Negotiations

Was-Grounded and Shadowwing sat on the edge of the Alpha's ledge. The post-waking routine had been attended to, leaving nothing to do except wait for the Alpha to arrive. They were still eager to learn more about the pack and all its customs, but that was likely going to wait until after this meeting with the Alpha.

Was-Grounded noticed that several of the Alpha's followers, likely those in power-places within the pack, were already waiting on the same level. Having never before seen a full pack of fellow strong-thinking sky-kin, he had no idea what to expect of the pack. His own family-pack was very not normal in the world of sky-kin and did not prepare him at all for this.

But many of his questions would hopefully be answered soon.

The Alpha Light Fury eventually emerged from one of his caves, and calmly strode to greet them.

"My apologies, Alphas. One of my mates wanted my attention for... something important. Neither of us could wait," Alpha purred after proudly sitting down beside them.

Shadowwing huffed, "I am sure she did. Light wings of this pack do seem very... active in that way."

"How about you both? Did you sleep well?" Alpha asked.

"We did sleep well, but we had to tell the four females you brought that we wanted to be alone."

"Did you? Interesting. Let me guess, they wanted more than one go with you?"

They both snorted.

"No. We did not mate any of them," Was-Grounded explained.

Alpha appeared genuinely surprised and confused, "No, why not? Were they unkind to you? If so I will have them punished severely."

Alpha spoke very calmly, but his eyes gleamed faintly with a touch of amusement.

So Shadowwing spoke up on their behalf, not wanting anything bad to happen to them. The females were not cruel, only very immature and almost certainly being manipulated by this very dragon. Further, the way Alpha almost hinted at taking pleasure from doling out punishment was very concerning.

"No, Alpha. They were not at all unkind. They offered themselves to us, but we do not want them or any females here."

Alpha blinked, visibly confused, "Why not? Those females are almost all mature, unclaimed as far as I know, and warming to look at. I do not understand your reasons for not pleasing yourselves."

"We have life-mates. We are theirs only," Shadowwing said.

Alpha chuckled, "So? If I may speak truthfully, Alpha to Alphas, why do you let your females control you between your legs?"

"What!" Shadowwing growled.

"You are big, strong males, and it is twisted of you to not want to please yourselves. You might have learned new ways to please your own females when you return to them."

"We do not live that way. There is far more to life than only joining," Was-Grounded huffed.

"Oh, I know that. It is always a power-claiming move, mere pleasure, or egg-making. There is no other reason."

Shadowwing didn't bother pointing out that there was another reason; he suspected that Alpha wouldn't listen or believe that love was different from any of the other reasons. It was also possible that Alpha couldn't understand love at all.

Alpha continued, "It is obvious that you both have ideas I do not understand and which the pack does not accept, but you may live as you wish. We will not push our ideas and life-ways onto you or your pack. I expect that you will not try to foul our pack either. I only want what is best for us, my fellow Alphas."

Shadowwing calmly answered, though he struggled to not bare his teeth or hiss, "We are very thankful of that, good Alpha. We would also appreciate not having females sent to us for that reason."

Alpha slightly bent his head, "That is not a problem."

Was-Grounded nodded toward the other Light Furies sitting several pounces away. There were three females and three males. He was curious who these Light Furies were. They must be ones of status in the pack since Alpha brought them here for these talks.

"Alpha, who are these light wings with us?"

"They are my Firsts of the different pack-roles. The females are First-Food-Planner, First-Healer, and First-Knower. The males are First-Fighter, First-Far-Flier, and First-Hunter. Most of them are my kin."

Each of the designated Light Furies bent their head in acknowledgment when their title was spoken. However, Shadowwing noticed that one group was missing and not listed in the group of representatives.

"What about the... Helpers?" he asked.

Alpha huffed in amusement, "You are observant. There is no First for that group. My Alpha-Mates watch and guide all in that group for me."

Alpha glanced over his tail to three more females: one had several prominent spots on her wings, another almost had several stripes, and the last had faint swirls of color on her wings.

Interesting. So his mates are active as leaders or something like that in the pack.

Shadowwing nodded and lay down, ready to start the negotiations, "You wanted to talk with us about our range and pack-peace. Let us talk."

Alpha stretched his wings before settling down again in a more comfortable position, "Alphas, ever since my Far-Fliers learned about your... new range with kin and two-legs together, we have been chilled and worried about the two-legs being in this world. We have lived in these ranges with nothing truly changing for many, many life-cycles. But the two-legs are change."

Shadowwing huffed, "They are that. Change is not only bad though."

"Change upsets and disturbs what already is. None of the light wings hatched in these ranges know anything of two-legs, but some light wings have joined the pack here. Others brought their knowing from when some of us flew the above."

"So what do you think of the two-legs?" Shadowwing asked.

Alpha grumbled, his tail tapping the ground at his side, "I had Far-Fliers fly your range in secret, hidden from eyes. They took no prey and did not show themselves."

