Dreamer awoke.

It happened rapidly, intensely, his eyes snapping open and instantly narrowing, teeth sliding into his mouth. His claws gripped the stone as he rose, his entire body flexing at once and wings rising to hover over himself, thoughts focused on revising his plans.

He could not remember ever feeling so desperately ravenous. His stomach wasn't just empty, it was a gripping void extending throughout his entire body, one that instantly dismissed any thoughts of flying further inland and just hoping to find something. It almost felt as if he wouldn't survive the night if he didn't find something; without any sort of safety net that would provide food if he failed, that may very well be the case.

Wanderer was watching him, similarly alert and tense, the remnants of the sky-fire's dying light casting foreboding shadows across his features and giving his narrowed eyes a feral gleam. He looked dangerous, a predator ready to run down and devour whatever was available. Dreamer exhaled, his breath hissing through his throat, feeling much the same himself. A faint, distant thought was spared for that it was strange, that they did not normally suffer from skipping a single meal, but it was drowned out by sheer need.

He strode up the basin they had slept in, intensely aware of every muscle, of the rolling motions of his shoulders and hips, the alternating and slightly offset rhythms of his front and back paws, the way his wings and tail subtly shifted from side to side. The sea glimmered in the distance, the better part of an hour's flight given they would need to fly very efficiently. The thought filled him with loathing.

His eyes flicked to Wanderer at hearing a short snarl, who then faced down towards the nearest Long-Paw nest. He wanted to steal their prey, take from their fields.

Two opposing forces collided within Dreamer with the intensity of rutting yaks. His vision of peace. The need to eat. He wavered, his body and mind fighting a vicious battle. But every moment spent was a moment wasted.

If they did not want us to take their prey, they should not have fouled the river. The spiteful logic wormed its way into his thoughts, giving an opening to be exploited. It would be easier and quicker. He would not need to argue it with Wanderer. The victims had only brought it on themselves; and it was not as if they would be left hungry for the winter as a result. He prowled along where the rock began its decline, to look down at the Long-Paw nest in the failing light. It was far, but a few minutes' flight rather than an hour.

Wanderer leapt forwards, straight into a glide down the shallow descent of the mountain. Dreamer followed, frustration and pre-emptive guilt almost entirely eclipsed by sheer hunger, the anticipation of sinking his teeth into flesh and tearing into life-sustaining meat.

The mountain levelled off part way into the forest, of which they were soon skimming the treetops. Right before it could give way to the wide, open fields, they dropped down into a small gap and stalked to the treeline.

Night had not yet taken hold, light still spilling over the horizon. Farmers still roamed the fields, some guiding large animals pulling heavy equipment, others herding livestock. He was hungry enough to take either, but he would prefer not take the animals they used to help with labour. They looked less appetising anyway, nothing but dense, corded muscle. He eyed a herd of strange land-prey, large and very fat, that looked a bit like yaks but with less fur. One of those would be ideal, big enough for three or four Nightstrikers to gorge on, but too heavy to carry.

Wanderer huffed, and Dreamer followed his gaze, spotting a mass of sheep being herded into a barn. They had been shorn recently, showing off their rounded, meaty bodies. He dimly noticed himself making a low, predatory growl, but didn't care. It was all he could do to wait for the darkness that would hide him even in these open fields, where any farmers still out there would not see him.

They were all going home, packing up their equipment and seeing their animals to barns, or in some cases, just leaving them out in the night. That was risky, with dragons around, but then maybe Nightstrikers weren't common enough to be a problem… He certainly didn't want to stay here.

The darker it became, the less likely they were to be noticed, but the light was rapidly fading now and no farmers were nearby. No single point in time was 'safe' to leave the cover of the trees, but when Wanderer prowled out into the open, headed directly for that particular barn, Dreamer was quick to follow.

The waiting was over. They loped along paths through the fields, taking long, silent strides, keeping eyes and ears keen. The light of the half full sky-ice was not a hindrance, casting shadows behind the taller crops that would hide them by contrast.

Dreamer reached the barn and quickly checked the far side for long-Paws, Wanderer disappearing around the other way to quickly check for threats. These farmers did not expect theft, or were not equipped to handle it. Even still, Dreamer was cautious – he was all too familiar with the sort of tricks Long-Paws were capable of – but his sharp nose told him the only metal was in the handle and hinges. It also told him that the nearby water trough had been filled from the river, though the taint was subtle, so he avoided it.

Wanderer appeared next to him, alert, waiting for him to make the first move. The prey inside were mostly silent, aware they were hunted but the occasional nervous bleat betraying them. Not that this was much of a hunt.

But right now, Dreamer didn't care. He just knew they had to be quick.

He lifted the heavy iron latch on the door and slid it back, then lifted the one from the ground and carefully tugged the door open, keeping behind it. Wanderer tensed, staring at the widening gap between the doors, Dreamer hopping backwards with a claw hooked through the loop on the latch, both of them hidden from the prey by the doors…

Wanderer darted inside, closely followed by Dreamer, and the sheep bleated and brayed and shrieked at the two predators suddenly in their midst, crowding to the back and trying to climb over each other and let another take the teeth to the neck. There was no thinking, only doing, and the nearest prey bleated at the top of its lungs as it was dragged from the pile before Dreamer silenced it.

