Author's Note –This is set in Children Of Dawn chapter 6 - Sparks
Mist-Wings was very pleased to finally get her next turn in the above on the peaceful and calm island. She liked going into this above that was so good and warming to see and be in.
Being in the above, on this island anyway, was calming and helped her to remember a liver-warming truth: the above was not entirely bad. The bad was from two-legs who did not trust or feel any warmth for sky-kin, which was very sad of the two-legs. Those two-legs were far away from here though. If only those two-legs could learn to see sky-kin as good... all could be friends.
She flared her wings wide to eat up the sun-warmth as she lay on her back. Her belly was very warm too, and made her want to sleep so much. But she also liked watching the clouds as they flew on high in the sky.
Being up here always helped remind her that she was a sky-kin, not an underground-kin. She had, after all, lived most of her life-flight under the ground, big though those underground skies were. They were not as big as these skies!
She rumble-purred with warmth and peace. Her life-flight was good. There was nothing to disturb her life. She had her sire-father, dam-mother, nestmates, Dawn-Singer's fledgling, her other-nest brother Moon-Dancer, Hidden-Hope, Night-Light, and Kin-liver. Not even counting the two new eggs, Shadowwing, Luna, and Flies-With-Sun. And then there were all the other ground-kin whom her nestmates were life-bonded with.
All was good.
She purred as she flew her thoughts to the future. She would soon help with teaching the coming hatchlings their words. She liked that kind of working. Helping them learn their picture-words and spoken-words, both sky-kin and ground-kin, would be very liver-warming. They were the future, and she liked helping the future be. The only twisting part of being with hatchlings was cleaning up after them, but she did not need to do that; sire-father and dam-mother would have that duty.
Remembering her duty up here, she rolled to her paws, ran up the slope, and hopped onto a warmed rock from on which she looked around toward the horizon where she saw nothing, as usual. No one ever saw anything on the waters.
In all the sun-cycles that she and her nestmates had been watchers, there had not been any two-leg boats that had approached this island. That was both good, since this island was supposed to be a secret, and also bad since it meant that they never got to meet more possible friends.
She walked among the trees and bushes on the far side of the island, behind the mountains that had the big cave that went down into the hidden world.
This far side of the island had low trees the ground-kin called pines and many other smaller plants. This was a very quiet range since there were no true prey or two-legs on it.
It was not the same as the good Haven-range, but it was safer because none of the two-legs knew where it was. Even if they did know about this island, there was no reason for any of the two-legs to want to live here. The island was very cold in the cold-season and had no prey-herds at all, though there was good fishing around the island. The waters around the island would freeze solid into ice in the worst of the cold-season, and the entire island would be covered in snow.
She tried very hard but failed at not thinking about fun games in the snow. The Haven-range had cold-seasons, and both family-packs of Furies had played much in the snow. She could remember rolling around in the snow with Moon-Dancer even before either of them had words.
She kept walking alone in the silence while the wind blew through the trees. Every plant or root was sniffed or nibbled if she knew it was a good one to nibble.
Not many sky-kin would eat any green things, but her dam-mother, Luna, and Kin-liver had shared some of their knowledge of plants that would help hurts heal, make sickness go away, or make better health.
Healing was important.
She snorted and hummed with chill while nudging rocks with her paws. Licks helped with many hurts, but hurt-marks do not go away... or necessarily stop hurting. Sire-father and Shadowwing... knew that chilling truth.
She had watched as Kin-liver put the hurt-helping mix of plants in her sire-father's back wound, on Luna's head, and on Shadowwing's chest. Those hurt-helping plants had smelled very good and were sure to help both sire-fathers be better.
That was the first moment she learned that plants can help with hurts and were therefore something she wanted to learn far more about. Helping hurts be better so that life could be warmer was very good and important.
The crashing of water grew gradually louder. She arrived on paw at the farthest side of the island. There was a sharp cliff on the top of which she lay down to stare out at the white foam in the water crashing on the rocks offshore.
Her tail tapped on her paws. The wind whistled and hissed as it flew past her.
She was so alone up here. She was possibly the only sky-kin left in this above-world now. That was a twisted thought that always brought a chill to the liver. She and her other-nest brother, Moon-Dancer, shared a worry that only sparked to life in the season-cycle after the ground-kin and sky-kin of the Haven-range fled the above. Ground-kin and sky-kin flying the winds of life together was good and made both flights warmer.
But it almost broke.
She had been there under her dam-mother's wings as the ground-kin stood on the shore and admitted that their bond-kin had to fly away even though doing that would mean that life-bonds were false-lies. The good future almost died like an egg that went cold after being abandoned. So many two-legs would never know sky-kin at all, which was so bad.
That bad, nibbling idea kept biting at her liver, so she got up to walk on the top of the ledge.
She also understood Moon-Dancer's hesitation to get one life-bond ground-kin of his own. She did not need one either. She was warm to them all, and they were all warm and good to her whenever she interacted with them. Some of the thinking-games that they taught and played were very fun flights to join on.
But the idea of trusting any one of them, of being like her nestmates Dawn-Singer, Aurora, and Rain-Eater, was scary because she saw that peace and trusting almost die. Trusting a ground-kin deeply as a life-bond was scary because that life-bond might go away and be false. They might die, turn tail on her, or just start slowly ignoring her as their life-flights flew with different duties.
It was better to be warm to all the ground-kin rather than be warm to any one of them.
