Breaking Points
"Let me look at it," Luna commanded him.
He obeyed, standing before her so she could see his chest. He was not wearing any bandages anymore after about a month since the surgery. The wound had scarred over again and did not really bother him anymore, not as it had in the past. However, this regular inspection was necessary.
"Now to touch it," she whispered.
He prepared himself as she gently held a paw to his chest and pressed. There was nothing at first, and then there was a very faint twinge that felt completely normal for a healing wound. The deep, biting, agony that he had felt before was completely gone.
"So?" she warbled.
He nuzzled her forehead as he stood before her, "There is only a little hurting like any healing hurt would have. It will be better."
"Good, very good. You being better again will be very... liver-warming," she purred.
"Liver-warming only?" he chuckled, laying down beside her.
She chuckled and lay down, "No. Also belly-warming. But mostly liver-warming."
That part of life was one that they were both eager to get back to without having any concerns and when they could find the time away from the coming hatchling. Fortunately, her having a trusted adoptive sister and a blood-sister nearby made for plenty of opportunities to find time alone while they watched the children.
The egg rocked between her paws, and they forgot everything else as they stared at the egg. Waiting and wondering if this was the moment when the hatchling would decide to start hatching. They knew that it was a strong hatching from how much it moved within the egg.
"Little one, is this your time?" she purred.
The egg did not further move or get any cracks.
"Maybe not yet. It should be soon," he mused.
A long peace followed until their swaying tails stopped swaying.
"Look at me," she whispered.
Knowing what she was asking, he stared into her light blue eyes and thought about nothing else. None of the duties of being Chief, none of the frustrations of dealing with a rebellious daughter, nothing other than her.
Trust between them. Relief on his behalf. Eagerness for the new life.
I totally agr...
The moment broke, as it always did. But this time felt slightly different... more wholesome. That was probably because an old barrier had been taken care of.
"We are getting better at that," he chuckled.
"Yes, we are."
Mist-Wings flew up to the ledge later, and she had in her jaws a large branch with flowers on it. She landed, hopped up before them, and dropped the branch at his paws.
"More of the hurt-helping flowers, Shadowwing," she hummed.
"My thanks, Mist-Wings. How are my children?"
"They are well and not causing too many problems."
"Problems? What is Hidden-Hope doing?"
Mist-Wings ruffled her wings, looked elsewhere, and chuckled, "She is trying to flame, but no fire is coming out. Only fire-air and mouth-water. It is very twisting."
He was in no rush to help her learn. While Night Furies could not fade from sight, Light Furies and Dawn Furies could. The thought of an irresponsible, rebellious, youthful Dawn Fury dashing around unseen to pull pranks or cause trouble made him shiver as a father and as Chief to the possible victims in question.
Hopefully she became more responsible, somehow, before she learned her fire and fade.
"She can take a long time to learn her fire," he mumbled.
Mist-Wings chuffed in amusement, "I understand. How is the egg?"
Luna purred, "It might be getting ready to hatch soon."
"Good. We all want to see our new cousin. Shadowwing, Luna, warm cycle to you."
"And to you and your kin, dear Mist-Wings," Luna answered.
Mist-Wings dove off the ledge, her flight turned for the deeper chamber and New Haven. His brother, Green-Wings, and Wind-Dancer were probably exploring the forest. The other kids, everyone except for Dawn-Singer since he was above right now, were somewhere within the chamber, doing who knows what. As long as they stayed together in this cavern, they would be fine, and he trusted Moon-Dancer as his first son to be responsible for his siblings.
He and Luna were both not moving from here until after the hatching, which could be any moment.
He snagged the branch with the painkilling flowers, ate one of the flowers, and set the branch aside. That one flower should help numb any remaining pain for a few cycles. Fortunately, that plant was a common one down here, and it also had favorable affects for humans. There also wasn't much pain anymore anyway, so he wouldn't need to eat many more flowers in the future.
"Wake up! The egg is hatching!" Luna eagerly nudged him.
He was instantly awake, staring at the rocking and slowly cracking egg between her paws.
Well, that happened quickly! No time to waste!
"I will get them and bring a fish!"
"Fly fast!"
"I am your life-mate and a Night Fury. What sky-kin is faster?"
He stroked her neck with his tailfins, jumped for the sky, and flew quickly toward New Haven.
Alright, where are you all?
He found most of the children down by the waterfalls, and gave the kids the good news. They eagerly turned back to the ledge to watch the event happen. There were just a couple, his two youngest, who were not present. Fortunately, they were with Valka, receiving more lessons in human speech.
He stopped in New Haven, ate a whole fish, and found Hidden-Hope and Night-Light sitting outside Valka's hut. He did not mind that he was interrupting whatever lesson they were in. It was far more important that they be there to see their new brother or sister hatch.
"Sire-father!" "Yay!" "Shadowwing."
They hopped to their paws and feet and ran to him.
"The egg iss hatchinng!" "The egg is hatching!"
Valka looked giddy, which she definitely was. Night-Light looked amazed and curious. Hidden-Hope looked bored and unamused.
"Let's go!" Valka exclaimed.
My plan exactly!
He crouched down to let her on his back. Then he, his son, and his daughter turned back to their part of the chamber and flew with haste.
Even now over three years since the departure, part of him was still awed by seeing the glowing mushrooms that grew taller than trees, the trees that themselves glowed with light, the crystals that shone with all different colors, the rushing waterfalls that filled the massive cave with a constantly crashing but faint echo, and the columns that rose from the ground to the distant ceiling.
He still had no idea how such a place could even exist or be shaped. These caves and the crystals within, leaving aside how impossible it was that the crystals could constantly make light, might just be too strange to understand in normal terms.
They arrived at the ledge on which almost everyone was gathered. Only Rain-Eater and Dawn-Singer were absent since they were watching the above and this cavern entrance as the guards on duty.
He landed, let Valka climb off, and brought up the fish for his new son or daughter.
"I did not miss anything, did I?" he eagerly asked
"No, come watch," Luna hummed.
He slithered in at her side next to his brother. Among the children, Aurora, Mist-Wings, Moon-Dancer, and Night-Light looked very interested by the hatching while Rock-Climber, Moon-Pinner, and Hidden-Hope looked more bored.
The egg was very cracked and rocking.
"You can do it, little one! Hatch!" he purred.
This one definitely did not need any help as it broke the shell. A white nose appeared and sniffed at the open air with a chirp.
So you are white, or are you mixed-colors?
"We should bet what it is: male or female," he purred to Luna.
"What goes to the winner?" she chuckled.
"Waste duties for the first watching-cycle of the above," he proposed.
She hummed softly, closed her eyes, and sighed, "Fine. I bet it is male."
"And I bet it is female."
They kept waiting, hearing nothing but the cracking of the egg and the constant purring of the family around them.
The egg truly broke in half as the hatchling rolled out in a mess of eggshell and fluids. The hatchling had different colored spots and swirls of light and dark that faded to grey in places. Its paws and nose were bright white. Its wings hung damp and limp, its head had little frills, and...
He had another son.
I have another son! Yes! Oh...
He sighed and chuckled, "You win the bet."
She nuzzled his cheek, "No, we both won because we have him."
"Is it a boy?" Valka asked.
"Yess," he answered.
