Author's Note – This skips several months ahead.
Amelioration
She lay on a cold rock overhang above frigid waters. Her perch was between the caves where part of the pack slept and the very large, warm chamber where the eggs were kept. She liked resting at her current ledge because it looked very similar to part of another place that was close to her liver: her prior cave-den. She really needed to pick a cave to be her own den eventually, since she had not done that yet. Being around her new packmates and helping them to know her had seemed like a good idea starting out in this pack.
She patiently waited for the four fledglings she called her friends. They had all agreed last waking-cycle that they would use the coming time to discuss their future places in the pack after their regular play.
More packmates were starting to talk about the future pack-order ceremony, since it was the best way for each in the pack to move up in the order through different contests depending on what role one wanted. Her own finding a pack-role to focus on might be a good plan. Being a Fish-Hunter forever would be easy, if boring after a while. Doing something else would likely be fun.
On the other paw, she saw no need to rise the pack-order. Others only did that for mates, eggs, and status. There was preference given to the best in each role as far as mate-choosing and egg-making, which made wanting to move up that order natural and good for most, though those were not reasons which mattered for her.
Several familiar roars eventually echoed through the ice-range, waking her from her nap. She jumped from the ledge and glided out to greet her dear friends.
"Welcome, Skadi!" Red cried.
She spun over Red and tagged her tail in a spin.
"Good to see you all!" she roared back.
"To the warm range!" Green shouted.
"Race you there!" Blue bellowed.
Brushing wings, tagging tails, and batting at heads with paws, they flew together toward the warm range. It was time for an entire waking-cycle of play and fledgling games before some serious talks.
Swimming in the warm water and floating on her back never got old or less fun! Doing this filled her thinking with so much sleep-wanting that she could go to sleep right now! But… falling asleep in the water was not the best plan, so she swam for shore, climbed onto the rocks, and-
Blue jumped on her and sent them both down into the hot water. They spun around in the warm water as she pushed him away. They splashed to the bubbling surface and glared at each other.
"What was that for?" she roared.
"Fun!" he shouted.
She shot a fireball at him to force him under the water and let her climb up out of the water and onto the rocks. Then, just when he tried to climb out, she jumped on him and pushed him back into the water with a splash.
It was so much fun to tease him!
"What was that for?" he roared after he climbed out.
"Fun!" she shouted.
He rolled his eyes and brayed in amused annoyance.
Green laughed at them, stomping a paw against the rocks where he stood.
"You need to work on your fighting, both of you!" he shouted.
They shot fireballs at him, knocking him off the rocks and into the water with a splash.
"Good shot!" Blue huffed.
"You too!" she chuckled.
Green climbed out of the water and shook himself dry, "Good shots! You might be Fighters in your livers!"
She and Blue laughed. Neither of them were true Fighters, but the line between play and fighting could easily be blurred. Something about how Blue and Green were always eager for competition and rough play was very enjoyable and liver-warming. Males seemed more playful and active, rougher with each other in bonding activities than females were. She could appreciate how good such play was.
She had not enjoyed much of such play in the past, since she had no nestmates of her own. Ranging light wings would occasionally bring their fledglings with them as they flew to new packs, and they met her and her dam-mother. But none of them had stayed for much play with her.
She and her friends lay down on the warm rocks beside the water. They had used much of the waking-cycle so far playing various games and exploring the pack's territory, and now it was time to rest and talk. There was an important pack-event coming up, and she knew very little about it. Her friends certainly knew more than she did.
"We should talk about the contests!" she declared.
"Good idea. What do you four want to be once it is our time?" Red purred, stretching everything.
Yellow tapped her tailfins on the ground and waved a paw toward the many different surrounding plants,"I want to be a Plant-Tender or a Young-Watcher, but I like Plant-Tender more. Both make life be or be better."
She purred in agreement. Plant-Tenders must do much learning, and they occasionally got to fly to ranges beyond to learn about new plants. That was in addition to how they were responsible for health-helping plants.
"Those are good. Why do you want to be a Plant-Tender?" she asked.
"Because I was sick as a hatchling, but First-Plant-Tender brought me plants that made the sickness go away. Helping others is good. I want to help others as I was helped," Yellow purred.
"I agree. Red? What about you?"
Red finished licking her wings, leaving them shining very brightly after the self-grooming.
"I want to be a Far-Flier!" Red smugly announced.
They all gasped in surprise and confusion. There was an obvious problem with Red's plan.
