Strife

Skadi stared off into the distance above the ice. Blue, Third-Fish-Hunter, was flying with his mate, Fourth-She-Far-Flier, whom she had thought of as Cautious before. Fourth-She-Far-Flier had learned from Blue how to do better fishing on her own, and fishing together was one of their many bonding ways. They had secretly wanted each other for nearly a life-making cycle, and they kept that interest very hidden. Blue and Fourth-She-Far-Flier had named each other mates several pawful of waking-cycles after she herself had the important talk with him.

She did not feel any twisted-thoughts toward him or her. What he wanted in a mate was his decision to make, and he wanted to follow that pack-custom of being only with their own kind. That custom was still one which she could not understand and which appeared to have no purpose. But he had liver-warmth now, and that was good for him, so she was not going to resent him or be bitter about it. Resenting or being bitter would not help anyone or improve anything.

He and she still hunted fish from waking-cycle to waking-cycle, but it was different. They did not speak as they had before, preferring instead to get the hunt done for the pack. They did only what was necessary to do.

It was also good for Fourth-She-Far-Flier, as she had felt some bad by being threatened by the now-dead Eleventh-Fighter who tried to force-mate her. That Fourth and Blue were together in liver-warmth was truly good for both of them. Further, Blue had mentioned that he first thought of Fourth in a special way after he saw her be so confident at the pack-ceremony which showed the rot in the dead Fighter. Blue had admired that Fourth had the liver-fire to speak up and say the truth.

Skadi sighed and stared at the opening in the ice. Being busy and doing more hunting for the pack would be best to keep her thinking away from anything else that was more chilling than the cold water.

She dove down into the water and deep into the darkness below the ice. Down where the light barely swam. Past the rocks and out into the open waters that flowed somewhere unknown. Even those waters were too deep and too crushing for her.

There were little lights around her in the water. Those were fish, some small and not big enough to snap at and others were bigger. The ones worth snapping at froze in place and were unable to move. Their life-fires were so small and easy to extinguish from afar. Hunting like that was not so liver-warming as truly chasing them, but it was practical since she could not stay in the deep forever.

But she did pause to watch from afar as one of the very big, many-legged hunters was swimming with great speed they did not usually swim with.

Almost like it is afraid...

A giant, massive, very big light raced for it, closed its maw around the many-legged hunter, and crushed it. This new hunter, this great kin, was so massive and...

She froze at a realization.

Its life-fire was strong-thinking. Its life-fire burned with light the same as hers and the light wings' life-fires did. Why was it almost familiar even though she had never seen anything like this before?

'What are you?'

The very big kin, whatever it was, went motionless, turned to face her, and slowly swam to her. Out of some fear, her faint and mysterious light began glowing in the dark. She saw the kin fully as the fighter it must be, for it had terrible scars. One of its massive eyes was gone entirely. It had only one remaining full tusk: the left tusk was broken and half gone.

Its jaws, still holding the dead, many-legged hunter, were so large that it could eat her and larger kin whole. Its life-fire hid a great will which reached out to touch hers. That was something no kin, other than her sire-father, had ever been able to do.

Their two life-fires briefly mingled flame.

Down in the deeps where he could hunt the hunters of kin. Command he once lost in another world. A distant water-passage from up in the above and leading down into the hiding world. Dark wings who claimed an abandoned role. A new or old purpose he assumed again as the last of his kind. Protecting kin from what they could not protect themselves from. A burning light ahead of him in the water. A life-fire so similar to another that he remembered from before. A life-fire that could reach out into his, touch his great spark and will, and...

The massive kin froze before her, its life-fire recoiling from hers. Even though she held her wings out in threat-display, her doing that could not be the reason why it feared her. Nor could her faint light be the reason.

Neither could her display explain why, while floating motionless in the dark water, the one-tusked-kin, the largest kin she had ever seen in life, bent its head toward her.

What?

It slowly swam closer and turned to the side on which it still had an eye. It bit down and bit off one of the legs of the many-legged hunter.

'Tribute... respect... sharing... taking... yours... yours... great one.'

Surprised at the hunt-sharing, she closed her jaws on the leg to claim it. The one-tusked-kin turned away from her and departed in peace, swimming off into the distance as its departure and great tail-length disturbed the water.

She swam up for the surface while carrying her food-gift. Out of the darkness and fathomless deeps, up into the waters filled with more light, into the blue glow from the ice, and up through the ice hole. She climbed out onto the ice, tossed the hunter-prey-leg aside, and shook herself of the water.