Luna started licking the hatchling clean after peeling away the eggshards on his back. He mewled and leaned into the licking and cleaning.
"He is like me!" Night-Light giddily cried.
"Yes, son. He is a many-colors of dark and light Dawn Fury like you."
Was-Grounded chuckled heartily and nudged his shoulder with a paw, "Brother, Luna, well flown with him. You made another good hatchling."
He rolled his eyes and knocked his brother's shoulder, "No, this one had no flying. We were only on the ground."
The children who were old enough to understand groaned heavily, spun away, and flew off or just ran down the ledge to be out of hearing. Night-Light and Moon-Pinner were too young to understand, so they stayed where they sat.
Innocently antagonizing the children was another part of being a parent that was... amusing at times and was like revenge for other frustrations the children caused when they were younger.
The hatchling, finished receiving his bath and nuzzling from him and Luna, found his footing, opened wide blue eyes, and looked around at everyone nearby. Then he chirped, looking around for something. That something was certainly food, so he spun around and grabbed the fish for his new son.
"What?" "No." "Not that..." "Little one..."
Huh?
He laughed freely when he saw what had happened. The hatchling had pounced on the branch and was chewing on the bright flowers.
Luna chuckled, "You do not need to eat flowers."
Her ears lifted as she faced him, "Flower-Eater?"
Why not? We already have a Rain-Eater.
"Yes, he is Flower-Eater," he agreed.
He repeated that for Valka, and she grinned widely.
"I see how that fits for him," she laughed.
But he will probably like this fish better!
He tossed the fish at Flower-Eater's paws, and Flower-Eater flailed wildly, pounced on the softened fish, and started working on it. Everyone remaining was content to purr to him and watch him as he filled his belly. Everyone except Valka, anyway, since she bent down to stroke her grandson's back. He didn't even seem to notice, since the fish was all that mattered for him.
He gave a very deep sigh of total relief. Nothing bad had happened with this last concern, his last hatchling, that had been on his mind. There was nothing else to do now except for the normal, everyday tasks of keeping the tribe going, being a loving father and mate, and dealing with any of the craziness that surely would happen in time.
Luna dove from the shared-ledge while following her nestmate sister, Moon-Pinner, Green-Wings, and Night-Light. She and Green-Wings carried their hatchlings in their mouths as that was safest while they were so small. Their mates were all away on their various duties: Dawn-Singer watching the island above, Was-Grounded claiming the brightest light-rock or flying to check on nearby ranges of sky-kin, and her own Shadowwing being an Alpha for the ground-kin.
Kin-liver was going to be waiting for them down on the sands to give more ground-kin talking lessons to Moon-Pinner and Night-Light. Both of the Dawn Furies were becoming more eager to learn that talking.
They arrived on the sands, landed, let their hatchlings go, and bounded to Kin-liver.
"Luna, Green-Wings, Flies-With-Sun," Kin-liver purred.
They purred in welcome to the warm ground-kin. Moon-Pinner and Night-Light bounded up to her with cries of welcome and learning, in ground-kin words, at least from Moon-Pinner. She knew more words than Night-Light did.
Satisfied that the two fledglings would be occupied for a long time, she, Green-Wings, and Flies-With-Sun went over to the good pools. Their hatchlings must have understood what they were here for since they dashed for the pools. Her nestmate sister bounded out into the water with them.
Meanwhile, she and Green-Wings sat by the pool to oversee everything.
"How do you have so much strength with little ones?" she asked Green-Wings.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that Wind-Dancer is your sixth little one with Was-Grounded. I find having three so far is very tiring."
Green-Wings chuffed and fell fully on her belly, "It is. Every one of them is. But I am very liver-warmed doing that and being a dam-mother to them. I also want to be a dam-mother because... I should be one."
"Yes, that is a normal and good wanting."
"True, but I... grr.. nothing," Green-Wings grumbled.
Something looked to be biting Green-Wings's tail, though she did not admit to it. That gnawing problem was very obvious, knowing her as she did. Green-Wings truly enjoyed and was liver-warmed by being a dam-mother and having a large nest. That was good of her. However, the hidden world and the limited food available meant that egg-making had to stop.
She is caught between what she wants to fly and what can be flown here. What a problem! There is an easy answer for this!
She slyly purred to her, "Have you thought more about being with your mate, but not to get eggs?"
Green-Wings grumbled, "I still do not feel very warmed by it."
"Why not?"
"Maybe that is good for you. But doing that feels like a false-lie to me."
There was nothing false or lying about a loving mate wanting to warm her liver and belly and show her that she was wanted in that good way. It did not need to make an egg every time.
"Why does it feel like a lie?"
Green-Wings huffed and got to her paws. They both stared in silence to the swimming hatchlings who were snapping at the small fish.
"It does. I cannot say better," Green-Wings grumbled.
She hummed in thought, wondering about what could truly be bothering Green-Wings.
Maybe I should talk to Was-Grounded and let him know to give her more attention. This sounds like a talk they should have.
Luna finished explaining to Shadowwing that their Night-Light was apparently having some problems learning the ground-kin picture words. Night-Light was not remembering well the picture-words, but he could talk a little in ground-kin words without problems other than not knowing new words.
"Do you think he has a problem?" she whispered.
His tail tapped on the ground beside him, "Maybe he has a problem with picture-words, but not with his thinking. He had no problems learning our sky-kin words."
She hummed, "Do you think this will hurt his life-fire, if it is true that he has learning problems?"
"What do you mean?"
"He doubts himself too much, more than Moon-Dancer or Hidden-Hope did at his age."
"He does. We will help keep his life-fire warm and teach him to trust himself more. I know about not trusting myself."
The other Fury family arrived and started to settle down together.
She got to her paws, "I need to talk to your brother. Will you hold Flower-Eater?"
He picked up his son and curled up with him. She bounded over to Was-Grounded as he got ready to rest with Green-Wings. There was a talk she wanted to have with him in secret.
She purred, "May we talk on our own?"
"Sure."
He followed her to a far corner of the shared-ledge where they perched together, "What do you want to talk about?"
She chuffed and nudged his shoulder, "Your life-mate. She has some... twisted thinking."
He barked, "What? My Green-Wings is everything that is not twisted."
She hummed, wondering how to say this best, "You know that I and Shadowwing join as mates even when not to get eggs, yes?"
He huffed, rolling his eyes, "Yes, I know. I saw you both together once. Not that I was looking to see that!"
"No, you would not do that. But you being with Green-Wings more would be very good and liver-warming for her."
He grumbled, "Are you saying that I am doing something wrong or twisted with her, with my own life-mate?"
"No, that is not what I am saying! She might have some liver-chill that she is hiding from. You could help her with that."
Apparently satisfied, he hummed in thought while staring at a light-rock, "Having time to ourselves as mates is difficult when we have a hatchling."
"Very true. That is why I, Green-Wings, and my sister have agreed to do more watching of each other's hatchlings and children when there is need to do so," she chuckled.
"That might have lift. What liver-chill does she have?"
"I do not know, but she very much does not like the no egg-making rule."
"Yes, I know that about her. Thank you for telling me this. I will think about it."
Was-Grounded returned to Green-Wings's side and rested a wing over her while Luna lay down with Shadowwing. Their children were asleep around them after a long waking-cycle.
