Wanderer watched Dreamer and his dam from a distance, giving them their space. She had come back this morning with suspicion and a number of questions, which Dreamer had calmly answered before explaining his life in more detail. Hopefully she was getting an idea of just how badly she had hurt him by not being there.

Not that it was necessarily her fault… apparently. Wanderer didn't really get it, her reasoning seemed stupid, but Dreamer was satisfied and that was the main thing. So he was giving them some space to reconnect, to get to know each other, while he wandered the nest.

Alpha was sleeping peacefully in the centre of the cavern, his great breaths occasionally audible over the cheerful din of the nest. It all reminded Wanderer of the warm-nest, when he and Dreamer had returned to it, the various residents just living out their lives… but even brighter, more lively, and with an Alpha at peace enough to sleep through it all.

He dropped down from a high, thin ledge that didn't seem to be leading anywhere, and glided to the large shelf where Dreamer and his dam were still talking. Exploring the nest had left him with a minor weariness, and a nap was sounding like a good idea, but he didn't want to sleep in the cold and lonely den. But nor did he want to interrupt, not just yet, so he found a bed of greenery just out of earshot, stamped it down and flamed it, then made himself comfortable. It was no scorching hot rock, but it was warm, and the quiet murmurs of conversation were comforting…

On occasion he cracked an eye to take a peek while he dozed, but Dreamer and Skyreaching were clearly past whatever bad feelings they had about each other and were smiling and laughing. Hrrr, they had been at it nearly all light now.

He caught the eye of Cloudjumper, who then stood and walked over. The big four-wing was a bit like Sire, careful and methodical in the way he moved. "Your brother say strange things," he rumbled, crouching to Wanderer's level with his snout twitching.

Wanderer scented him in return, then gave his head a shake to dislodge the lingering weariness. "He strange Nightstriker," he chuffed.

Cloudjumper churred dubiously at that, settling back onto his haunches. "Where your sire, dam?"

"Dead," Wanderer huffed.

That was met with a sad, sympathetic hum. "I thought that. They not fly here for many cold-seasons."

…

Wanderer leapt to his paws with a bark, spinning on Cloudjumper. "You know them!?"

Cloudjumper's large head turned to look at him. "They flew here most warm-seasons," he said with a slow blink, and Wanderer avidly set about scenting him more thoroughly. "Not see more than two cold-seasons with no visit. Sometimes bring their young, if have fire." He grumbled and withdrew his upper wing when Wanderer ducked under it to scent his side.

"What you call your kind?" Most things that knew language didn't care what they were called, but most also did not take names for themselves.

He rumbled noncommittally. "Nest-kin call me Four-Wing."

That made sense, and was the conclusion Wanderer had come to, but he gave a sympathetic, enquiring warble at the resigned way it had been said. Cloudjumper just huffed and said nothing further, his head swivelling to look away. With the way his eyes were set in his face, and those broad wings in the way, Wanderer couldn't catch his eye again to keep the conversation going.

After trying futilely for a little while, he sighed forlorn, sad, and lay back on his little patch of charred vegetation. But now it was cold again.

Cloudjumper had known Sire and Dam… That was unexpected. He was big and calm and confident, and his rider also looked to be quite friendly, back to studying Dreamer with fascination. Not that she was obvious about it while they pounced each other and rolled around, growling and laughing.

Several other nest-kin joined them on the shelf, hesitantly glancing between him and Dreamer while he watched warily out of the corner of his eye. One even started approaching him… It wasn't that he felt threatened, but he was uncomfortable as the knobbly-hided wing-hunter leaned in with a slowness of age to scent him, and the other nest-kin started advancing curiously as well.

He grumbled and put his back to the wing-hunter, then quietly crooned pleading over at Cloudjumper; he'd had his fill of playing with slower nest-kin over the course of growing up again, and now was a time of life to feel challenged. But Cloudjumper ignored him, staring ahead so stoically he could have been sleeping with his eyes open.

They closed in around him, purring and chirruping friendly curiosity, and he backed up a step. He couldn't remember anyone showing such interest towards him before, not in a group like this, and he was feeling increasingly-

He yelped as a hard, scratchy nose shoved its way under his hindquarters and lifted his paws from the ground, then spun and snarled affronted at the offender and everyone else for good measure. They all hopped and flapped away, but then he had to glare at Dreamer and his dam for laughing at him.

