Somehow, Dreamer awoke. This surprised him because he had not been expecting to fall asleep, and he certainly hadn't expected a dream in which Sire had married him to-
He groaned under his breath and pawed at his head, then glanced at the other Nightstriker in the den with him, still sleeping soundly. It means what I want, does it? Huff. That they would apparently be sharing a female – and more, if others could be found – would have been a nice detail to know from the start.
Although… would that really have changed anything? Perhaps how he'd approached Whispering, there were some really bad ways that could have gone with his ignorance, but otherwise it only would have given him more time to come to terms with it. Because what was he going to do? Fly away now, after everything they'd been through? Go back to the Lightstriker nest and pick a mate he wouldn't be able to take seriously? Live alone forever?
He knew, deep down, that he was going to be dragged along for this. He just… had to get over the shock of his perception of the world being completely shattered. Honestly, the points Wanderer had raised were good ones, and having a whole family of equals to lean on sounded… like what he had been missing all his life. He wasn't trading Wanderer for a female as the closest person in his life, and he wouldn't lose that with Wanderer either. They were just… adding someone to their lives. However that worked.
He groaned under his breath and dragged himself to his paws, then walked to the mouth of the den and looked outside. The late afternoon sky-fire shone from above and behind, bright and warm, the slight angle of the mountain casting a short shadow down over the lush land below. The lake still flowed into the river that split the land as it stretched off into the distance, its clear water glinting in the light, but it was now only two or three body-lengths wide. Further away from the mountain, the fields and forests were noticeably greener nearer the water, though they kept a short distance, as if wary of its strength with the snowmelt. At least he could be confused somewhere idyllic.
Dreamer yawned, then let himself tip forwards into the wind. He nearly misjudged it, pulling off some tense manoeuvring and catching the air mere paw-lengths above the rough slope, but on the bright side he felt significantly more awake afterwards.
The hot-season warmth was still something of a novelty to him, and the idea of lying in the warm light was almost enough to put the nervous, twisting thoughts from his mind. He picked out a nice spot on the river and angled for it, a short beach of fine stones surrounded by fields; it would be in the light almost until the sky-fire set.
But as he flew, his thoughts inevitably kept drifting back. Some part of his mind was telling him to flee, to escape this strange situation he'd found himself in, but that just felt like the stubborn Viking part of himself insisting that this wasn't how things worked; that particular voice could be irrational at the best of times. He was a Nightstriker now, and he… was going to live like one. To deny that would only make himself miserable. At least, that was what he kept telling himself. Grrr… Sometimes he wished he'd been born stupid.
A different beach caught his eye, one with a distinct marking, and on a whim he swung around into a landing, the gritty little rocks crunching under his paws as he touched down. Wanderer's drawing from earlier was still crisp and clear, and while it had looked a little wonky from above it actually looked pretty good from here. A little more than a body-length wide, detailing the eyes, ears, and frills of a Nightstriker; he assumed it was of Fleeting, not just for missing the small fins over the forehead.
Her scent still clung to the rocks; a faint remnant, but his nose was keyed to it, honing in on the slightest traces. All going well, she would be… part of his nest, but not in the way he had been expecting. His mind was baulking at the idea – he'd expected to have longer to come to terms with finding a mate – but his body was as keen as ever, not at all deterred by the suddenness or warping of expectation; that was no surprise, really, it was designed to work this way.
He settled down where Fleeting's scent was strongest, lying down on the beach and appreciating the gentle heat soaking into his hide from the light above and the rocks below. With his head resting on his foreleg, the beautiful scent drifted up past his nose, and he closed his eyes to better take it in and focus on it. One light… all going well… maybe they…
A minute sound lifted his ear, washing away a lethargy and drowsiness that told him he'd dozed off. He had a strong suspicion he was no longer alone, likely either Wanderer or Fleeting stalking him. But it was unlikely to be the former, who generally knew when to give him some space.
Was Fleeting testing him? Wrrr, he supposed everything in courting was a series of little tests, to get the measure of and to prove oneself to the other; or others, in this case, he supposed. So, how best to respond…?
"I like this warm sky-fire," he said, stretching out onto his side and trying not to allow his overwhelming nervousness into his voice. "Was very cold where I… hatched. I only know cold, until I come here."
