Author's Notes

I swear, I didn't intend for it to happen like this!

…Mostly. Everything here was planned well in advance, I just took a serendipitous opportunity to make a few minor nudges. I'm not sorry.

Stone and ice alike scraped and crumbled under Dreamer's claws in his long, striding bounds, racing along a narrow shelf around the walls of the nest's enormous cavern. It was barely even dawn, and lately he'd been sleeping in, but he'd woken this morning with an exhilarating tension high in his chest and extremely restless paws, perfect to go for a fierce run with, to push his body's limits.

The shelf ahead of him tapered to disappear into the ice, but he didn't stop, leaping up and running along the wall itself. This wasn't something any Long-Paw could do, but with his sharp claws and four legs, he could push himself along more than out, for a distance at least. The wall became rougher here, with more places to grip and some bulges large enough to stand on, but it was exhausting to maintain, so he soon shoved off and spread his wings.

He panted as he glided on the cool, still air of the nest, and resisted a gleeful roar; it was too early to be so loud. He wasn't tired, but his legs felt content, and his wings were now begging to be used.

A happy warble escaped him as he dropped one wing to roll into a dive, swooping down to glide along the bottom of the nest. He skimmed the smooth rock, following it down to where it met shallow water that tapered down to the underwater shelf Alpha liked resting on. Alpha was not there now, having already woken and presumably gone out fishing or whatever it was he did at this time, so there was just a large, glass-smooth lake reflecting the occasional rocky pillar jutting up to the ceiling. Dreamer let his hindlegs drop just low enough that the tips of his claws skimmed the surface, gleefully violating its tranquility, then pitched his tail and shot up the rock wall, the entrance to the caves and his den whooshing past in a dark flash.

The cavern tilted down as he rolled over his back, into another dive, and then he split his back-spines as he pulled up level to the ground again. Hurtling around the entirety of the nest, several times, he practised the subtle effects the split spines gave him while the sky-fire emerged from the water. With it would slowly come the other dragons of the nest, bright and colourful but bumbling and slow; at least compared to him.

But the fish were bountiful with the dawn, he could go catch some! Although, he'd really rather hunt something… He'd just have a small breakfast.

He banked around what he considered the back of the nest, opposite his den, then levelled off and sped through the fissure there and out into open skies. It didn't seem to rain this far north, for the month or so since they'd arrived there had been nothing but pale blue skies and small gloomy clouds, but the breeze carried scents of snow that had been falling elsewhere, and he briefly entertained the idea of finding it.

But what he had in mind would be more fun, so instead he drifted out over the water, his sharp eyes piercing its surface to see the fish below. A shoal of large trout caught his eye, and he slowed to coast on the breeze and watch them meander around the chunks of ice and glacial icebergs jutting out of the water.

They swam up and down, and he waited patiently until they drifted just close enough to the surface, then dropped down and sped along the small waves towards them, where they would not see him. They had next to no warning when he dove into the frigid water, catching one in his teeth. A second slipped from his claws, but he gouged it in the process, and easily caught up to it again and skewered it.

Breakfast securely in his teeth and paws, he curled to aim his nose back to the surface and, with great kicks of his entire body, threw himself out of the water and heaved the air with his wings, raining water all over the ice below.

He zipped back into the nest and dodged around the few dragons already taking to the air, then landed on the far ledge and prowled into the cave system. A few turns later, he dropped one of the fish just inside the mouth of their den and started noisily biting into the other.

Wanderer was still asleep, but his ears twitched with every crunch and wet chomp. And then his snout started twitching, his head slowly turning to point towards the source of the smell of food. Dreamer hurriedly gulped down what was left of his own fish as Wanderer's eyes snapped open, pupils starting wide and quickly narrowing on the meal.

They stared at each other for long moments, Wanderer clearly sceptical of this generous offering. Eventually he got his paws under him, and Dreamer crouched playfully, nose to the fish and teeth ready to take it.

Wanderer lunged, and Dreamer snatched the trout and bolted back out into the caves, leaping off the walls to take the corners back towards the main cavern. He shot out onto the ledge, spinning and dropping back into a playful stance – then reared back and took Wanderer's tackle head-on.

The other Nightstriker shrieked as they made contact, instantly forgetting about the fish to writhe and desperately try to pull free, but it was too late! Dreamer had him in a tight grapple, pulling him tightly to his freezing-cold scales. Mrrr, he was so warm…

But also slippery, and Dreamer almost rolled over the discarded fish and had to stop himself from squashing it, which was more than enough to allow Wanderer to break free. Dreamer laughed as he rolled to his paws, fending off angry swats aimed at his snout. Wanderer huffed, then settled down in front of the trout and held it in his paws to bite into it. Dreamer still felt like annoying him, and crept forward, but a stern glare had him thinking twice about it. "We hunt?" he offered instead, tail swaying happily behind him.

