Bravery

Shadowwing and Was-Grounded stared in surprise, relief, and recognition at the invisible Light Fury's deep blue eyes. Even without seeing the rest of this dragon, they knew which one it must be: the very female who had warned them against eating the fish which turned out to be tainted.

"You," Shadowwing whispered.

"Yes, this one is... I am me," she whispered back.

It was bizarre seeing her speaking from invisibility, since her mouth briefly appeared from within the shimmering where she was.

"Why are you here?" Was-Grounded asked.

"Did you eat any fish?" she asked, sounding worried.

Shadowwing answered, "We were given fish, but there were berries in the fish. We took the berries out first. What were those berries?"

She hummed softly, apparently relieved, "Those berries would fill your heads with forgetting and mating-wanting."

Shadowwing gasped, aghast and surprised by her explanation, "But... what? Why?"

"This one... I think the Alpha wants to get dark-light eggs for the Pack," she answered.

He wants Dawn Furies? That would explain why he asked us about that earlier, but... what?

He nervously laughed at the idea. That secret reason behind this drama was both terrifying and amusing. Terrifying because they were both almost tricked into misusing the most personal part of life, and amusing because of how innocent, in a very wrong way, the plot truly was. Though the thought of his own children never knowing him and being raised in this pack was horrible. It was a slight relief that this wasn't a plot on their lives though.

"Why does he want dark-lights?" he asked.

"This one... grr..." she whined at herself, looking away from him.

She clearly had confidence and assertiveness problems, though she was also very brave for being able to defy the pack and collective thinking at all by speaking to them. She kept almost falling back into the non-personal speech that she had certainly been taught and had become instinctive. On the other hand, she was probably very different from everyone else in the pack.

Or what if she was not so different? What if she was more of the rule among the pack, and he and his brother were just deceived into thinking that most females were... submissive and ignorant? Far more of the Light Furies in the pack might feel trapped and powerless.

He stepped closer to her, purring softly in reassurance, "It is okay. Do you have a name?"

"No. My pack-role is New-Helper for the Fighters, but... I have no place in the order or group of males I am to be with. Not yet."

He snorted, "You should give yourself a name."

"Do you... want to give me a name?" she barked in surprise.

"No, you should choose the name yourself."

She looked away again, "How... how does this... I do that?"

"Think about it. The name should be important to you, something about who you are as a sky-kin."

"I will try. What are your names?"

"Shadowwing."

"Was-Grounded."

"I like those names," she purred.

"Good. Do you know why your Alpha would want to get dark-light eggs from us?" he softly asked.

"I... know only that dark-lights are special. I do not know more. Alpha dark wings, I... need to talk to you."

Was-Grounded nodded, rearranging himself in place as he spoke, "Please do. You helped us. How can we help you?"

She closed her eyes, completely hidden in her fade, and took a breath before beginning, "My dam joined the Pack long ago after her... life-mate, my sire, died in a fight. She... wanted to forget who she was and forget the past, so she flew here and joined the pack. I hatched after she flew here with my egg. She had me try to learn the pack life-ways of not... thinking about myself."

They snarled softly, though they stopped when she gasped, likely alarmed and afraid they were angry with her.

"No, we are not angry at you. We are angry at the life-way," Shadowwing purred to her in encouragement.

"Oh... good. Even though my dam wanted to forget, she still told me stories of the beyond, but she was not supposed to. She told me about my sire I never knew," she whispered.

Shadowwing nodded, "So you were curious about the world out there."

"Yes, but females are not allowed out beyond the Pack's ranges. Many of my packmates are... content here. They like watching the contests of males, shining their scales and hides so they look more... appealing, joining for fun, and rising the pack-order in their groups. I think there are some secret pairs, and some pack-roles are better for us females to be Helpers for."

"Which ones are better?" he asked, very curious about this detail.

"What I heard is the Hunters and the Far-Fliers are much warmer to us than the Fighters are. I was to be with... the Fighters," she answered.

He didn't want to know why that was such an undesirable outcome compared to being in the other groups. It was also curious why some groups of males would be preferable than others.

"Why does no one in the pack leave?" Was-Grounded asked.

"Leave? Where to? All the stories are that the beyond is only hunters, death, and danger. This here is... safe. Alpha does not allow questioning the Pack's life-ways."

"What happens if anyone does ask questions?" Shadowwing whispered.

"His Mates listen to the groups of Helpers and tell Alpha if they hear any hissing against him or the Pack. All fear to speak to others because the others might tell. Telling Alpha or his Mates that others are planning against him or the Pack is a way to get favor and status."

Shadowwing clawed at the rock underpaw, furious at how no one in this pack could trust a fellow packmate to not tell on them or betray. That climate of fear and uncertainty probably did a very good job of stifling dissent before it could grow. No one was willing to speak to others about grievances or ideas about how life could be better.

Trusting others was nearly impossible when the others could turn on them for personal gain. It was also likely that people would silence themselves and never say what they were truly thinking, all because they were afraid.

"What about males? Do they ever... object?" he asked.

She whined, "Males who question the Alpha or Pack's life-ways are sent on dangerous flights, forced to learn different thinking, or they never rise in the pack-order. Also, most in the Pack are not like me in their thinking. Even the secret pairs probably do not think about leaving for the beyond."