The blood soaking his teeth only fanned the roaring, ravenous flame burning within him, lending him haste in dragging the prey from the barn, closely followed by Wanderer with his own kill. It was the work of a moment to slap his tail against the door, the lower bolt sliding through the dirt to drop into its hole behind him as his broad, powerful wings extended to carry him and his prey into the night. Shouting followed, but distant and incoherent, quickly smoothed into an alarmed murmur by the wind.

He didn't care to carry it up to the mountain, Wanderer clearly feeling the same way as they ducked straight into the treeline and dropped to the grass before lunging for the warm meat.

Flesh parted to his claws and slick meat slid down Dreamer's throat, gradually smothering and quenching the void of hunger, mouthful by mouthful. The larger lumps of meat, rich in fat, disappeared all too quickly, their feasting then accompanied by the cracking of bones as they moved on to the nutritious inner meats. It wasn't until after Dreamer had cleared most of them out too and started devouring the more fiddly meats around the torso that he finally began to feel sated.

He stepped back with a groan, then took a deep breath and stretched. He hadn't been very dignified, his muzzle and throat was wet with blood, but he needed a moment to settle what he had eaten before addressing that. With a successful hunt, he now felt slow and lethargic, his body encouraging him to rest and digest the meal.

Wanderer was lying in front of his own, pinning the carcass under his paws while he calmly picked shreds of meat hanging from the bones with his teeth. He'd somehow eaten even more in the same amount of time, and despite that, he was still eating. Dreamer rolled his eyes with a huff, and turned his attention back to the remains of his own prey.

He did not regret it. He would, if he needed to do so a second time, but not this once. He had needed it more than they did, and two sheep out of what had to be hundreds across several barns in those fields would barely even be noticed, if at all; that would be a different matter if they stayed and took prey regularly, but they weren't going to do that.

And it wasn't as if he had killed anyone or destroyed anything. He'd even shut the door behind them so that the rest of them didn't panic and run out into the fields where they would need to be wrangled back inside. All in all, that had to have been the most polite dragon raid in history, which was an amusing thought.

The meat beckoned to him again, but first he licked his face off as best as he could reach before using his wrist. Cleaning himself like this was a slow, time-consuming process, but he didn't feel any particular need to be anywhere or do anything now that he had eaten.

That done, he lightly shook his head and settled back down to finish his meal. "You should wake me earlier," he murmured.

"You needed sleep," Wanderer huffed. "I should know this happen. We should have eaten last night."

Wrrr, instead of desperate hunger they would've had crippling exhaustion. Dreamer grunted, unconvinced. "Was new for me. I never felt hunger like that. I not felt like that when… we hatch again." He hadn't eaten in nights back then.

"You not were flying then," Wanderer said around his own tongue as he ran it through a bone he'd just cracked. "We flew fast to this land. Much flying, many nights."

"Not many," Dreamer rumbled thoughtfully, it had only been a few. "I flew much like this last cooling-season, when we fought hunters." Wanderer turned away from his meal to stare flatly at him. "...Maybe that was too much flying," he admitted; now that he thought about it, he had almost run himself to ruin doing all that, but he'd not skipped any meals then.

"We not fly much this light," Wanderer rumbled, going back to his meal. "Not need eat later, but will need next night. Rest now." He cracked up another bone to lick out the thin line of marrow within.

"You have this," Dreamer offered, nosing the remains of his prey. Wanderer was clearly hungrier-

"No," Wanderer said with a growl, tail twitching in agitation. "We flew same winds. Need same prey. You need eat all."

"You bigger," Dreamer argued, feeling his own tail twitch. "You need more."

"I not much bigger. Also I took bigger prey. You eat." His tone brooked no argument.

Dreamer grumbled and tore off another lump of meat. It came off the bones in a long strip which proved a bit fiddly to swallow, and then he gave up for the moment. "We stay here some time?" he asked, looking around the edge of the forest and eyeing another patch of those stinging leaves. Wanderer chuffed agreeably, then rolled his carcass over to pick at the morsels he'd missed.

Wrrr, prey might not be quite as common as he was used to. Typically they had shared land-prey, and he'd left Wanderer to these fiddly bits after he'd had his fill, so he wasn't accustomed to devouring every scrap. It made sense, he didn't want to waste it, but it seemed like a lot of effort.

Dreamer blinked, then stood with a huff to walk to the nearest tree to interest himself with its weird bark, trying not to think too much about how lazy he was in this one specific way. He would finish it off… later, after the main bulk of it had settled and gone down a bit.

This land was so strange, and he'd barely seen any of it yet. The human nests were within sight of each other for one; or they were from above, anyway. Polluting the river was stupid, but he wasn't all that surprised about it, if he was honest. Presumably, people had just kept building further upstream and kept doing what they always had.

He shook his head with a growl and preoccupied himself with clawing apart the stupid stinging plant, filling the air with its sharp leafy scent. Humans would always take, it was in their nature. Perhaps, one day, even this vast land would be covered in them. He didn't really see any other eventuality.

But that was the far, far future, nothing for him to worry about in this moment. He shook his head again and wandered around the trees, scenting them and familiarising himself with them. Tiny birds chirruped and sang as they darted between the branches, unbothered by the Nightstrikers' presence, their little wings thrumming as they whizzed around. Vines with broad leaves and spindly stalks wound their way around and between trees and bushes, and snaked along the ground. Old sticks rotted in the tufty grass, one of which had a beetle crawling along it.

Dreamer sat down and closed his eyes, just absorbing it all. Scents drifted to him, and he lifted his head as he inhaled them, the unnatural scents of farming from one side and the wild freedom of the forest from the other. Sounds washed over him, filled with life. This environment carried on an inconceivably long distance, perhaps as far as the sea itself.

