Adjustments
Shadowwing purred in relief when he finally saw the large cavern that was home. He had flown this same flight and wove between these crystals and rock spires hundreds of times in the three years of living in the hidden world.
But this was the first time he had brought back a new Light Fury to join the pack and, hopefully, the family, though much later on that second possibility.
Flies-Bravely had quickly lost her fear of the caves and passages beyond the Light Fury pack's territory. She had shown herself to be very practical, knowledgeable about plants, and mild-spoken, timid even. That last detail was certainly a learned behavior from her time in that soul-crushing pack. She could unlearn that with time around Aurora, his daughter, Luna, Green-Wings, and Flies-With-Sun.
Weaving through the dark crystals, Was-Grounded glided closer to get his attention.
"Where will you take her first?" Was-Grounded asked.
"Wherever our kin are. She should meet them first."
"Even down with the ground-kin?"
Together, they glanced at Flies-Bravely, flying slightly above and behind them. Her eyes were very wide as she looked around in awe.
"Is there a reason not to?"
Was-Grounded shrugged, "She has no fighting-wanting. You could have her meet Erevan and Helga."
That sounded like a good plan. Both of them were entirely trustworthy, and Helga had special experience getting to know a true, wild, hidden world Light Fury.
That entire friendship situation was, admittedly, a slightly strange one; the human siblings having dragon friends who were mates. But from what he had gathered, Erevan had the deeper friendship with Dawn-Singer while Helga was still learning what it meant to have a Fury as a friend. To their credit, both Erevan and Helga were very responsible youngsters at fifteen and fourteen years old, both of them also having already undergone their new naming ceremony. That meant that they were adults in the eyes of the tribe.
"Good idea! We should find them!"
Shadowwing roared joyfully and continued on with Was-Grounded and Flies-Bravely close by. He let himself drift higher, closer to Flies-Bravely, while Was-Grounded turned toward Dawn-Singer's cave to see if he was there.
"Where is he flying?" she asked.
"To look for his first young one, Dawn-Singer, and Dawn-Singer's kin. They are very close."
She sighed, "It is good for a sire and his young to be close to the liver."
"Yes, it is."
He tried and failed to avoid thinking about his own confused and troubled relationship with his father. So many problems in his life, but most importantly that ever-present need to prove himself to the world, came from difficulty relating to his father. Knowing how troubled his own past was gave him every reason to do better with his children and break the cycle.
It was different for those who never knew their father or mother at all and had no replacement to fill that void. She never knew her father since he died before she hatched.
"What do you think about this range?" he asked, changing the topic.
"The range feels different so far. Where are the guards and Fighters?"
"We dark wings all help protect together without specific guards or Fighters. True, the mouth of the cave is much bigger than what hides the light wing pack, but it is not so large that we cannot protect the range."
He rolled his eyes when he realized there was a clarification which she had to learn, "There are new words you should learn. We dark wings call ourselves Night Furies."
She blinked and tilted her head in confusion, "What is night?"
Yeah, you wouldn't know that.
"The world above has cycles of bright and dark. Night is darkness filling the sky. We call light wings Light Furies. Our mixed-kin young we call Dawn Furies. Got it?"
"Night, Light, Dawn. Furies. I understand, maybe," she mildly said.
He fired a small shot toward the very familiar and empty ledge to his left as they passed it. That place was where Luna and Green-Wings had laid and sat with all their eggs in the hidden world. That was also where everyone tended to pile together for rest in warmth. So many good memories were had there.
"That is where many of us nest and rest together. All our kin must be deeper in this range."
"Are we going to fly to them now?"
"Yes, we want you to meet them. Are you ready?"
She looked away, "No, but I should anyway. I see no reason to wait."
He approved of her enthusiasm or willingness to meet everyone, even if she was understandably nervous, so they continued onward.
Was-Grounded flew in at his side, "Dawn-Singer and his kin are not in his cave-den. They must be deeper."
"Then we should fly!"
They continued deeper through the dark part of the chamber and into the brighter, more hospitable regions. Over the dark lake, up a sheer cliff, alongside ledges, above thick forests and expanses of glowing mushrooms, and around bright crystals. Their flight turned a slight corner, and all of New Haven came into view.
The homes, storehouses, stables, fields of crops, flocks of grazing animals in their pastures, and the Great Hall itself were all so different from anything else anywhere in the hidden world. These were the only signs of human influence anywhere they knew about.
Flies-Bravely stared at it all, her mouth open in shock and awe. This was the first time she ever saw humans, so naturally there was no great fear on her part. Wariness perhaps, but no hate or great fear.
"Are those the two-legs?" she gasped.
"Almost. They were two-legs once, but we call them ground-kin."
"What is the difference?"
"Two-legs are like monsters to sky-kin, but ground-kin are… two-legs who have learned to be warm to us instead."
She hummed in thought, "Ground-kin and sky-kin, but both are kin?"
Shadowwing chuckled, "Yes, we both have life-fires, words, and strong-thinking."
He heard Dawn-Singer's welcoming roar from a nearby ledge. Dawn-Singer was likely on guard duty and had just seen them.
He is going to be so surprised when he sees her!
They touched down on the ledge, Flies-Bravely being the last to settle down. As he expected, Dawn-Singer saw him, his father, and Flies-Bravely, and stared at her in surprise.
"Son!" Was-Grounded shouted, leaping toward him and nuzzling his forehead.
"Sire-father! Good to have you back safely. Who is this?"
"Her name is Flies-Bravely! She is joining the range!" Was-Grounded smirked.
"Are you?" Dawn-Singer addressed her, his ears lifted.
"Yes, what is your name, dark wing Night Fury?" she warily asked.
Dawn-Singer chuckled at what she called him, "My name is Dawn-Singer. You should meet our kin!"
Shadowwing rumbled, "Are any others back yet?"
"No. They have not flown to us. Where are you from, Flies-Bravely?"
She looked to Shadowwing, as if she was uncertain what to say, so he answered for her, "The story we will tell is that she was packless, and she found us on her flight. She wanted to see what our pack and range are like. The truth... you will hear that soon. Where are our kin?"