Then she looked around, appreciating the plain ice and the normalness of all around her.

What was that?

Pacing, her claws clicking on the ice, she thought. That was a new type of kin to her. Another type that had strong-thinking and a great life-fire! But why was it respectful and fearful of her?

An idea bit on her tail as she pinned something in its shared impressions and thoughts.

Maybe it knew my sire-father. That has lift.

That it saw some of her sire-father and showed him respect through her was good. Being the object of respect herself was... maybe there was some liver-warmth to that.

But what mattered now that that she had a very big and fatty hunter-prey leg to take back to the pack. This was something that the young had probably never eaten before.

A bite of the meat followed to see what it tasted like; the taste was very good, almost in an ironic way. The many-legged-hunters would take kin, even light wings, if they could catch them. Now the light wings could get revenge in a way on one of the many-legged-hunters. This was almost like the hunter-fish she had killed over a life-making cycle ago when she saved the hatchlings.

She roughly grabbed the heavy leg in her paws and took flight for the pack. Her thoughts kept flying to the very big one-tusked-kin and what it was doing.

The one-tusked-kin seemed to be hunting the hunters of kin and therefore protecting all kin from monsters. That was good of it. She understood that need and very much approved of that life-flight.

Further, she remembered one flitting idea she saw in the one-tusked-kin's thinking. It remembered another world: a very bright above! That thought-vision probably was not a trick, but it was still very twisted to try to think about such a strange hidden above-world she had never seen except in twisted-visions.

She rested in peace in her cave that reminded her of her old den. This one had ice on the ground, spikes of ice, a wide entrance, and a ledge big enough for two light wings to perch on together.

She liked resting here, slightly away from the pack. They were all still very warm to her and let her contribute to the pack in everything. All the various duties were available to her. However, she felt different inside toward the rest of the pack.

The waking-cycles since the pack-order ceremony half a life-making cycle ago were very boring and empty of doing much that was liver-warming. Hunting for prey, watching over the young and smaller fledglings, and thinking ate up most of her time when she was not sleeping.

It had been far too long since she and her four friends did much on their own as a group. The waking-cycles of flying, ranging, playing, and resting as a small pack were gone.

She was alone far too much now. She and her friends needed to get together as a pack and go on a flight for fun!

We should go do something together.

She jumped from her cave and took to the sky with her flight for the warmer chamber. Yellow and Green were sure to be there now since the plants were mostly in that range and also because the Fighters liked to practice there. She got there and started searching for them, eventually spotting them near a far group of several Fighters and a couple Plant-Tenders.

"Welcome, Skadi. How are you?" Yellow purred from the group of Plant-Tenders.

"Well enough. What is happening here?"

"We are learning from First-Plant-Tender. The lessons are about the best plants to get for help making eggs and for not making eggs."

The females chuckled and looked very smug.

What a problem to have to think about.

"You are probably busy right now," she sighed.

"Yes, very busy. There is a test in a pawful of waking-cycles," Yellow answered.

"Then we get our order!" another Plant-Tender said.

"I will move up in this order..." someone else growled.

"You wish!"

Skadi grumbled, seeing that Yellow would be busy and occupied for a while. Yellow had no time for her at the moment, and that was fair of her. Yellow's priority was her place in the pack.

"Okay, I will watch the Fighters instead."

She pranced over to the Fighters and watched them as they tussled, growled, snapped, and practiced. Green, Eighth-Fighter, was at an advantage because his own sire-father was also a Fighter much higher up in the order. She thought that would make for a twisted situation where the sire-father might need to fight his own little one.

Maybe they would do something different in the fighting. One could agree to lose without a fight.

But the males were very busy with the fighting and practicing. One of them did stroll over to her though. Better, this one was known to her as Red's mate.

"Second-Fighter, how are you?" she hummed.

"Well. Everything is going well. Your friend wanted me to ask you if you would join the She-Far-Fliers and the Fighters on a hunt soon."

"A hunt? What hunt?"

His ears went back while he growled, "You remember the range where my mate and I were attacked? It is the range with the stinging-tail hunter-kin."

"I do remember it," she growled.

Second-Fighter started pacing, "It is about time that Alpha finally agreed to do this. The pack needs to spread into another range. Why he has not done this before is very twisted of him."

That sounded strange. She had not heard about the pack truly needing to spread into another range, though she had not been giving much attention to such in the last life-making cycle. Not since her life had stopped moving forward because there was nothing to go into.

