's what I'd say is best."

Moon-Dancer nodded, "Fatherr ssaid the ssame to me."

Rock-Climber shuffled closer, wide-eyed, "Drragonnhearrt, I hearrd a sstorry about a firre isslannd inn the above. Drragonnss lived therre. Do you knnow about it?"

She knew what he was referring to. It could not be anything other than dragon island. She had only been there once, long after the dragons left from that forsaken island. She and Shadowwing had flown there to search for dragon-friendly tribes after finding Berk abandoned.

But that island was very different years ago back when it was the hidden home of dragons that were raiding surrounding islands and tribes.

She glanced at each of the dear Furies resting with them, "There was an island in the above. A very big nest with a mountain taller than the tallest mountains in Haven."

"That height is even bigger than the tallest drop from the highest place in the cave of New Haven."

"Verry high," Rock-Climber hummed in awe.

"Yes, very. That nest in the fire island had many types of dragons. But all those dragons... attacked humans. There was another dragon, one so big that it could eat dragons whole. That big dragon was like a bad Alpha that forced dragons to fight and bring back food for it or be eaten themselves."

Rain-Eater grumbled, "Why did the drragonnss nnot leave? Jusst fly away."

"I don't think they could. The Red Death, the Queen, had... control of their thoughts and forced them to obey. That's why humans and dragons had always been fighting each other in the archipelago."

Moon-Dancer leaned forward, a very worried expression on his face, "How cann that happenn: ourr thoughtss beinng conntrolled?"

Aurora nodded in agreement, "Yess, that iss sso sstrrannge."

"I don't know. Your father and Shadowwing explained some of it to me as best as they understand it. The Queen or other Alpha dragons could make lesser dragons obey them, especially if the other dragons were... not so strong-willed."

"Strong-willed?" Alvor asked.

"Could a bad drragonn conntrol uss?" Moon-Dancer asked in clear worry.

The other Furies warily hummed at her, eager to hear her thoughts on whether they were vulnerable.

She wasn't sure how to answer that. Shadowwing and Was-Grounded were beyond the power of Drago's Bewilderbeast to control. The best explanation she and they had come up with was that the ability to control and influence others had something to do with uncertainty and lack of clear self-image.

Shadowwing had mentioned to her that it was after Was-Grounded helped free him from mental control that he, Shadowwing, had learned how to use his fire and had more fully embraced being a Night Fury. Being aware and accepting of what he was had helped him resist outside forces.

Further, Was-Grounded had never fallen to that control, probably because he had no such confusion about himself and thought about nothing except his family at the time: Green-Wings, Dawn-Singer, and Shadowwing.

All of that was not so different from what could motivate a human to do something terrible. If the human was weak of will, unsure of himself or herself, and did not have his or her priorities in order, the person was more vulnerable to group pressure, being manipulated for the benefit of others, and general aimlessness in life. At least that is what she had observed in her time serving as the new Elder for the tribe.

"No, I doubt that you could be controlled. Thought control only works on those who are not sure of who they are and don't have the will to resist outside pressure. You have good families and people you care for. You would not let yourselves hurt them."

Everyone nodded and purred in reassurance at her words.

Mist-Wings raised a paw, "What about that Rred Death drragonn? What happenned to it?"

Safiya answered before she could, "Hiccup and Toothless killed it."

"Elder, changing the subject a little, but what was the white Bewilderbeast like?" Alvor asked.

Safiya nodded, "We saw it on the island, but what was he really like?"

She paused before answering that question. While in the ice nest, her opinion of the white Bewilderbeast was rather simple: he was good since he protected the nest from the trappers and provided for the dragons living there. Further, he behaved far more aware of himself than the other dragons did.

However, her thoughts on his role had become more complex in the years since his death and the destruction of the ice-nest.

"The King was an Alpha who lived for the nest and provided for everyone there. That was good of him..."

"But?" Rain-Eater interjected.

He would be the one to tell that she had some reservations. He was probably the most perceptive of the Furies.