The only response was the calm burbling of the river, and the leaves rustling in the wind a distance behind him. Perhaps he had imagined it… or perhaps he was still being tested. It was easier to assume the latter, because if he really was alone then nobody would bear witness to his mistake.
He didn't want to turn and check, that felt like giving up the game. Instead, he shrugged with an indifferent grunt, then stood and stretched, digging his claws into the loose ground-
A hop to the side was all he needed to avoid the pounce, and there was no follow-up. "I was stretching," he grumbled, then dropped into his side to reach up and back, pulling at his aching chest and abdominal muscles.
"You were snoring," Fleeting said primly, then walked past him to the river to lap at the clear water. It gave him a great view of her flanks and tail from where he lay, her strong legs subtly poised in case he retaliated, claws firmly and surely gripping the loose ground. "You snoring here," she added, looking back at him while her snout dripped water, "in this light."
"Only napping," he said as he sat up and settled on his haunches, "Not could sleep."
"You not could sleep, so you sleep," she said dryly, turning to look at him suspiciously with her deep green eyes. "I say this already, but you are strange."
"You want admit you were so loud you woke me from sleep?" he chuckled. "You were quiet. I not knew you were there."
"But I was there," she growled. "I need…" her wings drooped a little, and she sighed. "...practise." She suddenly tensed a little, then flicked her wings and looked around. "You here much time now. You have territory near? I not could find it."
Dreamer froze, feeling the blood drain from his body; he really could have done without a new crack in his understanding of reality. "We were thinking we should claim this place," he hedged, "is nice place." His mind was racing, trying to figure out why this wasn't already his territory, but at the same time it felt blank and stifling. He was sure that any moment now she was going to notice how overwhelmed he was, and he didn't know what was going to happen then.
"You… Yes, is nice place," she agreed, apparently oblivious to his turmoil, as she walked back to him and sat on her haunches. "I come here for fish in warming season. There was Nightstriker nest here many seasons past…" She huffed. "But not now. I not know where they went."
"They not getting it back now," Dreamer half-growled, then regretted his choice of words along with his entire existence. "Wrrr, I hungry, will fish," he said shortly, rising to his paws-
"Yes, fish, I hungry also," she hurriedly agreed, leaping to her own paws. She swiftly trotted back to the edge of the river, stared into it for a few moments, then slowly waded into the shallows. Dreamer paused, then walked over to wade out with her and stare at the lakebed.
The flowing water tugged at his legs, as always a little warmer than he expected it to be, pulling along with it the long strands of plant-things that grew here and there. He stood in it stiffly, wishing his head would start working properly again.
And then for a brief moment, it did, and he groaned under his breath. "Lake will have more fish," he said awkwardly; the river was barely wide and deep enough to swim in, fishing here was a chancy endeavour.
Agreement, she barked, then turned and waded back out. Dreamer followed her out, watched curiously as she hesitated by Wanderer's drawing, and then they leaped into the air.
He wasn't sure if he should be leading them, given it was his territory… sort of… but right now he was following, just because it was the path of least resistance. Also because his mind was still painfully blank, refusing to cooperate.
They passed into the shadow of the mountain, and were soon descending back to the uneven ground to land in the grass. Figuring he shouldn't be a sheep, always following, Dreamer walked ahead into the shallows to wait patiently for opportunity, and Fleeting was careful not to disturb the water as she walked out with him.
He wasn't really looking for fish. The recent revelations were still clamouring for his attention, all so loud and insistent that he couldn't make sense of anything in the chaos; all the progress he'd made with females at the Lightstriker nest was swept away by all the new considerations he had to take into account.
Fleeting suddenly lunged, splashing Dreamer as she partially disappeared into the now rippling water, only her hindquarters and wings above the surface. Then movement caught his eye, and the fish she had gone for darted past him and swam away. "What we are doing?" he asked himself rhetorically, not really meaning to voice the thought; he really should have caught that fish, it had practically brushed against his claws.
Agitation, Fleeting growled, shaking water from her head. "I am distracted. I not talked in… much time. You not helping by being that big, attractive. But I will catch next fish." She bared her teeth at the water, staring at it determinedly.
Dreamer rumbled an agreement – then blinked, processing what she had said.
