Explanations
Where to rest? Where to rest? That looks good up there away from the other sky-kin.
Aurora turned her flight up, rising alongside a vertical slope with a waterfall. As she suspected, there was a gentle stream flowing out of a small cave in the wall. The plain on top of the slope was rocky, barren of dirt or growing things, and a little dark. But it was also isolated and safe for them to rest at after almost a waking-cycle of eager flight.
Rock-Climber, the ground-kin, and her wings, not that anyone else would know about that detail, had been complaining about the long flying with only a few relieving-breaks, so some rest and a meal sounded like a good idea, mostly for them but also secretly for her.
She touched down first on the rocky level and took a test drink of the water, which she found tasted good to drink.
Alvor hopped down to stretch his limbs, "Had to pick a dark place, huh?"
"I am a Nnight Furry, nnot a Light Furry!" she barked at him.
He just chuckled, threw up his paws, and shook his head like the twisted ground-kin he was.
Everyone else touched down behind her. Kin-liver leaped from Mist-Wings's back and landed with a roll, just because she could.
"Having fun, Elder?" Safiya laughed.
Kin-liver took off her helmet and tossed it and her staff aside, otherwise wearing all her false-hides and scales.
"I missed this! Actually, I am not ready to sleep at all. Any of you Furies want to fight?"
Rock-Climber, his liver filled with young energy and fire, bounded over to her with a growl of play.
"Yess, I will!" he bellowed.
This should be fun to watch!
She stood at Alvor's side while Moon-Dancer hopped up next to her. Everyone else similarly gathered at a short distance from the coming play-fight.
Kin-liver was a very good play-fighter, for a ground-kin. She had many season-cycles of play-fighting and living like a sky-kin in the past. Further, the play-fight rules had no claws or teeth allowed when play-fighting a ground-kin, for obvious reasons.
Kin-liver's green eyes narrowed on Rock-Climber as he stalked closer. She held her paws up while slowly weaving from side to side, never settling down in place. She was like a reed blowing in the wind.
"Scaredy dragon?" she teased.
"Nno!" he roared and lunged, a paw raised to swat at her.
Kin-liver moved faster than almost any other ground-kin could, ducking under the paw swipe and then jumping at him. Her arms went around his neck as she swung up onto his back. He dropped into a roll to pin her or shake her off, but she had already scrambled to the side, an extended paw reaching for his chin. He wildly tossed his head, avoiding her sleep-making attack and lunging for a quick strike.
But she had already moved by then. They both paused, realizing in the same wingbeat what had happened.
He had one of her legs in his jaws while she had a paw to his chin. With the rules of the play-fight, that meant...
"I win!" she shouted.
He dropped her and huffed, slapping his tail on the ground while fuming, "Nnot fairr!"
"How?" Kin-liver chuckled.
"Nno firre, nno clawss, nno teeth! Nnot fairr!"
Aurora rolled her eyes, "True, but we are sky-kin, and we must be careful when play-fighting the ground-kin."
"I know, but this is twisted! A sky-kin should not lose to a ground-kin."
"Maybe you just need to fight better, useless sky-kin," she snorted.
He stuck out his tongue at her, "You lost to her last time you play-fought!"
Whatever!
"What is the plan?" Alvor asked, also no longer wearing his false-sky-kin helmet.
"We sshould all rresst herre. Brrotherrss, cann you hunnt sssomethinng forr uss?" she asked, yawning.
Rain-Eater nodded, "Yess, we ssaw fourr-legss inn the trreess. We cann catch onne forr uss all."
"Annd I will help!" Moon-Dancer added.
"Good, yourr fade will help onn the hunnt," she agreed.
"We'll help get you all unpacked," Alvor said.
Mist-Wings stood, "I ssaw ssome of the musshrrooms we cann all eat. I cann brrinng uss ssome of the big onness."
That could be good, but no going alone.
"Rrock-Climberr, you fly with ourr ssissterr. Nnonne of uss sshould be alonne."
Safiya lifted a paw, "We'll be staying here with you then, right?"
"You sshould. Rright, drragonnhearrt?"
Kin-liver nodded in agreement as she started helping with the bags of supplies. A calm followed as the ground-kin helped her and her nestmates wiggle out of everything they were carrying. Then they were all free and ready to get to their tasks so that everyone could eat and sleep sooner.
Moon-Dancer and Rain-Eater flew off in one direction while Mist-Wings and Rock-Climber dove off the ledge in another direction. She pranced off toward the steam where Kin-liver, Alvor, and Safiya were drinking.
One waking-cycle was almost done without any problems or fights, so she smirked.
I am a good flight-leader!
Valka carved away a haunch of thigh from the deer-like animal. She handed that haunch over to Aurora for it to be flamed and cooked, and she washed her hands in the stream.
Mist-Wings and Rock-Climber had returned with several of the large, brown mushrooms which were especially good for eating, at least as mushrooms went.
Mushrooms and meat, or fish, were the standard meal that everyone enjoyed now. Only berries and other fruits or nuts were missing from this meal, but getting those would be rather dangerous in this occupied chamber.
Conversation died down as everyone ate their respective meals. With the meals finished and the remains tossed over the cliff, they gathered near the precipice down which the stream fell in a dazzling waterfall which filled the chamber with a constant, crashing drone over which few dragons' cries could be heard. However, the dragons that lived in this chamber were visible throughout, resting or flying as flashes of different colors in the rainbow.
For some reason, she felt far more at ease now among this group of people. She had always, ever since her departure from Berk anyway, felt more comfortable among dragons than among humans; however, this group was all dragons with whom she could speak and humans who were very like her in their devotion to dragons. All of New Haven was like that in many ways, but these two teenagers were among the tightest bonded humans in all of New Haven.