"But relying on him to provide and protect the rest of the dragons made the other dragons overly dependent on him. Some of them didn't even do their own hunting. They just stayed in the nest and waited for him to show up with fish. It was good that he helped defend against trappers, but the rest of the dragons relying on him to defend them... might have made themselves weaker and less able to defend themselves."

She sighed while clutching her staff, "Sometimes I wonder if dragons need an Alpha or King at all. The more power those in a tribe give to the leader, the more likely that leader is to want to keep power, even benevolently at first."

"What about Shadowwing and Was-Grounded? They're Alphas too," Alvor asked.

"They are different. They never wanted power, and they cannot control dragons with their wills. They also don't provide for needs in a way that makes dragons needy or weaker. No, they are leaders because they are respected by those who know them and trust them. Nothing more."

Aurora chuffed, "My fatherr annd Dawnn-Ssinngerr have talked about him beinng ann Alpha. He doess nnot wannt that."

Alvor chuckled, "Would you want to be an Alpha?"

"Nno! Beinng ann Alpha iss sso much worrk, worryinng, prroblemss, annd needinng to fight to keep beinng Alpha! I do nnot wannt that."

"What do you want?"

Aurora paused, as if unsure what to say, before rolling her eyes, "Nnot that life."

Alvor nodded, "Fair enough. As for me, I kind of like being an adventurer. I used to dream about getting my own longboat and crew, sailing the seas, pillaging and plundering the mainland, capturing damsels, and getting rich!"

Rain-Eater grumbled, "Rrich? Havinng a lot of gold?"

Safiya laughed, "Yep, he used to pretend to be a pirate. And Al let's be real, you capturing a woman in a raid is probably the only way you'd ever get a girlfriend."

Aurora snickered, "I agrree!"

Alvor faced Aurora, "Really? What if some big, strong, handsome-"

"So not you," Safiya chuckled.

Alvor gently punched her shoulder while everyone else laughed, "-as I was saying, what if some male Night Fury or Light Fury showed up and... wanted you? How would that work?"

Aurora huffed and slapped the ground with her tail, "If it wass worrthy of me, which I doubt anny could be, annd if I wannted onne, I might make him my mate afterr much tesstinng him. But I would alwayss, what do youu hummannss ssay, be onn top!"

Alvor coughed, breaking the resulting silence, "What I meant is what if that he doesn't like us humans?"

"I would nnot take anny male who would nnot trrusst humannss! You arre parrt of my life."

Alvor rested a hand on her neck, "Thanks, Aurora."

"I prrobably will nnot take a mate annyway," she huffed, shaking off his hand.

"Why nnot?" Moon-Dancer asked.

She purred at him, "Becausse, onnly a sspeccial male could everr make me wannt him!"

"Onnly a sspecial male could wannt you," Rock-Climber teased.

She shot him a look that could melt rock, but he was probably used to it and did not react.

"What kind of male could?" Moon-Dancer purred, switching to Fury words.

Aurora flared her wings and stared at the nearest light-rock, "He must be strong but kind, must endure my biting with words and must bite back, must be warm to ground-kin, must hold me in his liver but not try to claim my liver as his, and he must be liver-flamed with courage. Only that kind of male could deserve me!"

Rain-Eater hummed in thought, "Like sire-father is to dam-mother?"

Aurora nodded, "Yes, a male who lives and thinks like him would be a good one!"

Alvor protested, "Just what are you all growling about? You know we can't understand that!"

Aurora spun on him with a gleam in her eyes, "We werre talkinng about what I wannt frrom a male. Nneed me to rrepeat all the detailss?"

"No, I think I'm good not knowing," Alvor hastily answered.

Safiya nodded, "Same."

They paused outside a large and very bright chamber that had many dragons inside. What made this place different from all others before was that there were many different kinds of dragons sharing this place. Further, there were many pools of steaming water all throughout, though there were no trees or plants at all other than mosses. Pairs of dragons were resting on the ground all around the steaming pools.

"What is this place?" Alvor asked in awe.