"Why is it twisted? Is there not enough now from Lone-Tree-Pack?"

He growled again, "That is another problem. Alpha does not know how to fight for us in trading food, plants, and even chances to get mates. He gives away too much of what we have without getting enough in return!"

She had not concerned herself with the particulars of how the trade and peace between the packs would work or was happening. That was all part of the peace that the two Alphas dealt with, possibly with their advisers like Oldest-Knower and Life-Fire-Speaker-Gatherer helping them.

"I did not know the other pack was not being fair. That is disappointing of them," she muttered.

"Well, the Others are, and Alpha is not doing enough about it. Anyway, the She-Far-Fliers and Fighters will fly to that range with the stinging-hunters. We will find the nest and take it by killing or forcing away the hunters. Then we will have another range to fill and take food from."

"I see the lift in that."

He hummed at her with a wondering look in his eyes, "You are strong, grown, and can fight. You would help this attack-flight be better."

She agreed to all of that. There was no one role for a protector, well, there was Alpha of the pack, but she was not interested in that role, who was without roles in the pack. But she was one of the more dangerous kin in the pack, if for nothing other than her powers.

"When do we fly?" she asked.

"In two sleep-cycles. The pack will prepare by getting hurt-helping plants ready and by feeding all who will fight. I am glad that you will be fighting with us."

He returned to the pack of Fighters and resumed practicing with them. She had not truly been practicing fighting that much since there had never been a need to. She was not a Fighter, though she had learned some of those skills. But she was a little bigger than a pure light wing female. All the She-Far-Fliers had learned basic skills in fighting, but more practice might help.

So she strolled out to the Fighters, several of whom paused in their practicing and turned to stare at her in surprise.

"I will join on the fighting. Will one of you play-fight with me to help me practice?"

She had not practiced fighting recently, since there had been no need to. That had probably been a little negligent of her. To her relief, Green, Eighth-Fighter, bounded over to her.

"Yes, I can play-fight with you," he said.

"Good."

They walked a short distance away from the others so that they would have more space.

"How are you doing, Green?" she purred.

"Life is warm. Ready to practice?"

"I am!"

"Good, but I have a rule we must follow," he smirked.

"What rule is that?"

"Learning is done best by doing!"

With that, he leaped at her, tackled her, pulled her over on her side, and pinned her while holding her down. So quick and a perfect pin, her limbs were held by his, leaving her unable to struggle.

"Like that," he huffed.

"How are you so fast?" she barked in shock.

He purred and rolled off her, getting to his paws and preening, "I am not as big as my sire, but I am quicker in the fights."

She sighed and grumbled, "How can I be faster?"

"As I said, much doing. Plan several pounces ahead. Have your paws and claws against solid rock to push off from. Ready to try again?"

"Yes!" she growled, finding stability under her paws.

Waste pile!

Green pinned her on her belly this time, yet again. He was just too fast and strong. At least she was learning and getting better since the fights lasted longer before he inevitably won. She could reliably dodge his snaps at her neck while also keeping her tail out of danger. That was progress!

He let her get up with a grumble.

"You are learning already. Well done."

She snorted nose-waste onto the grass, "I do not feel like I am learning. I lost every fight!"

He nudged her shoulder, "Yes, you did. But you should lose the fights. I am a male, am bigger than you, and fight as my pack-role. It is normal that I win these fights. To be fair, fighting against the stinging-tail hunters will be different from this. Tell me why."

That was easy to answer.

"They have tusks, strong jaws, and stingers on their tails. Our fights with them must be from afar. Breaking their wings so they fall to death or are grounded is best."

"Very true, but what if the fight is on the ground?"

"Flaming them is still best. Blind them by flaming their eyes, have a packmate hold down the tail-stinger, and claw or bite the throat. Fight as a pack, not alone."

He purred in approval, "All very true. The She-Far-Fliers and the Fighters will be practicing together later this cycle and the next one. You should join those fights for more practice."

"I will."

He glanced over her head and happily barked at someone in the distance, "Come join us!"

Yellow bounded over to them, looking amused at something. The light wing glared at her and growled softly but without any anger.

"Skadi, what are you doing to my mate? Are you doing anything… twisted to him?"

"What! No! I would not do that!"

Yellow snorted and glared at Green, "And you, what are you doing?"

"Teaching her fighting."

"Is that what you call it?"

Green smirked and stepped over to Yellow, "My mate, I can practice very different skills with if you would like."

Yellow purred while nuzzling him, "I suppose we can do that, if I must."