Shadowwing glanced at Was-Grounded in surprise. They had not seen any unexpected Light Furies back at home. Not that they would have seen the intruders if the Light Furies were flying invisibly. Life-fire sight could presumably see them, if someone knew to be looking at the right time.

Knew that would be a problem. Great.

Alpha continued, "I heard enough from the Far-Fliers. The two-legs break the trees, trap the prey animals, and change the range in many ways."

"Sky-kin do the same."

"Sky-kin? What?" Alpha asked.

Was-Grounded answered, "We name two-legs as ground-kin, and us kin as sky-kin. Both ground-kin and sky-kin have life-fires, though our body-shapes are very different."

Alpha huffed, "I understand. Still, we light wings remember what two-legs could do in the hidden world above. Two-legs should not be in these ranges. That group does not belong here."

"Why not? Why should they not live here in peace with us?" Shadowwing asked.

"Because they are not our group."

Shadowwing rolled his eyes, refraining from any further outburst. Alpha's reason for rejecting humans was so simple, appealing to tribal thinking, and so ignorant. Group-based thinking was an excuse for prejudice.

"We dark wings do not think in groups. Yes, sky-kin and ground-kin are different in body-shape, and we have different needs. No, those differences are not reasons to turn tail on each other. We sky-kin can learn much from ground-kin, and they can learn much from us."

Alpha hummed softly, as if he was amused by the conversation so far, "Maybe that is truth, but there is more you are not saying. Tell me why the kin, or sky-kin, in that range brought the two-legs into this world."

Shadowwing clawed at the rock underpaw. Doing so was a small way to let out some of the frustration he always felt at the thought of the above.

"We brought them because we are one pack with them. We lived in peace in the above, but other two-legs would not accept us. Those other two-legs brought... a flight of Fighters to attack us. We won the fight, but we learned the above is not ready for us to live in peace. Too many two-legs think in groups only. Us against them is very good at forcing a pack to stay together, is it not?"

Alpha snorted, "Every pack must have something to keep it together, usually need or being taught the correct ideas early in life."

Just like how everyone on Berk had the same identity, dragonslayers, before... me. Gods, we dragons and humans really aren't that different.

Was-Grounded yawned, "This is... good to talk about, but what do you truly want? Why did you summon us here?"

Alpha stared at him for several wingbeats, "So you are the practical one. I thought so. Fine. I hoped the two-legs would die off or leave our ranges of kin only. But that is not happening. Now I hear that the two-legs are using kin to fly far into new ranges. This is bad for all kin."

That explained what must have happened. The Alpha learned about the adventure their children were on, and he must have wrongly concluded that the humans were somehow using or controlling their friends and companions.

Shadowwing objected, "No, why is it bad? We have some ground-kin flying with our young, like your Far-Fliers. They are searching for new ranges some of the ground-kin could live in, for if we want to take another range."

Was-Grounded purred, "They are not looking for packs to fight or claimed territory to fight for. Do you know of any unclaimed ranges?"

Alpha got to his paws and started pacing until he again settled down before them, "The only unclaimed ranges are unclaimed for very good reasons. Reasons like death-air in the sky, nearby nests of stinging-tail hunter-kin, or burning-water-rocks. No, I can tell you now that there are no unclaimed, life-sustaining ranges. Yours was very special because of the dark wing bones in it. Those bones were threat-signs that kept other kin out."

They both winced at the memory of finding the various skeletons of dead Night Furies, killed an unknown number of years ago by the monstrous dragons that didn't exist anymore.

Shadowwing grumbled, "We thought as much. But the ground-kin are not going away. We cannot have them leave the hidden ranges anyway. They must stay with us to keep this world safe and hidden."

Alpha sighed, "Then we have a problem. As I said, the two-legs are already spreading out into new ranges, even if you deny it. I cannot be certain that they will not start changing all those ranges. You do not want to hear it, but kin and two-legs are too different to be at peace always."

"Wrong. The peace can live as long as no one kills it," Shadowwing countered.

Was-Grounded interjected, "What do you truly want from us? We cannot send the ground-kin away, and we must search for more ranges ground-kin could live in with us."

Alpha said nothing for a long time, as he was clearly deep in thought, "How can I trust that the two-legs will not cause problems for my pack? What happens beyond my territory, I do not care about, but the two-legs might eventually look to our ranges. What then?"

Despite everything, Shadowwing chuckled, drawing everyone's attention to him, "That is what you fear? Ground-kin have no wings! They cannot move in this world unless we sky-kin carry them."

"What if the two-legs make you their thralls?" Alpha growled.

"Thralls? They cannot do that. Ground-kin do not have any Alpha powers like the great-tusks did. Ground-kin can only fly with us if we let them."

Alpha purred, almost reluctantly though, "That may be true. How... how did this sharing of life-flights start? Two-legs and kin were not peaceful in the above."

Shadowwing and Was-Grounded shared a meaningful glance. This explanation was one which they had already agreed to give since it was the one which made the most sense.

Shadowwing hummed, "It started with a ground-kin and a male dark wing who learned they could be friends. They killed a monster-kin, but both died together. Their killing the monster-kin left the other kin free to live in peace with the ground-kin."