Wanderer blinked at him, then looked at the fish and back to him. "You had good sleep," he grumbled, then tossed back the rest of the fish and started cleaning his face.

"I feel good," Dreamer chirped happily, bouncing on his paws. "Want do something! Something fun!"

With a suspicious churr, Wanderer walked up to him and leaned past his head, blowing puffs of warm air down his shoulder. He then sat back, looking satisfied. "You need tail."

Dreamer blinked at him. "I have tail," he said flatly, swinging the long appendage around to hold it up.

Wanderer tensed, staring at him with wide eyes. "Not your tail," he said, amused.

Now Dreamer was confused. "Not mine?" He couldn't help but look at the obvious alternative, trying vainly to grasp what he was supposed to do with it.

Following his gaze, Wanderer held his own tail up and looked at it. "...If want," he chuffed, struggling to keep his face straight and looking sidelong at Dreamer, "but I had thinking you would want female…"

A burning heat crept up Dreamer's ears as he quickly connected the dots. And on the vague thought of a female, his instincts practically growled encouragement at him, filling the rest of him with a very different warmth. Wait, and he had-

He yelped, mortified, and fell over himself in scrambling back and into the air to leave Wanderer on the ledge, who was now shrieking with laughter as he rolled around in the moss.

Well, that's going to haunt me for the rest of my life. He winced as a dozen similarly awkward and equally mortifying encounters flashed through his mind, from a previous life, and then cringed even as he flew. And now I get to go through all that again… Odin help me...

Cloudjumper landed on an ice shelf that led into the nest, then lowered himself so that Skyreaching could more easily climb from his back. He watched her carefully as she stumbled her first steps and removed her helmet.

He had accepted his loneliness long ago, that he would never find another of his kind, but only Skyreaching made it tolerable. Except now she was pushing him away, refusing to confide in him. Some sort of fear for her son, he knew her well enough to see it, but how could he help her protect him if she kept ignoring him?

She'd been given enough time to sort this out herself, and now he was starting to feel that dark void reaching for him. This had to stop.

"Skyreaching," he rumbled, walking around to block her from the entrance to the nest. "What wrong?"

She stared at him, huddling against the wind, though she did not quite meet his eyes. She looked pained, conflicted, and more than a little frightened, but it was not enough to make him relent this time. He hummed reassuringly at her, leaning in close. "I worried. You not can fight. I not will fly you out there again if you not let me help."

Skyreaching wavered, suddenly showing her fatigue. She looked around at the spines of ice that made up the exterior of the nest, then out over the water and the ice littering it. "Not here," she said with a sigh, then met his eyes pleadingly. "Please, fly me far. Then…"

He purred reassuringly and leaned down to let her climb back on, then worked his wings in tandem to lift him into the air and catch the wind. She did not stand on his back as she usually liked to, but huddled down against his neck. He unlocked his wings and gave a few more flaps for speed before slotting them together again.

After much flying, long after the nest was no longer even visible behind them, he felt the slight shift of Skyreaching relaxing a little, and started looking around for somewhere to land. There was nothing as far as he could see but ice, completely covering the sea and providing no obstruction to the cold wind blasting across the frozen landscape, but the tips of frozen icebergs and malformations would provide enough shelter to huddle in. He angled for a particularly large and misshapen iceberg he had a hunch about and glided down to it, pleased to find the fissure through it created a sort of little cave. He didn't quite fit at first, but a quick application of fire soon fixed that.

It was cramped, but the ice pressed to his back did not bother him. He felt more at home in cold climates, and though Skyreaching was clearly not as hardy as he, filling his mouth with fire was more than enough to warm her small body.

"Dreamer say another alpha trapped nest kin," she said quietly, cutting straight to it; that was good, more like how she usually acted. "Trapped them with thoughts. Then Alpha… make Dreamer do things." She shuddered, repulsed.

"Things?" Cloudjumper asked. He was familiar with the strange talking with thoughts, it didn't bother him, but it did not sound like Alpha to force anyone to do anything.

"He take Dreamer's Dragon Eye," she growled. "Thing that show Nightstrikers. Now Dreamer not even know it! He confused when I ask him about thing he bring with him. Wanderer also. They not remember it."

He hadn't made Dreamer do anything then, just had taken the strange thing away from him. He relaxed at that. "Alpha friends with their sire, dam. He not would hurt them. Maybe that thing dangerous."