"I not had Nightstriker sire, dam," he hummed solemnly. "I grew with Wanderer only. I knew other dragons… also we meet some nearly like us last cooling-season. But they not were Nightstrikers. You are first other I have seen." He tossed his head with a dry laugh. "I not know what this like for you, after being alone for much time, but I am terrified. I not know what I should do. I not even can think," the water splashed as he raised a dripping wet paw to his head, "because Wanderer tell me some things last light that I really want know sooner, and I not know how feel about it yet."
She was staring at him with wide eyes, her expression unreadable, and his anxiety swelled. "Maybe," he said quietly, lowering his paw to run his claws across the surface of the lake, "this night, we can just… get comfortable? This not is me. I think this not is you also. So… not think bad about you, also me. Mostly me."
Several moments passed while she continued staring at him. "Yes," she sighed heavily, dropping her wings, shoulders, and tail so dramatically that for a brief instant he thought she might fall right into the water. "That is good idea."
He felt himself relax as well, tail sinking under the surface; knowing she was as nervous as him seemed to help to calm his nerves, somehow. He laughed awkwardly, then smiled at her in the Nightstriker way, lifting his ears and frills, and she smiled back at him; it had been a while since he'd used only the non-human form of the expression, but it came naturally and easily.
For what felt like the first time, he really saw her. Smaller than him, but not by much, a person who had needed to learn to survive on her own with absolutely nobody to talk to. Lonely, but independent, hoping but not desperate. Attractive, too, with strong and defined features, her radiant green eyes alert and alive. Her snout lightly touched to his, and he leaned forwards, rubbing his face against hers with a deep purr while she nuzzled him in return. He didn't know what it was like for her, but she was the first Nightstriker he had met in the wild, the only other besides himself and Wanderer, and it felt so good just knowing that… that they weren't alone in the world.
They were only distracted by a fish weaving around their legs, Dreamer startling a little as its fins brushed against his ankles. Then his mind caught up with him and he pounced, but too slow. "I promise I not bad hunter," he said dryly, watching the prey dart away and out of sight.
"I see that," Fleeting hummed as she walked past, touching her nose to his waist – had she just called him overweight? – before stretching her wings and leaping into the air with a shower of water.
Dreamer walked out of the lake and shook himself off, then watched her glide along the bank in a wide arc towards the foot of the mountain. Part way around, she suddenly veered out over the water and dove into it, her head emerging from the resulting white froth after only a few moments with the hapless prey in her teeth.
She flapped into the air and sped back to him to drift into a short landing. He acted reflexively when she tossed the fish to him, grabbing it out of the air and gulping it down. "I not bad hunter also," she said proudly while he ate, flicking her wings.
"You definitely not bad hunter," he agreed, eyeing her lean but muscular body with a purr, then leapt out over the lake himself. Its surface blurred past as he flew, eyes piercing it to see the plants drifting lazily at the bottom…
He spotted a flash of movement and pivoted towards it, quickly locating the fish and spearing into the water above it. He felt his claws pierce flesh, the creature jerking and thrashing under his paw but helpless to stop him grabbing it in his teeth. Wanting to show off a bit, he didn't immediately resurface, instead swimming to deeper waters and picking up some momentum to launch himself straight into the air. It was difficult to see what she thought of that, but she certainly enjoyed the fish he tossed to her as he set down.
"I like fish from this place," she hummed as she ran her tongue down her cheek. "Water is nice also. Clear, tasty."
She lifted her wings again, facing the lake, but Dreamer chuffed for her attention. "We can hunt when Wanderer wakes," he said, glancing up to their den. "Land-prey not far from here. He will like that."
"You both are strange," she hummed, but this time without any bite to the word. "But you are very warm for him, also him for you. You hunt well together."
"You know that well," he teased, pawing at the tip of her furled wing.
"Do I?" she challenged playfully, trotting around him with a flick of her tail. "You still not could catch me!"
He whipped his tail away right as she pounced for it. "You stopped running," he rumbled, then hummed content to himself. "We have done much together. Fought many bad people. Were hurt together…"
"Tell me?" she asked hopefully, staring at him with wide eyes and shuffling her paws as she lay on her chest. "How you talk…"
"Like hatchling, I know," he said dryly-
"...is wild," she finished with a deep purr, rubbing her neck against the grass.