Was-Grounded continued, "The dead ground-kin's sire found dark wing eggs, and he claimed them as his own to protect. We hatched from the eggs."

Alpha snorted, "Twisted. So the dead dark wing was the sire of the eggs."

They both shrugged, and Shadowwing continued speaking, "Probably. We were raised from hatchlings to know ground-kin and call them our kin. We even learned their words."

"Speak for yourself," Was-Grounded huffed.

"True, you are not strong-thinking enough to learn that flight," Shadowwing teased.

Was-Grounded shoved him with a paw and turned to the Alpha Light Fury, "Ignore my twisted nestmate. We have known ground-kin our whole lives. You are correct that two-legs are very dangerous, but we only brought ones we can trust. Most of the ground-kin in our range have life-bonds with other sky-kin."

"Life-bonds?"

"They share part of their life-flights and trust much as friends," Shadowwing explained.

"Do you have any life-bond two-legs?"

"No, we do not want any. Some of our young have ground-kin friends though," Was-Grounded purred.

Alpha yawned, "This is all very interesting. What you and your kind do is your flight. I am only concerned with the pack, because the pack is all. You have given me much to think about."

Shadowwing glanced around at all the other Light Furies patiently waiting or resting. None of them had yet spoken.

"Alpha, we have many questions about your pack," he said.

Alpha chuckled, "Do you? I thought you saw our ways as twisted."

"I do see some of your ceremonies as twisted. But I want to hear more about how you live. We might learn some customs with lift. I believe it is important to understand."

Alpha spun around to his audience and commanded most of them to leave, which they did. The departure left only the three of them perched on the edge of the ledge while the stream babbled nearby. A few of the Alpha's Fighters also remained behind, though they were reclining a short distance away.

"True, you might. Go ahead and ask your questions."

Shadowwing considered where to begin and settled on some simple details about the pack, "How many light wings are in the pack?"

"Ten tens and four tens. We could be as many as two tens of tens with there being enough food for all and time to grow without fighting."

Shadowwing sighed, "That balance of food and mouths is part of why we are searching for more ranges. We have enough food now, but there could be problems in the future."

Was-Grounded leaned forward with interest, "Alpha, there are pack-roles which all light wings must have. What are those pack-roles?"

Alpha puffed out his chest slightly while staring out into the distance, "I am Alpha. I make decisions for the pack after speaking with my Firsts, all of whom I choose and keep in power. I also decide any disputes the Firsts cannot resolve."

"You are also the only male who has his own mates," Shadowwing grumbled.

"True. It must be that way. My five Alpha-Mates are not small-thinking like so many of the females are. I need them to help me, and they do because they know I am good to them. The two tens of Fighters learn fighting to protect the pack from the dangers beyond. They guard all the ways in and out of the pack's ranges. The ten Far-Fliers keep watch on the ranges beyond, and bring me word on what they see. The ten Hunters hunt prey in the beyond, hunt fish, and bring catches for us all. The precise numbers change in each pack-role, but those are how many we try to have. Older packmates, males and females, work as Plant-Growers. You can guess what they do."

"What about the females? What are their roles?" Shadowwing warily asked.

"Ten females are Food-Planners. They tend the flocks of prey in our ranges, have waste duties, and grow the mushrooms and other plants that are good for eating. Two females, one old and one still learning, are Knowers. They are the most important of the females."

Hmm, are they like Elders?

"Why?" he asked.

"Because the Knowers are responsible for teaching the entire pack the... best stories. They help the Dams teach the hatchlings and fledglings to think not about themselves but instead about the pack. Only the pack. It is very important that they learn to think correctly."

Ah, I was right, and that is so terrible what they are doing.

He grumbled, "So that is why all the others never say 'I'. You have tried to... destroy their own selves."

Alpha stared at him, "You say that like the life-way is bad. Not thinking about your own self is the way to not feeling pain, fear, or needing. Life is easier when you just... obey rules given to you by others. Not thinking about your own self is peaceful and freeing."

"That is false, and you know it is false," Shadowwing calmly answered.

Alpha just shrugged, "True, false, those do not matter. What matters is that our life-way has lift. It works for us. Life is filled with danger in this world. The lone kin dies, but the pack lives on."

Was-Grounded huffed, "What about the rest of the pack? There are more pack-roles."

"True. We have three females who are Healers. They know the best plants to eat for health and hurt-helping. Most of the females, over five tens of them, are Helpers. They help specific groups of males with anything they want while also doing work through our ranges as the Firsts need help with."

Shadowwing barely held in the growl as he saw what was unsaid, "So the Helpers must give the males mating, just like that?"

Alpha shrugged, "If a male needs that from her, but they do more than give mating. They also help with injuries, bringing food, talking, almost like a small pack within the pack. That comfort is necessary to keep everyone satisfied."

"But what if she says no and does not want to... be used like that?"

Alpha growled and stared into the distance, "Then that female is not thinking about the pack. That one is letting her own wants disturb the pack's life-ways. We would have that female be... taught how to think well again."