Dawn-Singer hopped to the edge of the ledge and peered down toward a clearing outside the village. There were several light and dark shapes present in the clearing. Most of them were resting, but two of them, likely Moon-Pinner and Night-Light, were listening to a couple humans, certainly Erevan and Helga, a short distance from everyone else.
There they are! Makes sense everyone would rest closer to the village while we were gone.
"Down there," Dawn-Singer nodded.
"How was life while we were away? Any problems?" he asked.
"No. As usual, nothing happened."
"Good to hear. I and your sire-father should speak with our life-mates. You and Flies-With-Sun should listen to this."
"What about watching the range?"
He shrugged, "We are here and not far from the shared-nest. We will know if there is danger."
There was always some risk whenever there was no official watcher on guard, but there was also a risk that a guard might fail to do their job when on duty. The risk of anything bad happening in the few minutes it would take to have a candid discussion was rather low. Plus, the Nords were not as in danger now as they used to be, not since the Great Hall was finished and several people were on guard duty of their own.
Dawn-Singer nodded in acknowledgment and leaned off the ledge into a glide. Was-Grounded followed him down to the ground.
Shadowwing stepped closer to Flies-Bravely and beckoned to her, "Follow us!"
"I will."
He led her down to the clearing where all his present family was getting to their paws or otherwise busy. The hatchlings were sound asleep, curled up together between their mothers, probably after a long cycle of play.
He touched down and strode to Luna first while Was-Grounded bounded to Green-Wings and Dawn-Singer went to Flies-With-Sun.
"My love," Luna hummed, her chin on his shoulder.
"My love," he whispered.
"Sire-father! You are back!" Night-Light cried, rubbing his foreleg.
He took a moment to nuzzle Night-Light's forehead, "Yes, I am. Where is your sister?"
"No idea!" Night-Light yawned.
Luna huffed, "Our daughter is helping the ground-kin with their working."
"What?" he asked, very surprised.
"Yes, she wanted to be more responsible. Thorvald found work she could help with."
Good for her, I suppose. Alright, time to share the news or the lack thereof.
"I did not hear anything about your parents," he whispered.
She just sighed and nodded in acknowledgment.
That discouraging news delivered, he spun around to face Flies-Bravely just after she touched down. She looked just as awed as she had before, her eyes very wide as she beheld all the Furies gathered before her.
"Everyone! This new Light Fury is named Flies-Bravely! She flew with us to join our range!"
Without any prompting, Luna and Flies-With-Sun approached her. Moon-Pinner and Night-Light also leaped forward, tails swaying as they were eager to greet her. Normally, he would gladly let them greet a friendly guest, but there were some details that needed sharing but were not for the ears of children.
"Son, Moon-Pinner, please follow me."
"Must we?" Moon-Pinner barked.
"Yes, or I will put salt in your next fish!" he laughed.
With that threat delivered, they followed him over to Erevan and Helga, both of whom sensibly knew to keep their distance. The brother and sister also clearly saw the new Light Fury with them.
"Chief." "Chief."
"Errevann. Helga. Pleasse play with my ssonn annd nniece. We adultss musst talk onn ourr ownn."
"Yes, Chief." "As you wish."
He gently nudged his son and niece on their shoulders.
"Sire-father? What is happening?" Night-Light asked, looking somewhat disappointed.
"We adults are going to talk."
"What about?"
Moon-Pinner chortled, "Boring Alpha stuff?"
"Yes. Very boring Alpha stuff. You would both have much more fun if you play with the ground-kin."
"Okay!" "I will!"
Night-Light and Moon-Pinner ran off with Erevan and Helga to begin playing any one of several games, or maybe to return to more lessons. It didn't matter which one for now. They were going to be occupied for a while.
Note to self, play with my son later to make up for this.
He returned to everyone else in the clearing. His brother had a wing over Green-Wings's back, Dawn-Singer did the same with Flies-With-Sun, and he sat down beside Luna after weaving tails with her. Flies-Bravely sat on her haunches before them, her wings just slightly lifted.
She looked like she felt threatened, as if she was being interrogated, which in a way she was. Everyone was curious who she was and why she was here.
He took a deep breath before starting this introduction.
It's go time...
"The fledglings are with Erevan and Helga. What we talk about here should stay with us adults only. We should not tell any others unless we all agree. Do we all understand?"
Purrs and nods of agreement followed all around. Everyone also introduced themselves to get names out of the way.
"First, I and Was-Grounded flew to the Light Fury pack. The good news is there is pack peace between us and them."
"Truly? They do not hate the ground-kin?" Luna asked in surprise.
He grumbled, "If only that was all. The Light Fury pack, or the Alpha of it, wants to never see nose or tail the ground-kin."
Dawn-Singer gave a satisfied grunt, "Good! We thought they might want to fight us."
"No, they only want to live on their own. I would say that is good, but, Flies-With-Sun, that pack has ceremonies as bad as you said they were. And worse."
"What could be worse than no life-mates?" Green-Wings barked.
Was-Grounded snorted, "They try to make all in the pack think only about the pack and the pack-ways. Those Light Furies have very small life-fires. Almost none think about themselves. That is how the Alpha there keeps power. None think to fight or change their ways."
Shadowwing nodded, "It is so bad that none of the Light Furies except the Alpha can say 'I'. Saying the wrong words, words that are not pack-correct, gets them punished!"
As he expected, that simple statement was met with more confusion than anything else.
"What?" Luna grunted.
He purred to Flies-Bravely, "Flies-Bravely, would you please explain that pack-custom."
She shuffled on her paws, refusing to meet their eyes as she spoke, "The Knowers and those who teach the young tell them that the pack is all. There is nothing except the pack, and the Firsts and the Alpha speak for the pack. We learn to live only for the pack. Anyone thinking about themselves and what they want or who proposes a new, better way must not have been taught well, so most in the pack would think. Any who question or object are punished until they learn good thinking, which is the same as thinking that the Alpha approves of."
"But not you?" he prodded.
"No, I was different from them. I wanted to be free, not forced to be with males I do not want to be with."