The isolation hit him again, and he revelled in it. Freedom, pure and clean. He had no equipment to break down, nothing that would wear and degrade, nothing to need repairing, no need to purchase materials and nothing to purchase them with. His body provided everything he needed and wanted…

"Should eat," Wanderer warbled, dragging Dreamer back to the present, who turned to find him lying on his back. "Annoying small-wing-things will come soon. Then not will want be here."

Not here… "Where we go?"

Wanderer huffed. "Where we sleep. Then… somewhere. Where look nice. Not know."

"Along sea?" Dreamer walked back to his kill and pawed at it; he'd been daydreaming a little while now so there was no warmth left in it. "We know we can fish then. Not worry about hunger." He settled down onto his chest, determined to make the most of this carcass, while Wanderer drowsily warbled agreement.

That made him feel better. It didn't guarantee water, but he wasn't thirsty yet, not after eating still-bleeding meat, and the dampness of the forest suggested regular rain. They'd get through it.

He did his best with the carcass, and after what had to have been hours he was fairly satisfied with his progress, but somehow it just wasn't quite the glistening white skeleton Wanderer had left as an example. He'd got everything else, leaving only the useless, less appetising innards and the fluffy pelt scoured of fat, but he just couldn't get those last morsels.

To make it worse, black insects were slowly collecting in the area, getting in the way and landing on him, crawling around his eyes and buzzing in his ears. Maybe he wouldn't have minded as much if they didn't taste so bad; his first instinct for something annoying him had not served him well there.

He shook his head, immediately had several of the pests crawling on his face again, and gave up with a snarl, leaping away from the carcass and diving into a nearby bush; not one of the stinging ones. He rolled in it, its scratchy branches soothing the lingering irritation. Long-Paws everywhere, stinging plants, no prey, fouled water, and now black insects swarming over his kill. "This land annoying," he grumbled, rolling upright and lying on the poor bush.

"Small-lands more annoying," Wanderer grumbled back at him, then stretched, briefly eyed what was left of Dreamer's kill, and padded over. "We should find somewhere for rest. Not here." He whipped his tail through the air behind him, audibly slapping a few of the bugs out of the air.

"Small-lands not annoying," Dreamer said proudly. "I liked there. Not want go back, but was good."

Wanderer snorted loudly before walking out of the trees and leaping into the air. "No nights in hot-seasons," he said after they were both gliding back over the forest, "cold-seasons too cold. Wrrr, all seasons cold."

"It only much cold in cold-season," Dreamer mumbled.

"Too much water, no land. Not many places Nightstrikers could live. No other Nightstrikers…"

They flew the rest of the way back to the mountain in silence, and alighted in the same place they'd slept. Just that short flight had Dreamer feeling a little off, an unpleasant sort of fatigue that felt like a taste of the exhaustion he'd left Berk with, and though it felt lazy, it felt so good to lie down with the expectation of staying there for the rest of the night and all the following day. Maybe it would be a little boring, but that would be a novelty; he couldn't remember the last time he'd been bored.

Dreamer sighed in relief, necessity having forced him to claim the nearest tree as part of his territory. Hopefully it wasn't actually part of someone else's territory, but there were no other Nightstriker scents around the large pond Wanderer had spotted from the air, so he didn't think so.

He hopped away from the tree and gave himself a shake, then walked back to the pond and downed another few mouthfuls of gritty water. It amused him that it looked a lot dirtier than the river back where they had arrived, but it smelled perfectly fine, and he trusted his nose more than his eyes on such things. That wasn't to say it tasted good, with its tangy mud and bitter algae, but he didn't feel ill just being around it.

Now topped up on all the water they could carry, he and Wanderer took to the air again, continuing on their lazy flight west, along the coast, the sea glinting to their right in the sky-ice's light. It really was a lazy flight, more of a glide, really; they'd been flying since dusk, well over an hour ago, and if he squinted he could still see the river far behind them. But they were making progress, starting a possibly very long journey along the coast looking for… whatever caught their eye, he supposed. A place to claim, or just something interesting.

It felt right. A lot of the changes to Dreamer's life felt right. True independence, for one thing, proving that they could strike out on their own without assistance, without any sort of backup, no-one to go to if they couldn't feed themselves and no promise to come find them if they didn't return. He had no ties to anyone or anything, except the one flying with him.

Another big change was going back to sleeping through the day and being awake at night. It felt like going home to a cozy bed after a long time away, a comfortable return to something familiar and safe. Now, just the thought of flying in the bright light of day was stressful, and looking back, that had probably always been the case. But his whole life as a dragon so far had been stressful in some way or another, and he had lacked the perspective to notice a little extra.

He took a long, deep breath of the clean night air, staring into the distance and savouring the moment. The future was daunting, unknown, but he was confident. For maybe the first time in his life, he felt mature, able to handle anything. It was a good feeling.

"We should get fish soon," Wanderer warbled, looking up to the sky. "Before light comes."

"Soon," Dreamer agreed. "We pass that Long-Paw nest first." They were more spaced out away from where the river met the sea, but still regular. It wasn't that he was particularly afraid of them, just that it was wise to avoid any confrontation. There was no reason to draw attention to themselves if they could help it.

Wanderer chuffed agreeably and flapped his broad wings, speeding up a bit. He was probably hungry, as was Dreamer. The sheep really hadn't gone far, covering only two meals, but that was mainly because of their exertion, and fish were plentiful as long as they kept to the coast.

