Motivation
She approached Sway after helping her entertain Pounce and Char in meaningless play. There were a few remaining details regarding what Sway and Alpha's other mates did which she needed to learn.
"Which groups of Helpers do you keep your eyes on?" she innocently asked.
"The Hunter-Helpers," Sway answered.
"Anything special about them? Do they break rules?"
"No, they never cause any problems. They might be closer to their males than would be best, but they are peaceful, so I do not bother them or saying anything. I also do not like the water!" Sway groaned.
Perhaps that explained how the Hunters and their kin were able to live their secret lives. Their overseer was being lazy or did not care much.
"You do not like the water? What? Why?" she chuckled.
"A kin-eating water-hunter chased me when I was a fledgling. Never wanted to go swimming again."
"Fair enough. What about the others? Who are they responsible for?"
"Speck watches the Far-Flier-Helpers. Spot and Swirl watch the Fighter-Helpers. Stripe watches the Plant-Growers and others, even though they are not a Helper group."
"What about the Healers and Knowers?"
"They are few enough that there is no need. First-Knower only allows packmates she trusts and has directly taught. The Healers are similar, though they work with Plant-Growers."
She hummed in understanding, "I see. You would know better than I do about this. Do many packmates have thoughts about the two-legs in the beyond?"
Sway grumbled, "They did not before, but they started hissing among themselves far more after the dark wings came here."
"What do the many packmates say about the two-legs?" she asked.
"They are either afraid of them or they think nothing. Few packmates care about the beyond, since only Alpha and other pack-leaders should care. Those who go beyond know a little more."
There was already some fear. The rest of the pack could be helped to understand the danger. Convincing Alpha and his kin would not be too difficult. The two-legs were an eventual threat to their power and status, after all, which was what they were most concerned about.
Discussing with the Firsts of the pack-roles why two-legs were a danger would help. Talking with normal packmates would help also open their eyes to the danger they did not know about. Their talking among themselves would eventually reach the Firsts and Alpha's mates.
Further, he had mentioned in passing that there was another dark wing pack, Shadow-Spark-Pack out there. This other dark wing pack was not fouled by two-legs, but there was a cold between that pack and light wings.
While this light wing pack was very isolated and unconcerned about the ranges beyond, the dark wings might be far more willing to get involved.
She woke up after a long sleep, took care of the waking routine, and flew up to Alpha's preferred light-rock up on his ledge. If he was anywhere to meet fellow packmates of importance, he would likely be there.
Sure enough, she found him speaking to someone who was likely a Far-Flier. Alpha noticed her and beckoned her down to land beside the light-rock. He dismissed the packmate he was speaking to, and trotted to her.
"Warm waking-cycle Alpha, I would like your help," she said.
"Skadi, my favorite special kin. How can I help you?" he asked.
"I want to fly to the other dark wing pack: the one you mentioned before."
He grumbled, "Why to them? They do not trust us or any light wings."
"That is part of what I want to help with. Do you know why they do not trust light wings?"
He paused for many wingbeats before answering, "Nothing for certain. The lack of trust is old, from before I was Alpha."
This lack of pack trusting had been a problem for far longer than she thought. There must be a reason for it.
"I can find out what happened and help with that lack of trust. Mostly I want to learn if any of them will act against the two-legs and dark wings in the fouled range. Will you have a Far-Flier lead me to the dark wing pack?"
"Sure, but I doubt anything will come of it."
"Maybe not, but I should at least know where they are."
"Fine. I will have someone lead you there. Stay safe, and come back here soon."
Third-Far-Flier led her far beyond the pack's territory. Time flew swiftly with the lengths and ranges flying together into a single flight. There were many other kin they passed by, either sleeping on ledges, fishing in waters below, warming themselves by light-rocks, or fighting for status.
They were all free and wild kin, as they should be.
The flight took what was probably a full waking-cycle, as she and Third-Far-Flier had to rest once after leaving the pack's territory. None of the other kin bothered them.
Finally, he landed beside a drop into another range filled with water and island-ranges.
"We must talk before we fly deeper. This is the range of packless light wings!"