Skyreaching beckoned him over, and he approached warily. He still didn't know how he felt about her personally; his anger on Dreamer's behalf had only ever been a temporary thing, and he hadn't otherwise interacted with her much.

She held up a paw, the curiously long digits on it dangling limply and slowly exuding Alpha's scent, and he realised he was being a bit silly. This was Dreamer's dam, and that she had been absent for most of his life and he didn't even know her was all the more reason for Wanderer to get along well with her. He leaned into the paw, and it traced a gentle line up his snout and between his eyes, a pleasant and relaxing sensation. She was already looking at him with love, affection…

He decided he liked her, and she squeaked surprise, happy, as he stepped in to give her a hearty nuzzle. And then he groaned and slid to the ground against her side as her clever paws found itches so old he'd forgotten he had them, arching his back around her and pawing at the ground while his hide writhed in bliss. "Oooh, yes," she rumbled happily as she leaned into scratching him, "you've grown up big and strong, haven't you? Yes you have!"

The nerve of Dreamer, hoarding this wonderful creature to himself all light! Wanderer wriggled around Skyreaching to swat at him, but was distracted by firm scratches around his wing-shoulders.

That had an invigorating effect, sharpening his mind and quickening his life-beats, and he bounced to his paws to playfully hop around in a low crouch. Skyreaching laughed and bounced with him, bobbing up and down and copying his playful rumbles.

Suddenly, she stilled and smiled sombrely at him, her eyes glistening with wet. He stilled and tilted his head at her, and she reached out to place a paw on his cheek. "Thank you," she hummed quietly, closing her eyes and slowly pressing her forehead to his snout, "for saving my little fledgling."

"I not little," Dreamer grumbled quietly in the background.

Wanderer sat there a little awkwardly for a heartbeat, not sure how to respond. Largely, he had done it for himself, terrified of finding himself alone again, but that didn't make it any less of a good thing…

And then he caught a glimpse of Cloudjumper behind her, staring at him with surprise, approval, and he settled on feeling proud, straightening and flaring his wings a little.

Skyreaching sniffled and pulled back to wipe the salty water leaking from her eyes. "You hungry?" she asked, blinking furiously, then gave both Nightstrikers a sly sideways glance as their ears went up. "It eating time…"

Dreamer groaned mightily, then rolled and wheezed at the failing light.

There was eating for sustenance. That was enjoyable but routine, often fish he'd caught or something scrounged from the Hall.

There was eating for the sake of eating. This might be when he happened upon a bird's nest in a forest, or was partaking in a feast. When he ate food because it was there.

This was the first time he had eaten so much sheerly for fun, pushing beyond any reasonable satiation of hunger. But come on, how often did it rain fish!?

...Wrrr, that might actually be a fairly common occurrence here. Regardless, he was regretting getting caught up in his competitiveness with Wanderer. Not only had he limped home in defeat, but he was now suffering a bloated stomach stuffed beyond capacity. And to rub it in, Wanderer was pretending to be fine; he wasn't, but an hour ago Dreamer hadn't been able to even do that.

And now he felt so tired he kept teetering on the edge of falling asleep, but his stomach was complaining and gurgling so much it was keeping him awake. It wasn't physically painful – any more – but it was uncomfortable.

"You look like you eat too much," his dam's voice said merrily a moment before Cloudjumper's massive wings beat the air into a landing on the low rocky shelf; simply the first place he had encountered upon gliding back into the nest.

"I not will need eat for pawful of lights," he groaned from his back.

"I see that," she hummed. "We sleep soon… but you are," a moment's hesitation, a hitch of her breath, "Nightstriker. You sleep at light…?"

"No," he huffed. "I will sleep now," he added after seeing Wanderer gliding languidly high up the nest, staring down at him. He then offered his dam a polite purr and laboured to his paws and into the air.

Wanderer coasted down to join his flight with a big yawn, and they glided lazily across the nest to the den they had picked out. Though it wasn't a very good one…

Dreamer landed inside and rumbled warily at the mossy rock. He didn't particularly like this den, and cast back, trying to remember why they had chosen it. Something about it being… temporary?

That made him uneasy. Had they not intended on staying?