She jumped from the ledge and glided down toward the waves that were crashing on the rocks.
If I get this timing correct... do not miss!
The wave crashed into the big and sharp rocks, sending up a spray of mist which she glided through. Then she turned back for the high cliff, pleased that her wings were now her like name.
She chuckled at that as she glided back up to the central mountain on the island. She landed on its top, stood tall, and looked toward the horizon in every direction.
There was nothing out there.
Dawn-Singer spun to the side and brushed both of his brothers' wingtips. Rain-Eater and Rock-Climber roared back at him in play as they continued on above Aurora. They flew through each other's fire-clouds, which each of them tried to make bigger than the others had been. Nestmate brothers had to test themselves against each other to make each other stronger and bond.
He and his three present nestmates were flying together on a liver-warming hunt to the big water range. It was a range that was filled with many prey and danger from sky-kin hunters, which was why they only flew there as a pack.
He glanced down at his sister as she flew slightly away from him and his two nestmate brothers.
"Sister, flame with us!" he roared down at her.
She just stuck her tongue out at him.
Sisters... well, no... just this one. Mist-Wings is not like her.
Aurora had been more biting and a little more distant from him and their other nestmates in the last couple season-cycles, as the above counted. He had no idea what was bothering her. There were no life-problems between her and her life-bond ground-kin. The hunting was good enough for everyone. Whatever the problem was, he could not see it.
They flew on together through the caves, down long passes, between light-rocks, and finally through a darker cave that led to the water-range. They all flew through the pass, glided out over the water, spun toward a big rock away from any of the light-rocks, and landed on it. Aurora dropped the big bag from her paws.
There, they stared out over the very water-filled range. The entire chamber looked almost like an ocean itself, except that it was also filled with the shining light rocks and many spires of normal rock. Neither of them could see a far shore now or had ever seen one in their past flights here. The water was very, very deep in places, even going perfectly dark away from the light-rocks and where the ground went straight down. Water-kin, mostly hot-water-spitters and very-loud-big-mouth-roarers, were frequently visibly swimming throughout. Other things also swam in the deep.
He stepped up alongside Aurora and took a deep breath as he beheld the water that gently lapped on the rock below. The dark light-rocks sticking out of the water covered the top of the water in glows of different colors. The water-plants and mosses that grew on top of the water also glowed with their own light.
As the first-hatched, he was the flight-leader for this hunt.
"Nestmates, we are hunting in the water-range. We trust each other now. No teasing, tricking, or playing."
The other three growled back in agreement while breathing deeply, flexing their claws, and flicking their teeth. They had hunted together in this water-range many times before, and that meant that they understood the rules of this hunt.
They must trust each other's hunts and watch for each other. No twisted-thinking. No teasing. No joking. No playing. No forgetting danger. All of those would follow after they hunted and got safely out of the water. The water was where both prey and predator were hiding.
"Ready?" he growled.
"Yes." "To the hunt." "I am ready."
Together, they climbed down the rock until they reached the water. Then they slipped into the water as silently as they could, swam out into the water, and, keeping their wings tucked, dove.
The ground dropped away sharply down below onto a flat that extended out many tail-lengths. That flat and sandy area was a very good one to hunt in because of the big-claw snappers that were good to eat. It was also a rather safe place to hunt.
Aurora swam at his side as he kicked for the far drop off, for the end of the sandy flat. Together, they peered over the edge and down into darker waters.
The water down there was very dark, filled with bigger fish, and dangerous. Distant light-rocks that grew from the far ground cast their light into the water, almost like stars hidden in the deep water.
The stars twinkled as things, prey or possible hunters, swam in the deep and momentarily blocked their view.
He looked around with life-fire sight, searching for prey to hunt and hunters to avoid or be aware of. Tiny fish were not worth snapping at. There were no other kin nearby. Then he saw the big fish at the same moment Aurora must have since she tapped his shoulder and wiggled her ears in agreement.
The hunt was on.
They swam out over the abyss and split up with her going down and him going in front of the fish. As a female, she could cut through the water quicker than he could over short distances, which made her best for the final bite.
The hunt worked perfectly. He swam in front of the fish, which then made it turn around and flee straight at her. She easily bit the fish, shook it to death, turned for the surface, and swam fast while he watched.
No bad-wrong-eel-fish swam out to bite at her or the fish. No other water-kin were around to try to take her hunt. She made it up into the shallows and safely onto shore.
One fish down.
He watched over Rain-Eater and Rock-Climber as they found and ate the snappers. Rain-Eater he was not worried about. Rock-Climber was the smallest of his nestmates, even for his size, and he was not the fastest in the water, which was why he would stay in the safer water.
Another check of life-fire sight confirmed that they were alone in the shallows. Then they all turned for shore together, climbed up onto the rock, and shook themselves dry. Aurora was calmly waiting for them with her dead fish already away in the bag.
"See any water-kin?" he asked.
"I see none. We are still alone," she answered.
"Good. Aurora, Rain-Eater, are you both ready for the deep?"
He wanted to give them enough time to collect their breath.
"Yes," they both answered after many wingbeats and deep breaths.
Rock-Climber went and stood over bag of the fish. He would be staying up here and guarding the catches.
"Dive safely," Rock-Climber hummed.
Rock-Climber wanted to be down there in the deep with his nestmates, but he knew that swimming down there was dangerous and something he was not ready for.
I will be the fastest swimmer when I am bigger. Grr...