Dreamer eyed the Long-Paw nests dotting the shore into the distance. He didn't like the idea, but he had a sinking suspicion that if they wanted to find somewhere isolated, it would be inland.

Wanderer stirred to the calm rustling of the forest, muted by his wings. His tail was a little numb where he was hanging from it, draped over a branch, but he was becoming accustomed to waking slowly and gently, and was prepared to tolerate the mild discomfort a little longer.

He didn't know how early or late it was, and had to quell the desire to unfurl his wings and find out. His head was tucked up to his chest, between his forelegs, his own scent drowning out the traces of the air outside that crept through the cracks around his wrapped body. Some light shone in around his tail, but too faint to tell if it was dusk or night.

Before long, the building desire to yawn had him unfurl, allowing his mouth to open to its fullest while his lungs reflexively drew in air, demanding to be filled to at least a certain point. He barely reached it, chest stretching to its fullest, and then groaned contentedly as he exhaled and allowed himself to slip to the ground.

The sky was still warm with light, barely even dusk yet. It had taken a pawful of nights, but he once again felt rested and strong after their intense journey, no longer desiring to lie around and sleep all the time. That was good, he was looking forward to picking up the pace a little, roaming and searching, living up to his name.

He looked around the empty forest, a moment of brief concern dissipating after spotting Dreamer in the tree he'd been hanging from. He was lying across another branch, head resting on his paws and eyes closed, but ears stiff and alert. He cracked open an eye, but took several moments to lift his head and unfold his paws from the branch with a deep yawn. "We fly?" he asked blearily, slowly licking his wrist to clean his face.

"You sleep?" Wanderer asked, standing on his hindlegs to better look up at him.

"Yes, good sleep," he rumbled, standing on the branch and stretching out along it. He didn't look as if he'd slept…

Wrrr, Wanderer had been able to rest some after they'd fought the big-tusk-not-alpha. Dreamer had not. And then he'd flown all the way here directly off the back of all that…

That had been for the best, Dreamer had needed to get away from all that; between the needs and demands of the nest, and his own inclination to take on any and all responsibility, he never would have got away from it otherwise. Wanderer did not regret pushing him into that decision. But he did sympathise.

"We walk," he decided, kneading the grass with his claws. It would be good to re-familiarise himself with these forests anyway.

"That will be slow," Dreamer grumbled, dropping down from the tree. "Also we need fish."

Wanderer bumped heads with him. "We not need be fast. I will bring fish."

He was somewhat surprised when Dreamer purred at that; he'd been expecting an argument. "I will bring fish next night," Dreamer added as they started walking.

That… wasn't really the point. "No, I want catch," he said with a stern edge.

"I feel bad if you give me fish only," Dreamer rumbled. "Want do thing for you also."

Huff. "Not think like that. I do this because I want do this. You not need do thing for me."

Dreamer hummed thoughtfully, stepping around a clump of bushes and passively sniffing them on the way past. "Yes," he agreed, and Wanderer relaxed. "I want do thing for you also."

He wasn't giving much of a choice. Wanderer sighed. "You need rest. I had rest, back at our last nest. You not had rest. I want help you feel strong again."

They walked in silence for a little while, calmly passing through the tall trees, their paws rustling through grass and leaves. He stole a few glances at Dreamer, who walked with his head bowed, eyes glazed over in thought.

"I slowing us," Dreamer mumbled, his tail and paws dragging.

"We not need be fast," Wanderer assured him with a light croon. "We not need be anywhere. I just want you be happy." He padded over and lightly pressed to his side as they walked, bumping against him with their slightly differing gaits. "You would do this for me. You do other things for me. Not worry." Dreamer remained silent, though he did lean into the gesture.

A faint ray of dim light shone through a gap in the trees ahead, and Wanderer peered at the sky through it. "I get fish," he decided. "You can rest here. Or keep walking, I will find you." Without waiting for an answer, he darted forwards and leapt up through the gap, sticks scraping over and breaking against his hide as he forced his way out of the forest.

It was not entirely night yet, a warm glow lighting the horizon ahead, but it was dark enough, and he was not particularly close to any Long-Paw nests. Still, he flew swiftly, low to the trees, grass, and then water, as each gave way to the next.

Out in the open, he couldn't help furtively glancing behind himself, but relaxed at seeing only the sea beneath his tail, the shore rising up out of the water and then trees in the distance beyond that. He felt somewhat blind without his sound-sight, his eyes limited in how many directions he could see at once, but he saw the wisdom in staying silent. In this case it was better to remain hidden.

He shook his head with a gruff snort. There was nothing hunting them. Maybe there was still something out there, whatever he had fled long ago, but they were not the type of hunters to stalk him from the shadows; he remembered that all too well.

Sufficiently far out to sea, he drifted up a little to better see, and quickly located a school of fish lazily wandering around just beneath the surface. He folded his wings and punched through the waves, spearing straight through the school and immediately grabbing three fish in his teeth.

The glittering mass of food swirled around him, splitting to either side and merging behind him; fish were strange prey in that they were quite content to hang around a predator, and would only move out of the way of an actual attack. He swam back to the surface to break into the cool night air, then lay back to float in the waves and consume the three he'd caught, each the size of his foreleg. Whatever their behaviour, they were tasty.