She didn't seem to think much of that comment, but several growls and snarls followed it, most strongly from Luna.
"What!" Luna growled.
"The pack has groups of males and females. Most females must, in their pack-role, help the males in a pack-role with all their needs... even that wanting. No mate-pairs are truly allowed by the pack-rules. Allowing them would make distractions that are not the pack itself," Flies-Bravely explained.
"Which is twisted thinking the Alpha uses to keep power," Shadowwing added.
Flies-Bravely sighed, "It is more than the Alpha. His Firsts also have power in their pack-roles. They are loyal to Alpha because most of them are his life-water kin."
Green-Wings interjected, "You alone came here? Do you have any kin with you?"
"My sire died before I hatched. My dam flew to join that pack because it is safer than being alone in the beyond. She also wanted to forget her past life."
"Why did she not leave with you? We would let her live with us here," Green-Wings added.
"My dam would not want to leave with me. It is because of her and another light wing Light Fury that I wanted to leave, but my dam was happy there."
Shadowwing hummed, curious, "There was another Light Fury? What did it do?"
"She was a female from the Beyond ranges. She flew to the pack to maybe join it, but after seeing the pack and learning the pack life-ways, she said the pack was rotted. She even-" Flies-Bravenly paused, looked away and snorted, as if she was amused.
"What?" Shadowwing asked.
"The Alpha offered to make her one of his mates. In front of a pawful of packmates, she called the Alpha very small between his legs, said he had a cold rock for his liver, and told him to shove his tail up his-"
She was interrupted by Flies-With-Sun bursting out with laughter, stomping on the ground with a paw. Flies-With-Sun eventually recovered herself and saw their curious expressions.
"That was me!" she roared.
Luna shouted, "You said that?"
"Yes, I did!" Flies-With-Sun smugly purred.
"Well said!" Luna purred.
Dawn-Singer growled and nuzzled Flies-With-Sun's neck, "Yes, my life-mate. Very well said!"
Shadowwing was amused that Flies-With-Sun had been so bold as to tell off that Alpha to his whole pack. He was also very relieved and a little surprised that nothing bad had happened to her afterward.
Maybe that was why she was invisible when she flew here years ago. She had a bad experience with meeting the Light Fury pack, so she was trying to stay hidden as much as possible.
He resumed speaking, "So we all agree that pack has very rotted thinking and twisted life-ways. We do not live like that, as you can see. We have life-mate pairs only, no forcing by either. The only life-rule you must know about us is that we only allow each pair two eggs now. We must control how many we are, but all packs need to do that anyway."
Was-Grounded nodded, "We said that most of our young are away. They and their ground-kin are flying in ranges far from here."
"Why are they away?" Flies-Bravely asked.
"Because we and the ground-kin must find new ranges for all to live in with enough food. How we lived in the above has no lift in this world."
"That I understand. The pack has many twisted life-ways, but controlling their numbers is needed."
Shadowwing gently nudged Luna's shoulder, "We know that. Our newest hatchling, his name is Flower-Eater, was a surprise to us."
Flies-Bravely chuckled, "Luna, did you miss eating your no-eggs-berries?"
Luna blinked, "What?
"You do not know about no-eggs-berries?" Flies-Bravely asked, visibly confused.
"No, what are those?"
Shadowwing remembered certain conversations he had when visiting the Light Fury pack, "They are white berries that stop females from getting eggs. True?"
"Three of the berries stop us from making eggs for an egg-making cycle," Flies-Bravely explained.
"They always work?" Luna asked.
"Usually, enough that unplanned eggs are very rare."
"And they only work for that time?" Luna clarified, looking very curious.
"True. They do not make us have problems after that time. I think they work best after we have been using them for several egg-making cycles."
Luna purred and nuzzled him, her tail swaying, "This is good for us. No more having to wait so much and not be together when we want."
"You did not know about this before?"
She rolled her eyes, "No, my sire-father and dam-mother never taught me that. If they had taught me, these last two season-cycles would have been warmer."
The advantage this information gave was obvious. However, he also knew from talking with the Light Fury Alpha that these berries and the natural effect they had could very easily be misused.
"This will help all of us pairs, but we should be careful with it. The Light Fury Alpha said that having females eat the berries lets males more freely use the females without danger of making eggs. These berries make you more like things to use for pleasure."
Luna huffed, "So we only have life-mate pairs who hold each other to the liver eat the berries. Problem grounded."
"True."
She was right, of course. There was no valid objection to this natural effect which was no different from only being with his mate when she couldn't get an egg. Neither meant that he loved her any less.
He addressed Flies-Bravely, "Next thing to talk about: two of our sons whom we mentioned are away on that flight. Moon-Dancer is my first-hatched. Rain-Eater is Was-Grounded's third-hatched. You could meet them when they fly back to us, if you want to."
She stared at her paws, "Must I take one of them?"
Was-Grounded huffed, "No. As we said before, we hope you could want one of them, but you do not need to take a mate. You are welcome in our range even if you want to not be paired."
Flies-Bravely relaxed in evident relief, "Thank you. Does your pack have any pack-roles? I want to help."
Everyone thought about her offer. Shadowwing was not sure at first how to answer, given that there was no true separation of work here the same way her former pack did. Everyone worked on a little of everything. Still, there were some areas where she might be better fit to help with.
"Do you know hunting and food planning?"
"Not well. I never went on any hunts or true catches. Hunting was not a female pack-role."
Green-Wings summed up what everyone must have been thinking when she shot a fireball up into the sky out of frustration, "Your pack did not teach you how to hunt and fight? That is rotted, twisted, wrong, and foul! I will teach you to fight!"
Flies-Bravely's eyes went wide, "Me fight? But I am a-"
"Do not say but I am a female! So am I, and we can fight! Males are bigger and stronger, true, but we can be faster!"
Green-Wings almost never raised her voice or openly snarled anymore, which made her vehemence all the more impressive.
Shadowwing nodded, "And Luna is just as dangerous as I am in the sky. More even since she has fade."
Luna seemed amused by his praise and gave a pleased growl, "Yes, I burned a two-leg water-walker and the thrall-makers on it, all by myself!"