He chuffed at Wanderer, maintaining a confident, if weary, façade, and logically walked through his thoughts. Leaving was an option. He knew that. He thought about flying off to the horizon, and didn't encounter any foreign thoughts telling him otherwise. He just… didn't want to. His dam was here, Alpha was here, there were perhaps answers to find here, and there was even a chance the other Nightstrikers would return here. On the other paw, he had no other commitments, nowhere he had to be.

Wanderer flamed a wide patch of ground, walking in a circle, then lay in it and invitingly raised a wing. Dreamer purred gratefully and nestled up against him, savouring the warmth.

Sharp teeth bit lightly into his shoulder a moment later. "What biting you?" Wanderer hummed with a cheeky lilt.

Ignoring the obvious response, Dreamer hummed thoughtfully. "You want be here?" he asked.

He felt Wanderer's head tilt. "Yes," he chuffed. "You need be with your dam also. But we can leave, if you want leave."

He didn't, so that was fine.

The next morning saw Dreamer feeling a little better… in one way at least.

"But I feel bad," he mumbled, stretching and walking towards the mouth of the den.

Wanderer snorted. "You feel bad for wanting be with your dam. Stupid." He stood, stretched languidly, and then walked up to Dreamer with a suspicious glint in his eye. It wasn't even a surprise when he tried to shove him right out of the den.

Of course, surprise was one thing, effectiveness another. After the ensuing scrap ended with Dreamer's claws scraping rents in the rock on his way out and down, he huffed irritably, deftly caught himself in his fall, and flapped back up to the den. "I want show her Dragon Eye," he growled as he trotted to the back of the cave.

Wanderer huffed and made for the exit – Dreamer spun and tried to creep after him, but Wanderer immediately bolted and narrowly avoided a swipe at his tail as he leaped into the air. Dreamer snorted and turned back to retrieve the Dragon Eye, safe in its snug little satchel, and looped the leather into a ring before taking it in his mouth.

He alighted on the usual ledge, dropped the Dragon Eye and barked imperiously. His dam slipped through the opening at the back a minute later, carrying some of her effects and closely followed by Cloudjumper. Dreamer offered the big dragon a polite chuff in greeting, and Cloudjumper thrummed back a neutral reply.

"Sorry," Dam mumbled as she walked over, fussing with her hair and her bundle of things tucked into the crook of her arm, "takes me a while to get…" She yawned widely. "...going in morning…"

He snorted, having no idea what she was talking about – she looked great to him – and nosed at the coil of leather at his paws. "Oh, is that what I think?" she asked eagerly, and he chuffed happily. "How it work?"

Now that he was actually looking around, the nest was dazzlingly bright in the early morning light, the magnificently white ice shining light from every direction. It would be difficult to see the projections out here. "Somewhere dark would be good," he hummed as he searched. Perhaps his den, though it might be cramped for Cloudjumper.

"I have place," she said quickly, slinking back to the cave, which she then slipped into.

Dreamer followed her through some rugged and worn tunnels, wondering how Cloudjumper made the squeeze; the dragon turned out to be remarkably agile when using his four wings to grip the rock, slipping through impossibly tight passages with ease. This would actually be a really good grounds for a race… He resolved to get Wanderer here at some point to see who could get through quicker. Though on the other paw, everything was so narrow it would be near impossible to pass each other, so most likely it would devolve into a fight to get in front. Maybe not then.

Dam led him to a small cavern that seemed to lead to the outside of the mountain, given the amount of light illuminating it through the translucent ice that made up the far wall. It was wide and open, plenty of room for Cloudjumper to stretch, and filled with little odds and ends; some wooden furniture, a woven basket, an open chest of clothes, a surprisingly large and smooth slab of wood in a corner that Cloudjumper made his way to. "Sorry about the mess," she mumbled, tossing a few things into the chest and flipping the lid closed, then fussing over a few things littering the table. "It's not much, but it's… where I've lived."

Dreamer didn't care about that, just inhaled and enjoyed the scent of a worn home. It smelled heavily of her and Cloudjumper, which he probably should have mixed feelings about, but none of that really mattered to him either; his lot in life had made him who he was, and he was happy with it.

Cloudjumper watched her with disinterest while she fussed, so Dreamer shrugged and began teasing the Dragon Eye out of its satchel. It was already fitted with the Night Fury lens, the others folded securely into the leather strap; a conscious decision, in the unlikely event he needed to flee but could grab only one thing, and it wasn't as if it could be used without a Nightstriker.