Shadowwing sighed, feeling sorrow on behalf of all those who were so content with their existence here that they let themselves be used and never experienced all that life had. Maybe they were protected from some dangers here in this safe place, but they were still trapped and isolated all the same.

But most of them were taught to live as they were. Was their situation their fault for accepting it, or did they not have a choice since they were taught from a young age to not think or question? Was there any hope for someone so thoroughly twisted from when they were young?

"That is bad. Your pack should be more like you, stronger in thinking," he said.

"I also remember a female from the beyond. She flew here to this Pack, saw the pack's life-ways, and refused to join the pack," she quickly added.

She stared straight back at him. He could see the fear and worry in her deep blue eyes.

"Alphas, I want your help."

"What help?" Shadowwing asked.

"I am grown enough to start... being used as a Helper... and all that means soon, but I... want a life-mate instead of that. Not... being with males I do not hold to my liver and want to be with. I was... supposed to make an egg with you, but I want... I want out of this rotted Pack. My dam does not know of this and does not want to leave."

"Why not leave on your own?" he asked.

She sighed, "I do not know the beyond. The Alpha's Fighters stop anyone not allowed to leave these ranges. We are all trapped here. Some have tried to leave, I know of a couple male-female pairs who fled and got out, but they are usually followed and brought back. I tried to leave once when I was smaller, but they stopped me, brought me back, and had me learn that I did bad."

Was-Grounded growled, "How can we help you?"

Her eyes drifted down to their paws, "As I said, I... do not know the dangers out there. You have a pack of your own, a better pack I could join. I can... hunt for you, help watch the ranges, do anything, even be another mate for one of you... I just want out of here."

They glanced at each other.

"Stay here. We must talk together," Shadowwing told her.

"I will wait."

They strolled away from her, left the cave's depths, and perched on the edge of the overhang. Everything looked as peaceful as it had before: Light Furies flying, working, or lazing about through the visible part of the chamber. But everything felt different now that they both knew far more about what was happening under the surface of the peace in this pack.

"First question: do you believe her?" Shadowwing asked.

Was-Grounded hummed, "I do. There is no rot in her voice, her eyes have fear in them, and her story does not fight with what we already knew about the pack."

"I agree. If Alpha wanted to get eggs from us, he would not gain anything from using her to trick us into... not mating. This is far too much to do if all he wanted was get a Light Fury in our shared-range. He has already had his Far-Fliers fly our range in secret. No, this is not a trick."

Was-Grounded nodded, "How can we help her? She wants out of the Pack, but the Fighters and guards would stop her from leaving. We also do not want Alpha to want to flame us or our shared-range. Our taking a female from his Pack would probably make him angry."

"True, it would. What if we... pretended we wanted her as a mate? We could ask for her as a... peace-gift," Shadowwing groaned.

It was not at all a desirable choice, since it relied on others thinking of her as a thing to be given without regard for her desires, but it was an option which could get her out of the pack's control. If she got what she wanted and what was truly better for her, then how bad was it as an option?

The real danger was that doing this would set an example which Alpha might want to follow. What if he came to ask about taking of their daughters? They would refuse, and that could result in war or other open hostilities.

"No, that idea has no lift. It would set a rotted example which this Alpha might try with us. We must think of something else," he answered his own question.

"We cannot... help her."

"But we should help her. She helped us."

"I agree, but we cannot let the Alpha know that we helped her. I have a plan," Was-Grounded smirked.

"Wait, you have a plan? Who are you and what have you done with my brother?" he chuckled.

Was-Grounded struck his shoulder and waved a paw toward the massive chamber, "We leave this pack's territory to go home, find a packless female Light Fury in the ranges beyond, and let her fly back to our range with us. If that Light Fury left a pack, for her own reasons, we could not know that. She never told us she fled a pack. We were not with her here, so we do not recognize her. If she becomes the life-mate of one of our children, probably Moon-Dancer or Rain-Eater, we would have very good reason to defend her. We would do that anyway even if she was not one of our kin, but her having a life-mate means this pack would not want her anymore or have as much claim to her."

He thought about the plan, and found it a good one. She of course would not be pressured into any pairing, but her declared preference for a life-mate was much better than the alternative lack of exclusive commitment. He could not find any problems with the plan other than how she was supposed to escape the pack in the first place.

"How does she get out? There are guarding Fighters at the path into this range. The waterfalls would chill her fade."

Was-Grounded grumbled, "She would need help to escape. She needs the guarding Fighters to not be watching the cave. We could have a fight as we are leaving. The Fighters would want to watch us fight."

Faking a fight was amusing, but it might work. It was likely the male Light Furies hadn't seen Night Furies fight before, and they would therefore be interested by a sudden outburst.

Shadowwing snorted, "That sounds fun. Better would be to fight Alpha and accidentally claw at him. Maybe bite off his tailfins."

"Only the tailfins? I can think of something else to claw off."

They both growled at the thought and turned back for the friendly Light Fury hiding in their cave. She was still right where she said she would be waiting: a faintly shimmering patch in the back corner of the cave.

"Alphas," she whispered.

"No, please call us our names," Shadowwing said.

"If you want me to, I will, Shadowwing... Was-Grounded."