She had eventually told him that she flew on a solo-mission and destroyed a trapper boat off the Haven shore. That had certainly killed the trappers on the ship, so she had killed humans before. He could not fault her for that, considering everything that trappers put her through. He had probably killed also, though his kills were from a massive explosion in honest battle on the sea.
"Back to what you can do for our pack and range, you know of the no-egg-berries. Do you know other plants and what they do?"
Flies-Bravely shrugged her wings, "I know some plants. All in that pack must learn a little."
Was-Grounded nodded, seeing where he was going with this, "My fourth young one, my daughter Mist-Wings, is also learning about plants. You could teach her and learn with her. Would you want to do that?"
"Yes, I would. I can show her the no-eggs-berries and get her help finding them for all of you."
Shadowwing purred, "Good, and we will teach you other duties we all help with."
"What are they?"
"Mostly we help with being watchers for our range, hunting for ourselves and the ground-kin, and other ways of providing for them. We catch ground-prey and fish, and bring them here for the ground-kin and ourselves."
Flies-Bravely looked across the clearing to where Moon-Pinner and Night-Light were playing hand- and paw-swatting games with Erevan and Helga.
She glanced at him again, "Can I greet these ground-kin?"
Just like Flies-With-Sun was when she first came here!
He happily got to his paws and nodded at the youngsters, "Yes, follow me."
Dawn-Singer, Flies-With-Sun, and Flies-Bravely followed him while Green-Wings and Luna stayed with the sleeping hatchlings. Moon-Pinner, Night-Light, Erevan, and Helga stopped their game and dashed to greet them.
"Childrrenn, we wannt you to meet ssomeonne nnew."
Moon-Pinner sat down before Flies-Bravely and growled in play, "Who are you?"
"I am Flies-Bravely. You are?"
"Moon-Pinner!"
Flies-Bravely looked confused again, for obvious reasons. The moon was only something one would know about if they had been in the above. Moon-Pinner had long ago been told what her name meant, much to her liking.
"What is moon?" Flies-Bravely asked.
"The great white sky-rock!" Moon-Pinner eagerly barked.
"You have not seen it. It is in the above," Shadowwing explained.
Flies-Bravely purred, "I understand. What about the pinner part of her name?"
"This!" Moon-Pinner shouted and leaped to the attack.
She swiftly pinned Flies-Bravely's tail.
Flies-Bravely looked very amused and let her play, waving her tail while Moon-Pinner pounced at it. Then she noticed Night-Light, patiently sitting before her without trying to play.
"And who are you?"
"Night-Light."
"Nice to meet you Night-Light."
She purred and looked to Erevan and Helga. Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun strode to their friends and gently nudged them forward. Shadowwing stepped alongside her to help with the introductions.
"These two ground-kin are nestmates. They are friends to Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun. They do not know or hear our talking, but we can talk like them."
"Truly?" she gasped.
"Yess, we cann talk to them. Right, Errevann, Helga?"
Erevan nodded, "Yes, you all can, Chief."
Helga bowed slightly, "What is her name, Chief?"
"Sshe iss Fliess-Brravely."
He grinned at Flies-Bravely, seeing her look of amazement and confusion.
"I... do not understand them. That sounds like noise," Flies-Bravely grumbled.
"You will not understand them unless you learn. They also write, which means making picture shapes which have meaning. We all had to learn."
Shadowwing paused, faced Was-Grounded, and chuckled, "Some of us did not learn much of either way of talking because he has rocks in his head."
Was-Grounded snorted and stomped on the ground with a paw, "Should I tell everyone about you learning to fly for the first time?"
"Who was my teacher? Yes, you were."
"Why would you teach him if you are nestmates? Your sire and dam should have done that," Flies-Bravely pointed out.
He and Was-Grounded shared a knowing glance.
Oh, right. Good catch.
"We grew up without a sire and dam, so we had to raise ourselves. He knew flying before I did. I needed help learning to fly."
Night-Light gasped, looking up at him, "Sire-father, what? You had problems flying?"
"Yes, I had problems learning my flying at first, but I learned with some help," he winked.
He addressed Erevan and Helga again, "Will you let herr ssee you closserr? You arre the firrsst humanns sshe hass everr rreally sseenn."
"Sure." "Yep."
What followed was an amusing introduction as Flies-Bravely discovered that humans had hair, very small teeth, hands instead of paws, no scales, and nothing like wings or tails. The use of clothing was also very strange to her. He was not going to try to explain, not now anyway, the reasons why humans wore clothing.
That humans could wear flight suits to share the sky with their friends in another way was a surprise for later.
Erevan and Helga took the nosing inspection in stride without any fear or reluctance toward her curious attention. The introduction ended with Flies-Bravely resting her nose against their palms in a sign of trust.
Flies-Bravely stepped back from them, sat down on her haunches, and nodded once, having already picked up that gesture of approval from somewhere.
"Ground-kin are good and warm-livered. Are all like these ones?" she asked.
Shadowwing answered, "No, these ones are like older fledglings who are still smaller than grown adults. Others have different sky-kin who they have in their life-flights as friends, though not like with us."
She warbled and glanced at him, "Must I make a ground-kin friend?"
"No. It would be good if you do find a friend or friends with them, but you do not need to. We only want you to be peaceful to them and help all in this range live."
"I can do that. Will any of you show me more of this range?"
Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun nodded and stretched their wings.
"We will fly with you and show you all you must know: where the water for drinking is, where to find food, where to relieve yourself, where to sleep, and we will show you the ground-kin nest and their dens!" Dawn-Singer explained.
Flies-With-Sun shouted to Luna, "Sister, will you watch Moon-Pinner for us?"
"More than I already do?" Luna laughed.
"Yes, but not for that!"
"Of course we will! Moon-Pinner, fly here!"
Moon-Pinner dashed to Luna's side and cozied up under her aunt's extended wing. Shadowwing glanced between the two sisters in confusion. It felt like there was something happening that went over his head.
Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun hopped beside Erevan and Helga and beckoned to them, letting them climb on their backs.
Flies-Bravely chuckled, "They are like hatchlings being carried."