He blinked at her. "Maybe," he chuckled. "Wanderer… I not really know what happened, but I think his family is dead, when he young fireling." She lifted her head, eyes sad and full of questions, but he silently reassured her as he pressed on, giving her a sort of censored rundown of their lives as they had done with the Lightstrikers; Berk, Alvin, Dagur, Viggo, Drago, and finally leaving all that behind to come here.
He felt no reason to keep secrets, but the fact that he used to be a Long-Paw just… didn't seem relevant anymore. Thinking back to that time was like thinking back to his infant years, a naïve child before experiencing the world. A different person.
"So we settled here," he finished, looking around. It was still quite early, the sky-fire still shining over the top of the mountain with the way it was angled, but he was starting to feel the lack of sleep dragging on him. Fleeting had remained mostly quiet, only making some sympathetic whines and various growls at appropriate points.
Which… was a bit odd, now that he thought about it. He really was tired – here was an actual wild Nightstriker, one from this land and who had grown up here. "I want ask you something," he rumbled, and her ears perked attentively. "What you think about Long-Paws?"
Thoughtful, she hummed. "I not think much about them. They nest everywhere… Make water bad, as you say," and that she said with a slight gag, "but I stay far from them. No reason to go near."
Dreamer thought about his occasional jaunts into the nearby nest to listen to the music, but he was a bit of a special case. "There is nest over that mountain," he said, tipping his head towards it.
"Can they get here?" she asked, tone edged with suspicion.
"No," he chuffed, "they not can fly, not can carry their things over mountain."
"Then I not care." She ruffled her wings and turned her nose up in that direction. "They can foul their water, also their land, over there."
Dreamer churred thoughtfully, trying to fit that into the puzzle he had been mulling over since Johann had first met him as a Nightstriker on Berk. "Why they so afraid of us then?" he mumbled to himself.
"Why they not should?" Fleeting scoffed. "They are weak. We are strong. They should fear us."
"Not like that," he rumbled uneasily. "You not seen Nightstrikers in much time. Also Lightstrikers say we are less now. I worried…"
"You say they not can get here," she said confidently. "Then they not can get here. Also I find you, so-"
She was interrupted by a roar from the mountain, their ears going up as they both turned to see Wanderer hurtling towards them…
Dreamer suddenly had a sense of how comfortable he'd so quickly become with Fleeting. It was obvious now, because Wanderer being here was reintroducing a lot of the confusion he still held over what he was becoming fairly confident was going to happen, the three of them…
"Wanderer!" Fleeting barked as he landed, leaping over to and around him before pressing up against his side with a purr. "I will get you fish!" she chirruped gleefully, then leaped out over the lake and beat her wings for lift.
For his part, Wanderer just stared at and then after her, apparently uncertain of how to react. "She seems… lively," he said slowly.
"She is happy for see you," Dreamer laughed. "I not could sleep. Hrrr, I guess she not could sleep also."
"You not tripping on your tail?" Wanderer teased, pawing at him.
Dreamer swatted him away. "I never trip on my tail! Sometimes someone stands on it." He purred, kneading the grass where he lay. "She not do that…"
Suspicious, Wanderer growled. "What you do? You being very… not Dreamer."
"I tell her she terrifies me," Dreamer hummed, fully aware of how that sounded; it was amusing, really, that by admitting that they probably weren't going to be themselves, they were now behaving much more like themselves, or at least he was.
Wanderer stared at him for several moments. Then he burst out laughing, even appearing a little unsteady as he sat on his haunches. "Yes, that is Dreamer thing," he chuckled, tossing his head. "Only you… Wrrr, you have eaten?"
"Some…" He groaned as he remembered one particular revelation. "You know this not our territory?" Wanderer tensed. "Not like that," Dreamer huffed with a toss of his head. "Fleeting said we should claim it…" The staring contest resumed, Wanderer's expression blank; he looked as confused as Dreamer felt.
They had instantly recognised others' territory, the scent permeating the air. The obvious conclusion was that they had to mark it somehow, more than by just living here; they had travelled much, but did not automatically claim those places along the way. Dreamer was… vaguely aware of how dragons marked territory, much like other animals, but the sheer scale of it presented an obvious problem-
A problem that had an equally obvious solution, now that he was thinking about it, one that his instincts had been trying to tell him for years now and that he had been thoughtlessly repressing. "We need mark it," he said reluctantly, putting a paw on his head.