"I know," she groaned, falling backwards to slump against the ice. "Alpha is not bad, but Dreamer is my fledgling. I scared will happen again. I think he still normal, but how I know? How I know if happen again? How I will know if Wanderer have bad thoughts, I not know him as much…"

"Then know him," Cloudjumper said, stating the obvious. "Dreamer very close with Wanderer. More close than with any other. He would like you be friends with him also." He then rumbled reassuringly. "But Alpha not will hurt them. He want protect them." That led to an unpleasant thought, though. "Maybe he try keep them here. Hope not."

For some reason, that seemed to appease her far more quickly. She immediately relaxed, letting out a long sigh. "I was worried Alpha give you thoughts also. But now I not think that. Yes, you right."

Cloudjumper had long since suspected as such, that Alpha had put thoughts in his head. Many times in the past he had found himself looking for a female that he knew did not exist. He even had suspicions about his unusual bond with Skyreaching. But whether it was his choice or not, it was highly preferable to letting himself waste away alone, so he wasn't worried.

Although, she wasn't wrong; he would have no way of knowing. "You watch them," he rumbled easily. "Alpha not can give you thoughts."

"Thank you," she hummed, getting up to nuzzle him, and he purred back at her. "I think we can go back now."

After how long they had flown to get here? He grumbled lightly, then scooped her up and held her close, laying his head down and getting comfortable. "Or," she chuckled, "we could sleep."

"You need it," he yawned, then made sure she was comfortable before settling down and closing his eyes. He was starting to get old again… maybe for the last time. But that was a while away yet.

Dreamer was roused from a very pleasant doze by deep, contented Nightstriker groans echoing around the caves. He just listened absently, still half asleep, barely even aware of where he was or what he was listening to.

"This isn't a good angle," Dam's voice said with a light frustration. "Roll over a bit?" There was some shuffling, and then more groans while she grunted. "That's better. Ah-! Stay still, this hard enough as it is."

Cracking an eye open, Dreamer stared at his bed of charred trees, his vision blurry from sleep, mind refusing to properly wake. He felt as if he hadn't slept in weeks, and wanted to go back to his amazing dream, but Dam's voice echoing around the rock was too distracting.

"Well, what you rather, my hands or my knee?" Wanderer made a noncommittal noise to that, and Dam chuckled. "Oh, sure you don't care. Actually, we try this."

More shuffling. Dreamer tried to work out what was going on, but was coming up blank.

His ears lifted and the veil of sleep parted a little more as Wanderer hissed in pain. "I know, it tight," she said soothingly, but with a tense edge to her voice. "It feel better soon." There was a short, sharp yelp, and then a long groan of relief. "See?"

Wrrr, he wasn't coming up blank now, but the explanation he had didn't fit. Literally, his traitorous, snarky mind supplied, and he groaned at himself. The dream he'd been having wasn't helping, at all, though it had been a lot less… weird. Besides, as much as he had been thinking about it these last few days, he still didn't feel quite ready for that; the thought of mating was nice, very nice, but the thought of actually getting intimate with someone was not so much. Especially not a human, they were just all the wrong shapes; from his point of view, anyway.

No, he wasn't ready, and Wanderer wasn't any older than him. Something else was going on, he was sure of it. He just… didn't know what yet.

"Oh hush, this my fault, after all," Dam laughed wryly; did she sound a little out of breath? "After doing this for so long you'd think I'd know not to grab on like that."

Definitely something else going on. It had to be. Should he get up and check? Yes, that would put his mind at ease. They were not-

He froze as Wanderer hissed again. "Stop squirming you big baby," Dam grunted, "just let me get past this bit."

Dreamer lurched to his paws and walked briskly through the corridor, ensuring his claws clicked loudly on the stone, and threw his head around the corner to his dam's den before he could have second thoughts.

Dam was kneeling on Wanderer's back, frowning down at him with her jaw clenched as she leaned on her elbow, pressing it into his wing-shoulder. Wanderer had his eyes firmly closed, face contorted as if in pain, and his claws twitched against the rock in front of his nose.

"Dreamer," she greeted warmly, then grinned apologetically. "I, ah, sorry, he'll be good as new in no time! You Furies really have nothing to hold on to, and…" She grimaced apologetically at the wing to her side, and redoubled her efforts.

"Dreamer," Wanderer slurred, eyes fluttering open, "I win…! She say she can hold on but," he snorted haughtily. "You should try this… It hurt but feel very good…" Cloudjumper chuffed proudly from his spot near the wall, flexing his wings.

"We could do that later," Dam offered, shaking her arm. "There's so much of you I don't think I could do one after the other."