This was an excellent opportunity to get to know everyone here far better.
"We should talk," she proposed.
"What about, Elder?" Alvor whispered.
"Why are you, all of you, going on this adventure?"
"Because our Chief asked us to," Safiya answered.
"Yes, but we both know that is not the real reason. Honestly, why do all of you want to do this?"
Hums and lifted ears followed all throughout the gathering.
"I'll start for us. I want to explore more of the hidden world because... this is our home now, even if some of the dragons aren't very friendly yet. And... seeing more of this world feels like what I should do to better help lead the tribe and keep everyone safe. Alvor, Safiya?"
Alvor shrugged, "All of that. But we both wanted to get out of the village and go on an adventure. Right, sis?"
"Yep, as fun as it is to farm and tend the fields all day or weave or play Skald's 'Crypts and Dragons' games, we want to see more of the world," Safiya said.
Valka nodded, entirely understanding those sentiments herself. She hadn't fit in on Berk for many of the same reasons: she hadn't enjoyed taking part in the tasks everyone else did in the tribe.
"What about the rest of you? Aurora?"
Aurora purred, "I wannt to learrnn about life annd... mysself."
Interesting. What about yourself?
Rain-Eater spoke up, "Annd forr me, I wannt to finnd morre drragonnss who arre like uss, ssmart annd sspeakinng. Prractically, thiss flight iss mosstly forr the good of the trribe. We musst finnd annotherr place ssome of uss cann live."
"Mist-Wings, what about you?" she asked.
Mist-Wings paused, staring off into the distance and glancing at Aurora and Rain-Eater before answering, "Like my ssissterr, I wannt to thinnk about my life. I morre wannt to learrnn whetherr I sshould... trry to make a humann frriennd. Beinng away frrom the rresst of them might help."
Note to self: talk with her about that later.
A glance was all the prompting Rock-Climber needed.
"I jusst wannt to explorre!"
She expected nothing less from him. He was the youngest here and was still very free and wild at heart. But he was old enough to have taken part on the hunts, and he therefore knew enough responsibility to stay safe.
"Moon-Dancer?"
The Dawn Fury stared into the distance, "I wannt to learrnn morre about mysself annd be with people I carre forr."
"Very good reasons. We are all family here," she kindly said.
Aurora gently tapped Moon-Dancer's shoulder with a wingtip. That action was gentler than how she interacted with her brothers.
"Yess, you arre welcome with uss alwayss. You arre nnot sso annnnoyinng."
Mist-Wings chuckled, "Ssoul-brrotherr of minne."
Moon-Dancer and Mist-Wings shoved each other's shoulders while amicably growling at each other.
On the subject of family...
She leaned back against the saddlebags, "Aurora, Rain-Eater, want to tell us the story of how you, Alvor, and Safiya became friends?"
She already knew most of the story from Shadowwing, but learning a little more now felt like a good idea since everyone in this group was going to be spending a lot of time together for the foreseeable future
"Rreally?" "Musst we?" the Furies groaned.
"Please."
Aurora glanced at Rain-Eater and yawned, "Finne! Sso, Sshadowwinng flew to ourr cave onne morrnninng..."
"Brother, how are you this sun-cycle?" Shadowwing purred.
"We are well. You and your kin?" sire-father answered while resting with dam-mother.
"They are well. I flew here for Aurora and Rain-Eater. May I take them down to the shared-nest?"
"Yes, you may. The rest of us will fly down later when the sun is higher," sire-father answered.
"Aurora, Rain-Eater, want to come with me to the shared-nest?" Shadowwing purred.
"Yes!" "We should go!"
Aurora flew to her paws and ran out the cave-den after him with her nestmate brother bounding after her.
"Shadowwing, what is it?" "Yes, what do you want to do?"
"That, my dear kin, is a surprise. Follow me!" he chuckled, his ears lifted.
She eagerly followed after him. Together, they flew down from the cave-den, over the fields of green and forest, toward the blue ocean, and finally came to the Haven-range itself!
Two-leg dens made from trees grew up from the ground between perches for kin. Many kin were flying freely, gliding on the wind or flying with a life-bond two-leg to do work.
That idea of life-bond two-legs was so liver-warming! Giving her back and wings to someone else who was good and trusting of her would surely warm her liver much, when she was bigger and could do that!
Dawn-Singer grumbled some about how thought-twisted his life-bond two-leg could be, but she was not surprised. Life-bonds were probably much like the other. It had lift that Dawn-Singer would life-bond with a thought-twisted two-leg.
Brothers were thought-twisted just by being brothers.
Shadowwing dove for a place deep inside the Haven-range. Together, they touched down outside the largest great-hall-den in which the food-eating-ceremonies happened! That alone made this a very good, liver-warming and belly-filling place!
Shadowwing purred, "Now, I want you both to go inside to the picture-talking dirt. I will be with you there soon!"
Shadowwing spun away and flew off.
"Race you inside!" she barked.
She ran as fast as she could, easily beating Rain-Eater to the mouth of the great-hall-den. She slipped inside and ran ahead to the place with the dirt for picture-talking.
She and both her nestmate brothers knew the place very well since they did a lot of their picture-talking to two-legs here. Kin-liver had helped teach them many of their picture-words here in this dirt.
"Why does he want us here?" Rain-Eater warbled.
"No idea. Maybe Kin-liver wants to picture-talk with us."
"Yes, probably that."
Having nothing better to do while waiting, they trotted over and lay down by the fireplace.
Rain-Eater kept it to himself, but he suspected he knew what Shadowwing had planned. He had spotted Shadowwing picture-talking with a special pair of young two-legs whom he and his nestmate sister had spoken to several times before. Those two-legs probably wanted to bond with them!