Two more raids on the school left his belly full, and a somewhat larger fish still thrashing in his teeth; Dreamer couldn't ask for better. He lunged out of the sea, back into the warm air, and laboriously worked his wings for height and speed while water streamed off him.

He sped back to land, to the forest and then to where he had left Dreamer, dropping down through the same hole in the canopy and landing deftly in the grass. Dreamer was no longer there, but his scent lingered, trailing off ahead.

Loping through the trees to catch up felt good, a delight to be using his body. He almost immediately lowered a little further and sprinted, pulling at the ground with his forepaws while his hindpaws alternately pushed forwards.

He got so caught up in the moment that he sped right past Dreamer, the black shape a sudden obstacle that he avoided without thinking before it disappeared behind him. When he realised, turned around, and backtracked, Dreamer watched him in amusement, though he eyed the fish sceptically.

Wanderer tossed the now limp prey to him to be eagerly snatched out of the air and quickly consumed. Dreamer purred, running his tongue down his cheek, but then looked confused.

That was probably just because he hadn't been given the rest of his meal yet; some impatience was understandable. Having only just now figured out what was about half, Wanderer leaned forward and deposited the rest of the meal onto the grass in a deliciously pungent pile.

Dreamer stared at it with wide, uncertain eyes, though it took Wanderer a pawful of heartbeats to figure out why. "I not give you food like this before," he said as he realised. Dreamer had shared his meals before, when it had been needed, but he hadn't returned the favour; how inconsiderate of himself. He walked around and nudged Dreamer with an encouraging purr.

What followed was an amusing progression of expressions as Dreamer scented it uncertainly, then realised there was nothing wrong with it but still hesitated, and finally took a bite. Wanderer stifled a laugh at how pernickety he was being, with his tail curling uncomfortably and ears flattening to his neck, though he made quick work of the meal; it was a bit more than half, when considering the extra fish, but he needed to build up some fat anyway.

"I think I will fish next night," Dreamer huffed, then vigorously shook himself.

"I will let you fish if you catch me," Wanderer playfully growled back, lightly trotting ahead.

Dreamer eyed his tail, but thought better of chasing it. "You will let me?" he growled instead, affronted.

Wanderer darted back to swat at him, then hopped back before-

His tail hit a tree and Dreamer immediately lunged for him, but not fast enough, and his outstretched claws only found leaves and a dry twig as Wanderer scampered up the trunk. "You slow," he teased from the lowest branch, tauntingly dangling his tail.

"You still need cleaning," Dreamer said smugly, sitting on his haunches.

"Later. I will fish again before light comes." He'd roll in some grass or something in the meantime, it wasn't a big deal. "You need catch me before then."

Dreamer barked aggravation, annoyance, sufferance, and walked onwards, under the branch. "You can fish for me," he growled. Wanderer chuffed and dropped down, a little disappointed – but then he reminded himself that the point was to let Dreamer rest more, not get him playing. It wasn't that Dreamer couldn't catch him, he probably could if he needed to, but rather that he had a deep tiredness of body and mind that was holding him back in the more general aspects of life, like having fun. "Also you did give me fish like that before."

He had? Wanderer churred thoughtfully as he trotted up beside him; he hadn't been able to as a young fledgling, which would have made things easier, but he couldn't think of any other time since then. Then he remembered back when they'd first met, and purred fondly.

"That was gross," Dreamer growled, swatting at him. "Long-Paws not like that."

Wrrr, now he knew they needed their food heated up before they could eat it; Long-Paws were so weird. "You not Long-Paw now."

Dreamer purred happily at that. "But still strange. I prefer not-eaten prey." That was fair. It made Wanderer feel better about not having reciprocated. But having done so now felt good too.

He picked up the pace, setting a comfortable stride through the trees and staying alert for interesting sounds or smells. Dreamer occasionally stopped to sniff at something before leaping to catch up, familiarising himself with new things, plants and small creatures that did not survive in the freezing cold. There was more interesting variety here, Wanderer supposed, but only as long as it remained novel.

Walking or running was very slow compared to flying, especially in a forest, but that was fine. The point this night was not so much to wander, but instead to rest their wings, take in the smells, let Dreamer familiarise himself with what was normal. For Wanderer himself, this was all very familiar, some things slightly different but mostly as he remembered growing up with his family.

All gone, now. But he didn't dwell on it. That had been another life, and was all the more reason to make the most of this one.

The South – which was not south any more, and thus in need of a new moniker – was not so bad, Dreamer was deciding. His initial impression had been less than ideal, but that was mostly the Long-Paws messing things up for him.

Wanderer stirred next to him, shamelessly rolling entirely onto his back and spreading his wings, purring even while he slept. The rock they were lying on was gloriously hot, and their dark scales soaked in so much heat from the sky-fire it was almost too warm. But not quite, so Dreamer lazily batted away the wing that had landed on his shoulder and blocked it from the warmth.

They had been travelling for… over a week now. Probably more than two. Dreamer wasn't sure exactly how long, he hadn't been keeping track or paying attention to the sky-ice, but it had been a little while. He only knew from that odd locational sense – the one that had led them to the ice nest – that they hadn't travelled as far as in crossing the sea. But that had been a long, arduous flight, while now they were spending almost as many nights walking as flying, and such flights were slow and leisurely. If someone told him it'd been a month, he'd be surprised, but would believe it.