Sure, Dreamer chuffed absently, and walked out in a daze. At least he could take out of this that Wanderer and Dam were getting along better, not that he was into her-

Now he was doing it too! He pawed at his head, then loped a little more quickly through the tunnel and into the nest proper. He needed to take his mind off it, maybe catch some fish or something; the freezing water would help. Practise flying with his back-spines more, the slightly better grip it gave him on the air in some turns, and also figure out when they were a hindrance and should be closed.

He wished he could remember more of all this happening as a human, but he hadn't really been paying much attention at the time. Hopefully, this was all he'd have to deal with. He'd totally misunderstood two situations, one innocent and one not. What else was there to mess up?

The next morning, Dreamer woke with a light skip to his heartbeat and a restless tail, aimlessly patting around the bed and off the edge to touch the rock ground. His chest was gripped with a tense excitement he was becoming very familiar with, in that it wasn't going away, particularly now that he knew what was going on.

His body was maturing. It was not as fast a process as it seemed; looking back, there were many scents and other signs to clue him in, he just hadn't possessed the context to see it. And now that he was aware of it, it seemed to be all he was thinking about. Particularly in the morning, right after waking. Particularly after these dreams he kept having, as vague as they were.

There was a pressure in his hindquarters, one he hadn't really been paying attention to – and then he was rudely introduced to a feature of his body that his old one hadn't possessed, and jolted with a quiet yelp as the pressure vanished and everything returned to normal.

He lay there tensely, eyes wide, taking slow, even breaths. That had felt weird. Something else he would have to get used to, he supposed. Mostly it had just been a surprise. At least it seemed to be something he had conscious control over, unlike his human body; this would all be so much more awkward otherwise.

With a slowly growing suspicion, he took stock of where he was – lying precariously on the edge of the bed, his back hanging out over the ground, and his wing spread over Wanderer who was sprawled over the middle. Dreamer was actually lying on his friend's hindlegs, somehow; he resolved to have a word with him later about this greedy sleeping. When Wanderer made a loud snore, Dreamer worked up the courage to check his suspicion, confirming with a sinking heart that the slick feeling was not his imagination.

Voices echoed in his memory – it was normal, nothing to be ashamed of, but the undertones of the lecture and the way it was all glossed over said otherwise. And while it had not happened to him personally, he had not heard of it happening to anyone else either, and he doubted anyone would admit to it. So he didn't feel great about this.

His fire was too hot to flame himself with, but the bed was designed to be burned, and then he could go take a dip in the freezing ocean; which would also cool him off, so that worked out well. He carefully got up and began flaming the bed around that area, reducing the wood and anything on it to naught but char… but of course, his extended burning did not go unnoticed. Wanderer lifted his head and blinked sleepily at him.

Dreamer stared back while he burned the wood, daring him to say something, but Wanderer just sniffed at the air, yawned widely, and settled back down, entirely unperturbed. That was… Dreamer didn't know how to deal with that, actually. He huffed as he cut off his flame. "I thought you say this happen in…" Wait, how long was it? Wanderer had messed up the timing for getting their fire, but Dreamer had still been assuming they had a year and a half left.

"We rut in two cold-seasons," Wanderer chuffed, getting up and settling down onto the warm patch with a loud purr. "But this not that. This just growing."

Oh, great. So he had a year and a half until… something worse than this? What did it mean to… rut, anyway?

Wanderer cracked an eye to give him a sceptical look. "You think I say wrong?"

Huff, "If this just growing," Dreamer grumbled, "why you not- wait no!" he shrieked as his mind caught up with him, leaping for the mouth of the den, "I not want-!"

He skittered to a halt, his spine curling in discomfort, at the sound of Wanderer wetly running his tongue down the side of his face. Great, Dreamer thought dryly to himself, really needed to know that. He slinked out into the caves, wondering whether a dip in the frozen sea was likely to cleanse that image from his mind. Probably not, knowing his luck.

The days wore through spring and inexorably towards summer, or as 'summer' as it ever got in the northern waters around the ice nest. It got less cold, at least.

But despite having basically all the time in the world, Skyreaching felt there just wasn't enough time in each day. It was all passing so very quickly… Dreamer and Wanderer had been here something like a whole month already. Where had that gone? What exactly had they been doing? It was as if they sat down to talk for an hour and half the day passed in the process.

She wanted to spend time with her son… but she also wanted to get to know her son's friend; it would rightly insult Dreamer to call Wanderer a 'true' Nightstriker, but he had grown up among his kind while Dreamer hadn't. Though he was tight-lipped about his past, she was also interested in his mannerisms, how similarly he acted to the other dragons in many ways and so differently in others. It also gave her a baseline with which to compare Dreamer to, though it was clear they'd picked up habits off each other.

They clearly loved each other as family, sharing a bond perhaps even deeper than her own with Cloudjumper. That made her overjoyed, that he had such a true friend by his side.