He hid his purr of smugness when Shadowwing and the two two-legs, Alvor and Safiya Olefsen, entered the great-hall-den and started for the picture-talking place. Twistingly and liver-warmingly, the two-legs were fighting each other with words.
"What did the excited gardener do when spring finally came?" Alvor asked.
"What?" Safiya said.
"He wet his plants."
"Good one. What do you call two spiders that just got married?"
"What?"
"Newly-webs."
Alvor rolled his eyes, "What happened when twenty was hungry?"
"What?"
"Twenty-eight."
"Really? How should a Nord pray to the trickster god?"
"I don't know, how?"
"Not sure either, but make sure you keep it very low-key."
Alvor groaned, "Why do dragons weigh a lot?"
"Because they're covered in scales."
"Uh, what's brown and sticky?"
"A stick."
"Yep, thought you'd get that one. Oh! Hey there Aurora, Rain-Eater! I'm a little busy showing my sister that I'm the smart one," Alvor chuckled.
"Oh, are you? On what side do chickens have the most feathers?" Safiya smirked.
Alvor was silent, not immediately answering that thought-twisting question.
Rain-Eater hummed while thinking about the question which was grounding Alvor.
She is probably not thinking of left or right. Ground-birds have the same feathers on both sides... unless... wait! I know!
He held up a paw and started writing very quickly.
Outside
Safiya started in surprise and smiled at him, "Yes, Rain-Eater! Good one! You are so smart."
Shadowwing's laughter followed, so everyone glanced at him.
"Why are we here?" Aurora asked him.
Shadowwing crouched before him and his nestmate sister, "Remember how we have been talking about life-bond two-legs? You both asked me about Dawn-Singer and Erevan. What did I tell you about finding life-bond friends?"
"That they must be much like us, like two of the same life-fire," he said.
"And that the two-leg must see us as life like them, not as things to use," Aurora added.
"All true. I know that you have both picture-talked much with Alvor and Safiya before. These two-legs have warm livers, good thinking toward us kin, and have no kin already in their life-flights."
Aurora blinked in surprise, "You want us to have them as life-bond two-legs?"
Shadowwing slowly and cautiously nodded, "Only if you are meant to be life-bond friends. That is for you and them to learn. For what lift my thinking has, they are both good two-legs, and I think you are both much like them."
Rain-Eater thought about them. Alvor was rather tail-twisting in his jokes and direct speaking, and Safiya was, while still playful and teasing, more of a thinking two-leg. Further, neither of them had ever shown any rotted or badly twisted thinking or ideas. The more he thought about these two-legs, the more like each other they appeared: Alvor and Aurora, and himself and Safiya.
Aurora grunted and lowered a paw to the dirt.
Alvor, you will be my friend now
Sister... is that not very fast to name him a life-bond friend?
"Friend? You really... want me as your friend?" Alvor asked, his eyes very wide in surprise.
If you can deserve it
I doubt it
Alvor crossed his arms and glared at Aurora, "I don't know... I'm really amazing."
"Speak for yourself," Safiya muttered.
"I do. So, Aurora, how about this: we will have a test friendship to see if we are awesome enough for each other. Deal?"
Alvor held out a paw which Aurora gently brushed with one of hers after loudly huffing.
Deal
"Good!"
They turned on him and Safiya, so he stared at her while thinking about everything he already knew about her. There was not much beyond what he had heard at the bonding-ceremonies and from the pawsful of times picture-talking after he learned his words.
Nestmates generally had similar thinking, so if Alvor was not rotted, it was likely that Safiya was not rotted either. He also trusted Shadowwing to not bring them rotted two-legs to possibly bond with.
So he decided to give this friendship-flight a try.
Friends, Safiya?
She smiled widely, showing her teeth in the two-leg way of showing liver-warmth, "Sure, Rain-Eater. I'd like that a lot."
He hummed softly, already liking the warm feeling in his liver. Having a two-leg as a life-bond friend felt... good, even if this was very new to him.
Aurora smugly purred, her tail thrashing.
What should we do?
Alvor and Safiya looked guilty, hiding their paws in their furs.
"We might have snuck away from our chores to come here, so if you want to join us," Alvor proposed.
Sure, why not help out the shared-nest? Giving any time to our... friends and bonding with them is good! Maybe Shadowwing can...
He only then noticed that Shadowwing was gone, having dashed away at some point. That was understandable of him: Shadowwing was both an Alpha and a sire-father, so he would have many flights to fly.
Bonding closer as life-bond friends would take much time, but that was fine and good. They had all the time they would ever need. Even the whispers and hissing of danger and distant threats to the Haven-range were not important for him or Aurora to think about.
Nothing would ever bring threat to this shared-range, or would hurt the bonding between two-legs and kin.
Valka smiled after Aurora and Rain-Eater fell silent. The two strong friendships she saw before her now had grown naturally over about four years each between the pairs. They had learned about each other, shared the gift of flight, had disagreements and fights, and forgiven each other.
Mist-Wings chuckled, "Annd you all lived happily everr afterr."
Aurora, Rain-Eater, Alvor, and Safiya stuck out their tongues at her.
"Mist, it's not that simple at all. The longer you are friends, the more you see what you don't like about the other person. But you also respect them more, if you two are really friends. Take Aurora here..." Alvor began.
"Carreful," Aurora hissed.
"She can be stubborn, caustic, and dramatic..."
"I am nnot!"
"But she is also loyal, brave, smart, and kindhearted."
Aurora said nothing to that, but she purred softly while staring at her paws. No one else said anything, though several of them yawned widely or had drooping eyes.
Valka stretched, "I don't know about you all, but I'm getting tired. Who is taking first watch?"