"But you are a female. Far-Fliers are males," Green objected.
"True, that is the pack custom for now. But I will be big and strong. We females can also fly far and should be allowed to go out there for the pack," Red pointed out.
Yellow extended a wing and gently nudged Red's side, "Yes, but there are dangers for us that males do not need to fear. I only want to stay here with the pack where it is safe."
Red snorted, "You do that. I understand that flying into some danger is needed if we want to rise the pack-order or make change happen."
That has lift. Change is dangerous but can be good too!
Red hopped to her paws and flared her wings to stretch them. Afterwards, she gently nudged Yellow with a paw.
"Think about it. If we become Far-Fliers, we can control more of our own life-flights. We can go see other ranges and other packs that might have more males: good ones that we could claim as mates if we want them!"
Green and Blue huffed and groaned.
"What about us?" "We are right here!"
Red laughed, "You are not future mates for us, not for me anyway. What pack-roles do you two want?"
Green growled and rolled his claws, "I will be a Fighter! My sire is First-Fighter, and both he and Alpha want me to learn fighting. Fighters always impress most females."
"Most females are twisted," Red huffed and started licking her wings again.
Skadi hummed, confused by something Green mentioned, "Why does Alpha care about what pack-role you are in?"
Green purred, "Because my sire is Alpha's first-hatched. Alpha wants me to do well as his kin!"
Green had never before mentioned that he was related to Alpha. She also did not know that First-Fighter was one of Alpha's young. She did not even know how many young Alpha had. But that First-Fighter was one of Alpha's young probably had advantages for both of them.
"Question! How many young does Alpha have?"
Red finished licking her wings, "Three. First-Fighter, Second-Plant-Tender, and his new fledgling. Blue, what do you want to be?"
"I will be a Fish-Hunter. I am good at it, and swimming on hunts in the water is fun and dangerous!" Blue chuckled.
Yellow barked in alarm, "That is not something to joke about! There are big hunters in the deep water!"
"But there are also big fish and other prey. A Fish-Hunter who brings back big fish for the pack shows that he can provide for a mate and the pack. Providers will always be needed. I also like the fun of hunting prey and escaping from hunters!"
Green chuffed, "The thrill of the hunt!"
"Yes, you get it, my friend!" Blue growled.
"Males!" Red and Yellow sighed.
I agree. Males like danger too much.
"What about us?" Blue chuckled.
Skadi hummed with worry, "We think that you like fighting and dangerous hunting too much. That danger-liking might be some of why the pack has more of us than you."
That imbalance was something that she had realized after being truly allowed into the pack. There were more females than males. Of the ten tens of adult light wings in the pack, six tens and five of them were females. That meant that there were many females who had no mate or prospects of ever getting one. There was more mixing between her pack and Lone-Tree-Pack, but no new pairs had been made from that yet, as far as she knew.
And she knew both Blue and Green. They were kin to her. They were her friends. Either of them being in danger would be very bad!
"We like danger because we must," Blue answered.
Huh? That is very twisted.
"What? Why?" Yellow innocently asked.
Green huffed and gently shoved her with a paw, "My sire explained it like this. You are a healthy female. You decide who you take as a mate when you are grown up."
Blue eagerly nodded, "Yes, you females judge us males, all the time."
"What? Judge you? No, we do not do that," Yellow answered after a moment of thought.
Blue purred in agreement, "It is true. You have the power in the mate-making. We must prove ourselves to you by showing that we can hunt, fight, provide, and survive. That means that we must like danger and take risks to impress you. Right, Red?"
Red groaned, "I know! That is why I want to be a Far-Flier! Danger brings opportunity of winning and moving up in the pack!"
"And of dying," Yellow whined.
"You can want to be Far-Flier, but you are a female or are you not?" Green chuckled at Red, ignoring Yellow's remark.
Red flamed his nose with warning-fire and preened afterward, "Yes! I am female, and your nose and eyes are filled with waste if you do not know that. I will rise in this pack and change that ceremony if I must so I can be a Far-Flier!"
Skadi hummed, thinking about this situation. Red had big thoughts about the entire pack and ways that the pack-ceremony would impact her. Was there any lift in those thoughts? Males were bigger and stronger than females, which is probably why the females were not allowed to be Far-Fliers or Fighters or just never chose to be in those pack-roles. On the other paw, if someone wanted to take risks for their own advancement, they should be allowed to do that.