Wanderer blinked. "I should know that," he groaned – then swatted at Dreamer. "I had bad no-territory thinking," he growled, "why you not do that?"
"I had stupid Long-Paw thinking," Dreamer complained, fending him off. "I not know what is good Nightstriker instincts and what is stupid fireling ideas. I only doing what you doing! Wrrr, we do that later…" He spotted Fleeting heading back towards them, and the long light and lack of sleep suddenly caught up to him again. He yawned widely as she landed beside them, tossing a large fish to Wanderer who eagerly snapped it down. "We were thinking we should hunt…"
He eyed the two of them, then huffed. "You fly, I come soon." He hadn't properly cleaned himself since the previous evening, which he was feeling a little self-conscious about, particularly with Wanderer standing there all freshly groomed. But he also wanted to give them a bit of time to form their own bond, without him there for either of them to fall back on.
"We can hunt when you ready," Fleeting said eagerly, "I can wait."
Acknowledgement, Dreamer chuffed, lifting a foreleg to lick the water off it and surreptitiously glancing up. Fleeting had sidled up to Wanderer, their wings touching, the two of them looking every bit a happy Nightstriker couple already – and he didn't feel a shred of envy or jealousy over it.
Maybe, he thought to himself as the pair shared a few words and took to the sky, this wouldn't be so weird after all. He wanted what was best for his friend, and had misinterpreted his instincts, his lack of… possessiveness that he remembered feeling over Astrid. He desired Fleeting, was already looking forward to spending more time with her, getting to know her.
His body was… looking forward to doing things with her too, but it wasn't tripping him up nearly as much compared to with the Lightstrikers. She had never flaunted herself at him, not in that way… Though he almost wished she had, despite how off-putting he would probably have found it.
He huffed to himself and focused on his task, quashing his impatience to be done and forcing himself to be thorough. As well as wanting to give them some time to meet properly, he also wanted to look his best himself.
Wanderer stifled a yawn as he flew, blinking himself to alertness. The lights during the hot-season were long – not as long as further north – but even still, this was early to be awake. And yet, somehow, Dreamer had not only found Fleeting already but also made a good impression on her.
She casually flew a body-length away with an enthusiastic strength to her occasional flaps, stealing glances at him. As was often the case, it was going to be difficult to live up to his friend-mate. "Where we going?" he asked, glancing down at the forest drifting past below them, and the long shadow it cast towards the river.
"I was following you," Fleeting barked, rolling above and over him to fly on his other side. "But I will lead!" She sharply banked away, and he swerved to follow, dissatisfied with himself.
He could do better. His claws flexed against his body as he tucked his legs in tighter, eyes narrowing on her tail, and he stretched his wings and heaved them against the air. She glanced back at him, startled, but was quick to twist into a sharp dive, instantly falling away.
Rather than trying to follow directly, he swerved around after her, falling behind in the process but keeping his height and speed. Determined, he roared; she had escaped him before, but not this time. For most of his life he had flown harder and longer than any Nightstriker could reasonably be expected to fly, and this felt like the moment that would make it all worth it.
She was fast. He was faster, gaining slowly but picking up speed with every stroke of his wings. Her sub-wings flicked out and screeched against the wind, and he growled eagerly at the challenge, angling down to further close the distance.
The gap narrowed while they hurtled across forests and fields, startled wing-prey fleeing in their wake as they drifted lower. She let him get close, then wavered in the air and suddenly shot off to the side, making the sharp turn with little warning. But he was accustomed to such tactics, and the lead she clawed back in doing so was minimal.
Left, left, right, left, right, he chased her relentlessly, matching every sharp turn and seeing through her feints, gradually closing the distance. Five body lengths… Four… Three… Confidence, glee, he roared as he swerved after her yet again; there was no convenient mountain of twisting tunnels for her to lose him in here.
In an abrupt instant, she rolled, cutting off her sound-sight, and disappeared into a gap in the trees. In a stupid flash of overconfidence, Wanderer rolled and deftly manoeuvred his wings to catch the air and slow him before slightly overshooting the gap and crashing through the canopy. He felt sticks crack and break against his hide, his shoulders hit something thicker that he glanced off, and then his paws were slamming down into the hard ground.