But for now he understood that the best that he could do was protect the gathered catches from any other water-kin or sky-kin that would try to take the fish. Sire-father had only let him go on a pawful of these hunts in the water-range after making him swear on his wings that he would obey Dawn-Singer in everything as the flight-leader. That was fine. He knew that other kin could be dangerous, especially since he did not reliably have any fire of his own yet. He was so quick and fast for a Night Fury that he was not worried about getting hurt himself; rather, he did not want to lose the catch or get any of his nestmates hurt.
That meant he had to sit here on this dark island-rock in the water-range, his belly hiding the bag of fish, while his nestmates did the hunting down below.
He snorted and shrugged his wings while keeping a watch on the skies and waters. Everything looked calm, but that could change in a single wingbeat.
Bored with seeing nothing, he glanced to the nearby rocks that he could see. Some of them looked like they would be fun to climb up, if there were not the water below to be a problem.
But he was not moving a clawtip from where he was. Even while sitting up here and protecting the catch, he was part of the hunt. True, he wanted to be snapping at the fish himself, but words spoken on his wings were not to be broken.
Kicking and thrashing, Dawn-Singer bit deep into the fish's neck and shook the fish to death. This was a very big one which Aurora had to help him quickly get out of the water. Spilled life-water tended to attract hunters. Together, they got the fish up and into the bag. Rain-Eater brought out a smaller fish in his jaws.
"Is this enough?" Aurora softly hummed with a nudge of the bag.
"One more dive should be enough," he answered.
Rain-Eater and Rock-Climber started whispering about something while Aurora went and perched on the edge of the rock. This was an opportunity to talk to her.
I should do this now while we are resting.
He padded over to her and sat down on his haunches as she did the same. Together, they stared out at the calm silence of the water-range. The calm was so like she was: peaceful on the surface but disturbed inside.
"Sister, I want to talk."
"Brother, you are flight-leader for the hunt," she said.
"This talk is not about the hunt."
"No? What is it about?" she warbled, surprised.
"Are you not happy with your life-flight?"
She blinked and grumbled, "Why do you think that?"
"Because I... and others also think that you are snapping at us more than you did before."
"I only snap at those who deserve it," she huffed.
"So all your nestmates deserve it?"
"What?" she growled.
"Sister, no twistedness now. I am telling you what many of us feel in our livers."
"I do not snap at all my nestmates or the ground-kin. I am warm in my life-flight."
He wanted to object, question her words, and give her examples of how she was being more snapping and biting now. However, he did not want to twist her thinking while they were still hunting. If the talk was to have shouting and flaming, it would be best for that to happen back in the New-Haven-range or at least out of this water-range.
"Okay, we can talk more after the hunt."
He left her, but he could hear her mumbling something to herself. She did that a lot more now.
More time passed doing nothing except waiting and deeply breathing until he was sure that they were ready for the last dive.
"One more time," he said.
He, Aurora, and Rain-Eater slipped back under the waters and turned down for the deep dark. The water was cold and still down here as they dove alongside the rock wall. He kept watching with life-fire sight all the time. One fish that was hiding in the rock wall went into Aurora's belly.
All three of them froze and stared ahead when they saw motion towards a distant light-rock. A very large flock of fish was swimming while being chased by several hot-water-spitters. The other water-kin were driving the flock of fish in their direction.
Perfect. We can join hunts!
He knew that his nestmates would understand the plan since they were hunters in their livers. They spread out while swimming through the open water and toward the fish. Down and then up toward the fish from three points of their own and from the other kin from behind. The fish started spinning in a flock-circle, which made the hunting almost too easy. Just lunge at the flock and teeth or claws would grab a fish. One went into his belly and then another. It would be so easy to lose his thoughts in the hunting, eating, the taste of life-water in the water, and the rushing of fins and snapping of teeth.
But he was the flight-leader, and that meant he had to stay aware.
A pulse or faint thud went through the water.
He froze, darted away from the fish, and looked around in the deep water that was so dark. Life-fire sight had a limit of how far it could see. There was nothing that he could see in the water near the light-rocks. Hunters would not attack from where they could be seen.
Both of his gazes went to the open, dark deeps beneath. All he needed was to see something, anything, that would give away the hidden hunt.
A mass of darkness, only visible because it seemed to be moving, was slowly drifting closer from below. Seeing that moving darkness that was distinct from the rest of the deep left him with no doubt.
He turned straight for the surface and let his power-light flash once. That was the signal he and his nestmates had agreed upon meant only one thing: leave the prey and immediately get out of the water.
In that instant of light that he let fly, he saw fully what was drifting closer down in the deep. The creature, it was not a water-kin, had no wings or limbs. Frills or long bone-spikes grew along its length. It was so long from head to tail that he could not see the end of its tail. Its head and mouth were so big that it could eat water-kin whole. It might not even hunt fish, the fish being too small and not worth hunting.
He did not care what happened to the hot-water-spitters or the fish. All he cared about was that his two nestmates quickly swimming with him were safe, which they were. There were no other threats in the water, since he was watching for threats even while swimming higher.
They swam up the sheer cliff, out into the safe shallows, and then they set paw on the ground. He bounded forward and ran up the rock as Aurora and Rain-Eater climbed out. They all shook themselves dry and then dashed for Rock-Climber, who was lazing on the rock and hiding the other catches.
"Was that it? The... alpha-hunter of the water-range?" Rain-Eater eagerly asked.
"Yes, I have seen that thing before from afar. It eats water-kin whole," he growled.