Bad males outside of packs could be dangerous to lone females, but a pack of females flying together would still be safe against any bad males. Fights of only one male against one female alone that would be bad.
She hummed at Red as an idea of how to change the pack for the better sparked to life, "Idea! You know that there are many females who have no mate, true? There are many Young-Watchers and Plant-Tenders who do not always have work."
"Yes, true. What are you thinking?" Red asked.
She hopped to her paws with her tail swaying as she paced before her friends, "What if we have the females with no mates or no need to be in their current pack-role learn to fly as a Far-Flying group if they want to? They would protect each other's flights from dangerous males or other threats and would learn to fight as a group. Staying together would keep them safe. Blue, Green, what do you think?"
They hummed, thinking about it.
"That could have lift. They could not easily fight males one against one, but they would never need to fight one against one if they stay as a pack-flight," Green reasoned.
"Yes. They could hunt and range in safety to help the pack grow stronger. If they find males they trust, they can bring those good males back to join the pack and help with the imbalance!" she added.
Blue slapped his tail against the ground to get their attention, "I have pinned a problem. Why has this not been done before?"
They looked at each other and saw only confusion and lack of answers.
"I do not know. This flight has too much lift to not be done," she said.
Red grumbled, "There must be a reason why not. Maybe Alpha does not allow it."
She paused, glancing at her friends and then around to see if anyone else was listening. There was no one else nearby.
"Question for all of you, does the pack force females to not do what we want for pack-roles?"
No one immediately answered that question, so she clarified, "We are allowed to help on some pack-roles even if we are not in that pack-role only. But how many times does one of us want to be... a Fighter? Is she not allowed to do that?"
Green snorted, "Some have been curious, but almost all decide they do not want that. Having them practice against males lets them see how different you are in strength. Some males have more... twisted thinking and do not want to let females try new pack-roles, but those males are few."
She approved of most of that. However, there were small ways that females did not have the same importance they definitely should have. Customs like only allowing egg-making based on male pack-roles were problems.
But if we have a new pack-role all our own maybe we can change the pack for the better!
"Red, do you want to talk with Alpha about this new pack-role?" Skadi asked.
Oddly, Red froze and did not quickly answer the question.
"What? Are you afraid of talking to Alpha?" she chuckled.
"Not that. You talk freely with Alpha like he is your kin. None of the fledglings can do that. Some say-" Red went silent.
"What? What do some say?"
Red shuffled on her paws while looking away, "I do not think it is true, but some say that you are being with Alpha in secret."
Being with Alpha? What... oh...
Her ears flew back at the thought of that!
"No! I am not a secret Third-Mate of his, and we have never done that. I am not that grown anyway. Promise!"
"Oh, good to hear. I did not think you would act like that."
It was very odd that some in the pack thought that she would do that with Alpha. She was not even old enough to want that! Maybe there was something she had missed about her behavior. Hopefully not. She did not meet Alpha or any males alone. It was also twisted that she had not heard anything about this before.
"Why do they think that?" she quickly asked.
"Because you can go to his light-rock and talk freely. He has you do things, like fly to the Lone-Tree-Pack as a pack-speaker, that one of us could not do. He did not push you into one pack-role only. It is like Alpha trusts you much," Red answered.
Was it true that Alpha trusted her very much? Maybe he did. That was nice.
"Alpha trusts me because I helped the pack. Also, I am much older than you fledglings. I have lived for probably ten and four life-making cycles."
"No!" "No!" "Not possible!" "How?"
Her ears fell as she lay her head on her paws, "Because I am only half of a light wing. That other kind in me grows slower. I am not life-making grown yet, so I am like you fledglings in my life-flight."
"How close are you to being truly grown?" Blue asked.
"You would like to know!" she teased.
Everyone laughed, though Blue brayed in annoyance and looked elsewhere, probably embarrassed.
"To speak truth, I am very close to being that grown. I might not grow much more in size," she explained.
Red huffed and purred at her, "This answers much. I will help correct those who whisper twisted things about you. Will you help me with my idea for becoming a Far-Flier, maybe even First of the Far-Flying-Female pack-role if we make one?"
That sounded like a very fair offer and trade. They would both do something good for each other.
"Yes, I will. How many waking-cycles until the pack ceremony? You four will be in the next pack-order ceremony after this one, but we can learn about it from this one."
Green answered, "It will happen about five tens of sleep-cycles after the eggs hatch. True, our tests will be in a life-making cycle."