Shadowwing laughed, "Yes, sharing our backs and wings with those ground-kin we trust is very liver-warming. No scruff-carrying though!"
"Never that!" Moon-Pinner barked.
"Flies-Bravely, follow us!" Flies-With-Sun cried.
The three Furies flew off together toward New Haven. He trotted back to Luna's side while watching the three Furies fly off along with Erevan and Helga. Night-Light also curled up at his chest.
"She will like our range," Luna purred.
"I agree. She has no twisted thinking or fear of the ground-kin," he agreed.
Green-Wings grumbled, "But she has some twisted thinking about herself, probably from that rotted pack! We will help her think more about herself and tear out that rotted thinking!"
"Well said!" Luna growled.
Shadowwing looked away from the distant skies once Dawn-Singer, Flies-With-Sun, and Flies-Bravely were out of sight. Moon-Pinner and Night-Light loped over to him and Luna.
Moon-Pinner pawed at Luna's side, "Flame me, flame me, flame me!"
Luna flamed Moon-Pinner so the fledgling faded under her wing.
Night-Light hummed up at him, "Sire-father, can you flame me please?"
"Sure, my son."
He loosed a sweeping flame over his son's back. Night-Light's hide seemed to take in the flame and heat until he began to fade. His son was nothing but glowing green and blue eyes and a shimmering on the ground between his paws.
"Better?"
Night-Light just purred deeply, snuggling up against him. Both Night-Light and Moon-Pinner fell asleep soon thereafter.
"So, what else is there to say about the flight to the pack?" Shadowwing sighed, leaning against Luna's shoulder.
"Other than we are relieved to be away from such... tempting females and twisted life-ways?" Was-Grounded huffed.
"What?" Green-Wings and Luna asked together.
Was-Grounded and Shadowwing glanced at each other.
Great, well... we probably should tell them what almost happened. Full honesty and all that.
Shadowwing grumbled, "The Alpha of that pack wanted to give me and my brother a... peace-gift. He had four females come into our cave to give us mating. Flies-Bravely was one of them."
Luna and Green-Wings growled, so he continued while holding Luna's tail.
"She and the other three had to do what they were told: come to us and offer themselves, or they would have been punished. We turned them away and told the Alpha not to send them again."
Was-Grounded nodded, "She warned us about a danger when she did not need to warn us. She also told us that the Alpha wanted to get Dawn Fury eggs from us. Do you know why he would want that?"
Luna shrugged slightly, though she was also visibly relieved, "No, I do not. Is there something special about them?"
They glanced to Night-Light asleep between his paws and also now barely visible there, his invisibility having faded with time.
"Not that I know of. Dawn and Light Furies both have hiding from eyes, so not that," Shadowwing mused.
Luna grumbled, "My sister does not know of Dawn Furies being different in any way. We might never know."
"True. It does not matter anyway."
He sighed with exhaustion and relief, "Great skies, it is good to be here with you."
Her eyeridges lifted, "Is it? It sounds like the females there wanted you much. Do I need to do something to turn your liver to me?"
"You say that like it stopped being yours."
She purred at that.
"But if you want to do something I will not say no to you," he grinned.
"Later then. After I can find those berries. Changing the topic, you should fly Hidden-Hope to the above island. Be watchers together as you did for Moon-Dancer."
He grumbled, not liking the idea of taking his daughter to the above. She was just not grown up enough for that. That world above was dangerous too. Even if he and she would only be staying on the island, that didn't change that he didn't like this plan.
"You know I do not like that idea."
She answered without pause, "But you should do it anyway. She needs to know you trust her. Doing this would also be good bonding for both of you."
He still didn't like it, but some part of him saw sense in her words. She was probably right that their daughter wanted to be trusted, maybe more than she probably deserved. But on the other hand, having his daughter's trust could be overrated; he had her best interests at heart anyway, and she didn't know what was best for her.
Luna continued, "Think about it. She wants to be like her older brother and like her sire-father. There is very little danger from going to the island above. It is the cold-season now, so there will not be any two-leg water-walker boats. There is no good reason not to go up there with her. We want her to be more responsible."
That was also all true.
"Grr, what if..."
She shoved his shoulder, "You should do this for her. Not doing this would be a mistake. Trust me on this."
He said nothing to that. She was almost suggesting that he was making a mistake by being protective of his daughter. He just wanted her to stay here where she was safe. So what if she was a little upset with him? It was for her own good to not go up there.
But she would be safe enough if he stayed with her on the island during the winter. Not even the craziest of the humans would look to sail the seas during the winter.
"Fine, I will," he grumbled.
"Good," she purred.
He was slightly frustrated that she didn't agree with him, but this was not the first time they had disagreed. It also probably would not be the last.
Was-Grounded spoke up, "The only other flight we should talk about is the other range: the one of the packless Light Wings. Should we fly to that range?"
They all considered it and grumbled in wariness. They had heard enough from Flies-With-Sun and from the Light Fury pack that the other group of Light Furies was more dangerous.
"We could. Flies-With-Sun knows where that range is. We could fly there and learn what they are like," Shadowwing proposed.
Was-Grounded grumbled, "We can always leave that range if the Light Furies there are too dangerous."
Being away from their family again was not what they wanted, but the possibility of alliance or guaranteed peace with another group of Light Furies was very appealing. The pack they had visited and this still mysterious one were the only packs they knew of anywhere near New Haven.
Shadowwing nodded, "True, we could fly to them to try to make pack-peace with them. Luna, Green-Wings, what do you think?"
"Must you be away from us more? We cannot leave our hatchlings," Green-Wings whispered.
He and Was-Grounded grumbled, not liking being away from their families either. Further, both Luna and Green-Wings wanted to stay with their youngest children. Flying on long flights or adventures just could not happen with such duties. Even Luna's prior flights to meet small groups of Light Furies never lasted more than half a cycle.
Was-Grounded spoke, "I do not like it much, but doing this would help the range. Luna, we can also ask there about your sire-father and dam-mother."
She forced a purr, "Yes, you could. When would you both fly?"
"We should be here for a while. There is no rush to fly to the other Light Furies," Shadowwing answered.