The alarmed twittering of a wing-prey faded into the distance, and twigs rained down through the branches to bounce off him and the forest floor; he blinked as one struck his head, then gave himself a shake to dislodge whatever had just stuck between his frills. If Fleeting was still fleeing him, she was being quiet and slow, but he had to find her quickly nonetheless.
He took a deep breath as he prowled around the clearing, taking in the crisp air and searching for that warm, alluring scent. His ears flicked, the sounds of the forest initially loud but then dulling as he focused. There was no trail, no sound…
That could only mean she had not landed, but that didn't make sense… He looked up at the canopy, remembering her ducking and rolling through the gap. She had not landed on the ground… but above, there were pale marks in one of the trees, fresh gouges. And behind that-
"You are good hunter," Fleeting hummed as she prowled into sight, climbing head-first down a nearby tree and watching him with eyes that seemed to glow faintly in the shade.
"You not like losing," Wanderer huffed in reply, dropping to his haunches. "You not could escape." He had been on her trail, and would have heard her the moment she tried to move.
She chirped happily as she touched the ground and trotted over. "Yes, you almost caught me."
Wanderer grumbled to himself and flexed his wings, then arched his back. His muscles simmered with the exertion of their flight, aching to be stretched, and he purred under his breath as he obliged. Hopefully Dreamer wouldn't be too long, the single fish he'd eaten wasn't going to go far after that.
"Dreamer told me what you do," Fleeting hummed quietly as she approached. "All your fights. This life not has been good for you…" She walked right up to him, then leaned in to lick his shoulder; the twitch of pain told him of the scratch he must have taken falling through the trees. "But you are so strong…" He could see that she wanted to say more, but she either couldn't find the words or decided against it.
"Maybe," he rumbled. He wasn't that strong, not like Dreamer was. He just followed, bit, clawed, and killed. He had wanted to kill those bad alphas, and all the hunters in their nests. Dreamer had won fights before Wanderer had even known there was a fight. Dreamer had needed to fight him too, to stop him from just slaughtering everyone who wanted to hurt them. Wanderer would have been fighting for the rest of his life, which probably wouldn't have been that long. He never would have won. But Dreamer had won those fights.
He huffed. "I am thinking stupid things…" Although… was he? Fleeting had been so lively, so open with Dreamer. Now she was somehow quieter, more withdrawn. Everything with the Lightstrikers, before Whispering at least, had felt hollow, false, but that had been easy. With Fleeting… it just seemed more difficult somehow.
They just needed to do something. He nearly suggested hunting, but they were waiting for Dreamer to do that, and they had just flown. "Walk with me?" he offered, then set off in a random direction as she chuffed, hopped to her paws, and darted to his side.
Her smooth, perfect scent drifted to him as they walked through the forest, stealing glances at each other. Seasons had passed since he had seen the Lightstrikers, but he couldn't help comparing them. Fleeting was physically more attractive, but flighty and tense, clearly unused to being around another Nightstriker. "You were here last warming-season?" he asked to break the silence.
"Yes," she admitted slowly. "I come for fish. Hunting not is easy in cold-season."
Wanderer huffed, "I thought I smelled… But you not…"
"I was hungry," she complained, "not wanted to play with males… Also I not knew how…" She paused, focusing intently on placing her paws for a pawful of heartbeats, then gave her head a shake. "Thought you left. This not is your territory. Hrrr, but why you still here?"
"It nice place," Wanderer hummed. "We… not know we need mark it. Wrrr, Dreamer not know, I lived with very bad thought-taking queen that made me forget."
Horrified, Fleeting whined. "You say that very calmly, but that…!"
"It was my life," he growled. "Not wanted it. But it happened. Some things… we just not know." When they first met Fleeting came to mind. Dreamer apparently not knowing how Nightstrikers nested was another. "Dreamer only has me, but I am… broken. Not remember some things." He sighed, kicking a twig as he walked. "I not know what I doing. But I need do it. I try."
Fleeting stopped walking, and Wanderer turned back to look questioningly at her. She stared levelly at him for two pawfuls of heartbeats, long enough that worry began to claw its way through him.
Finally, she took a deep breath and stood tall, then turned to the side and flared her wings out in front of herself. With a glance across at him, she then lifted her wings and turned a full circle, lightly bouncing off her paws, until she was facing him again.