Moon-Dancer lifted a paw, "I will if nno onne elsse wanntss to."
"Thenn me afterr," Rock-Climber proposed.
"Agrreed," Moon-Dancer grunted.
Everyone started curling up to go to sleep. The dragons among them used their wings to block out much of the light so they could sleep, head under a wing, whenever they needed to. Alvor and Safiya had the distinct advantage of having people willing to lend wings to give them darkness in which to sleep.
Adjusting to sleep in a world with constant light had required that homes and huts have dark rooms, and that people have thick blankets or just be somehow able to sleep in greater light. Some of the caves in the rock walls of New Haven were specifically designated as sleeping-chambers. Others were reserved for married people who wanted to... be alone for a while in a little more privacy than the thin walls of the huts and tents offered.
She remembered something she had intended to do, so she hopped to her feet, walked over to Mist-Wings, and lay a hand on her neck.
"Mist-Wings, do you have a moment to talk alone with me?"
"Ssurre."
Mist-Wings followed her over to the gentle stream about ten fathoms away from everyone else. The constant babble of the flowing water might help obscure any of this conversation from being overheard.
She sat down beside the stream, and Mist-Wings lay down beside her.
"What iss it, drragonnhearrt?"
"I was thinking about what you said. You want to learn about making human friends, like your older brothers and sister have."
"Yess, I do. I feel like I sshould ssinnce they have."
"Getting a true friend is good, yes, but it isn't something you have to get. Definitely not because others have a friend. There is no contest to get friends."
Mist-Wings snorted and stared at the flowing water, "I knnow therre iss nno life-rrule that ssayss I musst get a frriennd to fly with me. Iss flyinng the trruesst rreassonn why humannss wannt to be frrienndss with drragonnss?"
She frowned, knowing that she had confused thoughts on that precise question. The freedom and joy that flight brought was certainly a very powerful component of the dragon-human friendships. That shared activity allowed for bonding and trust in the same way that a human could help give a dragon care that would not otherwise be possible. Humans could not fly on their own, but neither could dragons heal torn wings.
On the other hand, a friendship solely based on giving each other flight or of being useful was not enough. Such a friendship would be dissolved when the usefulness ended: when there was no more need for each other.
"Honestly, flying is important because it is an act of trust between both. But flying is not everything and should not be the reason for a friendship. Far better is that your souls reflect each other in some way. Does that make any sense?"
Mist-Wings warbled softly, "Ssome. But how do I learrnn that about ssomeonne? I cannnnot ssee ssoulss."
"No, you don't have to. Just spend time around others, learn what they like and are interested by, and you will both start being around each other more. There is... usually no one moment when you both learn that you are friends."
"Ussually?"
She rolled her eyes, remembering at least two encounters, one she had lived and the other she had been told about, between a human and a dragon in which both learned precisely that about the other in a rather short time.
"It can happen quicker but not normally. The best you can do is just be around humans more, try to find ones that are more like you in some ways, and friendships just happen, if you want them to grow that is."
Mist-Wings idly nodded, though she looked somehow troubled, "I am nnot ssurre. Trrusstinng anny onne humann that way might hurrt. It feelss ssaferr to jusst be warrm and good to all of them at onnce."
"It might hurt? What do you mean?"
Mist-Wings winced and looked away. This was clearly touching on something close to the Night Fury's heart, so she knew not to push or prod her on this. But it was probably important.
"I... rrememberr whenn the trrusst almosst ennded annd we drragonnss almosst... left you."
She closed her eyes, trying to not think back to that heart-rending day over three years ago. Everything had worked out in the end, but it all came within a thread of breaking.
"Alsso, I rrememberr how Dawnn-Ssinngerr'ss frriennd had ssome bad thinnkinng towarrd him."
She lay a hand on Mist-Wings's forehead, "I... people aren't perfect. We make mistakes. That's not a reason to not make friends. And... everything is different now that we humans really know you can talk like us. Also, friendships, real ones that last even when life is... tough, are not easy to make. Those take work by both people."
"What do you meann?"
"General friendliness toward the tribe is good, but you must give someone, one specific person, a lot more time if you want to really know them. Without giving some of your life to them, you will never know who they are inside, and they will never know who you are inside. Being warm to all of them at once is not enough."
Mist-Wings hung her head and exhaled, "I unnderrsstannd. My fatherr hass ssaid manny of the ssame thinngss to uss beforre. Do you wannt ssleep nnow?"
"Yeah, I do. Good idea."
The Fury gently headbutted her shoulder and purred, "Thannk you, Drragonnhearrt."
"Any time, my dear."
Together, they walked back to the other Furies, some of whom looked like they were already asleep. She was shortly thereafter hidden in darkness under one of Mist-Wings's outstretched wings. This was not the same as resting with Cloudjumper out on one of their many adventures to free trapped dragons or go on other secret missions, but this was still pleasant enough.
At the very least it was what she knew she must get used to, since these were the sleeping arrangements for many weeks still to come.
Moon-Dancer stood awake and alert for any threats. A few pawful of sky-kin flew by down below, but none flew his direction. There was no hunting up here on this isolated ledge far away from any plants anyway.
The similarities and differences between this place and the New-Haven-range struck him as he looked down on this range from above. Both were green ranges with many plants, light-rocks, prey-animals, and not-for-hunting-animals, but this one was brighter, had more plants and trees with spines, and was more filled with color and life. The New-Haven-range was, understandably, filled with ground-kin who changed the range just by being in it, and by his kin who enjoyed living in darker lights.
He took a quick flight to relieve himself, went back to the stream for some water, and returned to his kin. Having all the packs and bags off him let him roll on his back to scratch at some itches, so he did that until he was satisfied. Everyone else was asleep, so they could not see him being silly just for the fun of it.