He rolled, switching around which side of him was getting the harsh piercing light of the sky-fire and which was pressed to the dull warmth of the rock, and purred happily. Short of lying in a fire, he'd have to sleep on a volcano for this sort of warmth in the Archipelago, but they had a tricky tendency of being not quite warm enough outside and far too hot inside. This was perfect. He didn't even care that he'd slept his fill, he was going to lie here for the rest of the light…

That turned out to be not as long as he was expecting. He noticed his scales cooling, and cracked an eye to find his surroundings cast in a muted grey light, some clouds having shown up from somewhere. Wrrr, the rock was still warm, and he was feeling lazy.

The first spatters of rain came not long after, lightly tapping the rock around him. He couldn't feel any on himself, not at first, but as the rain picked up he began to feel droplets running off his partially outstretched wing.

Giving up on sleep, he rolled onto his chest and tucked his wings to his sides, looking out to sea over the low cliff they were atop of. The wind came in stops and starts, blowing interesting patterns in the light misting and over the water, but it didn't get particularly strong. And the rain was… not all that cold, actually, even almost comfortable. Rain on Berk had been something to tolerate, a miserable affair even in the summer that may or may not suddenly freeze into hail, and always accompanied by firm winds, but this wasn't so bad.

He opened his mouth and let the drizzle fall on his tongue, barely receiving a trickle overall but just enjoying the novelty. Then a thought hit him, and he glanced back at the grassy fields sloping down and then stretching off to the forest, now somewhat obscured. The rain was enough to wet something, but not soak it.

He lurched to his paws and leapt from the rock without even thinking, taking a few long bounds with a bit of gliding to reach where the grass was longest, just tickling his underside as he trotted to a halt. He then dropped onto his side and rolled, purring as the damp grass polished his scales without any of the fussy mud that rain would normally make.

So much here was the same, but so much was different. All in all, this land was far less hostile, far more forgiving. Berries and fruits were common in the forests for those that could eat them, it seemed to rain regularly enough that fresh water collected in regular pools – there was one at the bottom of this hill, though the grass obscured it – and it was so warm. When he thought about how much he and Wanderer had huddled together for warmth… Wrrr, he hadn't minded that, but it was nice not to need to.

A happy purr escaped him while he lay there, then he rolled upright and lifted a wing to inspect his side. His scales were exquisitely clean, other than a few blades of grass sticking to him, gleaming black and feeling cool and refreshed. It felt good. It looked good too, in his limited and highly flawed opinion, firmly hugging the powerful muscles of his torso and flank…

He snorted and shook his head, then resumed rolling, sure to rub all of himself against the damp, cleaning grass. When he finished, he felt as good as having thrashed against the scouring sand of a lakebed.

An excited energy built within him, and he raced back up the hill, legs pushing through wet grass the whole way, and crouched by his lazy friend. Wanderer cracked an eye, the pupil narrowing to focus on him. His tail twitched, the fins brushing across a few feet of rock. Dreamer tilted his head-

Wanderer lunged, and Dreamer leapt away, feeling paws slide off his wet flanks. He hit the ground running hard, breaths hissing gleefully through his teeth and tail whipping the grass around him.

Something flipped within him, a feeling, an instinct, whatever, he didn't care, but he dug his claws into the grass and spun to yank himself to a halt, then lunged right back at his pursuer. Wanderer tried to backpedal, his paws slipping, then threw himself aside instead, but too slow! Dreamer tackled him, wrapping paws around his neck, but his friend slipped out of his grip with ease, and they were racing again, Dreamer hot on his tail.

Since he had arrived on this land, it was as if a deep-rooted darkness was slowly withdrawing, its sick tendrils pulling from his limbs as he rested. He hadn't realised it was there, not until right at this moment where he found he wanted to play, to fight his friend. Playing had always been fun, but something he had recently only been doing out of obligation and for a distraction. It had been a long time since he had yearned to play, to want to best Wanderer in a fight. It had been a long time since he'd felt this strong, this powerful.

And he was strong and powerful! He felt his limit and pushed past it, paws pounding the grass and quickly closing the already meager distance. Wanderer tried to trip him with his tail, but he leapt over it and, with a single flap of his wings, landed on Wanderer's back and grabbed his neck with his teeth.

They fell, Wanderer trying to roll but Dreamer shifting his weight and paws to prevent it, and slid to a halt in a firm pin.

Wanderer struggled, but he was stuck fast, and quickly gave up and slumped. Before Dreamer could let him go, however, he tilted his head to look back mischievously and suggestively waggled his hindquarters-

Dreamer very nearly lost him as he bucked, and barely won the ensuing struggle to pin him again. He then growled exactly what he thought of that little trick into the back of Wanderer's neck, then let him go and gave him a few firm bats on the head for good measure.

"You look good!" Wanderer barked happily as Dreamer leapt off, not wanting to tempt a repeat.

"You should roll in grass also," Dreamer panted, flexing his limbs. The expression 'toughing it out' very much did not apply to Nightstrikers, he was coming to realise, he had been so accustomed to fighting his weak and flawed Long-Paw body that he hadn't thought twice about doing the same as a dragon. Now he was heeding the desire to stretch and rest.

"Your hide looks good also," Wanderer laughed, and Dreamer swatted at him again. "But I mean you look better. Happy. I not need bring you fish now."

Just as I was acquiring the taste for regurgitated food, Dreamer thought, mostly sarcastically. He at least didn't want to throw it straight back up any more; something about eating something from someone else's stomach just didn't sit right with him, even if it smelled and tasted good.