"Taught how? By force-mating, beating, and using twisted-words?" Shadowwing fumed.

Alpha snorted, "By finding the rotted life-fire of self-thinking in her liver, and then... killing it again through teaching and public ceremonies. The pack must be all. You truly think our life-ways rotted, but think about this: there are more females than there are males. The females also have... needs and wants, and they want to be wanted. They like giving pleasure and getting pleasure from the strong. That is natural of them to want to be useful for the pack."

"You make me feel sick!"

Alpha only looked amused, his tail twitching at his side, "Because you feel threatened by our life-way? Or maybe you truly want our life-way but are hiding from that because you think you are better than us."

Alpha said that calmly, but there was a threat and challenge in that, even though he didn't growl, bare teeth, or flash claws. Rather, what Alpha said was a strike at who he thought he was.

"I know I am better than you. I respect the females in my life, and I do not use them for anything," Shadowwing softly growled.

"You have made eggs. You have used your female the same as I use mine."

"Wrong. You... cannot understand."

Was-Grounded stepped forward to interrupt, "Brother, Alpha, that talking has no lift and is going nowhere. Alpha, what about eggs and young in the pack? Tell us about them."

"We allow ourselves four eggs every other life-making cycle, which means we have eight hatchlings or fledglings at any time. The not-adults are judged by the Firsts, who then pick them for pack-roles once the not-adults are grown. All Dams are picked from the Helpers of each male pack-role. The males have contests to win egg-making rights with the female Helper chosen by the First from their group."

"What contests?" Was-Grounded asked.

"The contests depend on the pack-role. Fighters will fight each other and other dangerous kin to prove themselves, Far-Fliers will race dangerous flights, and Hunters will hunt in deep waters."

Shadowwing growled, seeing the problem with that testing, "Which means some males will die without need!"

"Yes, and those who die did not deserve to make eggs anyway. Only the strong, the survivors should make eggs. Thus the pack gets stronger," Alpha explained.

He was left speechless yet again. This time it was the callous way the Alpha said that which especially struck him. Nords could think very similarly. The weak and unworthy of honor or respect were not mourned if they fell in a raid or to sickness.

"Usually the winning male will tell the First of his pack-role which female he wants to be the Dam. A male or female who has a fledgling or hatchling cannot make another egg until the young one is an adult."

"So the females have no choice, do they?" Was-Grounded whispered.

Alpha just shook his head in exasperation, "Choice does not matter. Remember that none should think of themselves; the pack is all. The best and strongest male should make an egg, and he will pick what he thinks is the best female. What is best would be for the strongest males to make many eggs, but there would be too much fighting and resent that way."

Shadowwing got up and stalked away.

Alpha chuckled and faced Was-Grounded, "What is your nestmate's problem?"

He shrugged, hiding his own frustration with this pack's life-ways, "Shadowwing thinks... differently from me, in some ways. I am curious, how do the Helpers not make unplanned eggs? If they provide comfort, they should get eggs from doing that."

"The Helpers always eat no-eggs berries."

He remembered one of the females from before mention something about there being no danger of making eggs.

"What are those?"

"They are large white berries, three of which will stop a female from making eggs for an egg-making cycle. Helpers and Food-Planners work to keep enough of these berries growing for all who need them," Alpha explained.

"Brother, come here!"

Shadowwing fumed as he returned, "What?"

He repeated what Alpha had told him.

Shadowwing was reluctantly interested by hearing this. The inability to be sure when no eggs could come from being together was more of a problem now that seasons had disappeared from life. It was, simply put, harder for Luna to be sure when she was infertile, which was why Flower-Eater had come into their lives.

This information about the berries would help him and Luna, and any other current or future pairs, a lot with that problem. The description of large white berries was familiar as a plant which grew aplenty in New Haven.

Shadowwing huffed, "That is good to know. Thank you for telling us."

Alpha chuckled, "May that knowing help you know your mates more. Without being able to make females eat no-eggs berries, we males might have to actually control ourselves, yes?"

Shadowwing grimaced, inwardly furious at how wrong that was and how differently he and the Alpha thought about the same thing. The Alpha saw these berries as a way to let males use females without there being any consequences. That dismissive and demeaning attitude should not have been surprising by this point, given everything else he heard from this Alpha.

"What about you and your mates? How many young do you have?" he asked, wanting to change the subject to something... anything different.

"Four adults and two fledglings. My adult young have flight-leader roles within their pack-roles. I could make an egg every life-making cycle, but I do not make one always. I can give that egg-making right to others as a reward, a way to get more loyalty from those I must trust."

Shadowwing huffed, "You are practical. I will admit that to you."

"I must be. Life forces that from us. We would not live as we do if our life-way did not work for us, and we have lived here far longer than you have."

Was-Grounded suddenly started, visibly surprised by a thought which disturbed him, "I do not want to ask, but what about the old? What happens to them?"