Shadowwing gently purred, "We have a plan and an offer. We cannot help you in any way your Alpha knows about."

Was-Grounded spoke, "But we would let you join our range and pack. Both I and Shadowwing have male young who are grown or almost grown. You could maybe be life-mates with one of them, if you and he want that."

She blinked and gasped in surprise, "You would give me a choice?"

Shadowwing had to remind himself that her surprise over something as simple as having choice was entirely understandable. Even Nords didn't really have much choice in whom they married, since parents usually arranged marriages, sometimes considering the wishes of their children. His being a dragon gave him a lot more liberty to ignore some customs which didn't apply to him. But that had not helped her so far, so the lack of control over one's own life wasn't an issue specific to humans.

"Yes, of course we would. You being in a life-mate pair in our pack would mean you are not someone this pack would want back. Even if you do not want one of our young, we would still accept you in our range and pack. But we must know this: do you have any thoughts about two-legs?"

"Two-legs, no. I only know they are different from us in shape. What are they like? Are they prey?" she asked.

Was-Grounded chuckled, "They are not prey. They have no wings, tails, scales, claws, or big teeth, but they have life-fires and strong-thinking, usually. We call our two-legs ground-kin. All we must know from you is if you can live in peace with them."

"Why would I not? What does living in peace with them mean?" she asked.

"Not much, other than they are a distant part of our life-flights. We all help keep the peace with them by protecting them and the shared-nest, and by providing some food for them," Was-Grounded explained.

She purred, "I can do that. And I will meet your young. I do want a good, true life-mate... eventually."

Shadowwing nodded, very pleased with her practicality. She didn't know humans at all, which meant she had no particular reason to dislike them or fear them. He also thought it very unlikely that she would take a hostile attitude toward them once she saw them. Flies-With-Sun had been nothing but curious and welcoming after her initial wariness was overcome.

This Light Fury was also practical about the possibility of pairing with either Moon-Dancer or Rain-Eater, though she didn't know them at all. Either of them would surely be respectful of her, since he and Was-Grounded raised their sons well, as far as they could tell. But that possibility was far off.

"Good, here is the plan. We cannot be seen helping you. Us... taking you could be seen as a threat. We also do not think it would be good to ask for you... as a gift. You must escape on your own, and we will find you outside this pack's ranges. We would gladly accept a... packless light wing who wanted to join our pack. She never told us that she fled from a pack. Do you understand?"

She warily hummed, "I do, but there are always Fighters guarding the caves. The waterfall would chill my fade and make me seen."

He smugly purred at his brother and gently struck his shoulder, "We have a plan for that. We will pretend to fight each other. The Fighters and other light wings guarding the cave will want to watch our fight. You can sneak out during the fight."

Was-Grounded nodded, "We will not see you or call for you. Just follow our flight until we stop to rest. Fly close to us so our life-fires look like one from a distance. Can you do that?"

Shadowwing smirked, liking how clever the plan was. Having her fly very close to them both would make it difficult for anyone watching from a distance to see her there. Life-fire, whatever that truly was, from a distance glowed like the sun, and flying close together would make their life-fires appear mixed together, indistinguishable from each other. The other Light Furies would not see her even while she was invisible.

She softly hummed, "Yes, I... think I can. It would be bad if they catch me again, but... staying here would be bad anyway, so I will do this!"

Shadowwing chuckled, "Good. You are very brave. If you do this, how many waking-cycles will there be before your pack learns you are gone?"

"I do not know. Maybe many pawful of waking-cycles. I am not important in the pack, other than I... have never known a male before. I and the others might be sent to you again, soon," she said.

Shadowwing purred, "Do not fear. We will turn you and other females away if you are sent to us. Alpha will know that none of you were with us."

Was-Grounded hummed, "A question before you leave: are there life-water-drinking kin in the ranges around here? Alpha said there are, but I want to know if that was truth."

She grumbled, clearly agitated, "The Fighters and Far-Fliers talk about fights with them. Some of the Fighters and Far-Fliers fly back here with bite-marks on their necks."

"So that is probably truth. Good to know," Was-Grounded said.

Shadowwing took a deep breath to steady himself. The excitement of planning her escape was getting to him, though controlling that was very important. They had to pretend that nothing was strange at all.

"We do not know when we will leave, but I hope we will fly soon. You must watch for us and be ready."

They heard her get to her paws and invisibly stride past them.

"I know what to do," she whispered.

With a soft disturbance of the air and the rush of wings, she was gone from the cave.

"We should leave this cave and rest on Alpha's ledge," Was-Grounded quickly proposed.

"Why?"

"Her scent is here. If Alpha learns she was here, he might suspect we know what happened to her."

"Good thinking. I hope this works."

Was-Grounded snorted and fired a small ball of fire at him, "It will, if we make our fight look real."

Shadowwing purred deeply, liking this idea a lot. The stress of heated negotiations, fending off unwanted attention, and learning how this pack lived left him anxious and wanting to fight someone to burn off nervous energy. All the better to fight someone he trusted and to do so in a way that helped someone else at the same time.

"What should we pretend to be fighting about?"

Was-Grounded toothily grinned, "You will find out. It will be fun."

"Great. Get some rest now?" he rolled his eyes.

"Gladly."