However, as the days sped by, she noticed a change in Dreamer. He became quieter, more nervous and jumpy. They went on another ship raid, this one a bit smaller, and he had already knocked out the two guards and was unlocking cages by the time she and Cloudjumper even set down. He seemed to be trying to prove himself, or push himself, or perhaps both. It was more reckless than she had expected of him, anyway.

She hadn't been able to find him this light and ended up flying some more with Wanderer – she would never tire of just watching him fly – but upon returning to the nest, she spotted the moody teen lying on one of the nest's many ledges, his black form stark against the brightly lit ferns and moss. She caught Wanderer's eye, who then chuffed with a roll of his head and swooped down to speed through the nest.

Skyreaching shrugged and lightly leaned Cloudjumper towards Dreamer, and her dragon gracefully complied, his four wings working the air to bring him into a very gentle landing. "We miss you today," she said as she slipped to the ground, giving Cloudjumper a grateful stroke of his neck on the way down and a slight tip of her head that told him she could find her own way back if he wanted to do his own thing.

Dreamer chuffed quietly, not taking his eyes off something he was staring at below, and ignored the big Stormcutter taking off again.

She walked over to her son and knelt next to him in the soft moss, looking over the edge and trying to spot what had his attention. Probably not the fledglings playing a few ledges down, she had yet to see him give them a second thought, and his eyes weren't following them as they hopped around. "What biting your tail?" she asked, giving his shoulder a friendly nudge.

He just warbled noncommittally and shrugged, still staring down into the nest. She frowned at him and had another look, wondering what had his wings in a twist.

It took her a minute to spot the parents, huddled closely to each other and alternating between showing affection and watching their fledglings play; they were little more than blurs to her eyes at this distance, but she was familiar with what she was seeing. "Ah," she said, connecting the dots; Dreamer's ears flicking irritably was only confirmation.

"You know, dragons do very well here," she said idly, watching the happy couple. "Everyone so close together, so the sire stays and helps the dam. They not do that out there." She had actually been surprised when she'd first gone out to explore, finding that their behaviour here was the exception rather than the norm.

"I missed out on you growing up the first time," she said wistfully, lying back so that she could watch him without him feeling she was staring. "I not see what I could do better, but I sorry for that. I here for you now." She chuckled as he cringed. "Oh, not worry, I'm not going to give you 'the talk'." She winced, unable to imagine how that had gone with Stoick. He did have a soft side, but it usually needed coaxing out first, and from what Dreamer had said of him… "I not want make this more awkward for you."

He gave her a pointed look that could only be interpreted as 'then stop talking about it', to which she couldn't help chuckling under her breath. "I missed out the first time, but I here now. If you want know something, ask, I want to help you." She actually felt more comfortable with this, she was much more knowledgeable and confident with everything about dragons, while humans were still a mystery to her in many ways; not entirely due to spending twenty years away from them.

Those bright green eyes turned to stare at her, partially narrowed. Eventually, he took a deep breath, turning his dark head to look up at the roof of the nest instead, and they sat in silence. It was nice, actually, just sitting here peacefully with her son.

"There was Long-Paw female," he mumbled after a while, not looking at her. "When I Long-Paw. She was… very strong, very…" He shuffled his paws, coyly glancing around. "I liked looking at her," he said quickly.

"She was attractive," Skyreaching supplied, figuring he probably didn't have much experience with this particular topic of the language.

"Yes, that," he huffed. "I not would have cared if she walked on me. She did walk on me." He snorted. "When I become Nightstriker, I not think she… attractive. Then I see who she was. She was biting, think everyone less if they weaker than her but also hate anyone stronger." They paused to watch several dragons glide past, happening to cross in front of the ledge to wherever they were going. "She still do that now," he grumbled.

Skyreaching cast her mind back to the families of the tribe. "That the Hofferson girl?" she asked, recalling they'd had a child around the same time; so few were allowed, with how badly the village had been struggling. She certainly sounded like a Hofferson.

Dreamer chuffed. "I not could see who she was. Now, I not even know any… female." His ears and frills flattened to his head, and he grimaced. "I not know if I want female. Not even know what female look like. I so confused…"

Motherly instincts drove her to her feet and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. She had not been prepared for how viscerally she felt for him, she wanted to fly all the way south and drag back a female just so he could feel even a little better… though that was a terrible idea for so many reasons, not least of which because of how impossible Nightstrikers were to find; she would know, she had tried.