"The ones who cannot make eggs or work to provide for the pack must give their lives or leave the pack. They always choose to eat death-mushrooms which put them to sleep in peace," Alpha answered.

Shadowwing stepped back, completely aghast, "How could you do that to them?"

"We do not do that to them. They choose to do that because they must. After a long, filled life, the old ones want to sleep so those who remain have more. You might think that cold and cruel, but it has lift. You would give your life for your young to live, would you not?"

"Yes, I would, but... those are very different. What about leaving the pack? Does anyone ever try to escape? I cannot imagine why they would want to..."

"Almost never anymore. Some tried to leave the pack, but we always brought them back here to where they belong, with the pack. We protect our own. The ranges beyond have many dangers. Those hatched here and raised in the pack should have no desire to leave for ranges they do not know. The old ones prefer to die peacefully here."

Alpha grumbled for the first time in their lengthy, animated discussion, "There is another range with light wings, but all those ones are packless and far more dangerous. Think this pack's life-ways twisted if you want, but life in our ranges is safer than it would be in the beyond."

Was-Grounded recalled that Flies-With-Sun had mentioned an especially dangerous range of Light Furies which she refused to fly to. Perhaps Alpha was referring to the same other, dangerous pack.

Shadowwing huffed, "You know my thoughts about your pack's life-ways, but was the pack always like it is? Did you have different life-ways long ago? We are alone, the three of us, so there is no reason to hide the truth."

Alpha huffed, "True, there is not. Some old stories tell of different life-ways more like the ones you hold to your livers. But this pack had to fight great fights against the monster-kin, as I told you. We also fought other light wing packs for territory. We learned the truth that surviving as a pack means giving up some ideas and life-ways. The strong should survive while the weak do not, all so the pack becomes stronger. Your pack and kin must eventually live more like we do."

"We will never be like this pack," Shadowwing whispered.

Of that he was as confident as he could be. Still, faced with such a different way of life, the only answer was probably the one he and Was-Grounded had agreed on in private. Live as he believed right and best, resist any attempt to corrupt his way and family, and trust that his way was the one which would survive. Traditions and customs which were self-destructive would hopefully not survive.

Life itself was a test of ideas as much as anything else.

"Only time and life-cycles will answer that," Alpha huffed.

Shadowwing nodded, "I... understand. Need and bad situations can force changes, but we already told you that the hunter-kin, the monsters almost like us dark wings in shape, are all gone now."

"How do you know that?" Alpha chuffed.

"I heard it from the last Highest-Alpha, He-Who-Remembers."

Alpha stiffened and looked away, "From that one. Yes, I remember when he flew to us with a... request. If he said there are no more of those hunter-kin, then there are none."

Shadowwing stared Alpha down, wanting to gauge his reaction, "You know the pack could go back to its old way, but you stop that from happening. You know the pack preparing for a fight with those hunter-kin is not needed. So why do you not tell the pack the truth?"

Alpha exhaled and looked disappointed, "You should know that by now. Let me guide you... there are two reasons. Guess them."

"One is so you can stay the Alpha and have power."

"True, almost. What is the other reason?"

Was-Grounded huffed, "I know what it is. Having an unknown enemy far away in other ranges gives your pack a reason to keep being. They feel like all their flights are for a purpose."

Alpha purred in approval, "Also true. The pack must have a purpose and reason to be, an enemy... an other to struggle against. If there is no enemy, we must pretend there is one, or else we forget who we are. Understand now, Shadowwing? Keeping the truth from them lets them live and be... happy and warm, knowing who they are."

Shadowwing shook his head, completely disagreeing with that reasoning, "A lie is better than the truth? Never. My life was very twisted because I was blind to the truth once, but I learned."

"You think too much of the truth. Truth is not always good or useful," Alpha countered.

Shadowwing held his tongue, knowing that there was nowhere further discussion could go on that topic. He knew in his heart that the truth was always best to know, even if learning the truth could hurt.

Was-Grounded got to his paws and stretched, pawing at the rocks before facing the Alpha, "Shadowwing and I have young ones who are mature or almost mature. Would you let light wings who want life-mates leave the pack and fly to our range?"

Alpha blinked, visibly surprised and possibly offended, "Let one of the pack become not of the pack? Would you let us claim one of your young and bring it back here to join my pack?"

"No," they both immediately answered.

"That is my answer."

Was-Grounded huffed, "Fair. I have heard enough about the pack. Alpha, do you need time to think on what we said about the ground-kin?"

"Yes, I will speak with my Firsts about what you told me. You should rest in your cave. I will come tell you what the pack will do, if anything, about your range."

Alpha stepped back, barked at his resting Fighters, and stretched his wings. But he glanced back at Shadowwing before taking flight.

"Shadowwing, you should be more accepting of different life-ways. You are not better than me. You would be like me if you had lived my life."

"I very much doubt that," Shadowwing grumbled, unwilling to even look at him.

Alpha said nothing else, and took flight down from the heights. They watched him and his guards as they departed except for one, certainly left behind to keep watch on them. So they also glided the short distance back to their guest-cave in which they were left alone.