Blue hopped to his paws and nudged her shoulder, "You are a very good fisher. Will you help me learn more of your fish-catching-ways and good places to hunt? That might help me rise in the fishing-order by bringing back the most and heaviest fish."
She purred, liking this idea a lot. Helping Blue rise in his preferred pack-role was very good. She had taught him a little after First-Fish-Hunter asked her to, but he could always get better. Helping others always warmed the liver.
"Of course I will help you learn."
"What pack-role do you want?" Red asked.
She was not sure if she wanted one. She was very good at fishing. But she also liked being a protector, not that there was a role specifically for that. There was no one pack-role that leaped at her as the best one.
Well, the Alpha was the protector of the entire pack, but that was not an option for her.
"I do not know. I like some of all of the roles."
Red huffed, "When you learn what role, I would like to know. It would be good for us both to know."
She glanced at Red after chuckling, "When I pin that pack-role of mine, I will be warmed to know it myself. I will be sure to let you know too!"
Blue, Green, and Yellow stepped away and stretched their wings.
"Leaving?" she asked.
"Yes, our sires and dams did not want us gone too long," Yellow purred.
"Warm flights to you!"
They flew off, leaving only her and Red. Red sat at her side, staring into the distance while softly humming.
"Is something twisted?" she asked Red.
"Nothing important. I was thinking about pack-roles and what I must do to be safe. My sire and dam learned that long ago, and they taught me so I would be strong."
She glanced at Red, wondering what lessons Red's sire and dam taught her, "What did you learn from them?"
Red glanced at her and looked away, "That I must be aware of opportunity, listen so I know what is happening in the pack, know what to do to keep myself safe, and do whatever I must to rise in the pack."
"Those are good life-lessons. I learned nothing about packs from my sire and dam," she sighed.
Red huffed, "True, you do not think about rising the pack-order much. That knowing is very important."
Maybe she could learn from Red's sire and dam. Doing that would help her understand the small parts of pack-life and would also help her bond more with Red and her kin!
"Can I learn from your sire and dam?" she asked.
Tail-twistingly, Red stiffened and looked away from her, "That is not the best idea. My sire and dam are not very warm to others."
"No? Why not?"
Red said nothing for a long time, as if she was wondering whether to speak. Red finally shrugged after looking to her paws.
"I do not know for sure. They live in peace with the pack, but they do not want to bond much with others. They just want to be left alone."
She had not met Red's sire or dam yet, and she knew very little about them. But she knew very little about most of the kin in the pack anyway. Meeting and bonding with all the fledglings' sire-fathers and dam-mothers would be very pleasant and liver-warming.
"That is sad and chilling. You are not like them though!"
"Am I not?" Red whispered.
"No. You are very warm to others. Come, we should go talk to Alpha about our idea."
Red purred and got to her paws. They took to the sky together.
She wondered how best to talk to Alpha about this topic. Alpha was concerned about the good of the pack, but he might not like the proposed change at first. Somehow, she had to convince him that doing this would truly make the pack stronger.
"Alpha, we have an idea that might help the pack," she said.
Alpha hummed and stepped toward her and Red. Red, very oddly with how liver-flamed she usually was, bent her head low in deference. But he was her Alpha. Displays of respect were always good and appropriate, so she also bent her head to him.
"Speak, both of you."
Red began, "Alpha, I know that the pack-role of Far-Flier is a role that males fly. But we had an idea."
"We think it would be good to have some females make a new pack-role," Skadi added.
Alpha blinked and tilted his head, "A new pack-role?"
She continued, explaining their idea, "Yes, the females with no mates or who have no work in their current pack-role could make a Far-Flying group. They would learn to fight as a small pack and would protect themselves on long flights. This flight could help the pack here by letting us range further, find new hunting, and meet other packs."
Alpha shuffled on his paws while grumbling, "Fighting is not what you females should need to do. There is much danger in that."
"It is not truly fighting only. It is more flying as a group and watching for each other. And most of the danger for us would be if a male or hunter-kin attacks a female alone. The flight would not let that happen, because all would stay as a flight when beyond," she explained.
Alpha looked up to the heights where Oldest-Knower roosted, "I do not know. Wait here. I must talk with Oldest-Knower about this idea."
Without saying anything else, he leaped from the light-rock and flew higher to the upper ledge, swiftly vanishing into the cave.
Red exhaled heavily, and sat on her rear, and grumbled, "I knew it. He does not like it."