"I like that," she said while she nuzzled him.
"Your sister could fly with us as the flight-leader. She knows where the range is," he added.
"She might like that flight," she agreed.
So, what's on the list? Need to check in with the tribe soon to give them the good news, take Hidden-Hope up to the island... great..., play with Night-Light, eventually take Luna up on her offer... plenty to do.
Flies-Bravely had never before seen anything like this strange, mixed-range and ground-kin nest. That the ground-kin made and tended fields of plants for eating, and trapped prey-animals for eating in the future was familiar and proof that ground-kin were strong-thinking, able to plan for future needs. Her former pack did much the same.
Different was how the ground-kin lived in strange dens made of downed trees instead of caves. There was one very big shared-den made of rock's carefully piled together. Some sky-kin, spine-tails and fire-scales, perched peacefully on the shared-den.
Dawn-Singer explained that the ground-kin used that shared-den for group bonding ceremonies and for eating as a pack. The shared-den was safer than being out in the open because dangerous sky-kin could not hunt them inside. The shared-den also let the ground-kin feel more belonging, like this was their range.
Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun offered to walk her into the shared-den to greet more of the ground-kin, but she did not want to do that yet. It was enough to finally fly in the range and see how these ground-kin lived from a distance. Males and females worked together and were walking throughout the range, probably on their pack-roles.
On the other paw, the first two ground-kin she met, the Erevan and Helga nestmates, were warm enough to her, so maybe meeting more of them would be good.
Meeting Green-Wings, Luna, and Flies-With-Sun was very reassuring. All three of those females were strong in their life-fires, respected by their mates, and warm-livered, very different from so many of those in her former pack.
Most liver-warming so far was how kind Shadowwing and Was-Grounded were to their life-mates. That, more than anything else, spoke loudest to the warmth in their livers. She felt safe here.
This was truly her new pack.
Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun showed her the waters for drinking, the waters with fish, the fields of plants and trapped prey-animals, the ground-kin den with food for sky-kin, and the pits for waste. Then they flew up to a high ledge above the shared-nest, and they perched there.
"So, Flies-Bravely, what do you think about the range?" Flies-With-Sun warbled.
"I do not know what to think yet. Are the ground-kin all good to us sky-kin?"
Dawn-Singer chuckled, his tail thumping on the ground, "Some of them have twisted-thinking, but we just slap that twisted-thinking out of their heads when we find it!"
"Twisted-thinking?"
"Yes, they can fall into thinking of our wings as theirs, like we are theirs. Some still wish they lived in the above."
That was another mention of the above. Even though Shadowwing and Was-Grounded had explained some of the above, which was itself a confusing idea, she was still uncertain why these ground-kin were here instead of the above. If the above is where ground-kin truly lived and came from, then why should they not live there now? Why were they in these ranges?
"Why are these two-leg ground-kin here instead of in the above?"
Dawn-Singer hung his head and stared at his paws. His life-mate nudged his shoulder, and he purred softly.
"They are here because they would be in much danger in the above. Most of their kind is not warm to us sky-kin, but our ground-kin are warm to us. They lived in peace with us and fought for us against enemies. We also brought them with us into this world because turning tail on each other would mean together-life is not worth making be, not worth fighting for."
He clearly cared about the together-life she could see, especially since he held the Erevan ground-kin to his liver.
"Why is together-life worth making be?"
Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun glanced at her as if she had asked a twisted question. But it was a fair question; she did not know ground-kin well or have any idea what having a ground-kin in a life-flight meant..
Dawn-Singer huffed at her, "Because we make our life-flights warmer. That is what friends do for each other. We are friends."
Friends. Was it that simple? Was friendship itself a goal of knowing others instead of something used to get more?
"Should I be friends with them?"
Flies-With-Sun purred to her, "Yes, if you want to. You do not need to life-bond with them, but they are part of this range, just as you are now. They are not leaving here or our life-flights."
"I understand."
She glanced toward the far parts of the range through which she had flown. She was very tired after a long waking-cycle of flying, meeting the kin... the sky-kin of her new pack, and flying above the ground-kin nest.
"Where should I sleep?"
Dawn-Singer hummed in thought, "We all rest in the darker part of this chamber when all our kin are here. Five of us are away, so we stay closer to the shared-nest."
He glanced at Flies-With-Sun, "My life-mate, may she rest with us and our kin?"
Flies-With-Sun bobbed her head, just as the two ground-kin had done, "Yes, I approve of that for a while. Flies-Bravely, do you want to rest with us or on your own?"
The females from her old Helper group rested together, so she knew only sleeping-piles. She had never truly slept on her own before. Just the thought was liver-chilling and also a little scary.
But the possibility of taking a cave to be hers only was a very good one.
"Do you know any unclaimed caves near here?"
Dawn-Singer, looking very liver-chilled, looked down to his paws while Flies-With-Sun bobbed her head again, "Yes, we do. We can fly you to one now if you want."
"Please do. Dawn-Singer, are you upset?"
He stared into the distance without answering her at first, "A little. I remember what must have happened here long ago. Night Furies lived in this range many, many season-cycles before us. There were bones in some of the caves, but there is no danger anymore."
He probably did not say everything he knew, but she had a guess what he meant. All packs needed places to put the bodies and bones of the dead so that rot and death-smells were not a problem for the pack.
"Will you lead me?"
"We will," Flies-With-Sun purred.
She followed Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun above the New-Haven-nest, as they called it. What that meant she had no idea. What mattered was that there were what looked like small caves or ledges high above where none of the ground-kin could get to on their own. Any one of these caves could be hers.
Why her liver felt warmer than it ever had before... she had no idea, but it was good.
"Well, there he is! The Chief has come home!" Gobber shouted, his prosthetic arm lifted high with an empty mug clasped to it.
"Long live the Chief!" the audience of Nords shouted.
Shadowwing rolled his eyes as he gave Gobber a one-armed hug, "Gobberr, good to ssee you."
"Same here. Want ta' take council?" Gobber asked, nodding toward the private room.
"Yess."