Together, they left the cave and flew the short distance to wait on the Alpha's ledge. Shadowwing curled up and took in the view of the visible chamber: the glowing mushrooms taller than buildings, shining crystals, thick forest, and fertile soil. This was only one of the pack's five ranges, though he had no idea how large they were in comparison to New Haven.

Gods, it's a shame these Light Furies are so isolated and suspicious. This would be a nice place for humans too, if it weren't occupied.

His thoughts drifted again to the upcoming escape. This currently nameless Light Fury would hopefully escape her present situation for a far better one with them and their families. He knew almost nothing of her other than she had values and interests more compatible with those his own extended family held. Her not knowing humans or having strong opinions about them would help her be accepted in New Haven.

He closed his eyes in the darkness under his wing. His thoughts flew to his Luna back in New Haven; she was probably teaching Flower-Eater, spending time with her sister, or herding Hidden-Hope, Night-Light, and Flower-Eater. That he would have to return to her without any news of her parents was unsurprising, but it was also disappointing.

A voice in his heart whispered that searching was entirely futile. After all, her parents had lived very, very far away from here. Further, they had been chased by an unknown type of dragon that was hunting them or trying to force them from their territory. They could very well have died years ago. Maybe it was time to accept that they would never be found.

We still have that other pack to ask in. Maybe they have heard something.

The other pack of Light Furies apparently lived far from this one. He had heard that the other pack was far more dangerous than this one; however, he wondered if that was true. Alpha and his favored followers would definitely want his entire pack to believe that the world outside the pack's territory was nothing but dangerous. That fear would keep people preferring the known to the unknown.

It was entirely possible that the undiscovered pack of packless Light Furies was not at all as it was described. There was no way to know without going there himself.

Maybe Flies-With-Sun can lead us there eventually. She said she knows where it is, even if she never flew to it herself. All in time.

He had no great desire to go on another adventure any time soon. Getting home safely, being a father to his children, being the love of Luna's life, and having the rest of the extended family there was all that he truly cared for.

Was-Grounded yawned widely in disinterest at the same four females who landed beside him and Shadowwing. Much like before, they approached while showing interest, mostly by speaking words meant to spark wanting.

And just like before, he and Shadowwing turned them away, telling the females to leave them alone. The only difference was that this time they both understood why this was happening, so they were not as biting and angry with the females who were just doing what they were told to do for their pack. All except for one of them, anyway. The blue-eyed one was among them, and she pretended to have interest. However, he could tell that her interest was false and a trick.

The females flew off in frustration and confusion.

Alpha might be angry that nothing happened. Hopefully he will not be angry with them.

He caught his own thoughts as they began drifting back to the New-Haven-range and especially to Green-Wings. Life-mates should be close in the liver and should warm the other's life-flight in whatever skies those flights took each other. For him and her that shared life-flight had mostly been that of raising their children so far.

She truly enjoyed and was liver-warmed by being a dam-mother. He was warmed by being a sire-father, but something seemed different about her. Being a dam-mother was probably the most important part of her life-flight, more important than long flights, the pleasure of the hunt, or anything else.

How does she see herself? She is not only the dam-mother of my children.

He subtly glanced at Shadowwing as he slept beside him. Shadowwing and Luna were very close and liver-warming life-mates, but they also knew and trusted each other in more than only that life-role. To Shadowwing, Luna was not only a convenient female with whom to make eggs and children.

As for himself, he and Green-Wings had begun with thinking they were perhaps the last of their kind, slowly came to trust each other as seasons changed, and proved themselves to each other as being worthy mates. They made eggs and raised their young well together.

Were they more than that?

Maybe that moreness was what Shadowwing called love: the confusing and vague idea that sometimes was liver-warming and was twisted other times. Ground-kin loved their thought-twisted drinks. Shadowwing loved Luna as a flight-mate, egg-maker, and young-raiser, all together. Was love only wanting of some kind?

That wanting would fade when the reason for the wanting was gone. No, there was more than only wanting, or at least a voice inside his liver wanted there to be more.

He sighed and lay his head on his paws.

His last little one, his Wind-Dancer, was still too small to be speaking, but she was just starting to mumble and growl with talking-practice. That she would be their last for a long time, if not the last child of all, meant that he must enjoy being her sire-father as much as possible.

Alpha and a few of his Fighters flew to them and touched down. The Alpha Light Fury strode toward them, and Shadowwing took a deep breath as he got to his paws.

"Greetings, Alpha. How did the fighting go?" he asked.

"The life-water-drinkers are gone. My Fighters forced them away."

"Good. We had no doubt you would succeed. Where do they come from?" Was-Grounded huffed as he got to his paws.

"Some life-water-drinkers live in the misty waters outside our ranges. Those life-water-drinkers learned to fear us, and they help keep other kin away from us. Life-water-drinkers from other ranges are more dangerous."

Shadowwing huffed, "So the ones out there keep you safe by being dangerous to other kin. Clever."

The Alpha yawned and stretched, "Are you both ready to fly? You could stay longer if you want. You are welcome here."

"Would you let us see more of your pack's territory? It would be... nice to see more of how your pack actually lives."

Alpha paused before answering, "Maybe another time. I am very sure you would be most welcome here with my kin in my range and with those who are to tend to you."