"It is a new idea, and he did not say no. Oldest-Knower will help him see the lift in it."
"I hope so."
She was unsurprised when Alpha and Oldest-Knower glided down together and landed on the light-rock. Oldest-Knower approached first.
"What was this idea you have?" Oldest-Knower asked, getting straight to what was important.
"It is not my idea. It is Red's... this fledgling's idea."
Alpha and Oldest-Knower briefly glanced to Red and then back to her.
"Red?" Alpha warbled in confusion.
"I gave her and the other fledglings names only I use," she chuckled.
Alpha and Oldest-Knower snorted in amusement.
"Very… clever names, I am sure. The idea," Oldest-Knower prodded her.
"The idea is to have females without mates or other pack-roles where they are useful make a new pack-role. They will be a Far-Flying group. Lone males can be Far-Fliers, but the females would fly as a small pack of a pawful or two pawsful at a time. They would always stay together and be safe from dangerous males or other threats."
She subtly nudged Red's tail with her own. Red found her liver-fire and stepped forward to speak.
"This new role would help the pack look for far ranges, find other packs, do more hunting, take words to other packs, and fly any good flights like the Far-Fliers already do. Having more Young-Watchers, Plant-Tenders, or Egg-Watchers is not helpful, especially when there are no eggs or young to be with."
Oldest-Knower turned to Alpha, "Good thinking, I say. What do you think, Alpha?"
"Teaching females to fight as a pack could help, and First-Young-Watcher has mentioned that she has more Young-Watchers than are needed. But this would be a change of pack-ceremonies," he grumbled.
"Yes, it would be change. But we have changed other ceremonies out of need, even if doing so was not what we wanted to do."
Alpha rolled his eyes and looked amused, "Some in the pack would not like this idea because of what it means to them."
Oldest-Knower huffed, "A small loss to them and a bigger gain for all those who would fly on this flight. Females who want this would not be losing anything. Having a way for them to gain more status would help the pack be stronger. We have talked about this before, after all."
What do they mean by that? Loss and gain?
Alpha faced her, "Skadi, if we make this new pack-role, do you want to be the First She-Far-Flier or whatever the pack-role will be?"
It was a very tempting offer to be named the First of the new role. Being the First would give her more influence and status in the pack. But she made a promise to her friend, and Red truly wanted this pack-role and the status it would bring. Further, she herself did not need to rise in the pack-role for anything.
"I would be the First only until my friend," she nudged Red's shoulder, "is grown and can be the First. This was her idea to help the pack."
Alpha glanced at Oldest-Knower before facing her again.
"Very well. We will announce this new pack-role at the next pack-role-order ceremony. You both will speak to the Young-Watchers and Egg-Watchers and any others you think should be asked. Find how many would want this new pack-role. The male Far-Fliers and Fighters can help by teaching what they know."
"We will. Thank you, Alpha."
She and Red purred and bent their heads to Alpha. They winged off together, holding in their joy at the successful flight. Knowing that the females of the pack would not be so stuck in this range and relying on males to do much flying for them was very liver-warming. Also, it would truly help to make the whole pack stronger.
Finally far enough away from the Alpha's rock, they roared aloud in joy and started flying circles around each other just for liver-warmth.
"Yes! This worked! We should tell Yellow, Green, and Blue!" she shouted.
"I already know some who will want to be in our new pack-role!" Red roared back.
They winged away in search of their friends.
Alpha and Oldest-Knower watched as Skadi and a female fledgling flew off after having shared their idea.
Oldest-Knower purred and closed her eyes.
Do not try to change too much too fast. You are so like someone else I know.
"What is happening?" he sighed.
"She is thinking about the whole pack. She is not wrong about her idea," she said.
He spun around and sat down before her. He stared at her with an intense gaze that meant he was taking care in this flight of thinking.
"The Far-Fliers and Fighters might not truly like it. They will think that their role is being made less important."
She had to take care with this. Too much change too fast would upset the pack balance. Those in high places in the pack-order did not generally like change because change could only hurt their place. She and Alpha were highest in the pack-order.
She huffed, "Maybe their roles were too important for too long. Teaching females to fight more and protect themselves does not make the pack weaker. The males should want the pack females to be stronger and more biting because it means that their mates and their young will be stronger," she said.
He growled, "I know that. You know that. That there are few males against the number of females does have some advantage for those males who can use that situation for their benefit. I do not. Others do. They will not like this because there will be fewer females who want the secret attention."