She had not known that this flight needed to be through where the packless light wings flew. But it was possible that these light wing were not as violent and rotted as she had heard they must be. Alpha had reasons to want the rest of his pack to think other light wings were not deserving of trust.
"What must we do?" she asked.
"Do not approach the kin-packs on the islands. We stay away from them, and they will stay away from us. The dark wings are down another path past all these packless light wings."
"What is their range like? Have you seen it before?"
"I have not, but-" he stumbled and went silent.
It was curious that he stumbled and made a mistake now, but maybe he felt more comfortable around her or far away from the rest of his pack. Regardless, he appeared shocked and worried about his mistake.
She chuckled, "Do not fear. I heard nothing. Have you been to the dark wing pack before?"
"This one... appreciates that. No, this one only knows what he has heard from other Far-Fliers. The dark wings have two ranges that touch many other paths. The ranges are darker, but the dark wings prefer that. They watch one path to the deeper and darker ranges."
"What is their Alpha's name?"
"They have an Alpha pair. The male is named Defiance, and the female is Branch-Biter."
The dark wing pack had an Alpha pair. She already approved of them far more.
Third-Far-Flier landed on a ledge before a large drop into a darker range. She could see many large mushroom-trees of darker green and purple, dimmer light-rocks, and several waterfalls sending up a mist.
Third-Far-Flier warily grumbled, cautiously looking around, "You must go on your own. They do not want light wings in their ranges."
"I understand. I know my way back to the pack, if you want to fly on your own there," she offered.
"This one is to fly with you and keep you safe. This one will wait here for you."
She jumped from the ledge and flew openly into the dark wings' range. Roars from guards or Fighters followed only wingbeats later. The dark wings must have been watching for any strange kin in their territory, and they had noticed her.
She landed on the nearest large mushroom-tree and settled down to wait. Two male dark wings glided toward her and landed before her. They both held their wings up in display, though not doing anything else threatening, and stared at her in surprise and confusion.
"Warm flights, dark wings," she purred.
The larger male stepped slightly closer, "And to you, strange kin. This range belongs to our pack. Why are you here? Are you a Far-Flier for a pack?"
"What is your name?" the other male asked.
"My name is Skadi. I am not a Far-Flier for a pack. I want to speak with your Alphas. What are your names or numbers?"
"Growling-Blaze." "Stone-Slicer."
Yet another detail she approved of. These dark wings, while probably having pack-roles like all other packs, had true names instead of only pack-role numbers! This pack was certainly different from that of the light wings.
"What is your kin-kind? We have never seen one of you before," Growling-Blaze asked.
She took a deep breath before answering them. That she was half light wing could be a problem for them, but hopefully not.
"I am half light wing, a mixed-kin. I do not know what other kin-kind I am. Is that a problem?" she asked without looking away.
Growling-Blaze shrugged, "Probably not. We will let the Alphas decide. Follow us."
Growling-Blaze and Stone-Slicer led her deeper into the dark wing's range. Lengths of dark forest, mushroom-trees, grasses, and waters passed underwing. Caves in the rock walls and ledges held dozing dark wings, adults and young. Dark wings tended to fields of mushrooms being grown for food.
She fully intended to ask their Alphas how this pack lived and what customs it had. Already though, she was certain that this pack had pack-rules she approved of more than the light wing pack did.
She and her two guides arrived at a plain ledge high above the others. The ledge was empty of any plants, though there were three dark purple light-rocks in a row.
"We will wait for them here," Growling-Blaze said while Stone-Slicer flew off.
She started pacing to wait while considering all she knew about the pack, which was very little. They clearly kept to themselves and had problems with light wings. Was it possible this pack would be more willing to act against the two-legs? The dark wings might have more reason to want to act, since there were dark wings either trapped and thralled by the two-legs or working with the two-legs. They ought to act out of concern for their own kin-kind.
Stone-Slicer and two other dark wings arrived later. The two new ones were a male and a female with purple-tinted wings, and they calmly strolled to her while Stone-Slicer and Growling-Blaze departed, leaving her alone with two dark wings who had be the Alpha pair.
The two dark wings froze mid-step when they saw her up close, though they recovered themselves wingbeats after.