"I don't know what I can say to help," she said quietly, wishing for all the world that wasn't the case and holding back a flood of irrational grief for him. She had heard the stories of people turning into dragons, of course, their greed driving them to forbidden realms only to be cursed by Odin, but she still didn't put any stock in those. They didn't resemble Dreamer's situation in the slightest. "But I know you'll figure it out. And I'm always here, if you want to talk."

He huffed under his breath, then gave her an amused glance before staring out over the nest again. "When I change, my memories not fit this head," he said, momentarily baffling her. "I remember seeing colour, but not remember what it look like. Some things needed… changing. Like watching sky-fire rise, I not could remember how it looked nice." He turned his head a little, though still didn't meet her eyes. "Now think how memory of attractive female changes…"

"So…" Skyreaching frowned. "You remember she attractive?" But he was trying to adjust the memories to match what he is now… "I can't even imagine," she admitted. "I don't even know what you think is attractive."

"I not also!" he growled. "It like I ask you what winds you like, when you not have wings." His ears and frills twitched and fell. "Sorry… I not mean it like that…"

"It okay," she assured him; his frustration was clearly much stronger than her own on those matters, and it was an apt comparison. "Have you thought about…" Her heart nearly tore trying to say the words. "...trying to find someone?"

He gave his head an uncomfortable shake. "I think that would confuse me more," he grumbled. "I not want leave here now. Wanderer not want leave also."

Cloudjumper's words came to mind, that Alpha might not let them leave. But she didn't want him to leave! And if he wanted to stay, was it really so bad…? At least for a little while, just while he figured himself out. No… She wasn't going to hold him here, but she wouldn't worry him with that now, of all times.

"Well… Have you thought about what you find attractive about yourself?" He immediately perked at that, looking alarmed, then slowly sank to the leafy ground with a long, drawn out groan. "I mean it," she laughed, talking over the top of the persistent noise he was making and giving the arm of his wing a shove. "You good looking dragon, if I was dragon I'd be all over you." It wasn't comforting him, if his trying to drown her out with his groaning – he had impressive lungs, it was still going strong – was any indication, but someone had to tell him. Actually, he did have someone to tell him, in a way. "Alright, fine then," she conceded, "what attractive in Wanderer then?"

He actually yelped at that, jolting up to his haunches, then glared at her with a growl. "Okay," she verbally backed up, holding out her hands, "sensitive topic. I get it." They stared out over the nest a little longer. "Well… I don't, really," she admitted. "Do you think he's attractive? Because you have the same body-" She was cut off by a large black paw pressing into her face, and for several moments all she could see was his adorable pink pads.

Tentatively, the paw lifted a little. "-so it would be like-" And it was replaced.

"Sorry," Skyreaching laughed as she pulled it away, "is my job as your mother! I not can help it!" Dreamer grumbled at her and ruffled his wings, subtly settling one between them. "You need relax." She slowly slid a hand down the arm of his wing, then when that was lowered, along his neck. "Not worry, you'll figure it out," she said confidently, using the claws on her gloves to scratch at the hard to reach spots around his shoulders. He groaned relief, leaning into the scratches, relaxing by degrees, and watching her through lidded eyes. Maybe, she thought as she ran her claws down next to the fins on his back, if she got him relaxed enough-

With a sudden squeak, he threw himself forwards and straight off the ledge, leaving her teetering on the moss and loose ferns at the edge. She quickly regained her balance and looked down in time to see him throwing himself into Alpha's lake, disappearing in a white splash of seawater.

"That not will help, you know!" she shouted, knowing he couldn't hear her, then huffed and looked around. She had a choice between scaling a treacherous wall of ice that would numb her hands in moments, or a sheer drop down to solid rock. She could also sit here and contemplate whether she could have handled that better…

Nah, she was good. Some things just needed to be said, he'd get over it. She stood and started waving down a passing dragon to give her a lift back to the caves.

Dreamer roused with a shiver, a slight chill slowly working its way into him with his inactivity. Reality filtered in slowly, replacing the odd dream he'd been having. Images slipped from his grasp, of a fierce-looking Nightstriker, his forelegs and head a mesh of interlocking scales, something about his face making him look much older, maybe… something about… a… Nightstriker? There was a sound of something hitting the ground.

He was distracted from the last trickles, completely forgetting the dream, as he realised he was not snuggled up to Wanderer, thus why he was cold. But it was mid afternoon, just coming into summer, and they had decided to sleep on Alpha's back, so it was not that cold. Alpha did not mind in the slightest, plus his heady scent was very reassuring and would mark the Nightstrikers as favoured. Wanderer was close by, lying on his side and thumping his tail against Alpha's hide, though he stopped as Dreamer noticed.

There was something… just outside of reach, the whispers of murmured words he just couldn't quite hear… He yawned deeply and shook his head of the lingering dream, then looked around the white landscape surrounding him, sleepily marvelling at just how large Alpha was.