She and he knew what some of the others did in secret out of need, want, or whatever their reason. How some in the pack lived did not hurt anyone, and any forcing would be reason to be named Packless. Only those who wanted such simple attention asked for it anyway.
"Those females who will want this new pack-role are the ones who do not make those offers for attention. They also want more control of their lives. And there will still be females who want that attention as there are now," she explained.
He rolled his eyes, "True. That will never change. How would you have this new pack-role start?"
She had already considered how such a pack-role could function and how large it could be.
"Begin with no more than ten females. Have the Far-Fliers and Fighters teach the females the ranges and fighting moves. Let the Firsts of those roles know that they are being relied on to teach the females, not to replace their own roles but rather because they are the best to do the teaching. Your son will understand easily enough, and First-Far-Flier will understand the use of having another Far-Flying group, especially after I talk to him."
He thought about it and clearly came to agree with her as he should, "Yes, that has enough lift. I will have it done."
He lay down, staring out over the range.
"What will she change next?" he grumbled.
She was not sure either, but whatever it was would help the pack. She was sure of that.
Skadi was in the warm-range to watch the ceremony even though she was not an Egg-Watcher. The hatching of the eggs was something that was reserved only to the Egg-Watchers, the Dams, the Sires, and to anyone who had sat with the eggs, which is why she was allowed here too. The gathered Egg-Watchers and Dams were all humming with warmth, which apparently helped the unhatched hatchlings know that it was their time to break their eggs.
The first two eggs had hatched strong males, which all the Dams and Egg-Watchers were pleased by. Those two were being sheltered by their true Dams now. The last two eggs were shaking and very cracked.
Her gaze never left the smallest egg. That was the one she had held in her paws and given the most time to, humming in comfort and reassurance.
She closed her eyes and reached out to the little one inside. A strong life-fire and a hidden, burning light. It had few thoughts right now except for the need to be out!
Do it, little one! You are strong! Break your shell! Be free!
It must have heard her because the egg broke apart as the hatchling spilled out in egg-water. It was another male which was smaller than the other two but was still healthy. And it was also loud as it whined for attention.
The true Dam strode forward, brought up a fish from her belly, gave the hatchling the fish, and started licking him clean.
As for herself, she purred all while watching the feeding hatchling who was still busy putting the fish in his belly. He could not understand words yet, but she could share thought-speak with him even now.
'Little one, welcome to the world.'
The hatchling paused in feeding, stared unblinkingly at her, and then resumed feeding. That had been so short a time and interruption that it was almost like it did not happen.
So why had her life-organ skipped a beat?
Maybe it was because the hatchling's eyes were the same grey and blue as her own were.
She waited until the other egg hatched a female. All four hatchlings were well, which was very good. Before too long, the Sires of these hatchlings flew in from wherever they had been before. They joined their mates, sitting with their hatchlings and showing them liver-warmth.
The hatching-watching ceremony was finished, which let her speak with the nearest Young-Watchers.
She and Red had already gotten six of the unneeded Young-Watchers and Plant-Tenders to agree to join this new pack-role once it was made. Those seven had been very excited by the offer and were eager to learn more fighting and get more freedom for themselves.
"It is time!" Green shouted and jumped from the ledge.
"Yes, we should watch the fights!" Blue agreed and followed.
She rolled her eyes and snorted.
Males, you are all the same!
Regardless, she followed Green, Blue, Red, and Yellow off the ledge. More of the light wings followed as the caves became very empty. The pack-role-order ceremony appeared to greatly interest everyone.
The large flight continued down the range until they arrived at a side chamber that was nothing except a thick expanse of ice out to the walls. The chamber was very cold, and the ice was thick enough to hold as many light wings as were needed for the ceremony.
She and the fledglings followed the flight and touched down on their own up on the rocks away from the adults and where they could see what happened. She sat down between Blue and Yellow while Red and Green sat on the ends of their group. All of their tails fought with each other for fun while they watched the male light wings gathering down on the ice.
"Green, how does the rising ceremony happen for this role?" she asked.
"All the Fighters line up from First to Last. The Last will fight the next one above him. The winner of that fight will fight the next one above him, but the loser goes down in the order. That happens until the light wing who is in Second fights the First."
"So, the last one could fight all the way to First?" Yellow warbled.
Green snorted, "Maybe, but he would not have enough strength to fight all. Two or three won fights is the most that is normal. By then the one moving up in the order is too tired to fight more."