"Welcome to Shadow-Spark-Pack. I am Defiance," the male said.
"And I am Branch-Biter. We are the Alphas," the female added.
She bent her head to them, "I am glad to meet you, Defiance, Branch-Biter. I am Skadi."
"What are you?" Defiance asked, visibly wary of her.
"I am a half light wing. Is that a problem for you? I know that your pack and a light wing pack have... cold history."
Defiance grumbled, "You being a mixed-kin is not a problem on its own. We have dark-light mixed-kin in our pack. Are you a packmate of the light wing pack with the no-names and no life-mate pack-rules?"
"That is the pack I am staying with, but I am only a guest in their ranges. Their Alpha is not my Alpha."
"Who is?" Branch-Biter asked.
"No one is. I have no Alpha. I was an Alpha for other kin though."
Defiance and Branch-Biter warbled, clearly confused.
"I was in the above, and saved other kin from two-legs up there. The kin bowed to me as their Alpha. They are now flying free on their own. You must be wondering what else I am, since I am a half light wing."
"I am wondering about that, but I might know already," Defiance calmly said.
"My sire was the last High-Alpha of all the ranges: He-Who-Remembers!" she proudly said.
Defiance spoke, "Where is he?"
"He has died of age."
Defiance hummed, "I never met him myself, but our last Alpha pair did after he flew to help us in our last fight."
That got her curious. When was this last fight her sire-father had helped with?
"What happened in that fight, if you do not mind telling me?"
Defiance growled, staring into the distance, "Our range touches one of the paths to the darker and deeper ranges none fly in. Kin-hunters we call Cleansers live in those dark ranges."
"I have heard of them," she growled.
"Many of those Cleansers tried to take our ranges long ago. There were also fouled dark wing Hunter-monsters down there once. Your sire arrived long after the fighting started and helped us kill the attackers and their Alpha. So many of the Cleansers were killed that they have never threatened us since then. But many of our packmates were killed. Your sire said he flew to us as fast as he could, but he was far away in an ice-range. He stayed with us to protect us after the fighting, until he flew away long after. We never saw him again."
Branch-Biter began saying something, but she could not hear it.
Her sire-father had been away from the dark wing pack, probably with her in the ice-ranges, when he knew the dark wings were being attacked here. That must have been when he left her, and why he stayed away. This pack needed protection which only he could give.
In a twisted way, she was responsible just by being and being a distraction. Her sire-father had made a mistake in being around her at all or even by having her.
"Skadi? Are you listening?" Branch-Biter grumbled.
She gasped and took several deep breaths to calm herself, "Sorry, my thinking was flying wildly. I barely knew my sire, and everything I learn about him... well, I want to learn whatever I can."
Defiance glared at her, "Are you like him? Do you have his life-will-powers?"
She shrugged, "Maybe some of them. I do not know all he could do."
"Neither do we. How could any kin speak to all kin at the same time, throw sky-light like a sky-light-eater, or thought-control lesser kin?" Branch-Biter whispered.
Was all of that truly possible? Had her sire-father spoken with thought-voice to all kin or thought-controlled such kin for their own good?
Defiance shuffled in place, finding a more comfortable position, "Why are you here with us?"
"I am not sure if you know, but two-legs have found a way into these ranges! They are tricking and thralling kin in the range they have taken!"
Defiance shrugged, "We know of the two-legs. The Alpha dark wings for that range flew to us and told us what is happening there."
"What did they say?"
He sneered, "They say the two-legs live in peace with the kin there."
"Impossible."
"We remember what the above was like, but we do not care what they do to the kin in that range as long as they leave us alone. They have so far."
This was not helpful at all. He and Branch-Biter were just like the Alpha light wing, not wanting to involve themselves or take action when action was needed.
Further, this information made it appear more likely that the dark wings in the fouled range were working with the two-legs, probably thralled by them or otherwise thought-rotted into thinking that kin and two-legs could be peaceful.
"How do you know the two-legs will leave you alone? They are already using dark wings to fly to far ranges!"
"What were they doing in those ranges?" Branch-Biter asked.