Luna's words about Green-Wings having a hidden liver-chill were... unexpected, but Luna had good thinking, so there was probably something that made her think that. Her suggestion that he be with Green-Wings more was a good one. His combination of needing to be High-Alpha, work and hunt for the range and the ground-kin, and be a sire-father to five children had always left little time to be with her.
Being with her had always been about making eggs. They were together much in the new-life seasons because that is what they were supposed to do. They both had wants that burned in their livers. That the joining had another purpose, that of life-bonding between life-mates, was not something he had cared for at first, though he was starting to understand it from Shadowwing and Luna. They were not only together for eggs.
He glanced at Wind-Dancer dozing between Green-Wings's paws. The hatchling would need a lot of attention as every hatchling did. But, with two other known and trusted dam-mothers also willing to watch her, he and Green-Wings could find time to be alone more.
Maybe that is her liver-chill. She wants me more, but does not truly know it. Yes, that is probably it.
Nothing would come from doing this right now, but he curled his tail around her and nuzzled her as she slept.
What did Shadowwing say that idea was: love? Truly wanting another to be happy and liver-warmed even if I get nothing from it?
Green-Wings was his life-mate always. They both warmed each other's lives and gave each other and themselves little ones. They were useful to each other in that way. Not making more eggs was almost like a testing of what they were.
But after everything they had been through together: killing the thought-rotted Night Fury that flew in her range, leaving her range and almost dying on that long flight to his range, and everything that flew with raising five, now six, children together, there was more than only usefulness.
He was certain that warmth would remain even if they never made another egg. She certainly agreed with him on that detail.
The plateau was rocky, covered in a little moss closer to the waterfall, and isolated.
Was-Grounded crouched low, tail swaying as he stalked in a wide circle while eyeing his opponent. He was very eager to do this and also wary of something going wrong.
Shadowwing similarly stalked in a wide cycle while growling at him.
Their first true play-fight, held on a sandy beach on the Berk-island, involved a mistake. His brother had pounced on him in a surprise strike, and he had struck back by accidentally clawing fledgling Hiccup in the belly. Doing that had spilled his life-water for the first time.
Now, Shadowwing's sky-light hurt-marks might still bother him some, but it was more the chest that he was worried about. His brother had assured him that the chest hurt was not a problem after the remaining piece of the arrow-weapon had been taken out and the hurt healed truly.
But he was still a little worried.
Shadowwing snorted, "Some High-Alpha you are!"
"What!"
Shadowwing stuck out his tongue, "Afraid to fight me? Probably afraid to get hurt!"
"Really? You want to take my place as High-Alpha on the light-rock? You know you have to leave your scent there if you do."
Shadowwing grimaced and rolled his eyes, "Do you want to be the Alpha for the ground-kin?"
There was no role that he wanted less. Even now, ground-kin and their many ceremonies were strange and twisted.
"No."
Shadowwing grinned, "Good. You could not be that anyway. Being that Alpha needs patience, understanding, strong-thinking, and-"
That was enough. He could not let his liver- and tail-twisted brother say any more! This was the time to defend his status!
He leaped with a roar and lifted a paw. Shadowwing dodged the strike as the play-fight began. They held nothing back: swatting at each other with their paws, keeping tails out of the way, leaping to attack or dodge, and growling freely.
Shadowwing caught him with a strike to the head with the flat of a paw.
"One!" Shadowwing toothily grinned.
Oh really? I have not lost to you yet!
"I will ground you! And I will... I will take Luna as another mate!" he bellowed and pointed a paw.
"No, you will not," Shadowwing chuckled.
"True, I will not, but I will... something!"
"Very impressive!"
He snorted, puffed out his chest, and flared his wings, "I, Was-Grounded, am the greatest Night Fury ever! I life-bonded with a good two-leg... ground-kin, killed a nest-Monster, defeated a sky-light-eater, was grounded once... twice, made Green-Wings my life-mate, defeated a great-tusk, fought a war-fight against a flight of two-leg boats and the death-grabbers, helped kill two grisly monsters, and have raised five children already! Now, you lose!"
He jumped with a roar, thrust of his wings, and no remaining reluctance. The fight was truly starting. Jumps, spins, growls, and swats with arms and tails ended with him pulling his brother over, jaws around his neck. Shadowwing fell heavily, his chest hitting the ground with a thud.
Oh no!
They both froze after he let go and stepped back in wary concern.
Shadowwing slowly got to his paws, groaned, and huffed, "That is one to you."
"No hurting?"
"Nothing bad. That hurt truly is no more."
"Good. Very good."
With that reassurance, he hopped back and started circling his brother again as Shadowwing did the same. They were very evenly-matched, being the same size and having fought in many fights as flight-mates and kin.
The fight for the third win, and the one which would give the entire play-fight win, kept going on and on with neither of them making a big mistake. They fought until they were left heaving and gasping for breath, neither able to even lift a paw to swat at the other. They both knew the other's skill too well.
"Finish... the fight... another cycle?" Shadowwing gasped.
"Yes, good... idea."
Having agreed to a truce, they collapsed at each other's side.
"It is good to... play like that again," he hummed.
"Very. I missed... rough playing," Shadowwing agreed.
"I missed winning these play-fights. You have never been as good as I am."
Shadowwing snorted, "Thank you for saying that."
"What are brothers for?"
Dawn-Singer perched on a large light-rock near the mouth of the shared-range. He got up to spin in place and sit down in a better position. Then he groaned and collapsed, all limbs splayed out.
His little hints were not working! Leaving strong-life-hatchlings flowers in the den, holding her tail more, and talking about how good it was that the other Fury young had nestmates of their own was not doing anything! Why were females so confusing? There was no way that she had missed all his hint-displays of wanting her.
A new idea hatched in his thinking. What if she had not missed his wanting-signs? What if she knew but was pretending to not know? Why would she do that?
He hummed in thought.
You pretend to not want me because... you want me to do more to make you want me? Or maybe you want me to pretend that I do not want you, and that way you can show me wanting?
He purred with liver-warmth when it became clear what she was doing.
Clever, my life-mate. We are playing a game with each other. I can play this game by not showing wanting! Maybe I should-
His warm thoughts were disturbed when he saw something new and different. There were a lot of sky-kin flying in the far passageway that came from the first big chamber under the island. That first chamber had many tunnels that led out into the wider hidden ranges.
Seeing a flight or even a flock of sky-kin flying somewhere was not very strange. However, this flock was flying toward him, so he looked more closely at the approaching sky-kin to see what they were.
His ears flew back when he realized that these were some of the most fighting and biting of sky-kin: fire-scales and rumbling-horns.
This was a danger to the shared-range.
He spun around and flew as fast as he could down the large passageway. Spinning between the columns and around light-rocks was usually done for fun and liver-warmth, but this time he avoided doing that and just flew as fast as a Night Fury could.
Very fast.
Was-Grounded growled, "How many are there?"
"Around two tens. I did not stay to count them," Dawn-Singer answered.
Was-Grounded and Shadowwing quickly glanced at each other, knowing what had to happen. This was an event they had talked about and planned for.
"Defense," they both growled and spun in different directions.