"Good point. The First must only fight once to keep his place?" she asked.
"Yes, that keeps there from being too much change, since the best should be First. But it is possible to move up. Someone can always offer to take themselves out of the order, or multiple packmates in the order can speak to Alpha if someone in the pack-role is not doing their job," Green explained.
Alpha landed on the ice, briefly spoke, and then roared at the Fighters. She and her friends watched as the fights began, starting with the smaller and younger of the Fighters. The fights were on the ground only, no wings allowed.
"What are the winning moves?" Red asked.
"Teeth to neck, head, or tailfins. Any of those bites would be death in a true fight," Green answered.
They watched several fights in which nothing bad happened, though the fights looked very fierce and very real. The winner always let the loser get up, and the loser always bent their head to acknowledge the defeat.
Bad happened in the fight of the Fifth and Fourth Fighters. Fifth-Fighter gave a roar of pain and fell onto the ice as life-water started spilling from his belly.
She closed her eyes, not wanting to know how bad the hurt was. The thought of a fellow light wing, or any kin, losing its life-water before her was...
Familiar? No, she had never seen anything like that terrible hurt. So why did this very bad sight, that of a kin losing life-water from a hurt, feel so known?
"You can look. He will be fine," Yellow softly purred.
She warily opened her eyes, and saw, to great relief, that the Plant-Tenders, those who knew the most about healing and hurts, were tending to the Fifth-Fighter by licking his hurt and giving other aid. Fourth-Fighter looked concerned or at the least interested by what was happening. One of the Plant-Tenders arrived, carrying in her maw a small branch of some plant or tree. Fifth-Fighter ate several of the leaves, probably because they would help with the hurts.
"What happens now?" she softly asked as they watched Fifth-Fighter being helped away.
Green softly spoke, "He lost that fight very much, but neither of them broke a fight-rule. Nothing more happens, and he will stay in his place if he is still able to fight. I have seen worse."
"Worse?" she barked.
"Some fights have ended in death, but those were usually between males who had reasons to hate each other."
She did not care to hear any more details, and he did not offer any. The fights continued with the original First and Second winning over the Second and Third in their fights. That meant that the order did not change much at the top.
Alpha roared in command, and the light wings separated again, the Fighters going back into the rest of the packmates. The Far-Fliers stepped forward onto the ice.
"Looks like the Far-Fliers now. What is their test?" she asked.
Red eagerly shuffled on her paws while leaning forward to get a better look.
"They will fly very fast to a far range! They pick up a rock in their paws and carry it back here as fast as they can! The order of bringing the rock back makes the role-order," Red explained.
Speed and strength. That has lift.
Alpha roared, and the Far-Fliers jumped for the sky and flew off very fast down the passageway the whole pack had flown down.
"What stops rule-breaking like hiding a rock closer to here and picking it up from there?" Yellow asked.
"The rocks must have claw marks that only the Alpha made," Red answered.
"When is the next test?" she asked.
Blue purred deeply, "The fish catching test is in the next waking-cycle."
"How does that order-making happen?"
"The fish catchers dive into the water in different places in the pack ranges. They must bring back living fish. That prevents catching before the test. The order comes from the weight of fish brought back."
"I would win the test," she laughed.
"Will you try?" he warbled in surprise.
"No, it would not be a fair flight or swim."
"Have you decided which you will be?" Red asked.
"Not yet. I might not take one pack-role at all. Nothing feels best to me."
They started waiting for the Far-Fliers to return. In the meantime, they spoke about the different pack-roles until a question flew into her thoughts. Something had very little lift about certain pack-roles.
"How is the order made for the Egg-Watchers or Young-Watchers? What about Dams and Sires?"
Yellow answered, "It is a little twisted. The First-Dam is the female whose egg hatched first from the oldest group that is not yet grown and mature. First-Sire is the same. They all have other work they do, but their most important role is to see to their egg, hatchling, or fledgling."
She hummed, thinking about that, "So, if I understand, the Fifth-Dam would be the female whose egg hatched first from the next group. Who is in which number is always changing every life-making cycle. Correct?"
Yellow purred, "True. There are three groups of Sires and Dams at any time. Egg-Watchers are a set group of older females in order of age. Young-Watchers and Old-Tenders are the same: they make number-orders from numbers of life-making cycles in those pack-roles. Young-Watchers are usually younger females with no mate."
"What is an Old-Tender?"