"Nnot ssurre," Aurora hissed.

"This might be a hatching ground," Valka declared.

Aurora started in surprise, "How do you knnow?"

"There are pairs of a male and female resting together by the warm water. That is what I saw when I went to the dragons' hatching island in the above."

"Sshould we get closserr?" Mist-Wings asked.

"Only if we keep our distance from the pairs. They don't want their eggs threatened."

"Finne, we sshould ssearrch forr Light Furriess herre," Aurora declared.

Everyone agreed to that and formed a couple flights: herself, Rock-Climber, and Moon-Dancer in one flight while Rain-Eater and Mist-Wings were in the other. Rain-Eater and Mist-Wings, both with their ground-kin, flew off toward the far end of the hatching-chamber.

She, Rock-Climber, and Moon-Dancer touched down on the sandy shore by the steaming water. Alvor hopped off her back.

"Wow, never thought I'd see a place like this," he whispered.

"Ssame herre," she answered.

Moon-Dancer stepped beside her, staring ahead toward a series of small depressions dug into the sand. Curious about those, they approached the small pits and realized that they were old nests. Within each of the small valleys were shards of very old egg shells from all different kinds of sky-kin.

But she could not see any Light Furies anywhere within the range. Rock-bellies, fire-scales, tail-clubs, spine-throwers, and even long-sharp-wings were aplenty, but there were no Light Furies.

"Amazing, isn't it," Alvor said.

"Yess, it iss."

Something about seeing these shards of eggs and seeing the dams sitting their eggs further down the shore reminded her of that big problem in her life. Well, the obstacle to her being much happier... did that make it a problem that she had no life-mate? Probably.

She carefully nudged one of the larger egg shards with a paw. The shard, old and brittle, shattered at her touch.

Seeing her sire-father and dam-mother, and Shadowwing and Luna also, being so warm-livered to each other was very good. They were two examples of how good life-mates treat each other with respect and liver-warmth.

She hung her head and groaned. Being here and seeing the pieces of these eggs had clarified part of her life in a way she had not thought of before. She wanted to be wanted and to be important to someone else.

Her problem had no clear answer in sight. The only males in the New-Haven-Range were completely wrong for her to take as a mate. Well, there was Moon-Dancer, since he was not her nestmate; however, he had never shown any wanting, not to mention that he was not old enough or even as big as her yet. Further, Moon-Dancer and Mist-Wings played much together, even wrestling and pinning games.

She glanced at him. He was staring into the distance, as if he was completely uninterested by being here. That made sense of him, since seeing eggs probably touched the livers of females more than it did for males. He was also probably not grown enough to be interested by that part of life.

The only hope for her to find someone would be to find the Light Furies. If she could find a good, strong, confident male Light Fury who would respect her and did not distrust the ground-kin, which was asking for a lot since the Light Furies seemed to have trust problems, then maybe...

Alvor flicked her nearest ear, so she swatted at him with a paw and knocked him down, "What wass that forr?"

"You were not listening to me. I asked you what's wrong."

"Why do you thinnk ssomethinng iss wrronng?"

Alvor crossed his arms. Even with his helmet on, she knew that he was frowning, "Because you are my friend, and I know that you're bothered by something."

She huffed, "Sshould I sswat at yourr earrss? That iss botherrssome."

"I'm serious."

"Sso am I. I rrealized we musst finnd Light Furriess if we arre to finnd... what we wannt."

Moon-Dancer pranced beside her and purred, "Maybe we sshould leave ssoonn."

"I agrree."

Alvor nudged her shoulder, "I want to talk to you, alone."

"Finne. Rrock, Moonn, go finnd ourr kinn. We will follow ssoonn."

They obeyed, Moon-Dancer only leaving after briefly hesitating, and flew off while she and Alvor wandered away to speak on their own with no one listening. Finally, they stopped far away from the shore, up by a large rock formation.

"What iss it?"

He again crossed his arms, "Aurora, you're hiding something."

"What? Why do you thinnk that?"