"I am good at pinning!" he added.

"You are. I should know," Yellow smirked.

Skadi quickly stepped closer, "You know that I was not doing anything to him, true?"

Yellow purred at her, "Yes, I was twisting your tail for fun."

That was a relief. Why had she even doubted her friend?

Yellow sniffed Green's neck, hopped back from him, and snorted.

"What?" Green grumbled.

"You smell like many males. Want to find a hot-bubble pool?"

"Good idea. See you later, Skadi!" Green cried.

Green ran off after Yellow, the two of them disappearing into the thicker woods. Their having time to bond in peace together was good even if it meant that they had little time for her. She was not such an important part of their life-flights anymore.

She did not feel like playing or training with any of the other Fighters, so instead she went in search of Blue and his mate. Truthfully, Fourth-She-Far-Flier was a kind light wing who was a good match for Blue. Their sires apparently knew each other and had hoped that the pair would happen. Fourth was very attentive on the flights as a group, worked hard to improve herself, and was braver than most females in the pack, though she had started out warier and far more cautious.

They should be catching fish together now.

She found them after much flying in one of the ice-ranges. They were indeed diving in the shallower water and bringing up decent catches of fish. She settled down by their pile of fish to wait for their return.

I could help them catch fish and then-

There was no plan for after that. Sometimes having no plan was the best plan since friends could figure out something to do on the fly.

Both light wings eventually returned to the surface with fish in their jaws.

"Skadi," they greeted her in surprise.

"Third-Fish-Hunter, Fourth-She-Far-Flier, welcome. How are your hunts?" she asked.

"They are good. There are more fish in these waters right now. Why are you here?" Blue asked.

"I wanted to know if you both want me to help with your hunt. We could do that and bond some after."

Blue warbled sadly while his mate nuzzled his neck.

"We are hunting as a pair right now. Maybe another time," Blue answered.

"Oh, okay. Should I take these fish to the pack for you?"

"That would help, yes. Thank you, Skadi," Blue hummed.

"Warm flights, Skadi," Fourth-She-Far-Flier purred.

The pair slipped back through the large hole in the ice and went hunting together.

She just stared at the water where they had dove. That they wanted to be on their own was entirely fair of both of them. They were mates, and a mate's first duties were to the pack and to their own mate.

She sat down on the thick ice and looked around at the massive chamber lined with light-rocks, cold rock, and ice.

Everything was silent without even a cry echoing on the rocks. The only noise was the very gentle lapping of the water against the ice underpaw.

"Sorry, I just..."

What was it she wanted but could not have? Blue was not a potential mate to her anymore. He was only another male in the pack, someone whom she knew from when he was an older fledgling. He was her friend.

Was he even a friend? What was a friend?

She picked up three of the fish in her jaws and forepaws to carry back to the pack.

What had changed between her and the fledglings, now grown up adults? They never did anything as a group anymore. There was one obvious change that came to mind. They all got mates of their own. They moved on from being young and needing friends like her.

They grew up and found warmth. They knew who they were and what their pack-roles were. They had their places in the pack, and others to fly their life-flights with.

And I... I have...

She could not finish that thought because she did not know what she had anymore. It was a long flight, alone as usual.

Alpha gathered all the She-Far-Fliers and the Fighters together down on the ice along with most of the rest of the pack. Most of the pack did not know about the coming fight to take the far range.

"Pack! I have news for you all! There is a far range that is very good, filled with prey for hunting and with many plants. But that range also has a nest of hunter-kin."

Hisses went through everyone present.

"The She-Far-Fliers and the Fighters will go and drive out the hunter-kin so that we can take that range for our own! You know what that means for the pack?" Alpha roared.

She had a guess what he was going to say even while the rest of the pack murmured among themselves.

"There will be more food, more ranges that are ours, and more egg-making!"

She snorted in amusement.

I knew it. If there is anything that can warm livers more than those.

As she expected, that explanation sent ears high and tails swaying in eagerness. Having limitations upon mated pairs themselves and their ability to make eggs was a normal, if frustrating, part of life for everyone else.

"May the She-Far-Fliers and the Fighters join flights and win the new range for us!" Alpha roared.

The sky was filled with two tens of light wings, which was all of the two groups that were flying to the fight. She joined them as the flight passed through the ice-ranges and along the long path that led to the green range filled with danger. The Far-Fliers were staying with the pack to help protect it and the pack's territory while the Fighters were away.