He settled back into the routine of watching, staying awake, and thinking about whatever flew into his liver or head.
But his gaze kept being drawn back to one set of blue and green wings. Aurora had so far been just as eager as everyone else on this flight. This flight was her first time being a flight-leader for a small pack, so she was probably learning while being the flight-leader.
While she was kin to him, she was not at all like Mist-Wings. Aurora had always been bigger than him, and she had not been a playmate when he was a hatchling or a fledgling. She was always someone he had looked up to in both ways.
Her stated reasons for wanting to be on this flight were similar to his own. She wanted to learn about life and who she was. What was she curious about?
The next large chamber that looked promising was a little on the smaller side, but it was green and had soil, tall trees, and mushrooms. The place was shaped like a lengthy bowl. Better, it appeared very empty at first glance.
Valka frowned anyway as she stared at the chamber. She had briefly seen this place before on a prior flight, but she had neglected to investigate it closely. Something, an ability to feel when threat was near, warned her that there was unseen danger. There was always a reason why a chamber was unclaimed.
"We should check it, but be careful."
The place only got stranger as she and Mist-Wings got closer. There were many noticeable signs of old fires: such as scorch marks, piles of ash, a lack of small plants on the ground, and visible damage on the trunks of the taller trees.
No sooner had the Furies landed than they started coughing and hacking. Even she found it hard to breathe. Something smelled wrong.
They all saw a few skeletons of various dragons under the bases of the trees, hidden from view from above.
"Back in... the air!" she shouted.
Everyone took to the sky and immediately felt relief as the air itself was cleaner higher up. They followed Aurora back to the entrance high above ground-level, and everyone landed there.
"What wass that?" Aurora shouted in-between her coughing.
"The airr ssmelled like firre-gass!" Rain-Eater answered.
"Maybe it did," Aurora grumbled.
Valka only needed a moment of thought before she had a good idea what might be happening.
"There is flammable gas in there. The gas comes from... somewhere and must be set on fire when a dragon flames."
Rain-Eater hummed and nodded, "That could be."
"I cann flame it to tesst it!" Rock-Climber offered.
Rain-Eater shook his head, "Nno. That iss a verry bad idea. We do nnot knnow how big the firreball would be."
"Yeah, we're not as fireproof on the outside as you are," Safiya chuckled.
"Trrue," Rock-Climber grumbled.
Valka nodded, agreeing entirely while she checked her map. They were getting closer to the uncharted reaches.
"Yes, we already know this is not a place for us. It will never be safe here. We should go on."
Rock-Climber looked a little disappointed, but he relented and followed them.
The next cavern was massive, far larger than the New-Haven-Range. The ground fell away vertically so far down that nothing was visible past the mists. Massive, thick columns rose from the mist, and crystals grew from the columns of rock. The rocks were covered in weaving vines of strange plants.
Aurora led her flight between the columns of rock, all while distant cries of sky-kin echoed from the unknown depths of the range. She even saw some of the sharp-wing-tree-cutters far off in the distance.
This is probably not a good place for ground-kin, but this is still very liver-warming!
"Alvorr! Look at it!" she shouted and spun in a loop for joy.
"Amazing!" Alvor shouted back.
If only she knew what he was thinking, seeing this for the first time. But she was also seeing this massive part of the hidden world for the first time. No one except for Kin-liver had been here before.
She winged closer to Mist-Wings and started gliding to make for easier talking.
"You lead uss!" she roared to Kin-liver.
Mist-Wings and Kin-liver nodded in acknowledgment and took the lead. There appeared to be no end to this chamber. Several larger ledges with plants growing on them caught her attention, but Kin-liver did not lead them there.
Twisted, why not rest there? Other sky-kin rest there.
Her question was answered only wingbeats later when several of the large-single-horn sky-kin charged at the fire-scales that had just landed on what must be the single-horn sky-kins' territory.
Roaring and flaming followed as the groups of sky-kin began fighting. She was not surprised by that. Sky-kin, in her experience from afar, did a lot of fighting in these ranges.
But she was very surprised and liver-chilled when she saw that one of the fire-scales had been killed and trampled by a large-single-horn sky-kin. The other fire-scales flew away, roaring in protest. The single-horn that got the kill shoved the body off the ledge so that it fell down into the unknown depths.
"Oh gods," Alvor sadly said.
So he saw it.
Seeing death was just part of life, but she did not usually see the killing happen.
They all continued on together between dark spires, around light-rocks, alongside ledges and the rocky slopes on the sides of the chamber, around waterfalls, over the misty cloud down below, and down through the mist into the world below.
Twistingly, there was more light below the thick mist hovering above them. The lowest part of the chamber was filled with green trees and mushrooms of all colors along with flowing waters.
She wrinkled her nose at a faint smell that hovered in the air.
Waste. Sky-kin fly in this chamber and must relieve themselves somewhere.
Her kin landed beside her on the slope outside the forest of weaving plants. Her nestmates and Moon-Dancer crowded very close around her.
"Dragonheart, what was that?" Safiya shouted.
"What was what?" Kin-liver asked as she got down from Mist-Wings.
"The... fight."
Kin-liver shrugged, "Dragons fight, to the death sometimes. That is how this world is. Even Haven saw some of that violence. Remember all the fights for territory and status, especially around mating season?"
"Yeah, almost everyone here does," Alvor answered.
She could clearly remember the fights, usually males trying to claim more status in the nest-order, and how the fights sometimes started fires in the ground-kin dens. Her sire-father and Shadowwing did much to keep the peace as Alphas, but they could not stop all fights. She, her kin, and other sky-kin who lived more with ground-kin had to help kill the fires. While those fights had seen much flaming and biting, there had not been much killing.