Alvor slumped in place, "You don't usually just... drift off like you did when you were looking at the nest. Please talk to me."

She briefly glared at him and looked away, feeling very weary. How could he understand her situation? He had several available females his age whom he could end up paired with, though he had not shown any interest. She had no one.

"It iss my bussinnessss, nnot yourrss."

"But I am your friend. You don't need to hide anything from me."

She hissed, very frustrated with how... annoying he was. Why could he not just leave her alone to deal with her problems on her own! He could not understand her situation, not truly. How could a male ground-kin understand a female sky-kin?

"I do nnot wannt to talk about it!"

"But..."

"Nno! Jusst... sstop!" she growled.

She spun away, fully intending to leave him there, when she remembered the frustrating truth that she could not leave him there safely. He was her ground-kin, and that meant she had to keep him safe... even now.

"Grr... jusst get onn."

"Alright then. Fine."

She did not look at him as he climbed on and got in the saddle. There was nothing that needed saying.

She met up with Rain-Eater, Safiya, Mist-Wings, Kin-liver, Rock-Climber, and Moon-Dancer. They were circling before the main entrance to this hatching-chamber.

"Find any Light Furies?" she asked her kin in Fury-speak.

"No, there are none here. Maybe they do not sit their eggs here," Rain-Eater answered.

"Then we should keep flying."

She took the head of the flight as they left the range where the sky-kin were sitting their eggs. She glanced over her tail one last time at the steaming pools and the sky-kin on the sands.

A tiny, hidden spark felt like it was burning in her liver. Seeing dam-mother curled up around an egg had once been a very thought-twisting thing, but now it felt so good and liver-warming. If only there was a way for that dream to become truth for herself. But there was no point wasting thought on that.

Alvor stared into the distance, looking anywhere other than at the back of Aurora's head. He wasn't sure what to make of her right now. She had always been a teasing person, but her frustration with anyone and everyone around her was getting worse. He just wanted to talk to her about whatever was bothering her. That is what friends were supposed to do for each other.

Maybe what was disturbing her was just the stress of being a leader. After all, she had been leading the flight for... how long had they been on this adventure? There was no way to tell for sure, but it was probably nearing a month or several weeks since they flew from New Haven.

On the other hand, she had been getting quick to snap well before this adventure, so the stress of leading was only making worse whatever was already there.

She was not happy with something in her life, that much was clear. Beyond that though, he had no idea. If only she would talk to him and confide in him. But she wasn't doing that even with her own brothers and sisters, so Rain-Eater had mentioned once.

He shrugged. She was such a stubborn Fury that he wouldn't be able to get anything from her if she didn't want to talk. All he could do was be patient and wait for her to realize that he was there to help however he could.

But she was very stubborn, so her realizing that could take a long time.

Moon-Dancer purred when he saw the range before them. It had many large mushroom-trees and plants of all types, some of which even had food the ground-kin could eat. Light-rocks burned throughout the range, and there were also waters that visibly had fish in them.

Everyone flew down together and landed in a clearing in the forest. The trees and bushes had flowers that burned with light, all while the deeps of the forest echoed with sounds of life. The river just to the side flowed with clear water which was probably good for drinking.

"Think it's safe?" Alvor asked.

"Lookss ssafe ennough!" Aurora answered.

Kin-liver hopped down from Mist-Wings, "Then we rest here. We all need it."

He was sure that was true since everyone looked weary and tired after long flying without much to eat. The ground-kin helped everyone out of their riding-with saddles and bags of supplies. Everyone then went off to attend to needs as was the regular custom. He went with Alvor, Rain-Eater, and Rock-Climber while all the females went off together to do the same and catch some fish.

Everyone did on their own what needed doing, and turned back for the clearing. That he was walking with Alvor gave him a very good opportunity to talk to him about something important.

"Alvorr, how iss Aurrorra?" he whispered after gently nudging him.

"Huh, you saw it too?"

"Sshe lookss frrusstrrated."

"More than usual?"

"Yess."