But even Wanderer was picking up on that he was feeling better. Thinking about it, he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this lively. Not since getting his fire, certainly. Before that had been Alvin… Dagur… One thing after another, with barely enough time to recover in between. And most of that time had been spent cold, shivering, his body tense and restless. The North – and that was an odd thought – was not a place for Nightstrikers.

"Now we just need find female for do that with," Wanderer hummed happily, then started rolling in the grass.

Dreamer huffed and settled comfortably onto his side, closing his eyes. Both his mind and his body agreed that males were uninteresting, one of the few things they easily agreed on around that subject, but he still couldn't reconcile the thought of… chasing and pinning a female.

Wrrr, maybe he was just a hopeless romantic at heart, and was confused simply because he didn't know a female he might want to do that with yet. That could be it. Something to think about while they travelled…

But not too hard. The sea was not as cold here, and did less to stave off those thoughts.

Time passed. Nights of flying blurred together, Dreamer letting himself fall into the routine, just watching the world pass below. All he knew was that it was still summer, but now the nights were getting longer again, descending towards autumn, and there had not been the horrible 'midnight sun' that Berk suffered from.

Occasionally they drifted inland a bit, just to see what was there, but Dreamer always found it… uncomfortable. He had always been around the sea, always been able to smell it on the wind. The first time he had lost sight of it behind them, seeing nothing but land in every direction, it had felt as if the earth was reaching up to close around him. He'd felt dizzy, short of breath, and had difficulty seeing or feeling how high he was flying.

A mountain or something in the distance would sometimes pique their interest and they'd spend a night taking a look, but it was fairly clear they'd need to fly far to get away from the Long-Paws. Overall it was a drifting, wandering journey, no direction and no real objective.

Weeks into their lazy searching, Dreamer noticed something strange. A dark blot on the ground below, a small Long-Paw nest, but entirely dark. Normally there was some light, a candle in a window or something, and while that might not be too strange for such a small nest, it was also overgrown with long grass, vines, and shrubs.

He churred to Wanderer and gestured at the anomaly, waving his wings a little to indicate he wanted to check it out. Wanderer tossed his head with a huff, but fell in behind, giving Dreamer the lead.

They banked around to circle it, watching down on it from above, but there was no movement, nothing. A ruined cart lay in the street, one wheel broken off and the other crooked and entwined with tall grass.

Could this be the first sign of other Nightstrikers? He didn't see any destruction…

Satisfied it wasn't inhabited, he descended swiftly and silently to alight on one of the roofs; Wanderer remained circling a short distance overhead. The wood groaned under his paws, weak for being left untreated and exposed to the elements, but it supported him. Nobody had lived here in a while.

And not even for that long in the first place, by the looks of things. It wasn't very well developed, even for how far nature had reclaimed it. The buildings were simple, plain structures with no decoration or gardens or anything, and some parts had clearly still been under construction.

He dropped down to the ground, in the shadow of the building cast by the sky-ice, and peered into the dark interior through a wooden window that had fallen off its hinge. Simple rough-cut furniture adorned the single room, a table and chairs with a bench across the far wall and what looked like a bed to one side. Grass grew feebly through the floorboards, and a vine tentatively ventured in through the far window. The air smelled musty and mouldy, but confirmed nobody had been here in a very long time.

He hopped in through the window to get a better look, his tail knocking against a low crate full of rusted tools that had been under the window. The interior was eerily silent, though he clearly heard Wanderer land on the roof of the building behind him.

Everything was abandoned. They hadn't just picked up and left, there were piles of rotted cloth that on closer inspection appeared to have once been laundry, utensils and tools rusting in the kitchen, a bucket sat neatly beside the bench with the remains of a few fish in it. But he hadn't seen evidence of fighting either…

He startled as he glanced to the bed and met the nonexistent gaze of a white skull. It stared emptily into the room, its crooked jaw hanging in a silent moan. He shivered, then walked up for a closer look, finding another skeleton lying alongside it.

They could have died of illness… but the stains on the cloth they lay on suggested otherwise, a dark crust pooling outwards from each body. This didn't match the stories at all, someone had clearly killed these people in their sleep. Nightstrikers had no reason to risk that, and there had to only be a dozen or so houses here, two Nightstrikers could easily level the place in moments from far above.

He snorted, then trotted back to the window and leaped through it, cleanly passing through the modest hole and landing in the grass outside. Fresh, clean air washed over him, and he gratefully inhaled it.

Wanderer barked quietly, grabbing his attention from atop a roof a few houses along, and pointed his snout to the ground at the edge of the tiny village. Dreamer stalked down the path, around the broken wagon, and peered into a tall patch of grass against the wall of the last house to find another skeleton, its skull crushed from the sides.

"Four of these," Wanderer said, coming up beside him.

"Something attacked them," Dreamer rumbled, eyeing the sheathed sword propped up against the wall. "More inside, killed while sleeping."

Wanderer snorted, shaking his head. "Weird. Sky-fire will rise soon. We should find somewhere for sleep."

"Yes," Dreamer agreed, and spread his wings to leap into the air. The morbid place quickly fell away behind them, but the mystery haunted him. What could have done that, and was it still here? At the moment, all he knew was that he wasn't going to sleep as easily as he had enjoyed these last few weeks, and he was going to put some distance to that place before trying.

Dreamer roused late the following afternoon from a strange, uncertain dream that trickled from his mind with every heartbeat. He yawned, then slipped from the tree he was hanging from and groggily shook himself, staggering a little.