These sky-kin were different in living from how sky-kin had lived in the above.
"Why arre drragonnss morre bitinng herre thann above?" she asked Kin-liver.
Kin-liver paused, looking to her for a while before answering, "I'll tell you all why I think dragons are more violent here, but not right now. We need to find a place to rest safely first."
Rain-Eater yawned and pawed at the rock under paw, "Yess, I wannt rresst ssoonn."
"Look forr a cave orr go innto the trreess?" Mist-Wings asked.
Together, they stared at the trees. The bushes, plants, flowers, and vines were very thick and difficult to move among on the ground. There would be far too many places for a hunter to strike from.
"We sshould sstay herre inn the openn," Aurora declared.
"I agree, it's much safer out here," Kin-liver added.
There was still the thick mist hovering above and completely blocking the view. But that mist also hid them and their ground-kin from anything above.
The ground-kin helped her and her kin out of the saddles and bags, all of which were dropped on the ground. The ground-kin tossed their helmets aside, glad to have them off after having them on the whole waking-cycle.
"With me, ssissterr, Ssafiya, Drragonnhearrt?"
Mist-Wings, Kin-liver, and Safiya followed her a short distance into the forest to relieve themselves while the males did the same on their own. The two groups flew together and did much together, but both needed to be alone for other parts of life.
Oddly, Mist-Wings looked very disturbed, her head hung and tail dragging as they walked.
"Sister, what is twisting you?"
"The... fighting and killing. Why did the sky-kin do that?" Mist-Wings whined.
She shrugged, "That is what sky-kin do sometimes. They fight for status."
"But why not be friends instead? That would be better."
"Just accept it, twisted sister. Not everyone can be friends," she barked, annoyed at her sister's blindness.
Mist-Wings wanted to think the best of everyone and every kin. She could not think or did not want to think that some sky-kin would like fighting, biting, and hurting. She held peace very close to her liver, but that wanting made her blind to how hard and hurting life truly was.
Mist-Wings whined again and looked away from her. That was good. The sooner her sister learned that life was painful, the better for Mist-Wings.
"What are you two talking about?" Safiya chucked.
"Life annd how dyinng iss nnorrmal," she huffed.
Kin-liver went over and held Mist-Wings's neck while whispering something to her.
Her nestmate-sister was very liver-twisted to not want to see how life hurt sometimes. Whatever. She would learn eventually.
Moon-Dancer sat on his haunches, lost to his thoughts about what he had seen on the flight in this very big range.
"Did you ssee that fight?" Rock-Climber shouted, bounding back to them.
"Yess, I did. That Nnightmarre wass farr too ssmall to fight the Rrumblehorrnn," Rain-Eater shrugged.
Alvor returned from relieving himself behind a bush, "Good thing we weren't caught up in that. Are many dragons like that here?"
Privately, Moon-Dancer was not sure about that either. From what he had heard, many sky-kin were very flaming, biting, and hurting at defending their status and ranges. The sky-kin that were life-bonded to ground-kin seemed different, not as quick to bite and flame.
Maybe that difference was because some of the ground-kin's peaceful life-ways rubbed off on the sky-kin's life-flights, or maybe there was another reason.
"Ssome arre. Otherrss arre nnot," Rain-Eater said.
"I suppose so. As long as you Furies don't become... uh, furious?" Alvor chuckled.
Moon-Dancer eagerly lifted a paw, "Why arre we called Furriess? We arre nnot verry anngrry."
"Nnot nnow, trrue. But we cann be verry powerrful in fightss whenn we arre prrotectinng ourr family," Rain-Eater answered.
Alvor nodded, "I heard stories about your fathers, Shadowwing and Was-Grounded, when they fought at the Bewilderbeast island and then at Haven against the armada."
Moon-Dancer had never seen sire-father fighting in a true fight before, and he hoped that he never would. One of the last fights had given sire-father the chest-hurt and sky-light hurt marks.
They stopped walking when they arrived at the supplies and saddles. The females were nowhere in sight.
"Waitinng forr the femaless, how ssurrprrrissinng," Rain-Eater chuckled
"Well, they must do a little more than we do," Alvor smirked.
Rain-Eater spun on him with a huff, "I sstill do nnot unnderrsstannd why you humannss musst wearr furrs annd clothinng."
"Rain, we've explained modesty to you before, remember?"
"Modessty iss twissted, hidinng frrom parrt of yourrsself. I ssaw Ssafiya takinng a bath onnce; therre iss nnothinng twissted about herr."
Alvor sighed and threw up his paws, "Look, humans and dragons are different on this. That's just how life is."
"Ssurre," Rain-Eater huffed.
They settled down to wait, and eventually saw the females approaching them. Everyone gathered together to prepare for sleep.
"Ugh, I miss the Crypts and Dragons campaign already. Our party will be waiting at that tavern for maybe a month," Alvor exclaimed.
"Yess, but my mage nneeded rresst to rrecoverr hiss manna annyway," Rain-Eater said.
"Annd my alchemisst-healerr needss to make morre potionnss too!" Mist-Wings eagerly added.
"Very true, we ran low on healing pots in the last raid. My wyvern almost didn't make it through alive," Safiya mused.
"But my Nnorrd fighterr tannked sso much damage!" Moon-Dancer huffed.
Kin-liver burst out in laughter, holding a paw to her face.
"What?" Alvor asked.
"Oh, it's just funny how you dragons play as humans but the humans sometimes play as dragons," she said.
Safiya grumbled, "Technically, a wyvern isn't a-"
All the Furies snorted.
"It's part of the game, pretending to be something we aren't," Alvor cheerfully explained.