Shadowwing laughed freely, "Thank you for the offer. We feel very welcomed, especially by your Helpers. They really want us."

Alpha chuckled, "That is not a surprise. You are big and strong dark wings. They would want you to please them."

Was-Grounded snorted and stretched, "We have life-mates, and we only want them. We had to tell the Helpers to leave us alone, again."

Alpha must have realized that his plan had not worked, so Shadowwing decided to slightly rub it in. It was too good of an opportunity to not subtly tease him.

"See, we dark wings are not like light wings in your pack. We have our life-mates, and nothing can turn our livers away from them."

Alpha grumbled, "Is that so? You are welcome to fly here again, if you want to. We would gladly welcome you here. You have male young, yes? Would they want to fly here for... fun? The young always want to explore that part of life, and I would make sure they can safely do that here."

Was-Grounded yawned, "Maybe they normally do, but we are very sure that our sons would want females who are... braver and more sure of themselves."

"We will tell them they are free to fly here if they want, but, as my brother said, they will not want to fly here," Shadowwing added.

Alpha shrugged, appearing very unconcerned, "Their loss then. We are finished here."

Shadowwing slightly bent his head, "We thank you for the pack-peace, and we are glad you invited us to speak with you."

Was-Grounded huffed and heavily shoved his shoulder with a paw, "Not what you said earlier."

"What?" Shadowwing asked, confused.

"It was my idea to fly here at all. I thought being here in this pack was mostly pleasant, even including the Helpers' attention. You said we should not bother coming here, and that this was very tail-twisting. You were lying."

Oh, I get it now! Time to have a fight!

Shadowwing spun around and glared at him, "Yeah, so what?"

"So you have been angry, twisted, and asking for trouble all along!"

"Yes, you do feel like you need to prove how male you are!" Shadowwing growled, seeing the gleam in his eyes.

"Really? You are not one to speak about that! Which of us has more young? Yes, me! I am bigger than you... in many ways!"

"How big you are does not matter for how many young you have!"

Was-Grounded fired a small blast at him and growled very convincingly, "You only say that because yours is smaller!"

"You think that! I am with Luna much more than you are with Green-Wings!"

Was-Grounded blinked and wrinkled his nose while fuming, "I still have more young than you!"

"Whatever! We should leave."

"Flying away from the fight, are you?"

Shadowwing fired a small shot at him, and crouched as if to pounce.

The Alpha Light Fury roared after having hopped back out of the way. He looked rather confused by the sudden flare of tensions between them.

"Alphas! Please, no fighting here! Not in my territory!"

Was-Grounded hopped away and stretched his wings, still while looking very furious and baring his teeth, smoke curling from his jaws.

"Fine! We can finish this later!"

Without saying anything else, they took flight for the far end of the chamber. The Alpha did not follow them.

While flying, however, they occasionally slapped each other with wingtips or flamed at each other in teasing.

All to keep up appearances of having a sudden, serious disagreement.

Shadowwing checked around them with life-fire sight, but he couldn't see anything nearby. That didn't mean she wasn't there; it could be that she was flying far enough away that she was out of range of him to sense.

Or maybe she wasn't going to try to make an escape after all. There was no way to tell at this point, though he was hopeful she would be brave enough to do this for her own good.

They arrived at the row of waterfalls behind which the long cave exit was hidden. There were a couple male Light Furies standing guard by the waterfalls, and there could be others on the opposite side of the waterfalls.

They landed on the smooth rocks a short distance from the waterfalls. The guarding Light Furies noticed them and hopped to attention.

The paw struck his shoulder, so he spun on Was-Grounded and growled at him, "What was that for?"

"You know what that was for! You pile of waste and small Alpha!"

"Who are you calling a pile of waste, you slow wings?"

Was-Grounded shrugged, "No one important... and slow wings?"

"Yes! Remember our last speed race? Who won? Yes, I did!"

"Only because I let you win! You needed to win something eventually, so I let you!"

"Oh really?"

"Yes!"

"Well, take this!"

He loosed a bright blast that exploded on his brother's back into a cloud of flame. Then he dodged the retaliatory shot which he totally knew was coming for him. His dodging that shot meant that it flew freely past him and exploded several leaps from the guarding Light Furies. That was clearly unintentional, but it must have disturbed them as they roared in alarm and confusion.

Was-Grounded leaped toward him, haughtily pranced up in front of him, and started roaring, so he started roaring back just a little louder. They probably looked and sounded very stupid, just glaring at each other and roaring for no good reason. But that was totally the point: to be very conspicuous and grab attention. The more that the guarding Light Furies were watching them, the better.

There was also an amusing pleasure that came from making total fools of themselves without caring about the consequences.

Their actual roughhousing started in earnest as they leaped at each other, swatted with paws, tried to snap at necks, and tried to pin tails. They had burned off nervous energy in this way so many times before that they understood each other's fighting styles very well and could make the fight appear real enough.

However, they hadn't recently been doing as much of this as they had in the distant past, not after his aggravated injury had become a problem again, anyway. With that taken care of and nothing left except a healed scar, their play-fights could be thorough and invigorating again.