Rain-Eater grunted once, "We should add that to the deep caves and sky-kin campaign!"
"What?"
Rain-Eater laughed, "Yes, as Legs-Of-Fish would say, 'We found a class ten leviathan hunter in the range. Are you sure what we are doing is worth it?'"
He snorted, "Yes, he would say that."
They stared out over the calm surface of the water. There was nothing to see there. The water was very still except for the tiny waves that still flowed and licked the rocks.
Aurora then brought up a couple fish she had caught from the flock. Rock-Climber nudged those fish into the bag and also did that for two more that he and Rain-Eater brought up.
"Are we ready to fly home? I am not going back in that water," Aurora huffed after firmly sitting down.
"Same with me. Going in there now with that hunter swimming here is death-wanting," Rain-Eater agreed.
"I agree. We are flying home," he added as the flight-leader.
He slipped his head into the big loop on the bag so that he could lift it. Carrying like this did imbalance the flight, but that was not a big problem for him or his grown nestmates anymore.
Together, he and his nestmates took flight from the rock, and they kept their flight well above the surface of the water.
Rock-Climber winged closer to him and looked eager about something.
"Brother, what was it in the water?"
"The biggest hunter of kin you will hopefully never see."
"It is a kin?"
"No. It is not kin. Things that eat sky-kin, water-kin, or ground-kin are not kin to us," he growled back.
They flew on, safe in the sky where nothing would bother or threaten them. He, Aurora, and Rain-Eater all had power-light that other sky-kin feared or were respectful toward.
His thoughts kept going to the way of the hunt. It was certain that some of the water-kin would, if not this waking-cycle, be eaten by that big thing that was not a kin. That was the natural way and the way life had always been and would be for most kin.
But not for himself, his fellow Night Furies, Light Furies, and Dawn Furies. The natural way was not enough for them. Even with sky-kin and ground-kin, the natural way was not peace; rather, it was both sides killing each other and struggling for food, territory, and life. He was old enough to understand that terrible, liver-chilling truth. Knowing that life-lesson only made him hold Erevan, Helga, and all the ground-kin closer to his liver.
He and his nestmates passed over the last of the water and then flew out into the familiar passageway that led back to the ranges they knew. He threw one final glance back at the water-range.
While that range had good hunting and fish for catching, it was the old life-way. Every time flying to this range and swimming in these waters was a risk that one of his kin, one of his own nestmates, would become prey. He hoped the ground-kin could make enough food that he and his nestmates never needed to fly back to this range. They should not need to come here for food. There was too much danger in this wild range.
Was-Grounded touched down on the shared-ledge, greeted Luna with a quick nuzzle, and then bounded over to Green-Wings's side where he lay down. She nuzzled his neck at his safe return.
"How is the egg?" he whispered.
"I think it will hatch soon. The hatchling is resting."
A period of resting for a pawful of sun-cycles usually came before the hatchling started hatching from the egg. The little one needed to gather its strength.
"Where are our children?" he asked.
"They are still flying to the water-range for hunting. They should be back here soon."
He did not growl, not wanting to be making any liver-chilling sounds around the egg, at the thought of his own children at that range. Their being there was necessary for fishing needs, but that range was simply too dangerous to rely on forever. Not only were the water-kin dangerous, but there were other things that swam in the water and would prey on kin.
But he had taught Dawn-Singer everything he knew about hunts, and his first-hatched was the flight-leader on such hunts.
They know how to hunt as a pack and watch blind spots. They will be fine...
He nuzzled her forehead.
"Do you need anything from the shared-range, my life-mate?"
"No, not now."
"Good, because I want to rest here with you."
He fell down at her side and lay his tail over hers.
"Was being High-Alpha that tiring?" she chuckled.
"Very. I had to fight off so many other sky-kin that wanted to take my place! But the thought of you gave me enough life-fire to fight them off, keep my perch, and...
She snorted, staring without blinking at him.
"No, it was very boring, but staying here must be boring for you. Do you want to sleep?"
She hummed in thought and lay her head on his neck, "I would like that. Can you tell me a story?"
"A story? What kind of story?"
"A story you have not told me."
He snorted, "There are many stories like that. Hmm, how about the fight with the sky-light-eater on Berk?"
"You have told me that one before, but you may tell me again," she hummed softly.
She started licking his neck along the very old hurt-marks that he got in the fight long ago on Berk. Unlike with Shadowwing's hurts, his own ones did not hurt him and were hurt-marks that he was very proud of. These showed that he was strong and dangerous after having won fights!
"The bad two-legs, the nest-flock which called itself Berserkers, attacked Berk, my and Shadowwing's old home-nest-island. The Berserker Alpha had a sky-light-eater kin that was a..."
He paused in the story, wondering about what had happened many season-cycles ago. There had not been time back then to stop and think about those events.
How had the Berserker Alpha, what was his name... Dagur the thoughtless... the crazy... whatever, how had he gotten a sky-light-eater? Something was very twisted about it. Why would the sky-light-eater even want to fly as a flight-mate with those two-legs? It had not had any saddles on its back, nor had it seemed as tame and small-thinking as broken-life kin would be. That sky-light-eater had acted as if it wanted to attack Berk and to attack him and his brother.
Had it been a thrall or a flight-mate?
"... that was attacking along with the rest of the two-leg flock. The sky-light-eater killed two-legs and some of the sky-kin who were living in peace with the Berk ground-kin. I was... much smaller then, and I did not even know if I could flame. But I went to fight the sky-light-eater anyway."