Not wanting to make a scene, Shadowwing fired a shot at a small boulder which shattered into many pieces.

Shadowwing snarled, "Do you want to tear him apart as much as I do?"

"Not if doing that will hurt our kin and our shared-range."

"But his thinking is so rotted and twisted!"

Was-Grounded paused, staring at his paws as he considered that point. Was this Alpha Light Fury truly twisted and rotted in his thinking? He certainly thought very little of females, but he also used males for very different purposes. There was nothing in Alpha's life except keeping the pack the same as it has been while also keeping his own power.

Those goals were not at all what he thought was important in his own life, perhaps because he had never wanted power over others and because he knew the need for change to keep a pack living and growing into being better. Ground-kin needed to change and learn new life-ways in this world, just as sky-kin also needed to learn parts of together-life.

"I agree. Alpha is stuck in old ways and is looking out for himself, but we must remember why we are here. We are not here to change the pack. They must want to change and turn their tails on their old life-ways."

Shadowwing grimaced and sat on his haunches while staring out the cave. He knew that his brother was correct. They were not here to try to change this Light Fury pack. The responsibility for rejecting the messed up traditions the pack held to fell on all the members of the pack.

However, there was a problem. Everyone in the pack was taught from an early age to not think for themselves or question tradition. The very act of questioning or proposing anything new was probably seen as betrayal which must be punished. It was entirely possible that no one in the pack was capable of wanting change. Wanting change required desires and a sense of self, which is what the pack's teaching tried to eliminate.

"What if they cannot change on their own? What if they are like my old pack on Berk? Two-leg me was needed to show them that sky-kin are not monsters."

Was-Grounded nodded in reluctant agreement, "True. This pack might not be able to change from the inside. How bad do you think life truly is for these Light Furies? They do not look sick or very thin."

"We do not know how warm in their livers they are. The Alpha has not let us fly into the other ranges here. We only see what he wants us to see."

Was-Grounded sighed and gently nudged Shadowwing's shoulder with a paw, "This might sound cold to say, but how this pack lives is not our problem. If we try to stick our noses into their life-ways and tell them how twisted their life-ways are, Alpha might want to hurt our range and our kin to make us stop. Think of our children and all the ground-kin who look to you as their Alpha."

Shadowwing whined softly, hanging his head, "I know I cannot save everyone. It feels like... letting bad happen here will hurt us in the future. But you are right that trying to change this range would probably make Alpha want to bite back, for his own power if nothing else."

Was-Grounded nodded, "He did not feel like he wanted fighting between our packs. Fighting would hurt his claim as Alpha, and he does not have any power over us to make the ground-kin never leave the New-Haven-range. He will probably want peace."

"I hope so. And we learned more from this."

"What?"

"We learned to not have our children fly here to look for mates. Light Furies who learn this pack's life-ways early in life will probably always be twisted and not good life-mates."

"I agree. Not only that, but all in the pack are taught to fear the beyond and any sky-kin not part of the pack. Our children would be feared for being different and having ideas and life-ways the pack cannot allow."

Shadowwing yawned widely, spun around, and trotted deeper into the cave. He didn't particularly feel like doing anything strenuous. Something about the long, heated conversation and the grim details he had learned had left him very tired. So he flamed a patch of flat rock, collapsed on the warmed ground, and covered his head with his tailfins.

"Tired?" Was-Grounded chuckled after bounding beside him.

"Very. Word-fighting with him left me... this."

"I would offer to play-fight to burn off fighting-wanting, but we can do that later, maybe after we are out of these ranges."

"Races?"

Was-Grounded smugly purred as he similarly curled up next to him, "We can do those. The sooner we are back in our shared-range the better. Our life-mates will be missing us."

Shadowwing chuckled, remembering one of the good details they had learned, "Knowing about the no-eggs berries will help us. You could warm Green-Wings's belly much more!"

"You are a twisted sky-kin."

"Twisted? No. Just very liver-warmed with my Luna," Shadowwing purred.

Was-Grounded softly chuckled, "I know you do not like to talk about this-"

"You will say it anyway," Shadowwing huffed.

"-but why do you join with Luna without making eggs? I truly do not understand."

Shadowwing huffed, amused that he was talking about this, "Because we love each other and are life-mates. Doing that is a way of showing her that I want her, trust her with me, see her as beautiful, and am liver-warmed with her in my life-flight. You feel the same for Green-Wings, true?"

"I do."

"What you and she do is your own shared life-flight, but you should think about being with her more. Just a warming thought."

"Maybe we should. She is very practical. She had to be to live in and survive her old range. She has only ever shown me wanting in mating-seasons, always to make eggs."

"And that was good in the above, but we must live differently now."

Was-Grounded sighed, "I suppose so. You sleep first. I will wake you."

Grateful for the opportunity to rest safely, Shadowwing closed his eyes and did his best to not think about anything. He couldn't escape the nagging feeling that he had missed something important, some minor detail that might matter.

"Brother, wake," Was-Grounded nudged him awake.