Was-Grounded turned to Dawn-Singer, "Take Moon-Pinner to Kin-liver and the cave. Tell Thorvald that all ground-kin are to hide. We Furies meet at the blue light-rock!"
"Yes, sire-father!"
Dawn-Singer turned for his cave higher up on the other side of the passageway.
Was-Grounded dashed over to Green-Wings and roughly woke her up, "Wake up!"
She blinked heavily but woke up quickly, "What?"
"A dangerous flock is flying to this shared-range. You know what to do. We meet at the blue light-rock!" he said.
Fear and chill flashed in her eyes, but she quickly grabbed Wind-Dancer in her maw and flew off toward the deeper part of the range.
Shadowwing woke up Luna and Night-Light, the latter of whom groaned heavily when he was woken up.
"Luna, wake up now!"
"What is it?"
"A flock of fire-scales and rumbling-horns! You know what to do!"
"Sire-father, what is happening?" Night-Light yawned.
"Danger, little one! You are flying with me!" Luna barked in command.
She picked up Flower-Eater and took flight with Night-Light following her. Shadowwing left the ledge and spotted Dawn-Singer, Flies-With-Sun, and Moon-Pinner flying, though Dawn-Singer was racing faster to carry news.
The plan was simple. Hide all the young Furies, those who did not have fire, in a special and very well-hidden cave near where Valka lived. Valka would keep calm the hatchlings who would be distraught at being apart from their mothers. All the humans, other than those who were armed, would take refuge in the same cave. The livestock would be quickly hidden in huts and another cave.
The plan would change once the new Great Hall was completed, since it would be an impenetrable fortress that would be the main place of refuge for all once it was finished.
All the grown Furies would meet up at the edge of the darker part of the chamber and would do whatever they had to do to keep this place safe. Hopefully, he and his brother could show their status as Alphas, and that display would be enough to force the new flock to leave. If that was not enough, they would all use fire and force to drive the dragons away.
It was harsh, but he had learned that is how the hidden world worked. Dragons violently fought for territory. There were many hundreds of dragons that had not bowed to him and Was-Grounded three years ago. The months that had followed that departure had only reinforced how violent dragons truly were out of necessity in this world. But he, his family, and everyone in his brother's family had something to protect here. This was home.
Shadowwing touched down with a summoning roar in the forest. All the known Furies, Night and Dawn, bounded over to him with cries of alarm. Alvor, Safiya, and a few other friendlier human children ran out with them.
"Shadowwing, what is it?" Aurora barked.
"Danger to the range!" "Humannss to hidinng!"
Alvor and Safiya whispered to Aurora and Rain-Eater and then ran off toward New Haven along with the other human children.
"What about us?" Moon-Dancer hissed.
"We will join the defense as we have before!"
He turned to his daughter, "Daughter, you are going to the cave with the other young!"
Her eyes narrowed as she gasped in alarm, "No, I want to fight!"
"You have no fire and are not big enough to fight yet!"
"But, sire-father..."
He growled and pawed at the dirt, "No, daughter! You are staying inside!"
"But..."
"Do not make me tell you again!" he shouted.
She shrank back slightly at his shout and stared at her paws.
Why do you not just obey for your own good?
"We should fly!" Aurora shouted into the awkward silence.
The children took to the sky. He waited to make sure that his daughter also flew, which she did. Then he followed after them, knowing that she could be rebellious.
Jingles the Boneknapper was standing guard outside the cave while Gobber had already put on his bone-themed armor. No one was sure how the blacksmith had made such strange armor, and he was keeping his secrets to himself.
He and Hidden-Hope landed outside the cave while several humans were carrying supplies or taking loved ones into hiding.
"Go on, daughter. Stay here with Kin-liver and your kin."
She looked like she wanted to complain but thought better of it. Talking back to him right now was a very good way to get a tail-slapping or be given unpleasant work as a punishment later.
She dutifully strolled into the cave with her tail dragging behind her in protest.
He bounded over to Gobber.
"Eh' there, Chief. Lov'ly day fer a tussle, ain' it?"
"Nnot what I would ssay, but ssurre," he chuckled.
He gently nudged Gobber's shoulder, "You will keep them all ssafe herre, yess?"
Gobber nodded with a look of fire in his eyes. The blacksmith was getting older for sure, but he had regained much of his vigor that he had lost after Stoick's personal problems and mistakes had struck at their respect for each other and friendship.
Losing a little, more than a little, weight may have also helped Gobber become more of the stubborn, boar-headed Nord he had been long ago. And now he had family and loved ones to protect, just as he had when he fought on the shores of the Bewilderbeast's island.
"Aye, I will. Nothin' can get past us."
Satisfied, he spun away and darted over to where Was-Grounded was sitting before the other non-Fury dragons of Haven. Specifically, Hookedfang, Meatlug, Stormfly, Blueback, Flame, and Razor. They looked expectantly to him as he let the will to protect his own fill his thoughts and heart.
He and his brother both glowed with command.
'Protect range ground-kin safe keep!'
He imagined the dragons flying above New Haven and watching for any dangerous other dragons. He imagined them protecting everyone below them.
They roared in agreement as they took flight.
He snorted, satisfied with them.
"Are you ready?" Was-Grounded growled.
"Am I a sky-kin and a Night Fury?"
"I thought we answered this question long ago. You have wings, a tail, fire-breath, paws, and your children are Dawn Furies! Yes, you are a sky-kin!"
Shadowwing roared and hopped for the sky. He and Was-Grounded joined the rest of their present and combat-ready family: Luna, Green-Wings, Moon-Dancer, Dawn-Singer, Flies-With-Sun, Aurora, Rain-Eater, and Rock-Climber.
Their flight turned for the darker chamber filled with crystals of darker hues, many columns of rock, waterfalls, and glowing mushroom forests. He and his brother flew at the head of the flight, their mates at their sides.
Hopefully, this would not need true violence. The last few such encounters had been resolved peacefully enough by just being threatening. But if the coming conflict could not be ended peacefully, then there was always the second plan.
Make up a plan on the fly, literally.
For the most part, anyway. There were certain battle strategies which everyone had already learned and practiced, all in case something like this happened.
Shadowwing and Was-Grounded perched on the blue crystal in the middle of the large passageway. All the other Night Furies were flying behind them, hovering in place or flying back and forth to block the passageway. Luna, Flies-With-Sun, and Moon-Dancer were already invisible and perched on another crystal so they could strike with surprise if there was need. Their being motionless on the crystal would hide them from echo-sight, if any of the attacking dragons had that ability.
This was one of the better chokepoints in the cavern, and that made it more defensible just in case this encounter did need any fighting.
The roaring calls of challenge from both Monstrous Nightmares and Rumblehorns sounded from ahead. As usual, the echoing of the voices made it difficult to tell how many dragons were approaching.
Shadowwing was not afraid of them at all, and he was certain that neither was his brother. They had fought against a Bewilderbeast, an armada of ships led by Grimmel the Grisly and the Grimborn brothers, and a dragon that was still unnamed, for he wanted them to never be known of. A few angry or pushy Nightmares and Rumblehorns were nothing by comparison, but he was not going to be complacent either.
His thorough pacifism and refusal to harm anyone else had been burned away long ago in the attack on Haven, in which Moon-Dancer was almost killed by Deathgrippers and Luna was taken captive.