"They care for the old in the pack and for those who need special help."
She grumbled, annoyed at the pack's naming-ceremonies, "This is all very twisted and confusing. Have any of you thought about taking names like mine: names that are not a pack-role?"
They glanced at each other and hummed in confusion.
"What? Break a pack-rule? Why?" Yellow grumbled.
Blue purred, "Why change what is not broken?"
"To make your names less confusing."
Red shrugged, "All use pack-role names. That will not change soon."
I guess not.
Still, that they were not eager to consider new names for themselves, names more permanent and truly them compared to the simple color names she had picked, was a little disappointing.
Green chuckled, "And there are always scent names and secret names!"
She, Yellow, and Red snorted.
"What?" Green grumbled.
"You smell like a male," Yellow snorted.
"Sorry about that. I cannot help that I am big and strong!"
They all, Blue included, rolled their eyes. Something Green had casually mentioned struck her.
"You told me about secret names long ago. I like it. You all must have secret names?"
"Yes, but they are very secret names. Only mates or those who are life-water-kin know the names," Red huffed.
"What about very close to the liver friends?" she teased.
"Maybe them. We should go watch the rest of the contests," Red shrugged.
"Good idea. There are fish and mushrooms brought for those watching. We could eat while watching!" Green happily growled.
They flew off while she remained there a moment longer, staring at them as they flew away.
It hurt a little that none of them had offered their secret name yet, but maybe those were only used, as Red said, with the closest of all kin. What could be closer than life-water kin, which she was not to them?
But a bad, nibbling idea bit at her liver. Did their hiding those names from her mean that her friends were not truly her friends?
No, that could not be true. They wanted her to be their friend, but maybe she had a way to go before they were truly close friends. More was probably needed than just playing together and talking.
The last contest was finished, and the pack-orders were determined. Almost the entire pack then gathered together on the ice. That meant that it was time for Alpha to announce the new role, as if any in the pack did not know about it already. He would start here and then speak to anyone at the sleeping-caves and the warm range.
"Pack! We have a new pack-role!"
A hum of curiosity started growing after his statement.
"Yes, we have many females who do not need to be in current pack-roles. Skadi and a fledgling found seven other females who will be in a new group: the She-Far-Fliers. They will fly in our territory and beyond, searching for new packs, information, and hunting places!"
Whispering and many glances at her followed until Alpha roared again to get attention.
"First-Fighter and First-Far-Flier will teach this new group, and Skadi will be the First of the She-Far-Fliers until the fledgling is grown and is named the First. This will help the pack by letting our females be stronger, braver, better fighters, and do more work for the pack!"
She, Red, and the seven other females stepped forward and stood together to be acknowledged by all before they returned to their packmates. A few packmates were grumbling and shaking their heads, but many others were purring in approval or slapping their tails on the ice to show they liked the idea.
Alpha paused and let the muttering fade, "Egg-making pairs, step forward!"
Four males, one from each pack-role, stepped forward and were eagerly joined by their mates.
She disliked that custom of determining egg-making only by what the males did to rise in their pack-roles, but this was the pack-custom for now. The highest-order males in each pack-role who did not have young ones determined the egg-making each life-making cycle.
What had been very interesting to learn through discussion that whoever was chosen each time had the option to gift that right to the next pair that would be in the order, if they wanted to do that. Giving away that right apparently happened rarely, but it was an option to help build goodwill and trust between friends and packmates.
"Wish them well that they can grow the pack with new life!"
Many roars of approval followed as the four pairs were acknowledged.
That message delivered, Alpha left and flew away, surely to deliver the same news to those of the pack in the warm range who could not be present.
There was a lot of muttering about the change and how nothing like this had ever happened before. But she purred when she saw that the females who had volunteered, those who were present anyway, now looked proud of themselves. She went to them to arrange the first lessons with First-Fighter and First-Far-Flier in the next waking-cycle.
With everything else finished, she flew back to the caves, bounded past the other tired packmates, and lay down at the rear of the cave. Getting a lot of rest would help since the next waking-cycle would involve the start of much learning and practice.
She did not mind her resting-place near the two mysterious paths at all. Getting a cave-den of her own was on the list of things to do in the future. Having her own place outside the common-caves would also be her right as a First of a pack-role.
The faint wind tickling her wings did not matter. She had gotten used to feeling that mysterious wind. There was no reason to go back into that dark cave which held bones, bad memories, and echoes of the past.