The She-Far-Fliers and the Fighters were flying in separate groups with only one exception. First-She-Far-Flier, Red to her, and Second-Fighter were flying close together as was expected since they were mates.

The females had learned how to fly as a strong pack: trusting each other, learning their different flames, hunting as a group, and being more liver-flamed in all parts of life. While many of them still had wanting for mates, they also were stronger, more confident, and were quickly becoming, from what she had heard and seen, as the most desirable females in the pack. Any male worth having as a mate would want his own mate to be strong, liver-flamed, and have trust in herself.

And she had been the flight-leader for that group before she pawed it off to Red. Why did it feel like she had more back then than she did now? Maybe this fight would help in some way. At the very least it would be a change from the normal boredom.

The flights settled down well outside the range they were going to attack. Both groups mingled freely and sat down, looking to their two flight-leaders. It was time to plan.

First-Fighter and First-She-Far-Flier, Red, stepped forward and stood tall after flaring their wings.

"We know the hunter nest is in the middle of the range. There might be other hunter-kin out in the rest of the range," First-Fighter said.

Red continued, "The males will fight down in the nest itself first. We females will hunt the rest of the range while hidden from eyes. One of us will pretend to be hurt and will make much noise. That is you, Eighth!"

Eighth was the smallest female present, and she did not look pleased with that role of playing the prey.

"What should I do?" Skadi asked.

"Where would your fire be best?" First-Fighter asked.

It was not truly her fire that was best, though the others did not know that. She could see life-fire just like the other light wings, but her other strengths would definitely be best used where surprise was needed, which was definitely in the nest.

"Liver-truth, probably fighting in the nest with the males," she answered.

"Then do so. Fight as packs, protect your blind places, and we will all live!" First-Fighter roared.

The flights jumped for the sky, flew through their clouds of fire, and went silent. They were all gliding through the skies of the very green chamber that still had no visible kin in it, except for Eighth-She-Far-Flier.

Ten of the light wings peeled away and went down into the forest while she followed the others toward the nest.

She tried very hard to not growl when she saw the place: the large hole in the ground and which was surrounded by the bones of many kin. Having seen the bones that Ice-Water-Pack kept, she was now sure which of these bones were those of light wings.

There was also one stinging-tail hunter waddling back from the forest. The false-kin looked like it had a large meal, but she did not want to know. All that mattered was that it would die.

The attack was very quick, very careful, and very effective. Two of the males glided silently and knocked into the hunter. Another hopped up behind it and pinned the stinging tail to the ground. Another moved in while the first three held it down, and bit deeply into the throat.

A strangled yowl barely escaped before being silenced.

All she saw was three sets of different, narrowed eyes and a faint shimmering in the air.

Impressive.

The three males returned to the others and to her beside the nest opening. She did her best to ignore the bones.

"See anything?" one of them asked.

The opening was large and had four caves that went in different directions.

"No, make two groups of five and hunt with care," First-Fighter commanded.

They silently dropped down into the opening and selected the two largest passages. Two paths.

A choice of which group to go with. First, Second, Seventh, Eighth, who was her friend, and Ninth were in one group while the others were in the other group. Did it matter where she went?

The paths were so dark and peaceful. It would be easy to think that there was no danger in the nest now, though there certainly was danger

Was there a whispering from one of the caves? A faint voice?

A male light wing bent his head before another upon a light-rock.

'I am sorry, Alpha. First did not live...'

The silent voice faded into the echo of darkness as she blinked in confusion.

What?

Was that only a trick of her own thinking again? Something imagined from the misty haze that lingered just below her thoughts?

It was hard to accept that after what her own imagination had helped with in the past. Seeing the attack on the hatchlings before it happened and then stopping the attack before it happened was too hard to explain any other way.

There might be a danger to First-Fighter.

She followed the first group of males into the nest. Every step of her paws, claws out, echoed with a faint clicking. The air started smelling like a mix of rotted meat, waste, and a wrong-false-kin.

Roaring and flashes of light followed from ahead.

She saw little of the fight since it was over once she got there. Three stinging-tail hunters were dead in a large chamber probably used for sleeping. But there was another chamber opening at the far corner, and something was crawling out of that place. Six shots flew toward the hunter-kin and struck it dead since it did not move again.

But she heard motion behind her. More of the hunter-kin were charging, snarling as they ran. She hopped up between the five males and spun around, growling at the entrance. Two more of the hunter-kin leaped into the dark chamber.

The fight became very difficult very quickly since they were all so close together. One of the hunter-kin was flamed in the face and probably had its eyes burned dead. One of the males cried out in pain after being stung and falling.