The flock appeared around a far bend and flew toward them, roaring in challenge and defiance. There were a few fledglings, but most of the dragons were grown, angry adults.
Looks like about ten of each type. And those biggest ones in front must be the Alphas of these two flocks. Interesting that they are flying together. Alright, time to be... pushy!
The largest Nightmare and Rumblehorn flew closer to them ahead of the rest of the flock. They briefly hovered above the crystal and touched down on it while holding their wings out in display. He and Was-Grounded did the same while glowing with command.
'Our range yes yours no leave go now!' he silently shouted.
The Nightmare lit its wings and back on fire and hissed at him, 'Ours now yes need range ours now yes!'
The Rumblehorn bobbed its head while growling, 'Hunting prey two-legs here fight yes fight!'
Was-Grounded roared at it while showing his flame in his maw, 'Hunting two-legs no! Not! Bad-wrong! Go now! Range ours!'
The Rumblehorn and Nightmare both continued to display with roars, flared wings, and bared teeth.
Shadowwing quickly glanced at the two flocks that were swarming before them.
This is not going well. Time for plan two: more aggressive negotiations.
His flash of fire flew at the Rumblehorn and struck it in the face with a bright blast. Was-Grounded did the same for the Alpha Nightmare. There was no going back after that. Several of the Nightmares and Rumblehorns flew forward from the pack to begin the attack as their Alphas recovered.
He and Was-Grounded hopped off the blue crystal and took to the sky with roars as the fight began in truth. The Nightmares and Rumblehorns were furious and angered.
But they were Night Furies, Light Furies, and a Dawn Fury. The Rumblehorns were not maneuverable enough and couldn't get close enough to engage in melee attack. The Nightmares were faster and better fighters, but they were not fast enough. Both types of attackers were being struck by flames and blasts that appeared from nowhere.
It was a dance of fire, wings, and roars. Thought fell away as he flamed, spun, and swooped. Confusion and roaring of fear followed from the Nightmares and Rumblehorns. While he paid most of his attention to the attackers, he also watched his defending family to see how well they were working together. He noticed several blind spots that were not covered and some cases where the attacker got too close for comfort. There was some room for improvement.
Cries of fear rang out from the Alpha Nightmare and Rumblehorn, their courage apparently broken under the many targeted shots. Both turned away and flew the other direction while their flocks followed them.
He, Was-Grounded, Green-Wings, and Luna glided beside each other and followed the attackers for a while to make sure they were all leaving. Satisfied, they turned back for New Haven and were joined by all their family. No one was hurt beyond Dawn-Singer's being a little flamed on his belly. Flies-With-Sun was audibly and tenderly scolding him even as they flew.
Everyone roared to celebrate the victory and defense. Moon-Dancer made himself visible and fell in between him and Luna.
Was-Grounded roared, "They are gone now!"
"Yes, we kept safe the range!"
"Sire-father! How did we do?" his son eagerly barked.
"Very well, my son! You did not miss with any of your fire, did you?"
Moon-Dancer barked and tried to look very offended, "No! I do not miss!"
"Good, you might be the first Dawn Fury to ever miss, if you ever do!" Luna shouted.
Moon-Dancer snorted, "I might be the first Dawn Fury ever!"
"That too, my son," he purred.
He winged over to Dawn-Singer, wanting to tease him, "What happened? How did you get flamed?"
Dawn-Singer blinked and grumbled to himself before answering, "I... made a mistake and did not see one of the fire-scales under me. That will not happen again!"
Hmm, too fast of a spin? Not checking a blind spot? He probably knows what the mistake was...
He sighed as he spun back through the flock of Furies. Those few moments when everyone was fighting as one flight almost without active thought were special, even if there was opportunity to do better next time.
Where those attackers came from and why they were flying in search of a new cavern to claim, he didn't know or care to know. He and Was-Grounded were only directly responsible for the well-being of the dragons who accepted them as Alphas and those who lived peacefully in New Haven.
Shadowwing sat in his Chief's tent in New Haven. There were several families who wanted to talk to their Chief now.
Two waking-cycles had passed since the repelled attack by the wild dragons. That event was all that everyone had been talking about, even though no one except the Furies had been present.
He had a suspicion what they wanted to talk about with him, and it was unlikely to be pleasant. However, this was his duty as the Chief to reassure them.
Valka, Thorvald, and Gobber entered the tent and stood beside him. Haugenson, Sigurdsdottir, Berelachson, and Blomqvistdottir, representing their families, entered after them.
He started in surprise when Bjorgen and Ava also entered. They were the parents of the lad who was swept away and rescued by Was-Grounded a couple months ago.
Haugenson stepped forward and respectfully bent his head, "Chief Shadowwing, we have been talking among ourselves, and we are agreed on this. We want to talk to you about leaving."
"It iss danngerrrousss beyonnd."
Haugenson shook his head, "No, that's not it. We mean leaving the hidden world entirely."
A long silence followed in which he did not know what to say or think.
The last about three years had been difficult for everyone, true. They had all endured the dangers of the confrontations and dangerous dragons that had threatened the village and the cavern two years ago. Everyone had adapted, more or less, though they were not overly thrilled by what this place required.
"Why?" he whispered.
"Yes, why?" Thorvald repeated in surprise.
Sigurdsdottir crossed her arms, "We are not safe or welcome here."
"This is not a world for us humans," Berelachson added.
"Nnoo! Thiss iss yourr home nnow!" he stomped on the ground with a paw.
Ava stepped forward, her eyes downcast, "Chief, Henyrk almost died because of one mistake. Your brother saved him, but that was good luck. The parents are scared."
Bjorgen held his wife's shoulder, "It's too dangerous to raise children here."
Gobber waved his remaining arm, "Jus' like Haven, 'eh? Oh wait, yea', that was dang'rous too."
He eagerly nodded, "Yess, therre iss danngerr, but we drragonnss will alwayss prrotect you!"
Oddly, all six of the unhappy villagers frowned and looked away.
"You know that, right?" Valka asked.
Haugenson grumbled, "You've kept us safe so far, but, with respect, we don't know that you always can. What if something happens when you are all away?"
"Yeah, you dragons are free to fly wherever you want," Blomqvistdottir muttered.
Haugenson nodded, "Exactly. No one else can go anywhere. And all the other dragons have just up and left us here."
"They aren't your pets. They have their own lives," Valka answered.
"We know! No one keeps a dragon on a leash or anything like that. But... you need wings to move in this world. We can't, not now that our friends are going wherever they want. How are they supposed to protect us when they're somewhere else?
Thorvald crossed his arms, "That would be a good point, but we'll have the Great Hall soon. We will be much safer here once it is finished!"
Shadowwing knew that there was a problem with the explanation. While anyone inside the finished Great Hall would be safe, that would do nothing for the rest of New Haven. The crops, the livestock, and the homes would not be secure. No matter how independent the humans wanted to be, there was no possible way that they could be safe without dragons actively protecting them from other dragons.
Sigurdsdottir muttered, "We're not alone in this. We all flew here with dragons we trusted and... still do, but it's like a... it's like a betrayal for them to leave us here on our own. No different from how they were going to leave us in the above. Totally faithless to just fly away after everything we did and suffered for them."