He did not, however, have the stand – he had deemed it unnecessary bulk to have to carry around – so just set it on the corner of the stone food counter. Dam had finished with her tidying, and closely watched him and the device with interest as he brought the settings back to the standard Night Fury page and lit his fire.

"Incredible," Dam whispered as the wall lit up with the familiar figures, the mostly incomprehensible garble scrawled around a perfect representation of a Night Fury. She walked up to the image, reaching out to it and taking a moment to admire how the light played over her hand. "You say you not know what much mean?"

"No," Dreamer swiped, wishing he could go up and point to some bits. Then he remembered he could, and dribbled a spoonful of plasma onto the counter before joining her. Then he huffed, supposing he couldn't blame her for being fascinated by the much more tangible curiosity of blue liquid fire burning on the counter. "This we think means young. Take much time for grow, longer than other dragons. Three hot-seasons before I learn my fire."

"That much time with no fire," Dam mused, walking up beside him and gently stroking his head and neck.

He purred at the tender fingers playing down his scales even as he gestured with a wing to the next bit. "We lay eggs, like other dragons. Normal time for hatch, maybe half season. Only grow slowly."

The image was already fading, so he returned to set up a new page and supply a bit more fire. "This show our sound-sight." Dam frowned at him, then inspected the images carefully, and he allowed her to look until they started fading again. "This show sound we make with fire or wings. It hit things, come back, show us things." He demonstrated, holding his screeching fire briefly in his throat and then perking his ears out towards the cave system; as much as half of it looked like collapsed tunnels, it was a fairly intricate network of passages. "Can see short way out there."

"That amazing," Dam said incredulously. "Wait, so you can use sound for seeing? That…" Her eyes widened as she likely realised the implications of that, how stupidly useful it was.

Dreamer bobbed happily before selecting a more useful page; actually, the only page that had been any use so far, if not how he had been expecting. "This how we find you," he hummed proudly.

"But…" She looked between him and the grid over the splash of gradients. "I fly far, but I not know that place…"

He chuffed happily. "This not mean land. I not know what it mean, but we can… feel it. This nest… here," he pointed a moderate distance up and left of the centre square; he should definitely see what was at the absolute centre at some point. "We hatch again here," he shifted his wing to the far left of the image.

"Berk?" she whispered, and he nodded at her.

But he could tell she wasn't ready to confront that idea yet, so he stepped back to adjust the settings once more and replenish the fire; he'd used less than two shots' worth so far, but he couldn't do this all day. "We not know what this mean," he grumbled, plonking his backside on the ground in front of the image. On the left was a dashed vertical line, surrounded by flowing lines like currents, and on the right, symmetrical islands of roughly the same height. The bottom of the image was littered with symbols. "We think this show small-lands… But not know."

"Wait, really?" Dam looked at him sceptically. "You not recognise it?" He tilted his head at her, confused. "Perhaps, if you lack context…" She traced some of the waves rippling from the dashed line, the light playing over her arm and hand as her fingers lingered by the top. Then she walked up to him and reached over his head, feeling around the back of his neck-

She pressed down, and a series of muscles spasmed down the length of his back; meeting resistance with a feeling of lethargy and disuse. Her fingers rubbed a small circle, and the room spun as he tried to go along with the strange sense, to reach whatever it was trying to do – a bizarre clicking sensation walked down his spine, closely followed by an icy cold and a dull ache down his back, and she stepped back, apparently satisfied.

Dreamer shook himself, and the odd sensations mostly disappeared… He turned his head to look at his back, feeling a little lightheaded as he flexed the new muscles, and stared incredulously as the spines down the length of his body split into V shapes.

He hadn't even known he could do that! Wanderer might not even know they could do that! It seemed totally pointless, but he didn't care, and flexed them repeatedly with a goofy grin.

"I think they help you fly," Dam said, smirking in amusement, then inspected some of the symbols at the bottom. "Slightly better grip on wind, I think. Should help you with tight turns."

As if he needed to be any better at flying… but after that morning, he was feeling mischievous towards his best-friend. He glanced at the passage…

"We all go flying," Dam announced, stretching her arms above her head. "Cloudjumper?" The Four-Wing yawned, face splitting into a cavernous mouth ringed with short narrow teeth, then rose in his slow, gentle way. "We should play with your friend. Can look at thing later."

Dreamer chuffed at her with a big smile, then bounded out of the den to find Wanderer.