Wanderer's tail thumped down again, and Alpha let out a long, low groan. Dreamer considered waking the other Nightstriker, but thought better of it, and instead took wing and glided up into the nest to find something to do. A group of various dragons were lounging and milling about on one of the larger ledges, to which he angled around and gently landed nearby. He was used to their heads all turning to him, and ignored it to focus on burning a patch of ground to get comfortable on, but it was still eerie.

Admittedly, he didn't pay much attention to the other dragons for the most part, even back when he'd been at Dragon's Nest and Berk. Playing with the fledglings at the warm-nest had been fun, all those years ago, but he had been only a fledgling himself at the time, craving playmates. He had always assumed they could not provide the companionship he would consider interesting, but was usually pleasantly surprised on the occasions he made an effort to connect.

"Alpha-scent Nightstriker," rumbled a green dragon with blue markings, hunched close to the ground. His snout had a rounded protrusion from his nose and another down off his chin, what seemed to be a common feature of the dragons of this region, and fleshy nodules stood upright down the length of his spine.

Dreamer scented him more closely as he approached, aware that everything from position in the nest to relationship status to current wellbeing was at the tip of his snout, but he wasn't all that interested in deconstructing the minutiae. It was more interesting to note what looked like three females of his kind watching studiously from a short distance away. He had to admit he was curious how they… coupled… they were such awkward shapes; not that he would be caught dead finding out, of course.

The odd dragon continued sniffing long after Dreamer had his fill, awkwardly dragging out the introduction in a way that reminded him of certain residents of Berk. He rolled his eyes and gave his head a shake, then turned to address three Spine-Tails approaching warily, bobbing his head up and down in their way of greeting.

They returned the gesture, then approached him almost reverently to exchange scents, two males and a female. He then had to warn the first, hunched dragon away from his hindquarters with a flash of teeth and a growl, allowing him only a cursory scent; experience and observation had taught him to be a little firm with the curious species, because they would just keep going otherwise.

"Nightstriker Long-Paw friend not," the female Nadder chirruped curiously. "You Long-Paw friend, why?" The three flitted about and preened even while she spoke, turning their heads to watch him at different angles; he recognised it as likely keeping their blind spots moving, so as to be harder to sneak into it and better cover each other's.

Dreamer replied with a warble of confusion at the question. "She fun. No reason not be friends." He didn't bother asking why they thought otherwise, they never remembered the details of what they knew, only the result.

"Sire think you want eat her," the smaller but more brightly coloured male grumbled.

"No," Dreamer huffed, appalled. "I like her. Friends." The female lightly bit the male, though he didn't seem to mind all that much, and lightly scratched the side of her face with his beak.

"Long-Paws not smell good eating," the hunched dragon grumbled.

"Yes, also that," Dreamer agreed, deciding to dub his kind a Sniff-Hunch; it seemed to fit his curious but somewhat dour demeanour.

"You look strong," the larger male hummed flatteringly, crouching low, then leaned forwards and respectfully nibbled Dreamer's shoulder.

"He not look much strong," the smaller boasted, standing tall and preening a little more aggressively.

Dreamer noticed the subtle looks they were both giving the female, wondering if dragons ever had anything else on their minds; not that he could criticise them for it. He snorted. "If you can move me, I will give you fish." These three were young, maybe two or three years old, fully grown – or close enough to – but not yet matured, their hides clean and unmarked, yet to build muscle and bulk.

The boastful one hissed, clearly offended, while the other two glanced at them both and distanced themselves, making their own opinions clear.

Dreamer narrowed his eyes at him, and he backed up a step just from that. While he didn't want to totally shatter this male's confidence, he did need to learn what threats were too much to handle, what fights he could not win. It could be a painful lesson to learn elsewhere.

The male charged at him, and Dreamer simply reached up and swatted him aside; Spine-Tails weighed nothing compared to Nightstrikers, despite being slightly bigger. He stumbled and teetered at the edge of the shelf, using his wings to stop himself from falling, then spun and lunged again only to be struck again by Dreamer's tail, nearly tripping over the Sniff-Hunch, who quickly backed up out of the way.

He snarled angrily as he found his balance, chest contracting – Dreamer's tiny shot took him in the side of the face, and his brief stream of fire went wide, scorching some nearby ferns. He stared at Dreamer, clearly contemplating trying again, but instead took to pacing, looking vainly for some sort of opportunity.

Dreamer realised he wasn't going to give up – he had no way to lose other than to give up, which he wouldn't do. That was simple enough to settle. Dreamer shuffled a little and planted a paw on the ground, slowly preparing to stand.