Shadowwing sat back on his rear and stared at his paws as her mild words echoed in his head. Those words were like a knife to his heart.
Whether she intended it as such or not, the criticism applied to him. He had given up on them. He had, for a terrible day, despaired that it was truly possible for humans and dragons to live in lasting peace. He had accepted the terrible idea that segregation was the only permanent answer.
He took a deep breath to steady himself and glanced at Gobber, Valka, and Thorvald. None of them looked like they knew what to say either.
"What do you wannt?"
Bjorgen stepped forward, "We just want to be free to leave and go back to where we... belong. We can't be dragonriders since our dragons are gone. We didn't know what we were getting into."
That stung and made terrible sense. The dragons were not pets or mounts, but wings were needed to move around in this world. There was a tension in that.
Valka leaned on her staff and frowned, "The choice to come here was supposed to be permanent. You know how to get into the hidden world. What if you left and someone tried to make you tell where it is?
Bjorgen huffed, "We would not tell. We could make any promise you want, a blood-oath on the names of the gods and our ancestors. We could make boats and just disappear into the world like other refugees or outcasts do all the time."
"We just want our families to be safe," Ava whispered, holding Bjorgen.
Shadowwing groaned. That this last attack, though there had been no violence that touched New Haven directly, combined with the near-disaster of Henryk's accident, had been the last straw for these people.
They had reached their breaking point.
"You would really do that? Just up and leave everyone else here?" Thorvald asked in visible shock.
"The dragons have," Berelachson muttered.
"We have nnot!" Shadowwing snarled and instantly looked away, ashamed with himself.
Getting angry helped reassure no one, least of all himself. Also, as a Night Fury, he could not afford to lash out or accidentally hurt someone. How he wished that he could step back and let someone else deal with this. But he was the Chief, and the problems fell in his hands, his paws. He had to find an answer to this.
"Let me talk to the Elderrss annd Thorrvald," he gestured toward Valka and Gobber.
Haugenson, Sigurdsdottir, Berelachson, Blomqvistdottir, Bjorgen and Ava stepped back after nodding to him.
"Chief," they each muttered as they left.
The tent's front flap hung open after they departed.
Shadowwing wearily glanced at Thorvald, Gobber and Valka as he lay down.
"Well, that happenned."
"That's ben' growin' fer a while," Gobber groaned.
"You knnew?"
Gobber shrugged and twiddled his mustache, "Eh', goin' every cycle hearin' the same complainin', those two almost losin' their kid, and now the attack which ya all kept far from 'ere, I can'na say I'm surprised."
How did I miss all this? Everyone's been grumbling for a while, but I didn't know how bad it was? Some Chief I am.
"How bad iss it, trruly? Do manny otherrss thinnk like they do?"
Thorvald beat his chest, "None except them. Everyone from Berk is willing to tough it out here. We know that you Furies will be here to help protect everyone. We're use to living rough."
Valka looked uncertain about something, so he purred to her, "Drragonnhearrt?"
"There are more villagers who have talked with me about feeling lost. As if they don't know who they are anymore," she said.
"Why?" Thorvald asked.
She got up to pace while holding her staff, "Because of the dragons leaving and staying away for a long time. They're right that we can't be dragon-riders without dragons."
Everyone went from being plain, normal Nords to being dragon-riders, but now they were being forced to change into something else, something that always needs dragons around to help protect even though they want to be their own people.
Thorvald piped up, "Yeah, we'd just be riders without... nevermind."
Valka continued, ignoring the interruption, "I can understand where they're coming from. They're right that it's hard to do anything in this world without having wings. Some others have said that we'll never change down here: that all the great battles and raids up there will happen while we never grow."
"That iss crrazy. We have a whole worrld downn herre to explorre!"
"If there is a safe way to do it. Definitely true that the tribe doesn't want to be stuck without growing or changing," Thorvald pointed out.
"Sso, what do you all thinnk?"
Thorvald shrugged, "I think they're just complaining to have their Chief hear them. They just need to feel like you're going to do something. I had to do that a lot the last few years. Looking like you're doing something can be just like actually doing something."
Gobber was still twiddling his mustache, which now had very long curls at the tips, "They'll get ov'r it in time. It's jus' growin' pains. Eh, a little more food wouldn'a hurt tho'."
Shadowwing shook his head, "I meann about lettinng them leave the hiddenn worrld."
"Oh, right, tha'. Do ya' truly wan'ta hear what I think about tha'?"
"Yess."
Gobber frowned, "Fine. I think bringin' everyone was a mistake, but tha' is the past. They're 'ere now, so I say we canna' let 'em leave."
"Nno?" Shadowwing blinked, surprised Gobber thought that.
"It's too dangerous. It only takes one of 'em ta spill the secret."
Thorvald nodded, "Yeah, then the hidden world wouldn't be hidden. It would just be the world and... nevermind. I'll just be quiet."
"Drragonnhearrt?"
She slowly and warily spoke, "I agree. Letting anyone go into the above is... very dangerous and would have to be done carefully. Do you think anyone other than you or me truly knows where the island is?"
Maybe not. I would have trouble putting the island anywhere on a map right now if I tried. The island might not even be on the maps.
"Prrobably nnot. Why do you assk?"
Valka nodded, as if convincing herself of something, "It might be possible to let some people go, if we must. They could be secretly flown to tribes that they could join as refugees. Anyone leaving wouldn't know where this island is. There wouldn't be anything they could reveal other than the dragons all went underground, which wouldn't help anyone up there unless they already knew about the hidden world."
She paused, gathering her thoughts, "We could have anyone who would leave swear a blood-oath to never speak about this place. It would be better for them to forget it and not pass that knowledge on to their children. As long as they appear in a village as just more refugees from a lost tribe, it might work. Before doing anything else, you should probably talk with your brother, Luna, and Green-Wings to hear what they think."
"I will," he agreed.
Thorvald interjected into the pensive silence, "There is some good news. We found more stone to work with for the Great Hall. The masons say that the walls and the ceiling should be done in a couple weeks. That should help everyone feel more at home, right?"
Shadowwing nodded, already thinking ahead to the festival that would be held to celebrate the Hall's completion. The tribe sounded like it needed another good feast to get everyone's spirits up.
"Gobberr, you musst make a lot of berrrry ale!"
Gobber smiled, "I alre'dy start'd on it a while back! There should be another big batch ready fer this. They sure liked it last time!"
Shadowwing arrived at the ledge, "Brother, Green-Wings, we must talk. There is a problem in the New-Haven-range."
Was-Grounded picked up Wind-Dancer and carried her while she thrashed in displeasure. He and Green-Wings followed him over to where Luna was waiting with a dozing Flower-Eater. None of them yet knew what he was going to talk to them about.
"What is the problem?" Was-Grounded asked.
He took a deep breath as he lay down beside Luna. They were away from their present and resting children so they could speak freely. Green-Wings kept Wind-Dancer entertained with a tail to chew on.
"Some of the ground-kin families do not feel safe here in this shared-range. Some of the ground-kin want to leave the hidden ranges."
"Why?" Luna gasped.
His ears fell as he leaned against her, "They are not liver-warmed living here. They wish their bond-sky-kin flew here with them more. They know that dangerous sky-kin could attack them any waking-cycle. I... understand their liver-chill."