She whined and nuzzled him, "You rock-head kin. Always flying into fights and danger.".
He snorted, "I would say that is more true of my brother. I fly into danger when those I hold to my liver are threatened. Back to the story, I flew to fight the sky-light-eater, and I knocked it from the sky when it lost its sky-light. It fell and was grounded..."
They both snorted.
"... but I could not fight it up close. Then I learned my flame again! I flamed it until a two-leg... a ground-kin came to help me fight it. That ground-kin was Astrid."
"Was that the mixed-pack with the Alpha who... wronged you?"
He sighed and grumbled without any anger after looking around to make sure that they were alone.
"Stoick. He was Shadowwing's sire-father when my brother was the ground-kin Hiccup," he whispered.
"Why did the Alpha turn tail on you?" she softly asked.
"Shadowwing said that his sire-father thought that he could get his little one back as a ground-kin if he... did something bad to me by giving me to another two-leg with twisted-powers. He wanted Hiccup back as a two-leg, so he hit me asleep and gave me to the other two-leg. It was wrong and bad what he did, but..."
He hummed and nuzzled her neck.
"My being taken from Berk brought my life-flight to you. It is like how my losing a tailfin in my past life let me know Hiccup as my kin even as a two-leg. There was bad, but good hatched from the bad."
They purred in peace for a long time until he started feeling like going to sleep. His eyes felt heavier.
"Do you ever think about your kin from before? Your own sire-father and dam-mother?" she whispered.
His ears fell as he tried to not think back on that past life. He had found that very den in which he had hatched. That den had been attacked by two-legs and their dog-wolves. His dam-mother and younger female nestmate had been in the den when the attack happened.
"No, I do not. I had to flee. Living in the past would only fill my liver with anger that changes nothing. What about you? Do you ever think about your kin?"
She hesitated before sighing, "How can I not? They were a good sire and dam, Pine-Hopper and Splashes-In-Ponds. We lived more on the plains where we followed the grazing four-legs. Just one of those would feed one of us for almost a moon-cycle. But the two-legs also followed the prey-herd and threatened us. I wanted to flee and stay far from them, but my sire and dam wanted to stay closer to the prey herds. So I flew on my own once I was grown."
She paused and wove her tail around his.
"I found that range where you eventually found me. In all the season-cycles there I only saw one other Night Fury, the one we killed."
"You do not know what happened to your sire and dam?"
"No, and I accept that. The place where they lived is so far away from the Haven-range that I do not think they would find this part of the hidden world. They would be in another place in it, if they are."
He yawned and stretched, rearranging his head on her neck, "I want sleep now."
"You sleep then, and you can sit the egg after the sleep," she agreed.
"That sounds good. I want to talk with Wind-Dancer while he or she is still in the egg."
Twistingly, she chuckled at something he said.
"You remember what that was like being in the egg your second time?" she asked.
He snorted, "Mostly, I remember the silence since there was no sire or dam to truly sit the egg. Two of the two-legs tended to the egg as well as they could, but I and Shadowwing probably did not need the same life-fire-sparking that a new life needs. We had our memories."
He and she both understood how totally important it was to talk to the unhatched one, purr presence to it, and let it know that it was wanted. Doing all of that would help it have a stronger, brighter life-fire and better thinking.
Shadowwing walked along after his three children, following them while they, mostly Moon-Dancer and Hidden-Hope, nipped at each other, slapped each other with a wing, or called each other names. His children had impressive imaginations.
"Stay close, children!"
"We will!" "Sire-father..." "Okay..."
The forest of mushrooms, vines, ferns, glowing flowers, and bright crystals was familiar. He even knew most of the edible plants that had beneficial effects. There were some plants that were, impossible though it seemed, carnivorous plants. They could lure in the smaller dragons and birds and could trap them. Only the largest such plants were large enough to threaten a Terrible Terror though.
His thoughts went back to the hunting trips that his own father had taken him on long ago. They were both practical, in that his father had tried to teach him survival skills, and also attempts to bond as father and son. That last part had not worked out well, which was why he was making every effort to not make that mistake with his own children.
True, their situation is different from mine since they aren't expected to be Chief one day. But still...
Night-Light fell back from the other two and walked closer to his side.
"Sire-father, where are we going?"
"To the sand. That is the best place to practice the ground-kin picture-talking."
"Okay."
He glanced ahead to where his first son and daughter had been just moments before. Moon-Dancer had grown very well for his age, and was rather responsible, having acquitted himself well on his first time being the watcher in the above and generally on his normal duties. He had already asked about being the watcher again and was-
The black and white blurs struck from his sides at the same instant.
"Get him!" "Attack!"
His first son and daughter jumped on his back and pulled him over onto his side. The roughhousing began with playful batting of paws and tail-whips, but he could not truly play with them as he could like. He had to be careful to not aggravate his chest.
"Get him!" "We got him!"
Their toothless maws closed on his ears and forced him to the ground as he rolled onto his back. But he grabbed both of their necks in a hug, holding them down.
"No! I got you!" he winced.
"Together, sister!" Moon-Dancer shouted.
They both wiggled, escaped his hold on them, and spun on him, tails swaying and eyes narrowed.
"Well done, son, daughter! You fought as one," he hummed, ignoring the very faint pain as he rolled onto his paws.