He followed Gobber down the main isle, past a couple score of familiar Nords who nodded to him. Thorvald got up and followed him.
"Chief, good to have you back," Thorvald said.
You too Lout!
"Thannkss. How arre Rruff, Yssmirr, annd Therronn?"
"Same as always. The boys are always chasing after Blaze, that Terror..."
"Nnot ssurrprrissinng," he chuckled.
"Nah. By the way, your daughter has been helpful."
He was very curious how his daughter had been helping the last few cycles, "Rreally? What hass sshe beenn doinng?"
"Carrying logs without complaining and shepherding the herds, mostly. You know, normal duties."
Gobber gently punched his shoulder, "Yeah, she's lookin' ta make her mark. Startin' ta grow up!"
Great...
"Good to hearr."
He, Thorvald, and Gobber stepped into the council room, and closed the door for some privacy.
"So, what's the word?" Gobber asked while stroking his mustache.
"Yeah, how'd negotiations go with the Light Furies?" Thorvald added.
"Are we at war with them?" Gobber chuckled.
"We could use someone to go to war with," Thorvald said.
"Thannk you forr ssayinng that."
He considered telling them about the various customs that Light Fury pack followed, but he chose not to. There wasn't a need to share such details.
"Good nnewss: we have peace with them. We leave them alonne, annd they leave uss alonne."
"Live and let live? Is that it?" Gobber asked, visibly surprised.
"Yess. That ssimple."
"Gods, who'da thought dragons would be more sensible than Nords? I was expectin' them ta attack or start raidin' us."
Thorvald shrugged, "Hey, I'm not going to complain. Did they want anything?"
"Onnly to knnow if humannss would sstarrt goinng out innto morre of the hiddenn worrld. Nnot much morre thann that. Nnothinng that would conncerrnn you annyway."
Shadowwing glanced at the door, and lowered his voice, "How iss everrythinng herre? Anny morre complainninng?"
"None I've heard about. Everyone has settled down since that last attack," Thorvald answered.
"Good to hearr."
He suspected it wasn't that simple and that the discontent people within the tribe were holding their peace for now. But if there were another attack in the future, he would probably hear more of the same complaints. That was a problem to worry about later.
"Two morre thinngss, I annd Wass-Grrounnded will fly to annotherr place inn annotherr few cycless. Therre iss annotherr pack of Light Furriess to meet."
"Alright then." "Good ta know."
"Annd forr the lasst bit of nnewss, did you ssee Fliess-Brravely?"
Gobber nodded, "Is she the new Light Fury?"
He nodded.
"Then yeah, we saw her perchin' atop the Hall and lookin' out over everythin'. Is she staying here with us fer good?"
"Yess. Dawnn-Ssinngerr annd Fliess-Brravely will help herr learrnn about life herre. Sshe doessn't fearr humannss, but you arre sstill nnew to herr."
"I'll let everyone know to give her some space. Hopefully she will get to know us easier than Luna did," Thorvald chuckled.
No problem there!
Luna, holding Flower-Eater between her paws, waited outside the great-hall-den while Shadowwing spoke inside to the ground-kin as their Alpha. Letting the ground-kin nest learn that peace had been made with the distant Light Fury pack was good and necessary.
She was ready for him to be done with that Alpha duty so he could come back to her and their children. He also needed to talk to Hidden-Hope about their shared flight to the above.
That he did not like that idea was twisted of him. True, Hidden-Hope was playful and not as grown as Moon-Dancer or any of the Night Furies who worked as watchers. But she was trying to help. Letting her see the above for the first time would also help her feel more trusted by her sire-father.
But maybe she herself was only seeing good in the flight since her own sire-father had taken her to see the above for the first time. True, their situations were very different, since her sire-father had not needed to protect the entire hidden world or protect her from bad two-legs. She also had not been a very irresponsible and wild fledgling, at least not from what she could remember.
If only she could ask her sire-father...
Flower-Eater mewled for attention, so she licked him under the chin until he fell asleep again. The time when he was asleep was when she felt most relieved with him, mostly because he could not sneak away from her.
There was no danger she knew of in this shared-range, but it was the danger she did not know about which would be truly dangerous.
Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun eventually glided down to her. Moon-Pinner got up with a yawn, and padded over to them.
"Sister, where is Flies-Bravely?" she asked Flies-With-Sun.
"She has claimed a high ledge to be her den."
"Where?"
Flies-With-Sun pointed with her tail toward a high ledge with several caves. That ledge was one which ground-kin could not get to without a sky-kin helping them. She understood why Flies-Bravely would want such safety.
Night-Light hopped onto her back and pawed at her, "Dam-mother, where is sire-father?"
"He is talking to the ground-kin in the Great-Hall-Den."
"What about?"
"About his flight to far ranges."
"Okay, will he stay here now?"
"For many waking-cycles, yes."
"Good."
"Sister, Shadowwing and Was-Grounded were talking about flying to the other pack of Light Furies: the dangerous one. You know where it is, yes?"
Flies-With-Sun grumbled while pawing at Moon-Pinner's tail, and she paused to face her, "Yes, I know where it is."
"Will you be a flight-leader for them? Will you lead them to that range?"
"I can, but I do not know what life is like in that range. I have not flown into it before."
"Life could be bad there, but Shadowwing and Was-Grounded would keep you safe. They do not want to stay there if there is danger."
Flies-With-Sun faced Dawn-Singer, "My life-mate, what do you think about me flying this flight?"
Dawn-Singer grumbled, "I do not object. I can stay here with Moon-Pinner. You will try to stay safe on the flight."
"Of course I will! When will they want to fly?" her sister asked her.
Luna shrugged, "Shadowwing has other flights to fly first. The flight will not be in the next pawful of waking-cycles. We have time before they will go."
Hidden-Hope stared at sire-father in total disbelief! Were her ears tricking her? Hopefully not!
"What?" she gasped.
"Yes, I want you to fly with me to the above," sire-father said.
The above! The amazing, big, strange, and different above! She had never seen the above before, but she had heard so many good stories from her older brother and other kin! Dreams about a burning rock-sun, a white rock-moon, and great blue sky-waters, all higher than any sky-kin could fly to, were not as true as seeing it all herself!