"What?" Shadowwing yawned.

"Alpha is here to speak."

Great. Now to find out if there will be war or not...

Shadowwing blinked furiously, waking himself from his restful sleep as he went to sit beside his brother. The Alpha Light Fury was sitting calmly before them on the edge of the cave. There were no other Light Furies with them.

"Greetings, Alpha dark wings. I spoke with my Firsts and told them what you said about the two-legs."

"What did you decide?" Shadowwing asked.

Alpha took a deep breath, "You spoke well when you said two-legs have no wings, and will always need kin in these ranges. My Far-Fliers saw that other kin are allowed to fly free without carrying two-legs outside your pack. I and my Firsts are willing to trust that you dark wings, light wings, and dark-lights in your range will watch the two-legs. You must kill any liver-rotted ones to protect kin. Our packs will stay apart, so we will have pack-peace. This, the pack wants."

He was surprised that the Alpha would offer more or less what he had hoped for: the promise of peace. If only the human tribes of the above were as sensible, life might have been very different.

"We agree, and we will always watch the ground-kin to keep rotted thinking from their livers."

Alpha hummed in apparent approval, "Good. There is another offer I would make to you. My pack's ranges has much food we light wings do not need. We could... share food with your range if you would like."

Shadowwing hummed in thought, liking this suggestion which would help with the food and sustainability problem. But there had to be a catch to it.

"What would you want in return?" he asked.

"Nothing too difficult. It would actually be very pleasurable for you. My pack would be better and stronger if we had dark-lights among us. All that I would want is for you both to help some of the pack's females get eggs."

"You mean mate them," Was-Grounded said.

"How else can they get eggs?" Alpha chuckled.

Shadowwing paused to calm himself, "You should already know that we will not do that. We have life-mates and will not be with other females."

Alpha blinked in surprise, "You would turn down my offer of sharing food, all because you want to be with only one female? Truly?"

"Yes." "We are."

Alpha shrugged, "Your loss then. You probably want to return to your pack now, but you must wait here and rest. A pawful of my Far-Fliers and Fighters are outside the pack's range. They are fighting dangerous kin."

Shadowwing glanced at Was-Grounded, not entirely certain either of them believed that reason. It was very convenient as a way of keeping them here.

"Truly? How twisted is it that happened now," Shadowwing mumbled.

"Yes, it might appear that way, but do not fear. Nothing can get in or out of these ranges unless I and the pack wishes it," Alpha explained.

Was-Grounded grumbled, "Those could be mistaken as threat-words, but we would not make that mistake."

"You would not. Do you know of the life-water-drinkers?" Alpha asked.

They both started in surprise and glanced at each other, shaking their heads since that was an unfamiliar reference.

"No, we have not. What are those?" Shadowwing asked, morbidly curious.

"They are kin, half the size of a light wing. The life-water-drinkers hide in mist and still waters, pounce on other kin, and bite into the other kin's neck. Then they drink life-water."

Gods, vampire dragons?

Alpha continued without pause, "You being hunted by those life-water-drinkers would be very bad for my pack, since your pack would think we killed you or attacked you. I know you think me twisted, but I want peace, so you must stay here until the life-water-drinker flock is forced away."

"Do you care what we do while we wait?" Was-Grounded wondered.

"All I ask is that you stay on this level or here in this cave. Doing that will make it easier to find you. I will also have food brought here for you."

"We understand and agree," Was-Grounded answered.

The Alpha spun around and took flight, leaving them alone.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would. We will have peace," Shadowwing sighed with relief.

"Do you believe what he said about the life-water-drinkers?"

"We have no reason to say he is false. He is not wrong that us dying would make it look like his pack is responsible. No, I do not think he wants to hurt us."

"I agree."

Was-Grounded subtly glanced at his unsuspecting brother. Now that the peace-talks were over, there was something the two of them could do to use the time. This was also a good opportunity to do now what he planned to do much later. Plus, they could safely do this without any fear of pain.

So, with a playful roar, he pounced at Shadowwing, beginning the play-fight. Shadowwing was sure to have some frustration he wanted to burn away. The rest that would follow the play-fight would also help prepare them for the long flight home.

Shadowwing was again awakened from sleep, this time after a long and playful roughhousing that helped him safely let out nervous energy and frustration.

But his lethargy was quickly gone when he noticed a pair of females sitting on the edge of the cave's mouth. The females had large, salmon-like fish in their maws.

Ah, they brought food. Some nice fish.

The females, both different from the ones who had been here before, approached and dropped the fat fish on the ground. The fish looked very meaty, delicious, and...

He blinked when he remembered a certain warning given in this very cave. He hadn't thought much of the warning at the time, but now... given the other unfortunate coincidence delaying their departure...

"For the Alpha dark wings, from our Alpha," one of the females purred.

Was-Grounded bent down toward the fish.

"Brother, wait! Remember," Shadowwing cried.

"What?"

"Our ceremony for eating fish..."

A moment of confusion passed before his brother's eyes narrowed in recognition.