"Iss that why you play onnly big annd strronng charracterrss?" Aurora grinned.
Everyone laughed while Alvor crossed his arms, "Oh really, soul sister? You played as males in the last two campaigns. Is there something you want to tell us?"
"Like what?" she barked.
"Are you questioning what you are?" he chuckled.
Aurora hummed for a while until she swatted at him with a paw, "Nno! I am nnot! You arre sso twissted!"
"You know I get some of it from you!"
"On that pleasant note, how about we get some sleep?" Kin-liver proposed.
"Yess, but cann we have sstorriess annd quesstionns firrsst?" Moon-Dancer asked.
"Sure, what about?"
They all sat down in a circle. Alvor and Safiya rested against Aurora's and Rain-Eater's chests while Kin-liver sat in the middle of the circle.
Moon-Dancer glanced at his kin before asking his question, "Why arre otherr drragonnss sso much morre danngerrouss herre thann above? You ssaid you would tell uss."
Kin-liver frowned while holding her staff in her paws, "Dragons were always dangerous even in the above. None of you ever saw the great Bewilderbeast, but you must have heard stories about it, right?"
"Yess, verry big with tussks. Ourr brrotherr told uss what he rrememberrss," Rain-Eater said.
"Not only that, but Bewilderbeasts could also... control dragons as their Kings. The good Bewilderbeast that I knew for over twenty years helped keep the peace in the nest. He never let the fights cause death. You might have heard about another big dragon: the Queen."
Several growls followed that, so Kin-liver continued.
"It was a bad dragon that would eat other dragons, but it also kept... peace of a kind in its nest. Those controlling dragons, the Queen and the Bewilderbeasts, forced dragons to live more peacefully as a group of many kinds in one nest. That even made dragons more open to being peaceful with humans. However, here in the hidden world there are no controlling dragons, so all kinds fly off to be with their own. They get into more fights for status among their own kinds. That is normal. And... there is another reason why there is more fighting. Can any of you guess it?"
Unsurprisingly, Rain-Eater nodded first, "Lack of food."
Kin-liver sighed, "Yes. There is only so much food to go around in the caverns, so the more aggressive dragons are the ones who will live and have offspring. The world above, despite the dangerous humans, had far more food for everyone. The hidden world is not one where the weak or small survive for long."
Her words left everyone, Moon-Dancer included, feeling chilled. They were true and flew with everything he had seen of the hidden world, but that truth did not make the reality any warmer.
"Drragonnhearrt, you helped drragonnss whenn you lived inn the ice nnesst," Rain-Eater softly said.
"I did."
"Cann you tell uss a sstorry?" he added.
Moon-Dancer was very eager to hear a story about Kin-liver's past. In all the season-cycles he had known her she had not said much of who she was back then and what she had done in her life-flight.
"Sure can, but it's not a short story. Everyone else want to hear it?"
Purrs and nods of agreement followed all around.
"Alright then. There was one time when I and Cloudjumper followed a very big ship that had cages filled with dragons. There was no time to go get any help, so we followed the ship from above all the way to port. Then I found the captain in the mead-hall later and struck up conversation with him..."
He eagerly listened to Kin-liver's liver-warming story of how she and Cloudjumper rescued many sky-kin from traps. She had learned where the ship was going, followed it in secret, landed on the ship in the night, hit a two-leg on the head so she could grab the trap-opening key, and quickly rescued all the sky-kin, even after fighting some two-legs by using only her stick-staff. Kin-liver was a very skilled fighter, as they already knew from play-fighting her themselves!
She eventually finished her story, to several purrs of approval.
"Who wants to take watch this time?" she asked.
"I will. My brrotherr cann go afterr me," Rain-Eater volunteered.
Everyone piled together to rest in shared warmth while Rain-Eater watched over them.
Moon-Dancer, very tired and ready for a long sleep, nestled between Mist-Wings and Rock-Climber.
Rain-Eater yawned, almost ready to sleep after waking his brother. He was tired and ready for sleep, and the range itself was very boring, not much happening at all. The occasional roar echoed from the distance, but there was no activity at all nearby. Sky-kin did a lot of sleeping if they were not flying to go hunt.
He sighed and stared at the layer of mist floating above. He and his fellow Furies had been away from the New-Haven-range for three waking-cycles now, but he was already missing that place.
Being away from his sire-father, dam-mother, and hatchling sister was good; he had no great liver-chill from being away from them. But there was something else he could not perfectly put a claw tip to.
More time passed as he attentively watched the nothing happening around him. The mist kept floating above. A roar echoed from far away. A branch rustled as something moved within.
He heard a sound like a soft wind approaching, though the mist was unmoved.
What is...
Countless orange tiny-wings dove through the mist as a very large flock. These smallest sky-kin he had ever seen were silent, having no roars or shrieks. The tiny-wings were harmless sky-kin, not even having teeth. Rather, these sky-kin used their long tongues to prey on the food which flowers made to attract small flying things which would then help spread plant seed to other plants.
He knew these small sky-kin had important life-roles in the hidden ranges by spreading seed so that plants could make fruit. Ground-kin and prey-animals need that fruit to live on.
Silently, he watched as the tiny-wing sky-kin descended on the thick forest and fed on the flower-food. The largest flowers, bigger even than some smaller kin, had very large groups of the tiny-wings. The forest itself looked like it had changed color entirely from green to orange in many places.
There are so many of them.
The peaceful feeding continued until he noticed something different happening deeper in the forest.
Small, blue shapes were dashing back and forth between the trees. The shapes were slightly bigger than the little-nibbler-terrors, but these kin, if they were kin, had no wings. Kin-liver had not mentioned anything like these before.