"Trying to find new ranges to take. The dark wings took two-legs with them to trick other kin into liking them."
Defiance grumbled, "Maybe, but we do not care about other packs. We made an agreement with the dark wing Alphas for pack-peace."
What were the names of these twisted, rotted kin who were responsible for this threat?
"What are their names?" she growled.
"Shadowwing and Was-Grounded are the two Alpha males. I am not sure about their mates," he answered.
What? Having equally dominant Alpha males was very different from how other packs lived. How many twisted ceremonies and pack-rules did they force on their kin?
"What if I proved the two-legs or those other dark wings want to threaten your pack?" she asked.
Defiance and Branch-Biter whispered to each other before he answered, "We do not believe they want that. We told them to leave us alone, and they have left us alone."
"Would anyone else in your pack be willing to act?" she calmly asked, hiding her disappointment.
Branch-Biter huffed, "Why do you care?"
"Because my sire should have been here for you. He is gone now, but I should try to help fix his mistake. He was not there to keep you and these ranges safe, but I can do that in his place against this new threat."
"You truly think the two-legs are that dangerous?" Branch-Biter asked.
She growled, barely restraining her flame, "I was trapped by two-legs for dark-light-cycles beyond counting. They kept me in traps, gave me no food or water, and cut off one of my back-spines. They thralled other kin and used them for flight and power! Yes, two-legs are the enemy of kin! Nothing can change that."
Branch-Biter hummed, considering her words, "That might all be true. Still, these ones have not done anything to us. Not yet. We cannot allow any of our pack to go fight the two-legs, dark wings, and other kin."
Defiance snorted, "Even if some of us would want to do that."
That was good news. Some of the dark wings here apparently understood the danger. How many of them could be encouraged to act, under important enough circumstances?
"How many of you would act if that was necessary?" she asked.
He stared at her, probably out of suspicion with the question, "Shriek and Cinder would want to fight. Meadow-Wind would probably fly with them. Maybe another pair. Those five hate two-legs the most, but we hope you do not try to convince them to follow you. We forbid it. Shadowwing and Was-Grounded made it clear they would act if we allowed any of our pack to strike at them. Shadow-Spark-Pack will not help attack our own kind."
Having dark wings to help fight other dark wings would have helped, if fighting was truly necessary and if she needed the help.
She huffed, "It is disappointing that you do not want to act, but I understand. You must think about your status and your pack first. I am trying to convince the light wing pack to act."
Defiance chuckled, "Good to hear, but they will not do anything. They are too weak and not deserving of any trust. Those piles of waste would gladly see us die."
"Why do you hate them? I know they and your pack are not warm to each other, but what happened? I got no clear answers from their Alpha."
Branch-Biter growled, "It happened before we became Alphas. We were living in the range where the two-legs and other dark wings are now. We were attacked by Hunter-monsters. We killed them in fighting, but many of us died. That was when your sire arrived and helped kill the remaining Hunter-monsters. We learned that the light wings knew about the attack before it happened, and they let it happen!"
"They wanted to take our territory after we were killed!" Defiance snarled.
She gasped in alarm and shock at the thought that the light wings could be that false and rotted.
"What? No, they would not do that. Are you certain that is what happened?"
"Very! Your sire was angry with them for not helping us, and he forbid them from taking that range."
Maybe the leaders of the light wing pack had planned something after all. Maybe they were occupied by fighting at the same time. The past was unclear and difficult to determine what was true or false.
"Even if they did let that bad happen, it was many life-making cycles ago. Why not make pack-peace with them now?"
Defiance snorted, "Their current Alpha tried with us, but we saw what he truly wanted. He had a pawful of female light wings fly here to offer themselves and get dark-light eggs. As far as I know, we all turned tail on them."
Branch-Biter hissed, "All he cares about is his own power and his family's status. That pack does not care about us, and we do not care about them. Let them stay hidden in their range where they can rot!"
That did not sound wrong at all. The light wing Alpha was very concerned about power and putting his own young and mates in power-places in the pack. Every good and strong leader should want that. Further, it was normal for an Alpha to only care about their own pack.
"Why did he want dark-light eggs?"