As he had hoped, but to his surprise nonetheless, the Spine-Tail yelped and submissively backed up. Perhaps he had only taken the challenge because he'd thought there would be no counterattack, no consequence to boasting. Something to bear in mind for the future.

The other two Spine-Tails hopped around their friend, alternately consoling and teasing him, and Dreamer let his gaze wander over the rest of the shelf. Several tall dragons with large fins across their crowns, massive underbites, and odd legs with double-knees all chittered and thrummed among themselves. As Dreamer watched, their hides went from unremarkably plain to deep blue, and then a bright red or green – he couldn't figure out which it was – crept down their heads and shoulders. As he looked closer, he noticed there was another pawful of them, well-camouflaged among the greenery. The Spine-Tails were starting to settle too, nipping each other and constantly preening. Life to them seemed to be a big dance to impress the best male or female.

He let himself get lost to his thoughts, contemplating the meaning of life. Was that all there really was to it? Building lineage was important, the fight to be the one to pass blood on to the next generation, to be the most influential to be allowed the privilege of having babies – or eggs, in his case, he supposed – driving people to be better.

Were Vikings any different, really? They fought to reach Valhalla, but that in itself was considered attractive. Would men be so keen to risk their lives if the women scorned them for it? Unlikely. Then again, there were the likes of Snotlout, who seemed immune to discouragement.

He considered himself. He was starting to feel a little more settled, more accustomed to his body's changes. It wasn't that his… urges… had abated, but they were less distracting than they had been a month ago, no longer derailing every line of thought he had. No longer overriding his discomfort with how he was, essentially, an animal. There would be no sacred ritual to bind him first, no formal process to follow. And would she even stay afterwards? Wanderer had spoken of his sire on rare occasion, but was that the norm?

The taboo of getting intimate out of wedlock had been drilled into everyone harshly because the tribe could not support surprise children, or at least it hadn't been able to during the war. Those customs were unlikely to change, though it had always been up to the male's family to figure it out. Getting rid of the child was frowned upon, but an option, for if ends weren't meeting already. It would only be a matter of time before someone figured out there was plenty of everything now, and thus no need for the parents to give up their meals or anything. Heh, he was still thinking like a Chief, in some ways…

The female Spine-Tail lifted her head from where she lay on her side, her crown of quills standing tall as she looked down the length of her body at him, and he absently realised exactly where he had been staring while lost to his thoughts… He lifted his gaze to meet hers, then shrugged and looked off to the side. He really hadn't been looking intentionally, so buried in his thoughts he hadn't even seen at the time, though of course he could remember now…

He slowly realised what he'd done as she continued glaring at him, as his daydreaming wore off. Still a dreamer, he thought wryly to himself, ears burning with embarrassment. He was supposed to be over putting his paws in his mouth… and he hadn't even said anything this time!

To his mounting dread, she got to her paws and slowly walked up to him, then leaned in very close to scent him. He remained lying on his chest, very still, wide eyes staring sightlessly over the nest as he focused on her whiffs of breath playing down his shoulder and back.

After several long, terrifying moments, she walked around to catch his eye. "You not have female?" she asked intently.

"I never see female Nightstriker," he mumbled, looking down at his paws. "None here."

She let out a long, low croon that he had some difficulty interpreting – and then she pressed herself against him with a deep purr, rubbing her neck against his and fluttering her wings as she shuffled around. Dreamer could only lie there rigidly – noooo no no no no, I didn't mean, I'm not-! He looked helplessly at the two males, but they were glaring murderously at him and didn't seem inclined to help. Well I wouldn't need help if you were better males!

Apparently oblivious to his unwillingness, she leaned down to nibble his chest, then turned around and settled on her side with her hindquarters under his head, spiked tail draping across his wing-shoulder and part way down his back. She seemed to have her eyes closed, and was still purring deeply, and her heady scent was far stronger than it had been earlier, and Dreamer had no idea what to do with this!

Some of the other dragons looked on in interest, but more with an eye of envy – Dreamer glared at them before they could get any ideas. This didn't appeal to him at all, even if part of him was vaguely excited about the notion of a female cozying up to him.

But the worst of it was that this was his own fault, he couldn't just get up and walk off; that would be extremely offensive, he knew enough about dragon culture to figure that out. He had shown interest, however accidental, and given her an opportunity to court him. He had to allow her to fail. Even if this would probably work immediately with any male of her species. Even if he couldn't get that image of what he had been sightlessly staring at out of his head-

He shuddered for two completely different and entirely conflicting reasons, then held in a groan and glared at the ceiling. When I asked for help, he silently growled to Odin, this isn't what I had in mind…

(( Auuqlcom6tM ))
Immortalized