Moon-Dancer and Hidden-Hope tapped wingtips and purred. Night-Light hopped up between him and his two oldest children. Night-Light's ears were fallen as he did so.
"Sire-father, are you okay?"
"Yes, but we are late for the learning. We should go."
"If we must," Hidden-Hope brayed.
She and Moon-Dancer ran ahead again.
"Can I walk with you, sire-father?" Night-Light whispered.
"Yes, you can and you may. I would like that."
Night-Light started walking at his side, not even reaching a third of the way up his shoulders. His second son was only around a year and a half old, after all.
Ugh, good thing he wanted to walk with me or they might want to play more...
Night-Light dashed behind a tree to relieve himself and returned after finishing.
"Son, how was your learning with Kin-liver, Moon-Pinner, and the ground-kin?"
Night-Light sighed, "Ground-kin word-flights are twisted. The rules are sometimes rules and sometimes not."
He chuckled, "Dawn-Singer said the same when he was learning for the first time. I did most of the teaching along with Kin-liver."
Night-Light hung his head and held out one of his white paws. His swaying tail went still, which was a sure sign of something bothering him.
"Son? What is nibbling your tail?"
"I do not know if I can learn..."
What!
He stepped over to him and covered his son with a wing. He also glanced ahead to make sure that it was just the two of them.
"Why do you think that?" he warbled.
"Because the word-shapes fly out of my thinking, and the talking sounds can be so twisted."
"Do not be chilled by that, my son. You are learning even if you do not think you are. Everyone thinks that they are fouling their flights at first. Both your brother and sister needed a lot of help to learn. How about you show me what you have learned, and I will help you learn more. What do you say to that?"
Night-Light's ears lifted along with a faint purr, "I would like that."
"Then we should go catch your nestmates. Race you there?"
They ran together, him slowing his stride so Night-Light could keep up. That was important, and he knew it. There had been a very familiar look in his son's light blue and green eyes all throughout their talk.
Fear of being a disappointment.
There was a difficult balance to strike in being a father. He had to both encourage his children to strive and want to achieve more while also affirming their worth as they are. Failure and struggle were possibilities that he could not... would not allow to lead into a sense of worthlessness or of being a disappointment. That worry had never been a problem with Moon-Dancer, reserved and calm about so much of life, or Hidden-Hope, so lighthearted and full of energy.
But he saw so much of himself in Night-Light. All three of his children were so dear to him, but Night-Light had a special place in his heart.
Using his tail, he flattened and smoothed a portion of the sandy beach. His sons looked attentive while his daughter looked annoyed and distracted.
"Now, show me what you remember, Moon-Dancer."
Moon-Dancer dutifully used a single claw and wrote out his name.
Moon Dancer
"Good. You next, Hidden-Hope."
She pinched her tongue and scratched out her name.
Hidden Hope
"Well done. Now you, Night-Light."
Night-Light paused, his paw hovering over the sand while he thought. His paw and claw froze several times as he appeared unsure of what to do. Then he slowly started scratching.
Nit Lit
Oh son...
"Son, you remember how ground-kin have... twisted rules about picture-words?" he hummed.
"Yes..."
"This is one of them. Make this instead."
Night Light
Night-Light stared at his name in the sand and sighed, his ears falling.
"I do not know my own name..."
"Ha! Silly brother!" Hidden-Hope barked.
Daughter!
"No, that is not the problem. The problem is twisted ground-kin word-rules. Right, Moon-Dancer, Hidden-Hope?"
"Yes." "Yes..."
Moon-Dancer stepped over to Night-Light and gently nudged his brother's shoulder.
"Do not be chilled, little brother. There are many other twisted rules to learn."
"Great... more rules to fail at learning," Night-Light groaned.
Shadowwing sighed, "It was very twisted and hard for me also when I was your size, my son."
Shadowwing exhaled and nodded at them, "Alright, that is done for this cycle. Night-Light, do you still want to learn the talking words only with me?"
"Yes, sire-father. I do."
"Okay, Moon, Hope, you can go now."
Hidden-Hope stepped away and started stretching her wings. However, Moon-Dancer hopped up to him, something definitely on his mind.
"Sire-father, I want to ask you about something first."
"What is it?"
"I was wondering if I can... be the watcher for the above again soon."
"Sure. You don't need me to go with you either."
"I will go with him!" Hidden-Hope cried out, bounding over to them and then bouncing on her paws.
Oh no! Not happening!
"No, you will not. You are not old enough to see the above."
"Please," her teal eyes went very wide and round.
Resisting was normally difficult, but doing so was not hard in this matter. Not only was she too young to have such responsibility but she was also his daughter! The thought of her out in the dangerous, unsafe world above was... no way! She was staying here where she was safe.
"No, daughter."
"But..."
"No," he growled and stomped on the ground with finality.
She fumed and grumbled, staring at her paws while her ears went back. She was not happy, and that was fine. This was for her own good.
Moon-Dancer tapped her shoulder with a wingtip, "Sister, we should fly."
She snorted and jumped for sky with Moon-Dancer following after her.
He's a good big brother.
He turned back for Night-Light, padded over to him, and lay down before his son, "Ready to practice more ground-kin talking now? Your nestmates are not here to hear the learning."
He understood that his youngest son probably wanted to be taught privately away from his siblings.
Night-Light eagerly nodded, lowering a paw to the ground, "Please, sire-father."
Hidden-Hope growled and spun in a loop over the light-rock just because she could.