"Yes, I remember. Light wings, we will eat alone. Please give our thanks to your Alpha."

"We will," the females purred.

Both females departed without further ceremony. He and Was-Grounded picked up the fish, carried them deeper into the cave, and glared at the appetizing and fat fish. Nothing looked or smelled strange about the fish.

"Maybe they are good to eat, and we are being too suspicious," Was-Grounded offered.

Shadowwing wondered about the strange female who had behaved differently from the others. He couldn't see how her being a trick by Alpha would benefit Alpha in any way, given how the negotiations had gone.

"I do not think she was tricking us. She believed her warning," he grumbled.

"But how could a fish make us sick?"

"Maybe the fish has bad-wrong-false-fish inside?"

Shadowwing flicked out a claw and carved open his fish, easily slicing open the belly with one swipe.

They stared in wary shock at the pile of strange, pink and green berries stuffed inside the fish's belly.

"What are those?" Was-Grounded hissed.

Shadowwing shrugged, not recognizing these berries from the vegetation anywhere near New Haven, "I have no idea, but they probably make us sick."

He started pacing, trying to reason out this puzzle.

"The berries probably will not kill us. Alpha does not want us dead, but he did trick us somehow. We were not supposed to know about these berries. We could... flee now."

Was-Grounded snorted, "Doing that has no lift. We would probably need to fight the pack's Fighters. Better is to empty the fish of berries, eat the fish, and hide the berries."

Shadowwing nodded in agreement, and together they hid and cut up the fish, taking care to set aside the stomachs filled with strange berries. Those were then flamed in a corner of the cave after they ate the rest of the fish. Nothing but a small pile of ash remained.

"Now what? We just wait?" Shadowwing grumbled.

Was-Grounded shrugged and sat down, "Unless you have a better idea. I say we wait and watch for whatever happens next. We must be rested."

"Good idea."

Was-Grounded lay in the cave-mouth with Shadowwing beside him. They were both clearly visible to anyone flying. Unlike before when he truly went to sleep, this time he kept alert even though he pretended to be resting. Even with his eyes closed, he was watching the skies all around, searching for any sign of a life-fire approaching and listening for the beat of wings. He would know if a Light Fury was approaching, even if it was hidden from eyes.

There was a nervous fire in his liver. So much had happened in this waking-cycle. He had learned about the practical and the twisted life-ways of the Light Fury pack. Pack-peace had been ensured between these Light Furies and all of the New-Haven-range. They had learned at least one useful detail of how to better control their own numbers through no-eggs berries.

But there were other berries with an unknown purpose. Someone, certainly the Alpha Light Fury, planned for those berries to be put in the bellies of the fish. What those pink and green berries did was completely unknown and definitely dangerous.

He groaned.

Packs and being Alpha is so liver-twisting. Life was much simpler when it was only me, Green-Wings, our young, and Shadowwing's family-nest.

He had never wanted to be an Alpha or a flight-leader for many sky-kin. That he had become one was entirely an accident and unintended. He had not fought the Alpha-great-tusk because he wanted to become an Alpha. No, he had fought that great fight only to free his brother and because that false-kin was a monster that made other sky-kin into thralls.

The Light Fury Alpha was not very different. It and the other Light Furies in power-places, its kin, twisted the thinking of the others in the pack so that they never questioned or thought about anything outside the pack. That way of thinking only about the pack was a trap.

But it was possible that most of the Light Furies enjoyed the trap. There was probably a simplicity in not thinking and instead only following rules and life-ways given to them by others. There was no way to know without going to ask many Light Furies, which was something Alpha would not want and which would probably threaten the pack-peace.

Shadowwing, for obvious reasons, thought more about changing other people for the better. After so much success changing several pack-nests of two-legs on the islands above, Shadowwing wanted to do something similar for this pack: show them a better, more liver-warming life-way.

That is not our fight though. It is theirs. Especially since we do not want the Light Furies turning against us.

There was nothing left to do here except wait for the Alpha Light Fury to return with news that the flight to the New-Haven-range was safe again. The path to get back there was easy enough to remember from the flight Fourth-Far-Flier had led them on through ranges they already knew.

His ear twitched, and he felt something nearby. A light, a life-fire, was gliding nearer to their cave-mouth, though he saw nothing visible in the sky. This Light Fury was hiding from eyes.

"I see it," Shadowwing barely whispered.

"Be ready," he whispered back.

The Light Fury approached calmly, not doing anything it would do if it were preparing to attack. Further, this Light Fury was entirely alone.

The Light Fury silently glided over their heads and touched down as quietly as it could behind them. The beat of its wings and thud of its paws as it landed gave away its being here, so there was no more reason to pretend they did not know about it.

"We know you are there, light wing," he grumbled as he got to his paws.

"Why are you here?" Shadowwing added.

The unseen Light Fury, only a very faint shimmering in the darker area of the cave, must not have been looking at them, since its eyes would be visible if it did. They could hear its quick breathing though. The shimmering shifted slightly, and deep blue eyes appeared in the air and stared back at them.