Defiance and Branch-Biter did not immediately answer, and they looked very wary of saying anything.
"You can tell me. I promise on my wings and my sire's life-water to not tell anyone if it is a secret," she assured them.
Defiance grumbled, looking away from her, "Dark-lights are mixed-kin. Mixed-kin can have what makes both of their kin-kinds strong."
"Yes, so what can dark-lights do?" she asked.
"Dark-lights can fade like true light wings, and they can also twist sky-light as we can, if the old stories are true. Pure light wings cannot use sky-light."
She had not heard that dark wings could twist sky-light. Was the sky-light the crashing flashes of light that flew in the clouds above when the clouds were angry? Regardless, the Alpha light wing would want such powerful kin to control and thus make his own status greater.
"I did not know that about dark wings. What do you mean by old stories? Is that twisting of sky-light something you cannot do much?"
"We have different stories. Some say we could do that many times when we are angry. Other stories are that we could only do it one time. We do not know for certain. None of us care to try down here," he answered.
Maybe that was all correct, but there was still the obvious problem that there was no sky-light under the ground. On the other paw, the sky-light-eaters she met with could throw crashing-light. Maybe they could make a little on their own, or maybe there were unknown ranges filled with crashing-light.
Branch-Biter purred, "Do you plan to stay with us long?"
"That would be nice, but I am expected back in the light wing pack. One of their Far-Fliers led me here and will fly back there with me."
Defiance grumbled, "You should be careful about that Alpha light wing. He is a twisted, rotted Alpha."
She chuckled, amused at their concern for her, "Do not worry about me. I know how to persuade him to do what he must. I also know details about his pack he does not know."
"It is more than him. His kin are in power-places, and the rest of the normal packmates are too afraid of him and each other. No one knows who to trust. They are too weak to act," he added.
He would normally be correct in that, but she knew more than he thought she did. She knew that a pawful of the Hunters and their Helpers were already secretly defying the pack's rotted pack-rules. The same was true of other light wings in different pack-roles. All those light wings had to trust each other.
Further, all she truly needed to do was convince the Alpha of the need to act. He could order the rest of the pack to act, and they would obey. He already approved of her and trusted her.
"I agree with you that their Alpha is twisted. How do you know how the pack lives?"
Branch-Biter kneaded the ground underpaw, "We met some of the light wings that escaped so they could live as they want. They were male-female pairs who escaped together. We would not let them live with us, but we let them pass through our ranges to other places. We always denied that any of them flew our way whenever Far-Fliers from that pack came to ask us if we saw anything."
This was the first she heard that some light wings had escaped the pack, probably because they wanted to be together or refused to accept the pack's customs. Though, anyone who escaped would probably have been removed from the pack's stories or has speaking about them forbidden, so as to pretend the escape never happened.
Branch-Biter softly hummed, "If you and the Alpha do act against the two-legs, please try to not kill the dark wings, dark-lights, and light wings there. Our kin-kind is very few now, and every death hurts our numbers."
She purred in reassurance, "I understand. Hopefully the two-legs are the true danger and do not have very strong control of the kin. I will find a way to save as many of the dark wings and their other kin as I can."
She stepped away, stretched her wings, and paused before taking flight. The guilt and responsibility was heavy and liver-chilling. Her sire-father had made a mistake by flying from his duty when he had her and tried to be a sire-father at all.
"I am sorry my sire was not here all along. He should have been here instead of wherever he was."
Defiance shrugged, "You do not need to apologize for him. He did fly to us twice, and he could not be in all places at once."
"I will do better than he did. I will not fail you or any kin. Warm flights, Alphas."
"Warm flights, Skadi," Defiance hummed.
She took flight and calmly flew back through the dark wings' territory to where Third-Far-Flier would be waiting. What had to happen was obvious. The Firsts and others in power-places in the light wing pack needed to appreciate the danger of two-legs. Her story of what she and the other trapped kin had endured above would certainly help change thinking in the pack.
Convincing Alpha of the need to act should not be too difficult either as long as she made it clear that the two-legs were an inevitable threat to him and his kin. He cared foremost about his status and security as Alpha. There had to be a way to use that to motivate him to act for the greater good.