It was so unfair! Why would sire-father not trust her? She just wanted to see this amazing, fun above-place that the other Fury-kin got to see! The place apparently had a very big and bright and warming and amazing sky-rock and waters that never fell down!
It was so unfair! Why did her brother probably get a chance to fly up there and not her! So unfair! Was this because she was a female? Probably. Was that was also why she was so... grrrr... small still? Why could she not have been hatched a male instead?
Her brother tapped her wing. She wanted to bark at him in annoyance, but there was something else she could do that would be good. She did not have fire yet... so unfair!
But he did.
"Big brother so strong who I hold to liver, can you flame for me? Please..."
Sisters had a power over brothers. Big eyes and a soft warble always helped her get what she wanted.
He shot a big fireball before her.
Yes!
They both spun through the fireball, and she felt the warming fire soak into her scales and hide. A deep rumble-purr, for her anyway, followed as she glided freely, knowing that she had hidden from all eyes now!
"Sister!" he barked.
She glanced at him and saw his very green eyes only in the sky beside her.
"Brother!"
"We should play hiding now!" he shouted.
Yes! Hiding was very fun! But she did not understand how he could always find her even after she hid from eyes.
Why did shouting very loud help him find her? So unfair!
But it was playing! Playing made her a better hunter, fighter, and stronger! Even better was that this was time away from her annoying sire-father who totally did not understand her.
I will fly in the above one waking-cycle, and that will be fun!
Shadowwing arrived at the large tent that had the statues to Thor, Odin, and the other gods. As she had said might be the case, he saw Aurora, Rain-Eater, Rock-Climber, Moon-Dancer, and Hidden-Hope present outside the large tent. There were also several humans within, probably Henryk's family.
"Sire-father, what happened?" Moon-Dancer softly asked while the others bounded up alongside him in open concern.
"One of the ground-kin, Henryk, went over the waterfall."
"And our sire-father went to get him?" Aurora whispered.
"Yes, he did. He knows how to fly on his own, so he will be well," he confidently answered.
Not showing any fear or concern was important. Not only would showing his trust help himself, but it was also important to reassure Rock-Climber and Hidden-Hope since they were younger. Moon-Dancer would probably understand much better than Hidden-Hope did. Aurora and Rain-Eater were level-headed enough to not worry much at all... or at least they knew to not to panic.
Rain-Eater hummed and spun to face the tent, "And what are the ground-kin doing in this tent-den?"
"They are talking to the gods: the sky-beings."
"Why?" Rain-Eater wondered.
"Because ground-kin are twisted," Aurora huffed.
"We already knew that. This is a ceremony of theirs," he explained.
A couple of the people within left the tent.
"I do not understand," Moon-Dancer hummed.
A few more people left the prayer tent. Shadowwing stared at the tent while wondering what to say.
"Ground-kin have many different ceremonies and ways of thinking. They think that there are sky-beings that are very powerful and... do many things. They think that talking to the sky-beings can make good things happen."
"Do they ever meet the sky-beings?" Rain-Eater asked.
"Only after they die," he answered.
The other Furies blinked and shook their heads in confusion.
"Why then?" Aurora wondered.
"That is what the stories say. Kin-liver can explain more if you have questions. I should join the ground-kin for their ceremony."
"Okay, we will go to our kin and play with them. Come, brothers!" Aurora said and tapped Rain-Eater's and Rock-Climber's sides with her wings.
The three Night Furies then flew off together, which left him and his son and daughter.
"Son, daughter, what will you do?"
They stepped up to his side and nuzzled him.
"We want to have time with our sire-father," Moon-Dancer purred.
"Yes, we do!" Hidden-Hope said.
"Okay, we can do that. Do you want to rest here with me while I join this ground-kin ceremony for a while?"
"How long?" Hidden-Hope grumbled.
"Only a short nap amount of time. But you cannot sleep in this thinking-tent. And you must speak very softly if you talk."
"We understand," Moon-Dancer agreed.
Together, they entered the prayer tent. A table at the front of the tent had statues and images of Thor, Odin, and the other named gods. There was even a small and rather offensive image of Loki; the tribe had kept it for sentimental value and also as a way of protecting themselves, just in case Loki actually wanted to be honored.
He led his son and daughter to the far side of the tent and then sat down, staring ahead at the statues while covering his son and daughter with his wings. Together, they beheld the most prominent icons. Odin was on Slepnir, his horse, and had only one eye. Thor held aloft Mjollnir.
He remembered seeing these icons for so many years in the past and in both of his lives.
The tent emptied of everyone else when the final human worshiping or paying their respects left the tent.
"Sire-father, what is the two-leg on the four-leg?" Moon-Dancer whispered.
"That is Odin. He is the... Alpha of the sky-beings. The other one is Thor: a sub-Alpha."
Hidden-Hope barked softly in surprise, "Is that where Thorvald's name is from?"
He snorted, "Yes. His name before was... ball of nose-waste. He shed that twisted-name."
Moon-Dancer chuckled, "What? Why would ground-kin give their young twisted names?"
"It was a ceremony that had very little lift, but they do not use that ceremony much now. New ground-kin will only have good names from now on."
"I heard that the ground-kin named their young even names as twisted as little-cougher, as hiccup. Is that true, sire-father?" Moon-Dancer asked conspiratorially.
"Ugh... yes son. They did name their small young names that were that twisted."
Hidden-Hope nudged his shoulder and pointed with a paw, "Sire-father, have you seen one of those sky-beings?"