He stared at her. Should he do another line-marking-thing, or…?
"Dam say I should do this if I find male," she said quietly. "I thought she was silly… but I found you, then it felt… good. Rrr, your marking-face-thing was interesting, I liked that, but... " She laughed quietly, "Dam would hit you then fly off. You try." Wanderer blinked at her. "Do my thing. Please…?"
Wanderer stared at those wide, pleading eyes, wondering what sort of situation might be required for him to say no to them. Being asked to do something like this made him not want to do it, it felt silly, but… he leaned back, slowly stretching his wings out in front of him, then turned in a circle.
He recalled… something. It was not this, not exactly, but Sire had been telling him how potential mates met. Some explanations had been confusing, talking about instinct and things he hadn't understood, but he remembered a particular way of showing off…
Fleeting stepped up beside him, and he felt a sudden need to impress her, to show her he was fit and strong. He hadn't known what he was doing the first time, but this time he stretched out his wings confidently, very aware of her body beside his as she stretched out her own wings. Then he was moving around her, and her around him, following each other as they gracefully skipped around in tandem, drawing closer, her wide eyes taking him in as he watched her move, her intoxicating scent-
"That how you impress new female," she purred, trotting off along the path they had been following with her head held high and leaving him staggering. She hadn't needed to tell him she was impressed, it was apparent in her scent – he hastily wiped his watering mouth as soon as he found his paws, then leaped after her to catch up.
He… didn't have words to describe that experience. It was as if nothing else had existed, everything fading away except for her sleek body and piercing eyes…
They walked aimlessly with quiet purrs, Wanderer not knowing what to do or say after that, until they emerged from the forest into one of the big fields. Tall grass brushed past his chest as he walked out into it, insects buzzing and fleeing his approach. For her part, Fleeting bounded ahead, jumping high to clear the grass and generally frolicking. He watched her, purring warmly to himself, until he noticed a dark shape in the sky heading towards them from the mountain.
"Dreamer!" Fleeting barked happily as he landed, bounding over to him and diving onto her side to paw up at him before leaping up and bounding off into the grass again.
Dreamer looked between where she had disappeared to and Wanderer for a few moments. "I see you not scare her away yet," he hummed.
Wanderer swatted at him. "I not trip on my tail with females," he growled.
There was a rustling, and Fleeting poked her head up nearby, otherwise hidden. "Not worry," she chirped, "I not am me. You also not are you." Then she ducked down again, and the grass rustled and wavered as she stalked through it.
Confusion, Wanderer growled, staring at the grass and then glancing at Dreamer.
Dreamer swatted at him. "You not like you are normally. Just relax. She not will fly away this night."
Wanderer grumbled to himself – then realised he had no idea where she'd gone. The tall grass swayed with the wind, no sign of Fleeting other than her lingering scent. Amusement, query, he warbled to Dreamer.
"Bad time for say that," Dreamer groaned. "She definitely will keep things interesting…" He then smirked, tipped his head at the grass, and crouched low to prowl into it.
It seemed fairly likely she'd somehow wriggle her way out of getting caught again… but in one way of thinking, that was a challenge in itself. She couldn't just stop running this time, if she wanted him to play her game, and Wanderer purred eagerly as he prowled into the grass after Dreamer.
As with before, it was almost too easy to pick up her scent, seeming to light a warm trail from his nose down to his tail, which flicked excitedly behind him. She had run and leapt around quite a bit, confusing the tracks and paths made in the grass, but she could only have gone so far. And, from the little about her that he knew, he had a sneaking suspicion that pulled him far out to the side of where she had been playing…
Her scent suddenly grew much stronger as he passed over a fresher trail, and the grass beside him erupted as she lunged away and threw herself into the air. "You not can sneak around me," he crowed, life-beats light and flighty in his chest and body burning with energy as he followed hot on her tail.
She rolled and weaved, trying to pull ahead, but he was a stronger flier. Even still, it was all he could do to keep pace-
And then Dreamer pulled up beside him, cutting her off as she veered around the field, and Wanderer growled with anticipation, flexing his claws. They tag-teamed her, heading her into each other and gradually closing the distance, eyes focused on her sleek tail…
Desperate, she roared as she dodged a testing lunge from Dreamer. "Look, prey!" She barked, angling towards the land-prey-herd that had begun to wander with the evening. "I hungry, you not should scare them!"