What a novel experience. He was tired, but not exhausted. Right now he felt that putting some more distance to that bizarre place was more important than sleep.

Wanderer lightly bit at his neck, scratching an itch that materialised under his teeth, and Dreamer groaned contentedly. "Nothing?" he mumbled, peering through the trees.

"No," Wanderer hummed. "I not worried. We should keep moving."

Dreamer snorted amusement. "Not worried, you say. But want leave." He suffered the lazy swats, then shook his head again and trotted for the nearby clearing. After relieving himself on a random tree, he leaped up into the sky and took another look around.

The forest stretched out in three directions, ending in low plains and the sea to the north. As he rose into the sky, he again looked out for more Long-Paw nests, but there were none. There weren't even any ships on the water, which was a little unusual for this time of day. "Nightstrikers?" he voiced, highly uncertain of himself.

"Not think so," Wanderer replied, head twitching side to side as he looked around. "We would know."

Wrrr, with no nests and no ships on the water, they were free to go catch their breakfast. Dreamer pulled up and rolled right over his friend to angle them towards the sea, swooping back to near the ground for speed. A few particularly tall strands of grass whipped at him as he skimmed the fields, and then he pulled up again over the water to look for fish as they drifted out.

It felt better to be out over the water. Nothing could sneak up on him, jump out from behind something. Maybe all that land worried him because of how much could be lurking in it.

Or maybe he was just being paranoid. He snorted, then dove for the first school of fish he saw; it was a well-practised activity, and only took moments to catch his fill. He then lay on his back in the waves, waiting for Wanderer to finish his-

He yelped as something nipped one of his back-fins, jolting and throwing his head back into the water, then growled and splashed as he took off after Wanderer. He doggedly chased him deeper, failed to grab him as he jackknifed and kicked back up to the surface, then followed him up into the air and back towards land; though he bit down on a roar, while there were no Long-Paw nests around he still wasn't entirely certain what had happened to that last one.

Halfway back to land, Wanderer slowed, flaring his wings to pull in alongside Dreamer, tense flying and wary eyes immediately called off the game. Dreamer warbled questioningly, and he rumbled back uncertain, wary. Weird…

Soon, Dreamer noticed it too, some intangible sense of eyes on him from somewhere. There was nothing in the sky nearby… and they were out in open air, still a good mile from land. He warbled uncertain, wary, icy lines of expectation trickling down his spine.

Wanderer snarled, then inhaled and let out a sound-sight bark-

They both snapped around to the third shape in the air with them – but there was nothing there! Dreamer immediately lit his fire and held it, letting it screech from his mouth as Wanderer did the same, pivoting and chasing after the shape as it fled.

Whatever it was, it was fast! Dreamer worked his wings hard, initially pulling ahead of Wanderer but then slowly losing his lead, but the shape stayed solidly ahead of them. It was headed back for land, and would definitely reach it before they did.

Not that he knew what it was or what he was going to do… but it had been following them while they hadn't even known it was there, and after that weird town he was not content to let this go.

They reached land, and it dove down to skim the trees. He had no doubt he would lose it if it suddenly stopped, it was difficult enough to track it while it was moving, but when he did lose it he followed Wanderer's sharp turn and picked it up again.

It snaked around ahead of them, fleeing their revealing screeches while they tenaciously tailed it, slowly gaining on it one turn at a time. He had never known anything to move this fast before, not aside from Wanderer and himself – but it wasn't fast enough.

Out at the edge of the forest, back towards the sea, it suddenly swooped down and almost vanished in the field. But Dreamer braked hard, feeling as if he was about to tear his wings off, to only overshoot a little bit and slam to a halt in the damp grass. Wanderer had been ahead of him, but banked around to come up around it.

He could still see it with sound-sight, with increasing clarity as he raced towards it, but he couldn't actually see-

A surprised yelp worked its way out of him, and he skidded to a halt at the sight of a pair of large blue eyes seemingly just floating in the field, staring at him. And then a white shape took form around them, supple white hide seemingly materialising out of thin air to form a heavily-panting muzzle, a face, neck, wings, and the rest of the dragon that had come very close to giving them the slip.

"That was fun!" she chirped gleefully in a voice that could only be feminine, bouncing on her paws, while Dreamer stared with wide eyes and a slack jaw. "You very fast! I not think you see me that quickly." She was lithe and sleek, her smooth hide sparkling in the evening light, her face a little bit the wrong shape but…

She tilted her head, walked up to him, and lightly tapped him on the head. He startled, taking a step back, but was otherwise still entirely paralysed. He could smell her now too, a warm, comforting scent that was definitely feminine-

"He is okay?" she asked Wanderer, who was approaching with wide, wondrous eyes.

"Yes," Wanderer hummed. "We… not have seen another like us for… much time."

She crooned sad, sympathetic, her wings and ears drooping. "We not have seen Nightstrikers in much time." She walked up to Wanderer to exchange scents with him. "I am Searching," she purred, and Dreamer's heart skipped as she brazenly rubbed herself against Wanderer's chest. "I want keep you for myself… but you should come to my nest. Everyone will be very happy!" With a gleeful bark, she leapt away and bounded into the air, her wings taking long strokes and easily getting her airborne.

Dreamer watched her go in a daze. Until Wanderer swatted him. "You want stay here?" he barked. Dreamer stared dumbly back at him.

Wanderer whacked him again, and his mind suddenly jolted back to life. He gave himself a vigorous shake, and then they eagerly took wing to follow after her.