"What do you think about that wanting to leave?" Luna whispered.
"I do not like it. It flies against the together-life we have been making and keeping alive here. But, it is true that this hidden world has dangers that ground-kin cannot protect themselves from alone."
He paused, uncertain how to say what he was thinking. Luna nuzzled his head while purring in comfort.
"Be warm, my life-mate," she hummed.
"Yes, I... I am. There might be a way to let some of the ground-kin leave and keep this world secret, but... I want to hear what you three think about that."
Was-Grounded growled, "Do they not trust us to keep them and the shared-range safe?"
Shadowwing grumbled, "It is not that they do not trust us. Trust is not enough. What if we are away hunting when dangerous sky-kin fly here? We only need to make one mistake and many of the ground-kin can die."
Green-Wings warbled, "I do not see the ground-kin as close-kin to me, but they are good life. I know that. Them wanting to leave feels like it is filled with danger. They know where these hidden ranges are. Would they tell the two-legs where we are?"
"There is a way to take them so that they might not truly know where we are. There are also words they can say to make a promise that... ground-kin rarely break. I do not think there is rot in their livers."
Was-Grounded interjected, "Can the cave we flew down be broken? Could we break the cave and make enough rocks fall so that no two-legs could get in even if they know where we are?"
Maybe. That would take a lot of fire, probably more than even we Furies have.
"We might block the cave with rocks, but that is not enough. Two-legs who find the island or live on it will see that there is still a cave. It might take many season-cycles, but they would find a way to move the rocks. Nothing will stop two-legs!"
That detail was one that he was still struggling to find a permanent answer to. Any humans that landed on the island and found the cave would know that there was something very strange within. Short of always having a Fury watching the island, there was no solution he could see that problem of how to hide the cave. Even having someone watching was not truly a solution to being found.
Was-Grounded huffed, "I agree with my life-mate. Brother, if you agree that some of them can be trusted to leave and never tell where we are, then I would let them leave if they do not want together-life here. But there is danger in letting them go."
"Luna? What about you?" he whispered.
"I... do not know what to think yet. I wanted all these good ground-kin to be safe here and to share together-life with the sky-kin they hold to their livers. How many would leave if they could?"
"No more than a pawful of ground-kin families. Most would stay here. For now. I do not know if others would want to leave later."
She hummed in thought, "We changed the world forever in a good way when we brought the ground-kin here. Letting them go into the above like that... to live in far ranges and maybe tell where we are, even if they do not want to tell... what if two-legs find out anyway? We are responsible for all the hidden ranges. We know what happens to sky-kin who are trapped by two-legs."
"True, but it would be very hard for two-legs to find this world and take it. They would need wings to do that in some places, but they might make trapped sky-kin into life-thralls. They could do it."
Silence followed until Was-Grounded spoke, "There is much danger. We cannot let them go."
"They let us go at Haven," Shadowwing huffed.
"That was different. They could have gone to other ranges on their own to live in peace instead of come with us," Was-Grounded answered.
"What if we know they will die here? Do we trap them here then? Are they kin to us or not?" Shadowwing defiantly asked.
"How do we know they would keep the secret?" Green-Wings asked.
"We cannot know for sure. There is always some trust needed. The ones who want to leave do not hate us. They only want to be safer. We could carry them to other two-leg packs and nests without letting the others know that the ground-kin ever knew us. None of the two-legs would think to ask them about sky-kin."
"And we trust that they would not tell anyway or make a mistake?" Was-Grounded countered.
Shadowwing's sighed, "Brother, I had to trust you, and you had to trust me the first time we met."
Was-Grounded looked like he wanted to shout something but thought better of it. Rather, he spoke softly.
"I know, but then I was only putting myself in danger if you were false. Letting ground-kin who know where this world is leave would put all sky-kin in danger. We are their High-Alphas since we are the Alphas of the ranges closest to the coming-down cave. We must think about all sky-kin."
"And I must think about the ground-kin here since I am their Alpha. Making them stay here if we cannot keep them safe would be wrong. We would be who killed them by not letting them leave," Shadowwing answered.
"What do we all say? Do we let them leave? I do not think they should," Luna said.
"I agree. Brother?" Was-Grounded said.
Shadowwing stared at his paws, "I do not feel good about it either, but I do not want them to be hurt here. The new great-hall-den they are making will help them be safer until they can truly be accepted by the sky-kin, if they ever do.
"So what will you tell them?" Green-Wings asked.
He grumbled, going back and forth between the options until he settled on a middling answer.
"I will tell them they do not need to leave. The finished great-hall-den will help keep them safer. We Furies will always help protect them. That should be enough."
Shadowwing stood in the New Haven village square before his Chief's tent. Valka, Thorvald, and Gobber stood with him for this.
Almost everyone else in the tribe: men, women, and children, were gathering before him for an all-tribe meeting. He was going to announce the decision about whether or not to let anyone from the tribe leave. All the other Furies, except for Dawn-Singer and Mist-Wings who were on guard duties, were gathered behind everyone else. Having them here for additional reassurance felt important given what he was going to say to everyone.
"Wha's goin' on?" "Got work ta do!" "I'm in an audit, gotta find the axes!" "Let's get this over with!" "Where is the ale?"
Gobber patted his shoulder, "Knock 'em dead!"
"Trribe!" he roared, getting everyone's attention.
"I hearr that ssome of uss feel inn danngerr herre! Ssome of you thinnk that leavinng the hiddenn worrld iss the besst way!"
He dropped down to all fours and slowly walked forward among his people, purring softly and nodding to the many familiar people as he went.
"But we arre a family, all of uss. We have sstubborrnnessss issuess!"
"Yeah!" "Sure do!" "The most stubbornerest!"
"Have you everr rrunn frrom danngerr?"
"Eh, we left Berk..." "Hid from Drago for over a year..." "Left the ice nest..." "Had to leave Haven behind..."
Ugh... other than those ones.
"But you fought therre, annd we all wennt togetherr... a trribe! We arre sstrronngesst togetherr!"
He stood tall, his tail accidentally hitting a couple people, "Have we Furrriess failed you annd nnot kept you ssafe? You arre ourr family!"
The older Fury children roared, flaring their wings wide or holding their heads proudly.
"We will nnot leave you herre alonne!"
He spun on Thorvald, "How lonng unntil the Hall iss donne?"
"Maybe two weeks for the walls and the roof. The inside will take longer, but it will be safe by then," Thorvald answered.
Shadowwing paused to let all of that sink in and to gauge the tribe's reaction. Most were nodding in total agreement, liking his words of stubbornness and facing the future together as a tribe. Others, those of the families who had spoken to him earlier, were not so thrilled.
"Leavinng would be danngerrouss forr thiss worrld. We musst keep the ssecrret by sstayinng herre togetherr, loyal to each otherr! We cann level forresstss, crrussh mounntainnss, annd tame sseass if we sstay onne trribe! Sso we will!"
A full throated cheer went up from the gathered audience as people high-fived and muttered various motivational phrases, usually involving an axe or ale. But he noticed the same upset families grumbling among themselves.