The herd was already startled, what with three big predators hurtling towards it, one of which was barking and roaring, and Dreamer hesitated. Only for a moment though, as long as it took Wanderer to glance at him. They all flared their wings to slow and drop down into the field, landing in a run-
She yelped as both Wanderer and Dreamer pounced at her, trying to avoid them and narrowly escaping Wanderer's claws only to stumble to Dreamer catching her leg. Then they were on her, and she was laughing and shrieking even while she thrashed and tried to escape; a futile endeavour with two experienced Nightstrikers systematically pinning her down, Dreamer handling her forelegs and snapping teeth while Wanderer trapped her hindleg, tail, and flailing wing. "Prey is escaping!" she roared desperately – then yelped again as Wanderer brazenly licked her belly, revenge for all her little tricks.
He and Dreamer both leapt away from the slashing claws that followed, bounding towards the fleeing prey. "We hunt prey now!" Dreamer barked over his shoulder, and she shrieked aggravation as she leapt after them.
With a belly full of fat land-prey, Dreamer lay on his side in the grass, dozing the night away. Nearby lay two other Nightstrikers, their breaths rhythmic and steady. The grass was pressed flat in a rough ring around them, a result of all their fidgeting and rolling around while they rested; part of it was chasing each other's scents around as they moved.
The afternoon and evening had been immensely fun and enjoyable. He was surprised, really, at how quickly and easily she had fit in, how smoothly it had gone. With Whispering it had been a worry that she might want to be his mate, but he didn't have that worry with Fleeting. Perhaps because she hadn't so much as hinted at that, and just seemed to be enjoying their company. He had been quite comfortable with Rising from the start as well, in much the same way.
Or perhaps it was because it just wasn't worrying him when thinking of her as a potential mate. It was still very early, they'd only just met her, and however playful and comfortable with them she had appeared so far she was still getting past her own loneliness and sudden anxiety for having company. That was… reassuring, in a way. He hated that she'd had to go through so much isolation, but it hadn't broken her. She was strong, determined, beautiful…
He purred and pressed his nose closer to the grass, revelling in her scent while his claws dug between the thick reeds and into the ground. He was certainly going to need to go sit in the river for a while later, but he couldn't help himself. The Lightstriker females had smelled nice, but an actual Nightstriker female, mmrrr…
Admittedly, he had also been expecting it to be… weirder… with the three of them. His head still refused to wrap its head around the concept, so maybe he was just in denial or something, but right now it felt… good. He and Wanderer weren't fighting each other over her – either trying to take her for themselves, or more likely, give her to each other – and she wasn't treated like some thing being pushed between them, or made to choose one or the other. Neither he nor Wanderer would pine for her after such a decision, and neither of them would suffer alone in the cooling-season.
Admittedly, that was still uncomfortable to think about. Right now it was easy to think of her the same way he did Wanderer, but that would eventually change one way or another. But it was less uncomfortable than the alternative. Otherwise they'd need to have found two perfect females at once, and given how long it had taken to find one, they were lucky enough that she was female.
Fleeting roused, and Dreamer pretended to be asleep; he'd had quite a lot of practise back at Dragon's Nest, with his insomnia. He heard pawsteps, the grass making little cracking sounds as she walked over it, getting closer. He kept his eyes closed as her purrs hovered over him, short and sharp on the inhales as she scented him. It took a lot of effort to keep his relaxed, steady breathing as those purrs drifted down to his hindquarters, the sound deepening as it went.
She exhaled, warm breath brushing lightly over his flank, and then she retreated. Heartbeats later, a light scrape off the ground preceded quiet wingbeats, and he knew she had gone, a cold and empty feeling replacing her presence.
He understood why. He felt a little the same way himself, delightfully overwhelmed but overwhelmed nonetheless. He also really felt the need to sleep, but that wasn't going to happen with her around, not yet. Even just her lingering scent on the ground was distracting. Though Wanderer apparently didn't share their problem, he was deeply asleep with the occasional snore.
After cracking an eye to make sure she was gone, Dreamer shuffled over and curled up over the warm, freshly-vacated grass, nuzzling it with deep purrs. He might not sleep as deeply this way, but he didn't care – because what good would an eternity do him if he didn't enjoy himself a little along the way.