First and Second were very good fighters though. Spinning through the fight, dodging stings and thrusts of tusks, and using careful shots of flame to unbalance or knock back an enemy. Two of the three hunter-kin died. Neither First nor Second made a mistake she could see until Second wildly crashed into First just after the last hunter-kin lowered its tusks and charged.

There was no time for First to react after having his breath knocked from him.

Thought was not needed as her life-fire reached out and...

She was the hunter-kin, her tusks lowered to gore and kill and tear and avenge and she fell down in the middle of the charge and needed to get back up and fight and was there a flash of light that...

The last hunter-kin was struck by flame and knocked aside. It was not dead yet, but First recovered himself, pounced on it as it was stunned, and tore out its throat.

All the Fighters stilled, breathless and snarling.

This fight was finished.

"Grr... what happened?" First growled, heaving.

"I... fell down. My mistake," Second gasped, breathless.

"It happens."

"We do not always fight nests of hunter-kin," Second grumbled.

"True. Who was stung?" First asked.

"Seventh was. He is well, but he is asleep," Green answered in the darkness.

"Is there another way into this chamber?" First asked.

She bounded over to the other passage, used her flame, and saw that it was only another small and empty chamber. The main path was the only way in.

"No, First. There is only one way in," she answered.

"Then we leave him here to rest. Second, you stay with him and protect him," First said.

"I will," Second grumbled.

She, First, Green, and Ninth left the chamber, found the main entrance, and took one of the other two caves. Those had to be checked and cleared.

"Be careful," First hissed.

This cave was a much shorter one and even had a dim light-rock inside it. They entered and saw what the cave was used for.

A lone stinging-tail hunter was crouched over a nest that had a new hatchling without any tusks or visible stinger, and an egg. The false-kin had much shorter tusks, probably because it was a female.

She froze along with the males as they saw the truth. She was unsure what to do. This hunter-kin was a dam protecting her little ones. How could it be a monster if it did that? But that this hunter-kin was grown meant that it had to have preyed on kin before, probably on light wings at least once.

Yes, it was a monster to kin, but what about the hatchling and the egg? They would be hunters later when they were grown. Why did it feel wrong to kill them now before they had done anything bad?

Was that thinkking just weakness that had to be gotten rid of? Could they maybe let the dam leave with its hatchling and egg?

She stared back at its narrowed, yellow eyes.

'Fear attack threat bad killers!' it howled.

She growled.

'Take the egg and hatchling and go!' she answered.

'Fear attack threat bad killers!'

'Go now!'

'Fear attack threat bad killers!'

The dam attacked, jumping at them and spitting its mouth-water that ate everything. Four shots struck its neck, which broke with a snap. The hunter-kin dropped to the ground, dead.

The fight was finished, so they stared at the egg and the hatchling, still asleep throughout. No one moved for a long time.

"I should do it," First sighed after a long pause.

"Do what?" she asked.

"Destroy them," he answered.

"Must we?"

"Would you leave them here to starve?"

The hatchling hunter-kin and egg were not truly small-thinking like most prey, such as fish or many-legged snappers. Yes, hunters had bodies meant for killing kin and preying on them. That is what their lives gave them when their life-fires were made in the egg with their bodies.

Could they learn another way? It was very unlikely, but if they could... if they could be taught to see the pack as their own pack, they could be very good and useful to the pack as guards, Hunters, or Fighters of a different kin-type, even though they were false-kin now. Maybe they could change what they were if they were helped.

"No, we should take them back to the pack," she proposed.

"What? Why?" First barked in total confusion.

"Because we should try to raise them to be our hunters. It might not work, but if it does they could help the pack much."

The males grumbled and looked to First for an answer. First said nothing for many wingbeats.

"I do not like this plan, but Alpha and Oldest-Knower trust you much. I will let them decide about this."

She could not ask for more than that.

"I will stay here with these so you can check on the Fighters," she proposed.

He growled softly at the hatchling and the egg and spun away along with the other two Fighters. With them gone, she inspected the hatchling more closely.

It was brown, had only tiny nubs where the tusks would be, and had no stinger on its tail, though the tail was curled a little up like the grown hunter's tails did. The hunter-kin was so small that it had to have hatched only a few waking-cycles ago.

'Little one, you have a chance at life. Do not fail at this.'

The hatchling shifted in its sleep.

This is so twisted of me.