Alvor kicked at a vine while grumbling, "Yeah, she's not acting like herself recently."

Rain-Eater hopped alongside them and grumbled, "I knnow. Sshe hass beenn morre upsset annd keepinng to herrsself. Nnot ssurre why. If I knnow my ssissterr, it iss prrobably ssomethinng twissted annd complicated."

Rock-Climber hopped against a large mushroom-tree and bounded back down, "Let herr be twissted. Sshould we be ssurprrissed? Sshe iss a ssissterr."

Alvor shrugged, "Fair point. Still, I wish she'd talk to me. Guess we just need to wait until she's feeling up to it."

Moon-Dancer said nothing as he walked with them. He found his gaze drifting away to a patch of blue and green glowing flowers. The patch of flowers was the same color as the shine of Aurora's wings.

On the one paw, he remembered her as she was when he was littler: bigger, beautiful, sharp with her thinking, kind to ground-kin, and somehow different from Mist-Wings, probably because he had never played with Aurora like he would a nestmate sister. On the other paw, she was more biting now, not as warm-livered, and not as trusting as she was before. What was twisting her life-flight?

Everyone arrived back in the clearing. Kin-liver already had a small fire burning inside a patch of flamed dirt. There were also several fish saved for them, which they quickly ate.

"Anyone want stories?" Kin-liver asked.

"Nno." "Jusst ssleep." "Too tirred."

"Alright then. Who is taking first watch?"

Rain-Eater grunted, "I will."

No one else wasted any more time. Alvor wrapped himself in a sheet beside Aurora, Safiya snuggled under Rain-Eater's wing, Kin-liver rested against Mist-Wings's chest, and he and Rock-Climber collapsed side-by-side.

Moon-Dancer fell into dreamless sleep, lulled by the calming crackle of the fire.

Rain-Eater purred softly to himself while staying awake as the watcher. Being watcher was very boring, at least it hopefully was. The times when being watcher was interesting were usually dangerous, so boring was not bad.

He glanced overhead and saw a small flight of fire-scales passing by. Several of the sky-kin glanced down into the clearing, probably because they saw the fire and were curious about it. But none of them flew down or came to investigate up close.

That was good.

The ground-kin usually hid under their wings for safety whenever other sky-kin were nearby. Even if the sky-kin thought that the ground-kin were young Night Furies, there was still the possibility of fighting or danger. True, Alvor, Safiya, and Kin-liver never showed any fear of meeting sky-kin, but danger was a part of their life-flights.

He chuckled.

How do they say it? Danger is an occupational hazard of being a sky-kin-friend.

He glanced at Aurora. She looked at peace when she was asleep, though her eyes were twitching, probably from a bad or very active dream.

Moon-Dancer and Alvor were correct that she was bothered by something. Maybe she was tired of the responsibility of leading.

Leading a flight was certainly different from only being responsible for herself. It was entirely likely that she just wanted to go back to the New-Haven-Range and be back in the normal routine of playing, learning, teaching, hunting, and working.

He had another passing thought that might explain some of Aurora's situation. She had appeared very somber and thoughtful after leaving the hatching-range.

Maybe she is thinking about eggs and... a life-mate. She is older than Dawn-Singer was when Flies-With-Sun flew into his life-flight.

The thought of his older sister finding and taking a mate was strange and twisted. But that was her life-flight and not truly what he should think about or cared to think about.

Maybe he was different from his sire-father and older brother, but the idea of getting a life-mate was not important at all. He was a thinking sky-kin, not a sky-kin of action in that way. Further, he knew the sustainability problem facing the New-Haven-Range since he was the one who worked on finding out if there was a problem or not, which there was.

But what if he did find a good, warm-livered female Light Fury? What female could possibly be interested by him? He liked the game-campaigns with the ground-kin, and no Light Fury could easily understand or appreciate those game-flights. It took a lot of imagination to enjoy those game-flights. And that was even assuming that she did not have twisted thoughts about ground-kin. No, there was no lift in thinking about flights which he had no desire for.