Skyreaching had never seen a Night Fury truly fly before.

She had seen Furies in the air. That was not the same thing as what Dreamer and Wanderer were demonstrating, a mastery of the sky that was simply awe-inspiring to behold. Of course, they weren't intentionally demonstrating for her, rather Dreamer was fleeing Wanderer with the haste of someone expecting to get bitten, and Wanderer was doggedly pursuing and doing his best to catch him.

He was succeeding at it too, regularly, resulting in aerial impacts that had Skyreaching wincing. But Dreamer would claw his way free, then presumably taunt him while Wanderer stared at his back before fleeing again. They ducked and rolled and swooped and swerved with such sheer speed that she was having trouble keeping track of them as they flew around her and Cloudjumper.

She had nothing near the level of familiarity with the pair to know whether the split fins were aiding in his flight; Wanderer hadn't figured it out, as far as she could tell, and he was still catching up. But then again, flying with skill was less about one big thing and more about a hundred little delicacies that all added up. And Wanderer had been a dragon longer, apparently, so maybe just his skill more than made up the difference. She didn't know much about him as a person, and really should know the friends of her-... Of Dreamer.

She sighed and draped herself over Cloudjumper's neck, just watching the two as they flitted in and out of sight. Dreamer was her son. She knew that. He knew far too much about humans, about Berk, details that no dragon could ever have learned from the old dragon-hating tribe. She could be paranoid that it was all some elaborate ruse, but that made no sense whatsoever. But as much as she was certain of the truth, she had yet to believe it, to truly accept it.

Her son was a dragon. On one hand, she would give almost anything to have that gift herself. She knew everything about wings – a little too much about sewing them up – with the exception of how they felt, what it was like to spread them and be lifted into the sky by them, to truly be among the creatures she had felt an affinity with since she had been a little girl and found an injured and hungry Terrible Terror in the woods; she barely remembered that time of her life, full of upheaval as it was. Dreamer had not been given a choice, but she would have taken it in a heartbeat.

And yet, deep down, she felt some grave sense of loss. Dreamer's children wouldn't be her grandchildren, and she couldn't help but feel cheated out of her legacy. It was a silly irritation, and irrational, given that the alternative was that he stayed dead, but it gnawed at her heart every time she looked at him.

But he would have baby Night Furies! She so very much hoped she would get to see them, they promised to be the most adorable little things…

Wanderer, if she was correctly inferring from the grumpy expression, drifted up alongside Cloudjumper and snarled at the air ahead of himself. "Oh you big baby," Skyreaching cooed at him, and he huffed irritably. Dreamer came up on her other side, openly staring in fascination at Cloudjumper's wings, how they almost seamlessly locked together. The fins down his back were still split, and Wanderer was pouting at him.

She touched a hand to Cloudjumper's neck, then lightly walked on all fours along his wing to Wanderer. Her dragon might have figured out what she was doing, or might have just read her intent from her movements, but he drifted over so that she was above the Nightstriker. Not close enough to reach him, that wouldn't have been possible on these intense updrafts, but she was able to hook her staff onto Cloudjumper's wing-talon and hang from it, stretching down to rub the little knot of muscles at the back of Wanderer's neck.

He shuddered as the fins popped open, wings trembling, then steadied and looked over his shoulder with a smile near identical to what Dreamer had done himself.

Skyreaching deftly clambered back up her staff and unhooked it as she returned to Cloudjumper's back. Wanderer was showing him his new trick, and Cloudjumper seemed genuinely interested, as much as she could tell from the back of his head.

And then Dreamer swerved down, and abruptly shot back up underneath them – Wanderer yelped as he was unexpectedly yanked downwards.

Her son was happy. She held onto that thought, at the assuagement it brought for her fears of her tiny little boy growing up in such a hostile and unforgiving place… which were totally justified, as it turned out, but he was happy. That was the main thing…

Dreamer roused slowly, sleep lifting from him of its own accord. But he was content to remain where he was, and just snuggled up a bit closer to his warm friend.

A few days after arriving at the nest, his dam had come to find him at dawn and… 'found them in a shivering huddle', by her words. Later, she'd timidly asked him how much privacy they needed, ignored his confusion over her question, and disappeared for the day.