None of her packmates died in the fighting. Seventh was stung, and one of the females was scratched by a tusk and would now have a big hurt-mark for all of life. Oddly, she looked pleased by that since having a hurt-mark showed that she was a fighter in her liver, if not in name.

Everyone had recovered and was now waiting in an open clearing of the green chamber.

She was also there, holding the stinging-tail hunter hatchling and the egg coiled in her tail. The reactions of the others in the pack were a mix of amused, angry, and surprised. They did agree that the possibility of raising these hunters to be useful to the pack was one that should at least be considered by Alpha.

She snorted.

How much am I going to change about the pack? First, the She-Far-Fliers and now this?

One of the Fighters who knew about hurt-helping plants found some and brought back a mouthful for the two packmates who were hurt.

Oddly, there looked like there was a disagreement or a fight breaking out. Red and Second-Fighter had been grumbling to each other about something ever since the two flights joined up here. Now they were talking with a group of the Fighters and She-Far-Fliers.

Curious about what was happening, she called Green over and had him sit down with the egg and hunter-hatchling. He was very surprised by the request but agreed to do this as a favor to her.

"Still wrong of him to not join the fight with us. He is the Alpha, so why was he not here to help protect us?" Red muttered.

So they are talking about Alpha and why he was not here at the fight.

"Is it normal for an Alpha to join these fights?" she asked.

Red blinked in annoyance.

"For something as important as this to the pack, yes, he should have been here. We did not know how many stinging-tail hunters there were!" Red grumbled.

A few mumbles of agreement went though everyone.

I suppose that is a fair point, but we knew there could not be too many since there are no kin here to hunt.

"We are lucky that no one died," Red added.

First-Fighter padded over to them, "True, Alpha was not here, but that is not a problem since I act in place of the Alpha as the flight-leader. The Alpha cannot be in all places at one time.

Red huffed in apparent agreement, "Yes, First-Fighter, I understand. I heard that something happened down in the nest. That you found a nest with an egg and hunter hatchling."

Skadi purred, "We will take them back to the pack and, if Alpha and Oldest-Knower agree, we can try to raise them to be hunters for the pack. If not, then we can do what we must."

"You have twisted thinking," Red grumbled.

"And that twisted thinking helped make the She-Far-Fliers be. Yes, some twistedness can be good."

Everything settled down after that, so she went back to the egg and hunter hatchling. The fighting had lasted longer than everyone thought they would at first, and the flights settled down for rest since everyone was weary.

She noticed Second-Fighter looking her way, which was entirely understandable. It was not every waking-cycle that one saw a hunter-kin hatchling and egg. These two lives would never be the equals of fellow light wings, but they might at least be useful to the pack.

The massive flight returned to the familiar ranges of ice. Everyone appeared very eager to get back to their kin and to earnest rest in safety.

She flew first to the warm chamber since that would be the best place for the hatchling and the egg. The hatchling was held in her claws while she carried the egg in her mouth. The hatchling had also woken up and was mewling for attention and food.

The Young-Watchers were, understandably, very surprised and confused. However, First-Young-Watcher agreed to watch the hatchling and the egg until the Alpha could arrive and decide what to do. But she would only do so far away from the light wing hatchlings.

Skadi flew on to where the pack gathered. Alpha, Oldest-Knower, First-Fighter, and Red were perched on Alpha's light-rock. Everyone else had already departed, either for hunting, rest, or just to be with their closest kin.

Were they waiting for me?

They must have been since they made space for her and chuffed in welcome.

"Skadi, I hear that the fight went well," Alpha purred.

"Yes, Alpha. We had no bad hurts. First-She-Far-Flier and First-Fighter are good flight-leaders."

"The range is a good one with much green. Even the caves that the hunters had would be good to nest in if we clean them of everything foul in them," First-Fighter growled.

"Speaking of foul," Alpha snorted, "I heard that someone wanted to bring back a hunter hatchling and egg."

"I did," she answered.

Alpha glanced at Oldest-Knower, who just looked amused.

"Why?" Oldest-Knower asked.

That was still a question even to herself. She was not sure. She owed nothing to the egg and hatchling. They were not her same type of kin-kind, and there was a chance that they would grow up with a need to hunt her own kin.

But there was also a chance that they would not.

"Has anyone tried to raise the hunters from the egg before?" she asked.

"No, why would we do that?" Oldest-Knower answered.

"If we hatch them, feed them, and play with them, maybe they will think of us as their kin. They might want to fight for us."

"Or hunt us when they grow up," Red grumbled.