"No, daughter. I have not. They are only met after death."
"Then how do you know what they look like?" she insisted.
Aren't you too curious...
"That is a good question, daughter. I do not know."
She hummed softly and then slithered out from under his wing after braying in annoyance.
"This is boring. I will fly and play with my kin!"
"Okay, have fun and do not get into too much trouble!"
Then she was gone, having dashed out of the tent and taken flight. Silence followed since there was no one else in the tent except him and his son.
Well, that might bring down a curse on the family. Gods, if you are there and listening... please, no curses.
Moon-Dancer was very interested in the statues and tapestries since his ears were lifted while he softly hummed. Then his son glanced at him.
"Sire-father, I have a question."
"What is it?"
"You have never seen one of those sky-beings. A ground-kin can only meet them after dying. How do you know that the sky-being are?"
He hummed in thought, having wondered about that very point plenty in his own lifetimes. While it was a terrible idea to think about, how could he truly know that the gods are or intervene at all in life? Were there any completely inexplicable events that could only be answered or explained as acts of the gods? Did human gods even care about the welfare of dragons?
Many years ago, he had silently prayed to Odin that he might keep Toothless safe when Toothless was being held captive in a fighting-arena. Toothless had a wing broken in that fighting, but he had also escaped and that wing had healed. That Toothless had lived meant that the prayer had been answered... sort of.
And there was also the very secret fact of his own and Toothless's existence, having been re-hatched together from one egg after dying over Dragon Island when they killed the Queen. Toothless had explained that he used a life-will-power, basically magic, to save both of them.
But magic was just an explanation that made no normal sense, followed no explainable process, and involved shaping the world through pure will and desire.
Maybe that was an act of the gods, somehow. It was also possible that such an impossible event would never be explained through a process.
Even if it was the gods, no one would ever know about that. What happened to him and Toothless was their secret to keep with their mates and take to the grave.
"Son, I do not know if the sky-beings truly are. But I also do not know if they are not. The ground-kin think that speaking good words to the sky-beings can make life better by getting help from them."
"Can they?" Moon-Dancer hummed, visibly curious.
"Maybe. Maybe it is also just good to know that others can help if you ask for the help. Do your best on your own but also trust others and know that help will come."
"Trusting the sky-beings helps the ground-kin's thinking?"
"Yes, it does help even if the sky-beings are not there or do not do anything. Thinking with more lift makes the ground-kin's life-flight warmer. Having the same sky-beings also gives the ground-kin the same bonding-ceremonies that they use to trust better within the pack."
Moon-Dancer hummed, nodded, and then pointed with a paw, "I understand. Do sky-kin have... sky-beings like this Odin and Thor?"
"Not that I know of. But we have shared-life with the ground-kin, and their sky-beings would probably think well of us."
"True, how would I speak good words to the ground-kin's sky-beings?"
"You would think about the sky-beings, remember what the stories say they did, think about what good you want the sky-beings to do for you or what good you think the sky-being would want you to do, and think about how you can live how the sky-beings say is best."
"I will think about that."
Shadowwing sighed and then stared at the statue of Odin. Surely it couldn't hurt to try in this calm and peaceful moment, so he closed his eyes and bent his head.
Odin All-Father, if you are there... please protect my brother and Henryk. I'm trying my best to protect your people here. Something going right would help a lot.
After he opened his eyes, he noticed that Moon-Dancer had followed his lead and was apparently praying, softly humming while his eyes were closed.
Hmm, what are you thinking about, dear son?
Moon-Dancer thought this was strange and twisted. Sire-father's words had lift, but it was still twisted that he could think to sky-beings that might hear him and do something for him.
There was not much more that he needed from his own life-flight except for... answers.
Great sky-beings... I do not know you, but my sire-father said that you might help my thinking. I know that I am not grown yet, but I also want there to be someone out there waiting for me. Help me know what to do with her, wherever she is, and with my life-flight. That is all.
There was no answer that he could hear, but the act of thinking about getting answers felt like it helped a little.
Then he glanced at his sire-father who was still sheltering him under a wing in sire-father-son bonding. Sire-father looked interested that he was also doing the thought-wishing.
An idea flew to mind.
What if he told sire-father that he was thinking much about finding a female to hold to his liver? Could he do that and ask for advice from him? He had already mentioned something almost touching on this before...
No, he would think that is twisted since I am not grown yet...
"Sire-father, what will you do now?"
Sire-father blinked and stepped away from him, "Now, I will go and be Alpha for the ground-kin a little more. The pair of mates whose son fell down the water are very liver-chilled."
"But your brother will save him, yes?"
"He will. How about you go find your sister? I will join you with your dam-mother later."
"Okay, I will."
Sire-father seemed to realize something and barked softly, "Son, one more thing! Can you go tell Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun to rest at the shared-ledge until I am back? Having two more adults with your dam-mother and with Green-Wings would be safer for all."
He purred in agreement, entirely understanding the lift in that plan.
"Yes, sire-father. I will tell them."
He hopped to his paws, darted out of the den-tent, and took flight out over the familiar New-Haven-range. First, he was going to share the instructions with Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun. After that, he just had to go find his nestmate sister and his Fury-kin, wherever they were.
While he did not know the lost ground-kin, it was one of the New-Haven-range, and that made it his far-kin. He had briefly seen how liver-chilled and filled with fear the ground-kin sire-father and dam-mother were. Seeing how suddenly one who is held to the liver could disappear was a reminder to never forget his own kin.