They finally broke apart, snarling and fuming very convincingly as they stared each other down. A quick glance around showed several of the Light Fury guards standing alert, looking very interested and probably alarmed by what they had been observing.

Shadowwing panted, "Say we... tied."

"Alright, you are... probably just tired..."

"Want to finish this... in the home-range?"

Was-Grounded snorted, "Yes, that will... let you be more rested so you have a chance..."

"Whatever... stupid Alpha. Pile of waste..."

With that, they turned for the waterfalls, and, much to their secret amusement and relief, saw that their fight had drawn a lot of attention. The Light Fury Fighters standing guard, including several who were probably from the other side of the waterfalls, were very alert and wary, given how they looked ready to fly at a moment's notice. They probably did not want to get involved in a fight involving Alpha Night Furies. At the same time, they had definitely been watching in interest, maybe to learn new fighting moves.

He feigned a nip at Was-Grounded's nearest ear as they walked through the cascading water.

So easy to trick. Hope she got through during all that.

They were in the long, darker cave which sloped downward and had a small stream flowing from the waterfalls. From here, there was little indication, other than the mosses and other small vegetation, of such a verdant realm hidden behind the water.

As they had agreed beforehand, they silently walked until they could start flying. There were unlikely to be any other Light Furies standing or flying on guard out here, but there was a chance of meeting one, such as a Far-Flier or a Hunter returning to the pack.

Where are you?

There was nothing else immediately around them in the skies. Further, her trying to escape and failing would have been noticed by the guarding Fighters, so that had not happened. Either she had escaped, or she didn't try.

They took flight and continued down the long cave without saying anything. It was nearly a minute later that they both saw something very promising ahead.

Gliding unseen before them was a hidden Light Fury. Given that it was invisible, all they could see of it was the life-fire glow. There was no way to tell males and females apart like this, unless the female was carrying an egg, but how could this one be anyone else under the circumstances?

He sighed in relief as the unseen Light Fury fell in underneath them. That it did so was confirmation of who it must be. She had made it out unnoticed in the midst of the fight.

He glanced at Was-Grounded and saw him smirking back, all traces of feigned frustration gone.

We are totally telling this story eventually!

"Is that you?" he asked the invisible Light Fury below him.

"Yes... I did it! I got out!" she eagerly answered.

Was-Grounded barked softly, "You did, but be careful. We are still near your old pack."

"I understand," she answered.

She went silent, just flying unseen with them. Their plan was to keep flying until they had to stop for rest, hopefully somewhere out in the very large chamber that connected with many others. That expanse of cavern had so many ledges and nooks that they could easily rest in hiding there, completely unseen by any passing dragons.

Shadowwing purred to himself in relief that nothing had gone wrong. He and his brother had helped save and free someone who was trapped in a very bad situation.

She never thought an opportunity like this would come. The Alpha dark wings were doing exactly what they said they would: fighting loudly and grabbing the attention of all the Fighter guards. They were all watching the fight; none of them would be watching the cave mouth or the waterfall. Even the guards that watched the far side of the water had been brought inside.

She had no idea what was beyond that waterfall. The stories the Pack told of the ranges beyond were those of strange hunter-kin, ranges without food, and other packs of light wings who would kill at first glance. No one except for the brave males wanted to go beyond.

But she wondered at times whether that was truth. Her dam, now a Helper dedicated to the Far-Fliers, told her stories in secret when she was a hatchling and fledgling. Those stories were of far ranges filled with light, light-rocks, and other kin that were kind.

There was nothing left for her here in this Pack. Nothing except a future she did not want at all. Her dam was content being a Helper for the Far-Fliers. Truthfully, if she had to be a Helper also, she would have preferred to be one for the Far-Fliers or the Hunters. Males in those pack-roles were the kinder, warmer ones who appreciated others more.

Further, her dam had told her that the custom, which none spoke openly of, among the Far-Fliers, the Hunters, and the Helpers dedicated to those two groups was that most males had one female whom they cared for and wanted to be one with. Everyone knew who held whom to the liver, and none wanted to make fighting or tension by intruding on other's lives or secret pairs. That those males had to fly from the Pack the most meant that they needed less attention but were fonder of those they cared for but were away from.

Being a Helper for the Fighters would be very bad. Those males were the most biting, angry, and forceful without any real interest in bonding at all.

The worst problem was that she had no control over the outcome of her life. She could not volunteer for any pack-role; the act of volunteering would mean she was thinking for herself or questioning the Pack's life-way and the decisions made for her, which she was not allowed to do. No one was allowed to do that.

But now she had a chance to grab her future for herself, and to do so in a much better way than just thinking in ways not allowed. Thinking alone was not action which would make her life better.

Doing was needed!

All she had to do was glide through the waterfall while none were watching, quickly flame herself again so her fade returned, and wait for the Alpha dark wings. They would lead her to their pack and keep her safe.

The dark wings were big, strong males with many hurt-marks from won fights. They were dangerous and could easily hurt her. She was not a Fighter in any way.

But these dark wing Alphas felt very much not like her Pack's Alpha or the Fighters. The dark wings spoke respectfully to her, refused to use her and the other Helpers, and seemed liver-chilled when she explained the Pack's life-ways.

They were doing their part to help her escape, so all she had to do was bite at this chance and claim it, claim a better future! She knew little about their pack, but it must be better and warmer than this one!