At the end of yesterday, after their usual talking and whiling away the time in each others' company – more often than not with Wanderer following Cloudjumper like an enthusiastic puppy – she had offered them somewhere else to sleep, closer to her own den. It was a smaller cavern, though that just meant less space to need heating, and she'd managed to wedge a bunch of old tree trunks together into a sort of bed, which Cloudjumper appeared to have flamed.

Dreamer could now attest that the resulting bed of charcoal was pleasantly firm, but did not sap their warmth. While it also didn't trap heat so well, it did burn, slowly, which was warmer through the night. As long as he was careful not to actually set fire to it, it burned itself out after a few hours. And the ash from lying on it was minimal.

It promised to need a bit of effort to maintain, but who cared? It made nights a lot more comfortable, and it wasn't as if he was busy.

"Dreamer?" came a quiet call from the mouth of the little den, and he lifted his head – then couldn't suppress a massive yawn, and blinked blearily in the low light. "We need fly, look for hunters, find their nests," his dam hummed. "You want come?"

He licked his snout and then cleaned his face while he thought about it. If he was perfectly honest… "No, I not want go," he grumbled. He'd had enough of chasing down hunters for the time being. And it was time he and Wanderer had a light to themselves. It being early morning and bitingly cold was not helping matters.

She nodded curtly and left, though he caught a glimpse of disappointment before losing sight of her. Maybe he'd go with her next time.

The paw hooked around his chest tightened a little, and he purred drowsily before twisting a little in the tangle of legs and broad wings to briefly flame the charcoal between them, creating a scattering of comfortable little flames to settle into. They had done so much for so many, and deserved a bit of downtime.

But he did want to spend time with his dam, see her in action… Maybe next time.

The night was dark, a comforting shroud of silence and obscurity. Clouds blocked the sky, allowing only a small patch of light through, but not near the hunter ship floating in the water below.

Wanderer chuffed to Dreamer as he began his descent with Cloudjumper and Skyreaching, leaving the other Nightstriker in the sky to watch over them. Skyreaching nodded to him, or roughly in his direction anyway, and they quietly glided down to land on some of the cages spread over the ship.

This was a very different ship to what he was used to, much larger, with enough room for the big cages on it to create winding paths and many, many shadows to hide in. Sparse fires dotted the floating-thing, several of them carried by Long-Paws walking around, but it was all a familiar hunt; knock out the hunters, free their prey.

He did not stop as he landed, swiftly prowling towards the nearest light that had been moving across the ship and quickly dispatching the Long-Paw with naught but a muffled grunt. He had felt little for this hunt before, but now he felt alive, every sense straining for every detail of every moment, an invigorating danger around every corner and pawfuls of dangerous hunters snoring below but ready to hunt him down at a moment's notice.

The layout of the ship, and the last places he had seen each of the nine prowling guards, burned in his mind, an irresistible pull to hunt. His breath blew hotly over his teeth, his claws gripped the wood beneath his paws with every silent step, his head and ears swivelled in every direction as he moved, and another hunter succumbed to him, closely followed by a third.

The fourth hunter was more wary, providing an opportunity to stalk, which he took up with feral glee. Cloudjumper was stalking the same target, creeping over the tops of the cages, which only made Wanderer all the more determined to get the takedown.

He climbed up onto a cage himself and hopped into the air to fly around the hunter, behind him, and landed in one of the many shadows cast by their paltry lights. The hunter turned back, obliviously looking right at him, and carried on none the wiser. Wanderer immediately loped from the shadows, crossing the distance in long bounds, and leapt at the hunter to grab him from behind.

He rolled off the ground, knowing Long-Paws were too fragile to take that first hit, but made sure that the hunter took the rest of the impacts as they tumbled.

"Wha' were tha'?" a Long-Paw asked from nearby, but Wanderer's momentum had carried him and the now unconscious hunter in between two of the cages. He quickly angled his dark wings to deflect the light as it neared, carefully watching the new hunter for any sign of alarm. But Cloudjumper seemed to have it, silently moving onto the cage above the hunter's path, carefully leaning down and then lunging-

Crunch

Cloudjumper removed his giant maw from the upper part of the hunter, who then bent at the torso in a way that Long-Paws were definitely not meant to bend, mouth open and eyes wide as he collapsed. Cloudjumper then looked approvingly at Wanderer, and turned to disappear over the tops of the cages.