The terrible truth was that he was keeping them trapped here where there was danger. They were not free to leave if they wanted to. If this were a normal situation in the above, if their leaving would not take important information that could reveal the secret of the hidden world, he would gladly have let them leave to find a better life elsewhere. No one wanted to self-outcast themselves from a tribe, but some did leave their homes and go somewhere else to make their marks.
Leadership required making hard decisions that not everyone would agree with.
The tribe meeting broke up after that as everyone started returning to their homes and duties. The other adult Furies and younger children flew off to return to their home while the older children wandered off with their human friends.
But he again saw the five families, the scared parents and their few children. They were hugging each other in silence.
Ugh, I need to do this. Wonderful.
He strolled toward them through the crowd, many of whom patted his shoulder in appreciation for the encouraging talk. If only they knew why he had to give it in the first place.
Bjorgen, Henryk's father, approached him with a completely blank expression, "Chief."
"Bjorrrgenn, you unnderrsstannd why?"
"We understand. Not like we have a choice anyway."
Ava stepped away from Henryk. She looked like she was close to tears, "We said we wouldn't tell. Why don't you trust us?"
He groaned and sat down on his rear before them. Doing that put them closer to on the same level.
"You might ssay ssomethinng by accidennt. Too much danngerr. Do you trrusst uss?"
Ava sniffled and turned her shoulder on him, "Trust doesn't matter."
Bjorgen held her shoulder, "We can't eat trust."
"But," he held out a paw to them.
They left him behind and wandered off with Henryk and the others. He watched them go with a pain and chill in his heart. Their walking off on their Chief was very disrespectful, but he understood that they were just concerned about their own families and frustrated that he had decided against what they wanted. He didn't hold it against them. They just didn't understand how important this mission here was.
Compromising and giving up in a single instance would justify giving up in others.
They're just afraid and not thinking clearly.
He grumbled and strolled back to Thorvald, Gobber, and Valka.
"Well done, Chief. That was nae easy ta do," Gobber said.
Thorvald flexed his arms, "I'll talk to them, help reassure them, and keep an eye on them if they cause trouble."
"Wha', only one eye? Wha' about tha' other one?" Gobber exclaimed.
"Oh, right. Yeah, I'll keep two eyes on them," Thorvald corrected himself.
"Drragonnhearrt?"
"I agree with what you said. It sounds... cruel, but we can't risk letting the secret out. We must protect the dragons and their whole world. That's our duty."
"Yep. We'll be fine here. Right as rain, even though it doesn't rain here," Thorvald said, seemingly surprised.
Gobber exhaled and twiddled his mustache, "True tha' finishin' tha Great Hall will help a lot! Finish tha' place, have a big feast, and everythin' will be good again!"
"You'rre sssurre?" he huffed.
Gobber shrugged, "Always worked tha' way on Berk. Have a big ole' feast after a bad raid, bust out tha' barrels of ale, and everythin' worked out well enough."
"Fairr ennough."
Together, they considered the unfinished Great Hall.
He's right. Having a feast together to celebrate will help lift everyone's mood.
He suspected that he hadn't heard the last of this problem. Further, Rain-Eater said he was close to being finished with the sustainability project. He worried that the news wouldn't be good on that front either.
Rain-Eater paced back and forth on his special ledge where no one else had reason to go. He had claimed this place so he could work on his project for the good of the entire shared-range. Safiya had helped by bringing ground-kin things like paper, and she also did the writing on paper for him. He could only write in the smoothed dirt or using a custom-made charcoal pencil on rocks.
Several waking-cycles had passed since the repelled attack on the shared-range, and his project was the only one that he was focused on now. But this was twisting his thinking the longer he worked on it. Every piece of information that he needed was like a little-nibbling-terror that refused to stay still or even have a definite color.
How many ground-prey young can be made? How fast do they grow? How good will the harvests be? How much of the ground here can be made into plant-growing places to help support the ground-kin? How many fish can be caught? How much food do the ground-kin and sky-kin need to be well?
Mist-Wings had helped by sharing her knowledge of plants that can be food, but something was still missing.
How reliable can any guess be of what life will be like in one, two, or tens of season-cycles of time?
He stared at his answers, carved into flattened dirt, for how much food can be sustainably made for the ground-kin and sky-kin here only between plants and the ground-prey already in the range.
Everything he was doing and counting depended on guesses, maybes, what-ifs, and the given of staying in the shared-range entirely without flying beyond. That given was one that was needed, but it was looking more and more like that given must be rejected. At the very least, sky-kin needed to go catch fish from the ranges beyond since there were not enough fish in these waters.
And that was only from guessing at how much food could be made. He still needed to consider how many mouths there would be.
He paused and sat down out of frustration, letting his thoughts drift away from this project.
He had never had any wanting for a mate. His life had always been lived far more in thinking, in the ground-kin games that Skald and others made to pass time and bond, and in flying. Flying was to the body what thinking was to the life-fire, to the mind. Both let him go somewhere else and enjoy the going.
Seeing his older nestmate brother enjoy the warmth of having a life-mate and a child was good, but it had not sparked any wanting in his liver. No, he was happy and warm with his life-flight as it was.
But, thinking about life-making in this project required him to think about that part of life, which was one he... never thought about before. Purely thinking with his head, having a child of his own was... good. But that would involve him knowing a female very well, and females...
Females were not so easy to understand with head-thinking. More liver-thinking and feeling was needed, and those did not fly so well with him.
He turned away from those thoughts, hoping that he would not need to worry about any of that for many season-cycles, if ever.
Back to the problem at paw!
All the Furies already had agreed that going forward they would limit themselves to having only two eggs. The assumption was that two eggs from each male and female should be sustainable. But there were other problems to think about.
How long would Furies live? No one knew the answer to that. Not even Luna or Was-Grounded had any idea how many season-cycles they would have in a normal life. Ground-kin could live to be around eighty, normally. He had no idea if sky-kin would only be as short-lived as thirty or even as long-lived as into the hundreds of season-cycles.
That uncertainty was the problem he would never be sure of getting an answer to, not in this project anyway. He had danced around the question of how many sky-kin there would be, because of that problem which left any answer very unclear.
Ground-kin wait until they are... about twenty to claim mates and have young. We are grown much faster and can make eggs at five season-cycles.
His pacing resumed while he thought about the terrible imbalance he saw in the numbers. The amount of food needed for the sky-kin currently alive and that would be kept going up because the number of sky-kin kept going up.
What am I missing? I must have made a mistake... unless...
He froze midstep as a very bad idea entered his liver. The idea was so chilling that he immediately started thinking about how it must be wrong. There were no flaws he could see in the conclusion.
More checking of the math followed until he saw the flaw in his own thinking.
It was so clear, so obvious, and so chilling now that he pinned the problem. He should have seen this problem many, many waking-cycles ago, but he had been focused on food production, not on the number of mouths.
Great skies, I am thought-twisted to miss that... but what this means... we cannot... none of us can... it is already too late.
He sat down, stilled his twitching tail, breathed deeply to calm himself, and let his head-thinking lead again. This was only a conclusion from thinking with many guesses about what might be true. This bad answer could entirely be wrong, but he doubted that he was wrong.
He jumped from his ledge and hopped into the sky to go search for Shadowwing and give him the bad news.
Author's Note – Cut scenes are in To Fly The Winds Of Life chapter 13.