"True, they might. But this is like making the She-Far-Fliers and like how Lone-Tree-Pack grows mushrooms with planning. Trying to make hunter-kin into our hunters might help the pack, and has not been done before. It might not work, but we will never know if we do not try," she explained.

Alpha turned to Oldest-Knower, "What do you think?"

Oldest-Knower grumbled while her tail tapped on the rock. The elder light wing also glanced at her.

"There is no harm in it now. Not while the hunter-kin are small or still in the egg. I think we should try this, but we must be very careful when they grow up. If we see any signs that they want to hunt us, they must be killed," she proposed.

"Then I agree to it and will have the Young-Watchers decide what to do to raise them. Unless someone else wants to do that," Alpha chuckled

She realized who he was referring to.

"No, Alpha, I was not thinking about being like a dam to them. I would not know how to do that anyway."

Oldest-Knower heavily shuffled over to her and gently nudged her with a paw, "Are you sure about that, young one? Do you not secretly want to be like a dam to them?"

Having never been a dam and having no prospects of ever being one, she really could not know what that wanting was truly like. Looking at the hatchling and the egg had not sparked any great warmth in her liver. Nothing beyond their being small lives who had not done anything bad yet, even if they were likely to become hunters later. The reason for doing this was to help the pack in a twisted way that might not work.

"No, I am sure that I do not have that hidden want. I know that no male light wing could want me because of what I am and the pack's ceremonies here," she coldly said.

Red hummed softly at that and gently nuzzled her shoulder in kindness.

"When will the pack claim the new range?" First-Fighter asked, breaking the silence.

"We should do that soon before any others try to claim it. When other kin know that the range has no more hunters in it, they will want to take it quickly. All the Firsts will talk to me about how is best to do this. For now, we should let everyone rest after the fighting," Alpha proposed.

"Yes, Alpha." "Agreed." "Alpha."

"Skadi, I will find you later. There is something I want you to do for me," Alpha added.

She bent her head to him in acknowledgment while wondering what that task could be.

Alpha then flew over to the caves and ledges, briefly greeted his mates and fledgling, and then flew off toward the warm range. First-Fighter and Oldest-Knower departed.

Red remained sitting at her side on the light-rock.

"Was all that true? The part about you not being able to find a mate because of the pack's ceremonies?" Red asked.

"The one about not joining with different kin. Apparently I am too different," she muttered.

Red growled, "Some ceremonies belong in the waste pile!"

"Yes, they do!"

Red chuckled, leaned closer, and whispered, "You are special, and I trust you, my friend. Just know that you might not always be alone."

"Might not is true. Probably will be is also true. No light wing can want me."

"No light wing who cares about the old ceremonies can want you. Some might see thought-voice as a useful power," Red explained.

"What are you saying?"

Red visibly paused before answering, "I am saying that I might know someone who could want you, even if something went wrong. But that is only a delay."

Red knew of someone who might secretly want her as a mate? This was very surprising and good news!

"I do not understand. Who is it? Will you tell me?"

Red chuckled, "You will know. Patience is important. Just wait and see."

"Fine, I will wait."

Red flew off without saying another word.

That was very twisted. What is she talking about?

A full waking-cycle had passed since the return from the battle. Alpha had found her as he said he would and asked her to take a message to Lone-Tree-Pack, which she had.

The battle to kill the hunter-kin nest and empty the range had been done only by Ice-Water-Pack, but Alpha wanted to offer Lone-Tree-Pack a place in the new range, if they were willing to send anyone from their pack to Ice-Water-Pack. The Alpha of Lone-Tree-Pack had been very surprised and pleased to hear that the stinging-tail hunters had been killed from that range.

That was when she had felt obligated to tell him that her pack was going to try to raise two hatchling stinging-tail hunters to be useful to the pack. He had not liked that at all, though he had only said that they would never be welcome in his pack's ranges, which was completely fair of him. There was no plan to let the young hunter-kin wander unsupervised anyway.

In the end, only one pair of mates from Lone-Tree-Pack wanted to leave and accept the offer. They apparently had few prospects of rising enough in the pack-order, and they had no other kin holding them to the pack, so they eagerly took the opportunity.

She led them back to her pack, explained the situation to Alpha, and Alpha agreed to let them stay with Ice-Water-Pack until others from this pack flew to fill that new range.

Her duties finished for the waking-cycle, she returned to her cave to sleep. The last few waking-cycles had been very stressful and filled with action, so she was glad to finally do nothing.