Wanderer checked that the hunter under his paws wouldn't be getting up for a while, then smothered his torch and hopped up onto the nearest cage. There was only one light left, which he leaped into the air towards, passing Cloudjumper on the way.

He arrived just in time to see Skyreaching leap at him, her stick smacking him in the face before she planted a hindpaw on his belt to climb over the top of him. As she did, there was another fatal crack, and the hunter went limp and slumped to the ground. Wanderer cast an eye to the sky, uncertain how Dreamer would be taking this.

"None more," Cloudjumper said quietly, and Skyreaching relaxed, standing upright as Long-Paws normally did. "I got three," he purred proudly.

"Two," Skyreaching said with a huff. "That mean…"

Wanderer purred as he climbed lithely down the side of the cage, taking his time. "Four," he waved once he had their attention, a complete pawful of hunters downed by his claws, then stood proudly as Cloudjumper stared at him.

"That very good," Skyreaching praised, moving to the nearest cage. "This very fast. But now boring part." Her posture changed to sympathetic, wary, as she set about opening the cages, keeping the wing-hunters within quiet as she freed them. After watching her, Wanderer figured it out and was able to assist, using his paws to move about the metal things that resulted in an open cage.

There were just so many of them… He and Skyreaching worked in tandem, swiftly working their way around the enormous ship while Dreamer and Cloudjumper kept watch. The hunt had felt good, but it also felt good to be helping so many wing-hunters again, and with none of the stress and responsibility that had come with it last time. This was simpler, more straightforward.

"Wanderer," Skyreaching said tensely, and he quickly finished up his cage and hurried to her while the newly-freed wing-hunter fled into the sky. "You not kill him," she said, waving her stick at one of the unconscious hunters.

"No," he said, eyeing the hunter disdainfully. It was either the first or the second he'd taken out, he couldn't remember.

"Why?" she asked, her whole body radiating confusion.

"Why would I?" he asked right back, feeling defensive.

"Because they would do worse for you," she replied, quietly hissing the words that required sound.

"They do that because they think we will kill them," Wanderer recited, his own understanding of Dreamer's logic suddenly sharpening into clarity in his mind. "They will hunt us if they think we threat. If we take their prey only, they not will want hunt here. They maybe stop hunting."

"They would be back," she said angrily. "They always come back. Long-Paws are cruel, disgusting things, have rotted thinking."

"You kill them," Wanderer realised, voicing the thought as he had it. "You always kill them." He then looked around the ship. "But that not stop them." To be fair, not killing them hadn't stopped them either, but it had led to things that did. Skyreaching hesitated, and he glanced up at the sky. "I think not killing is good thinking. But you need convince another Nightstriker."

She faltered at that, her stick drooping to the ground. "Did they see you?" she asked right as he was about to go open the next cage.

He thought back to the hunters he had taken down. All had been taken by surprise, from behind, to give no chance to react. The hunter he had tackled might have seen, but he would not know what he'd been looking at in the darkness and heat of the moment. "No," he said, then set about opening the cage of a hopeful-looking wing-hunter he didn't recognise; he didn't recognise most of the types in this area.

The work was boring, but rewarding. Each wing-hunter he freed eagerly leaped into the sky and flew off into the night, so while the task was repetitive, he knew that he was returning entire lives one at a time. To him it was a small task, but it was the entire world to them.

They were done before too long, all the cages emptied. "Go," Skyreaching gestured to him, "we will hurt this floating-thing. I not want them know you were here." He chuffed at her and took flight, and then Cloudjumper bodily rammed the tree-thing in the middle before burning it.

Wanderer stared at the Four-Wing's fire as it splashed over the wood, so interesting and unique, burning in a spiral. As the big tree-thing started listing, he charged into the second and then burned it too, Skyreaching jumping onto his back as more hunters started emerging from below.

Cloudjumper easily got clear before they could even get close, and then they seemed more preoccupied with the small fires lapping up the tree-things, putting them out in short order. Wanderer turned away to locate Dreamer above, and soared up next to him.

Dreamer gave him a worried look. "Did she…?"

"Kill?" Wanderer huffed. "Yes. Her thinking not bad, just… she not like Long-Paws."

"I know," Dreamer sighed, then drifted back to fly alongside Cloudjumper as he rose up with them, angling back to the nest.