Even their mentioning that she could try to find a mate among their young was not at all chilling. She had no great, burning need to get a mate, but she would have agreed to have one if it meant escape from this pack.

The path to her future was right there before her!

Could she fly bravely?

She stretched wide her wings, ready to leap... when she paused. All custom, all loyalty to the pack, and all kinship she had in any small way to those of the pack spoke that she should stay here and accept her place. There was an appeal, a pull which offered comfort in unknowing, in forgetting herself, in submitting to a group-will as the rest of the pack did.

But there was a fire in her liver! That fire had not died yet, and it spoke with another voice!

I want this!

She jumped and flew silently, watching carefully as the guarding Fighters observed the dark wings in their false-fight that did not look false to her. She landed, and the crashing water chilled her hide and made her appear again as it chilled away her fade. Nervous and fearing what she might see, she strode through the waterfall and saw no guards on the other side of the water.

The cave was narrow, had some plants, had a small stream, and was empty of other light wings.

She was out!

She shook herself dry and quickly flamed herself to burn away the water-cold so she could return to her fade. Then she flew ahead, wanting to put some distance between her tail and that range. Her life-organ was flying so fast as she beheld the strangeness of this new range. So many feelings: fear, amazement, defiance, and chill were mixed inside her liver as she landed and perched alone. The dark wings would follow soon, and she would be waiting for them.

Time flew very quickly because of how eager she was.

Finally, there was the beat of approaching wings, and she saw the two dark wings. Feeling no fear at all, she rose to fly with them and join their flight.

For what they had done in helping her, they had earned her loyalty in a way her Alpha... no, that male Light Fury was not her Alpha anymore... had not done. These were her Alphas now. That probably meant very little since these dark wings saw being Alpha very differently from how her old pack's Alpha did.

She closed her eyes and turned her thoughts to how twisted her life had been over the last couple waking-cycles. Her old pack's Alpha-Mates had been told by their Alpha to pick unmated females to be sent to get eggs from the dark wing Alphas. That duty to the pack had fallen on her and three others.

She had listened, head up and outwardly attentive and obedient, while she was told what to do, but that had all been to hide the liver-chill and not-wanting she truly felt. Letting the Alpha dark wings claim her, as was her duty to the pack, would have changed life in a very bad, not-wanted way.

But if she had not been picked for that duty, this would not have happened. She would not be free right now.

"Is that you?" Shadowwing warbled down to her.

Who was she now? She was not a numberless Helper anymore. He had suggested that she think of a name-sign on her own. That name-sign would be her in words, not some changing pack-role which another light wing would fly into. A good name was important to think about.

But she would have much time to think on this flight.

"Yes... I did it! I got out!" she eagerly answered.

The other dark wing, Was-Grounded, barked softly, "You did, but be careful. We are still near your old pack."

She knew that and understood what she was to do: fly silently very close to them until they were very far away from these ranges. The dark wings knew where to fly. She trusted them.

"I understand."

They flew out of the side-passage and emerged above a lake smothered under thick mist. After that came the large chamber of multiple levels, fathomless depths and waters, and different kinds of dragons claiming different ledges.

They didn't see any other Light Furies on the long flight.

Shadowwing glanced around for a place to rest. Faking a fight with Was-Grounded and the long flight from the Light Fury pack's territory had left them both very tired. They eventually touched down on mossy ground near a large but rather dim crystal at the side of the passage. The corner was sufficiently isolated that they felt secure that they weren't being watched.

The female Light Fury they helped escape touched down beside them. She also let her fade drop away after having kept herself hidden thus far. He and Was-Grounded had helped her by repeatedly flaming at each other, as if still fighting, but actually warming her and keeping up her fade.

Was-Grounded chuckled when he realized that the last time they had seen her was the first time a group of Helpers, her included, had arrived in the cave. She looked somewhat like Luna, not having any shimmer-shine of color on her hide or scales. Her eyes were a different color, deep blue instead of light blue, and she also lacked the hurt-marks Luna had on her side and head. She was also likely younger and a little smaller, though she was an adult.

She warily looked around at the visible range. Her eyes were very wide in awe and amazement.

"What do you think of this range?" he asked.

"This... is... so twisted but good and big. Is this your range?"

"No, we are still a waking-cycle of flying away from there."

Shadowwing hummed, "You have never been outside the pack's ranges, true?"

"True. Only Far-Fliers, Fighters, or Hunters go out there, out here."

"So, only males are allowed to fly free?" Shadowwing growled.

She winced and shuffled in place, "Only some of them. We females are taught to know our place and stay where we are safe."

Was-Grounded also growled, "Safe? I would not say they are safe in those ranges."

She grumbled, "It depends what the danger is. As I said before, most of them do not think as I do. And it is true that no kin-hunters are allowed in my... in that pack's ranges."

"But the females are kept in a life-trap: being used by the strong."

"They are, but so are the males."

"What do you mean?"

"The males accept their pack-roles and fly the dangerous flights for the pack. They know of no other way. How could they know different ways?"

Shadowwing thought about that and saw some truth in her point. The males in the pack accepted their roles as Fighters, Hunters, and Far-Fliers, all roles which presumably involved more danger. It was entirely possible that the greater danger was the reason why there were not as many males as there were females.