His suspicion was confirmed when he saw one of the jumping blue kin eat one of the tiny-wings whole. There was far more feeding happening here than he thought at first.
The tiny-wings started taking to the sky as a large flock, their feeding finished here. The mass of orange tiny-wings ascended through the cloud of mist, and then were gone almost as quickly as they had come.
Their departure left the forest filled with several pawful of the blue, flightless kin that had been hunting the tiny-wings. These wingless kin could not threaten him any more than a little-nibbler pack could. On the other paw, little-nibbler-terrors could hurt ground-kin. There was no immediate threat now, but there might be one.
He roared a command of waking and alertness. All his fellow Furies flew to their paws in only a few wingbeats; they were awake and looking around for threats.
"Brother... what?" Aurora groaned.
"Those," he nodded.
They and their ground-kin looked to the wingless kin. The kin had thin bodies, strong hind legs that were good for jumping, big mouths for their size, and many frills. The kin also looked very playful from how much they pounced on each other and nibbled ears and tails.
"Dragonheart, what are those?" Alvor eagerly asked.
Kin-liver stepped toward them, but the new kin hopped back in fear while calling to each other. One of the blue kin nosed closer to her, as if curious about her. But even it got spooked by her approaching it.
The blue kin shot a very small shot of fire that sparkled, flashed different colors, and formed a small cloud of smoke which quickly faded. The kin had hopped away in that time. The effect was like the kin vanished in the cloud, though it had no true fade like a Light Fury.
Kin-liver returned to them, "That is a new type of dragon that's not in the above. I call them Faerie dragons."
Alvor nodded in apparent approval, "Yeah, that fits. Small, playful, good at hiding. Awesome, we've already added one more to the Dragon Manual! Anyone know what they eat?"
"I ssaw them catchinng micrro-drragonnss earrlierr," Rain-Eater said.
"The micro-dragons were here? Ugh. They're cute," Safiya sighed.
"You werre ssleepinng. I knnow you nneed yourr beautiful-makinng ssleep," he chuckled.
"Rain! Are you saying I am not beautiful now?" Safiya protested.
He stepped back and held a paw to his chest, "I am nnot a judge of humann beauty like that."
She looked like she wanted to tease him, except there was a shriek from inside the forest. All the Faerie dragons spun toward the forest and hissed at it as several more of their kind darted out of the trees and thick bushes. Something was forcing them in fear out of the forest.
Whatever was hunting them was much bigger and very close, so he closed his eyes and looked with life-fire sight.
There the hunter was, hiding and slithering along the ground. It was like an eel-snake, having no limbs or wings, except it lived and hunted on land. While not big enough to hunt a grown Night Fury, this hunter could easily prey on ground-kin.
"We sshould leave!" he barked.
"I agrree!" Aurora nodded.
They worked quickly to put the saddles and all other supplies back on. The ground-hunter never showed itself outside the forest.
"Let me and Mist-Wings lead us to the next pass," Kin-liver said.
They took to the sky once again, ascended through the layer of mist, and were once more in the largest chamber he had ever seen in the hidden world. Their flight passed over deep crevices which appeared to have no bottom; clouds of mist far below; ridges of bare rock and ridges with soil, mushrooms, and trees; and waterfalls that glowed in the light from light-rocks. There were sky-kin all throughout, some gliding but most resting on rocks or by waters.
"Beautiful, huh?" Safiya whispered while stroking his neck.
"Yess, verry. But thiss iss nnot a place forr humannss herre. Too much danngerr."
"How big was that... thing in the trees?"
"Ssaf, you do nnot wannt to knnow. Trrusst me."
While Aurora might joke about nothing bad happening to her life-bond ground-kin as long as she was there to protect Alvor, he did not see that as a topic to joke about. What he had seen in that forest hidden by mist was all that anyone needed to see to know what the hidden world was truly like. The circle of life was clear there.
Sky-kin drop waste, the waste feeds plants and trees, the plants and trees bring the life that feed from trees and plants, other kin feed on those lives, and other, bigger hunters feed on those kin. Even the biggest hunters die eventually and feed other hunters or feed rot.
He was glad that Furies were at or near the very top of the food-order and were therefore able to protect all who were kin to them.
The flight piled into a small cave next to the large passageway at the end of the chamber. Valka explained to them that this was as far as her prior flights had gone. She had no idea what any of them would find from now on.
That meant everyone had to take more care with always being attentive, staying properly nourished and watered, and getting enough rest to always be alert for threats. The journey into the unknown would begin after everyone woke up. Everyone yawned and started going to sleep after that.
Valka remained awake a while longer, observing what she could from the world around her. There were not many dragons who passed through this passageway. There could be many reasons for that, but at least she knew that there were chambers within that could support life, just like these ones.
The only part of this journey so far that had been truly bothering her was that no one on this mission had yet seen any Light Furies. True, the Light Furies were more solitary as a kind, but she had expected to see at least a few of them at some point. She had spotted a few of them in the past when she was flying with Cloudjumper, but those sightings had become rarer in the last year.
We will find them. I'm sure of that.
Another idea, a very faint hope which she tried to never dwell on, floated to the fore of her thoughts. There was no proof that Grimmel the Grisly had killed all Night Furies in the world except for Shadowwing, Was-Grounded, and Green-Wings. One person could not possibly exterminate all of a single kind of dragon, especially when there were all the unexplored reaches of the hidden world in which Night Furies could still be alive.
But that line of thought was getting far ahead of herself. Instead, she considered her two main charges, Alvor and Safiya, on this journey. The siblings were rather quiet so far on the journey, though that was understandable since she was also awestruck by so much of what they had seen. Conversation might pick up between everyone later on when the group became more comfortable with the routine, or maybe when they started missing home and the rest of their families.