The crisp lines sprawled across the rock wall out on the ledge from the caves were starting to waver, refusing to stay still or make sense. Skyreaching rubbed her eyes and stubbornly went back to staring at them, knowing there was little point going to bed however late it was. Cloudjumper and Wanderer were both fast asleep, content after a satisfying hunt, but she and Dreamer had… disagreed somewhat on the flight back.

She held no sympathy for the idiot hunters who trapped these intelligent creatures. Convincing them of any dragon's intelligence was pointless, humans enslaved other humans even more readily. For the most part, they were cruel and callous, only willing to look past themselves when they stood to benefit from it; she felt unclean and despicable just for being a member of the same species.

But Dreamer knew their cruelty better than anyone, had lived it, repeatedly. It had been difficult for him to speak of, but he had already accepted it and moved on, choosing to focus on the kindness of others, even if he was ignoring a sea of filth for a tiny mote of light he'd had to claw out of the muck himself. Anything she had suffered, he'd had much worse. How could he not see how naïve he was being?

He was disappointed in her, and she felt it to her core. Logically, she knew it was naïve thinking. People couldn't change, didn't want to change. But emotionally, she felt guilt-ridden, the blood of hundreds slicking her hands. How could any of those cruel monsters have had families? Loving wives and children?

But she herself had been such a loving wife, long ago, to a man widely considered as the greatest dragon slayer of the Archipelago. The possibility was eating away at her, not so much sympathy for those monsters but rather that Dreamer might sympathise with them and think bad of her for it…

Dreamer shut off his fire to paw at the device, then lit up another series of pictures on the wall. This one was just senseless hash, and he quickly changed it to a new one. That was happening more and more as they went through it.

She stared at him while he stared at the images. In his eyes, he'd just discovered his mother was a murderer. A murderer of murderers, perhaps, he didn't see her as evil, but-

A chill ran down her back even before his eyes abruptly narrowed to slits, and the light in his mouth cut off. Skyreaching sat up, turning and startling at the enormous presence of the alpha behind them, his white face bright in the darkness but obscured by the bright patterns sticking to her eyes.

She blinked furiously, trying to figure out what was going on, when Dreamer stiffly picked up the Dragon Eye, walked a few paces with it, and set it down. He then returned and picked up the long strip of leather that held the other lenses and put it with the device before backing up and sitting on his haunches, his whole body rigid, ears and frills quivering, and irises almost invisible in his wide eyes. "Dreamer?" she asked worriedly, but he didn't respond.

When he had arrived, he had spoken of another alpha that had trapped its nest with thoughts, somehow. She hadn't understood what he was talking about then, she'd never even heard of this happening before, but he didn't look in control of himself.

She whirled and stormed to the edge of the ledge, glaring up at the alpha. "What you doing!?" she demanded tersely.

Alpha looked down at her, his expression unreadable. What should she do? What could she do? "Dreamer?" she asked helplessly, running back to him and holding his face. He didn't seem to be in pain, just vacant, not himself.

A dragon landed on the ledge with them, one of the water dwellers, and without thinking she stood between it and her son. Her heart was racing, neither her staff or shield were in reach, but she wasn't helpless. "Stay back," she growled, crouching low and bearing her arms wide.

The new dragon ignored her entirely, striding forwards with an eerie focus, and stopped a few paces away. It leaned down, picked up the Dragon Eye and the strap with its teeth, then turned and disappeared over the edge. Skyreaching stared after it, feeling at a loss. It was little more than an interesting trinket to her, but it had seemed to mean much to her son…

She glared up at Alpha, angry and confused. What was the Dragon Eye? What did Alpha know of it, that he would do this? "Why?" she shouted to him.

He rumbled reassuringly, the very air shaking with his voice, and then began lowering back down to his pool. She turned in time to see Dreamer's pupils widen and his body relax, and exhaled in relief.

Dreamer flicked his ears and then shook himself, yawned widely, and stepped forward to nuzzle her. "Not worry," he said airily, then groaned quietly. "I need sleep. I see you tomorrow Dam."

She watched him go, entirely uncertain of what she was watching. Was he back to himself? Still being… controlled, however that worked? What did… Why…

She whimpered to herself as she stood there, alone on the ledge. She didn't know what to do. She didn't even feel as if she could confide in Cloudjumper, he could be affected just as easily.

Numbly, she retrieved her effects and made her way to her den, and carefully slipped into her dragon's embrace, certain of only that she would not be sleeping any time soon.