"Our pack is very different. We do not have pack-roles like that pack does," he said.

"No, what is your pack like?" she warbled, clearly interested.

It struck him that she was willing to leave her pack and join theirs even without knowing much about it. That alone spoke to how desperate she must have been to find a way out.

"There is us, our life-mates, our young, other sky-kin, and the ground-kin," he began, but he paused when he saw her confusion.

"What are ground-kin?" she asked.

"That is our kind-name for two-legs. Both us and them are kinds of kin. We call ourselves sky-kin."

"That feels twisted, but maybe I will understand it. What about the light wings and dark wings in your pack?"

"What do you want to know about us?" he asked.

She looked down to her paws as her ears fell, "What must I do? What is life like there?"

Was-Grounded huffed, stretching his wings and limbs, "We have no pack-roles other than us as two Alphas. Even that is twisted and not like what that pack has. I keep peace more for the sky-kin, and Shadowwing keeps peace with the ground-kin. He is their Alpha."

Shadowwing chuckled, "They named me their Alpha since they thought having a sky-kin lead them would be best."

"Why?" she wondered.

"Because ground-kin have not lived in this world before, and also because ground-kin need a sky-kin to keep peace with other sky-kin."

She still looked very confused, "What do you mean, this world?"

He understood what was causing her confusion. She was rather similar to Flies-With-Sun, having never left the hidden world and therefore having no idea that there was a world above.

"You have never seen the world above. Can you imagine a range with no rock walls, no limits to how far you can fly, and very bright and warm sky-rock that flies high and fills all the ranges with light?"

Her eyes went very wide as she tilted her head, deep in thought, "Truly... no. What you said is so twisted that I might need to see that place to believe it, though I have thought much about what the ranges are like beyond."

Shadowwing growled, tearing up some of the moss with his claws, but he made sure to not look at her; he didn't want her to think he was angry with her.

"You might get to see the above, but you should not want to range there. Bad two-legs live in the above."

"Bad ones, why are they bad?" she warbled.

"We tried to live in peace with them, and they sent their packs and Fighters to fight us! They used thrall-kin to fight for them, burned our dens, and... forced us and our ground-kin down into this hidden world!"

"Hidden world?" she innocently asked.

Shadowwing sighed, forgetting his frustration. The entire idea of the hidden world was one which made no sense to her, at least not as he understood it. Everything outside the Light Fury pack's territory was a hidden world to her.

He waved a paw at everything they could see, "All these ranges and all the other ones you have not seen are what we in our pack name the hidden world."

She looked away from them, as if she was worried about something else, "Do I need to take a mate in your pack?"

They had already talked to her about this, but she still seemed worried about it.

Was-Grounded hummed in reassurance, "Not if you do not want to. We will not push you into a pairing."

"I... it is hard for me to believe this."

"This?"

"That you are... so good and warm to me. You do not know me, but you helped me. Why do you care?" she whispered.

Shadowwing stepped over to her, hesitated as she looked wary of him, and lay his chin on her shoulder in a Fury hug. Then he stepped back and purred to her after sitting down before her. She just stood there motionless, as if unsure how to react.

"Because that is who we are. We care for others. Both of our life-mates have some bad in their pasts, and we hold them to our livers. You will be warmed and safe in our pack and range."

"I... do not know what to say," she whispered.

"I understand. I flew from my pack and nest when I was much smaller than you are, but doing so still hurt."

"Why did you fly?"

He glanced at Was-Grounded, "Because I wanted to find my lost nestmate."

"Brother," Was-Grounded huffed.

"I know you care about me."

"Maybe a little."

"More than a little."

"A lot."

"Good enough."

The female Light Fury laughed, and it was the first time they had heard her laughter.

"You are twisted together," she chuckled.

Shadowwing shrugged, "So we have been told many times."

Was-Grounded stretched and yawned widely, "I do not know about you two, but I want sleep. Is here good enough for you?"

They glanced around and saw no better places. Their current location was off the main flight-path, so they probably wouldn't be bothered by any passing dragons.

"This is good enough for me. What about you?" Shadowwing asked the Light Fury.

"If you want to sleep here, I will," she answered.

Peaceful silence followed as they lay down, getting ready to hide heads under wings or tailfins.

"Alphas, you said I should think of a name, a name that is... me," she whispered.

"Yes, you should. Have you thought of one?" Shadowwing eagerly asked.

She glanced at both of them and looked out into the fathomless distance, "I had many sleep-visions of what the ranges beyond are like, and now I get to see them and be free."

She paused, her purring growing deeper, "I am Flies-Bravely."

Shadowwing and Was-Grounded purred their approval of her new name. That name truly spoke to what she was doing: flying from her old pack out of hope for a better future in a pack that would respect her.

"That is a good name, Flies-Bravely," Shadowwing said.

"It speaks well of you," Was-Grounded added.

Shadowwing remained awake after Flies-Bravely and Was-Grounded had fallen asleep next to him. That she was so willing to trust them spoke to how brave or desperate she was. She was a good judge of character, to choose to trust that they had her best interests at heart.

We secured peace with the Light Fury pack, fought off unwanted attention, and secretly helped someone escape. Not a bad couple cycles.