She lay on the sandy beach among a pawful of Hunter-Helpers, all of whom were eagerly listening. First-Hunter was also listening to her as she spoke about Ice-Water-Pack.
Unsurprisingly, the females kept asking her about what life was like beyond their pack's territory. They would be curious about the world they had never seen or been allowed to fly into. Answering those questions was a way of getting their attention before speaking about what was truly important.
First-Hunter barked, getting her attention, "Skadi, a moment to speak alone?"
She got to her paws and trotted to him away from the Helpers, "What is it, First?"
He sat down before her, "This one knows you mean well, but you should take more care talking to us."
She could feel that he was being truthful and believed what he was saying.
"Why?" she innocently asked.
"Because the pack-leaders do not approve of the stories you are telling. The ranges and packs beyond are too dangerous for any of us," he said.
"Other than Hunters, Far-Fliers, and Fighters?" she countered.
He did not immediately answer, though he appeared surprised, "True, they can go safely beyond for their duties. Just be careful to not say anything the pack's leaders do not want said."
"Like what?"
He shrugged, "Anything that might make us want to go beyond. We all know our place. The pack is all! There is only the pack and our roles!"
It was obvious that he did not believe those twisted words. He was only saying what he was expected to say.
Was this a good time to reveal to him that she knew the truth about his group's secret pack and how he and several of his packmates were defying the pack's rules?
On one paw, telling him that she knew the truth and was going to keep the truth might help him trust her. On the other paw, he might react fearfully and violently, since he was probably something of a flight-leader for all in his pack-role who secretly had families or defied the pack-rules.
No, it was better to not let him know what she knew. It was better to save that revelation for when it would be more influential.
"True, there is only the pack for you, but I have other concerns. If I do not care about the danger, no one will."
"What danger?" he warily asked.
"Come listen."
She spun away from him and trotted back to the other Helpers who were patiently waiting for her to return. First-Hunter followed.
She lay down and faced the five Helpers, "So, you might have heard about hidden ranges above. Have you?"
"What?" "No." "What is that?" "Hidden ranges?" "Where?"
"They are ranges much bigger than all the ones in your pack. The biggest light-rock of all flies up in waters so high up that no one can fly to it. The ranges up there have no other kin."
That surprised them.
"No kin? Why not?" one of them asked.
She considered how to answer that, since her sire-father had called them all to hiding.
"They all flew from the above because of the danger. Because of two-legs!" she growled.
"What are those?" they asked.
"They are the worst type of monster. They are smaller than kin and have no wings, scales, claws, or big teeth. Yes, that makes them sound harmless, but they are strong in their thinking. They have clever paws they use to make things that trap and use kin! I should know. I was trapped by them."
"What?" they growled.
"I went to meet two-legs in peace, but they trapped me and kept me in a moving trap-cave for many, many waking-cycles. I learned why they were trapping kin. They trap kin to break our life-fires and make us into thought-thralls! They pretend to be peaceful when they are rotted at liver."
The Helpers hissed, so she continued, "They keep us in traps, starve us, and force us to bow to them as Alphas. Then they sit on us, claim us, and use us for flight and work! They are monsters to kin!"
The Helpers kept growling and whispering to each other. A couple of them said it was good that the two-legs were not in their ranges.
"They are not in your pack's ranges yet, but they will be. Two-legs spread out and grow like a rot until they fill all the ranges. They will find your pack one waking-cycle."
First-Hunter grumbled, "Maybe they will, but the ranges beyond or in the above are not our concern. We know our place, and we trust in Alpha and the pack to keep us safe!"
She purred and bobbed her head in agreement, "Yes, of course. You can always trust your Alpha to make the best decisions to keep you safe. For the pack!"
"For the pack!" the Helpers proudly answered, though their thoughts were filled with scorn.
This was enough progress with them for a waking-cycle. Being too open and forceful might work against her goal. After all, it was enough to spread fear and justified concern, let that whispering spread through the pack, and then convince Alpha to act on what his own pack supposedly wanted. Alphas had to listen to the wants of the pack once enough of them had concerns.