"We can be two watchers, and you can see the above with me," her amazing sire-father added.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Thank you, sire-father!"
"You sure are eager!" sire-father laughed.
She stretched her wings, ready to fly right now! But sire-father put a paw on her shoulder.
"Wait, we cannot fly now."
"But I want to fly now!"
"No, I do not. I am tired. We can go in two waking-cycles."
That was disappointing; she wanted to go fly right now! But she did not know how to get to the above, so she had to wait for sire-father to lead her.
Sire-father nudged her shoulder, "So, my little one-"
Did he have to call her his little one... still? Grr... so annoying...
"-your dam-mother told me you have been working for the range. That is good of you."
That work of carrying buckets of water, carrying fallen tree-parts, and watching the prey-animals, was very annoying, but hopefully it worked. Being responsible was not fun.
"I am trying to help the shared-range. Just like my dear brother."
She barely avoided rolling her eyes, because she was certain sire-father would not like her doing that.
Sire-father purred and nodded, "Good, I am proud of you."
Sure he was. Maybe he would really be proud of her if he learned something she had kept to herself for many waking-cycles. She was trying to flame, and she had almost done it! The can-be-fire-air came out as it needed to, and she could feel a small fire deep in her mouth when she wanted one, but the two did not mix yet.
All that really meant was she had failed to truly flame so far, so he would not be truly proud of her yet for that. Best would be to keep this a secret until she learned her fire truly!
She stepped back and stretched, "Good. I should go back to work."
"Okay, good talk. I will... be with your dam-mother and younger brothers if you need anything. Good talk!"
She spun away and took flight. Even going back to the boring work of watching the prey animals was far better now.
Very soon, she would see the above for the first time!
Did she need to wait at all? Maybe she could go find the passes and caves which led to the above on her own. Would he be proud of her for being so brave? Probably not. Why would he ever be proud of her?
No, better would be to wait and let him lead her flight up there.
But once he took her up there once, she could easily find her way again entirely on her own, if she needed to run away from the home-range.
Was-Grounded and Green-Wings followed Wind-Dancer as the playful, liver-flamed hatchling ran before them, dashing between small light-rocks, patches of light-making mushrooms, and many trees and bushes. They arrived at the water which was safe for swimming in. Wind-Dancer roared with joy and splashed into the water before vanishing under the surface.
That let him settle down on the sand with Green-Wings. Surprisingly, she started nuzzling him as soon as he sat with her. That was far more affection and bonding than she usually showed.
"Green-Wings?"
"I am warmed with you back here," she whispered.
"And so am I."
"Were the females in that pack very twisted?"
He snorted, "Very twisted. They are nothing like you."
She looked away from him, staring out to the waters where Wind-Dancer was swimming and snapping at small water-prey.
After so many season-cycles of knowing Green-Wings, he knew when something was chilling her liver, just like now, but he had no idea what it was. She should be very warmed that he was back here with her.
"What is wrong?"
"Why do you think anything is wrong?" she warbled.
"Because I know you, my life-mate. Please talk."
She said nothing for a long time. He was about to nudge her to answer when she did on her own. Her voice trembled slightly, "I... am... afraid."
"Of what?"
"It is nothing."
"You fear nothing? I am not surprised!" he chuckled, trying to tell a joke.
She did not laugh. Instead, she hopped away from him, faced him, and sat down before staring at her paws.
"Just talk to me. What is it?" he asked after sitting down with her.
"Look at you! You are a High-Alpha for the whole range. You are big, strong, and a fighter. What am I?"
"What question is that?"
"What am I to you? You get to fly to far ranges while I stay here with our little ones. I am a dam-mother. That is what I am!" she growled.
"Yes, so what?" he warily answered, confused as to where she was going with this.
"But what about the no-eggs rule? What about after Wind-Dancer is grown? What am I then? Why would you want me anymore?"
His jaw fell open as she continued furiously speaking.
"You... you could have any female you want! You are an Alpha! What am I to you? Why do you why would you care?"
She was afraid that she was nothing except a dam-mother or nothing except his… what? His female, as if another would replace her? There was no other explanation. But she was his life-mate! They chose each to fly the winds of life with each other. Why did she doubt what they were?
Was his entire life-flight about to fall from the sky?
"Green-Wings... what... why... why do you fear that?"
She closed her eyes and hung her head, refusing to look up at him, "We have had six eggs together. Being a dam-mother is what I know how to do. That is… all I know. What am I if I cannot be a dam-mother? Why would you want me?"
Shock and anger mixed in his liver, both sparked by her doubt that they would survive as life-mates. How could she doubt his wanting for her after everything he and she had done and survived?
He closed his eyes and did his best to consider her words. Maybe there was in her words some lift he could not feel now.
Getting eggs and raising their young was an important part of their life as life-mates. Making eggs was normal and natural from him and her being one. While Shadowwing and Luna were more embracing of the new life-way, probably because of their different pasts as a two-leg and as one who was hatched in the hidden world, he and Green-Wings had more difficulty at first. He understood the need to live this new life-way.
She feared that he only wanted her as a way of making eggs. Had he done anything to suggest that was all she was to him? If so, that was false!
She brought to his life a warmth which not even Shadowwing could give. She fought for him against the thought-rotted Night Fury which found him and her in her range. She left her range and risked her life, trusting in him to lead her to a new range. She chose him to be her life-mate when she flew a mating flight with him above the ice nest. She was a warm-livered dam-mother to their children. He loved everything about having her in his life-flight.
He loved her.
Even after Shadowwing had explained the meaning of the word to him, he still found that word unnecessary. Everything the word meant is what good, true life-mates should want for each other.
He wanted her to be warmer, happier, and stronger in her life-flight, even if they could never make any eggs again. Being a sire-father was good, but he was not only a sire-father.
"Why do I want you? This is why!"
He spun away from her, flicked out his claws, and began digging shapes in the sand. Spinning in place, using his tailfins to smooth his pawsteps, and carefully stretching, the shapes of long loops, lines, and curves came together into the picture he wanted. Finished, he stepped back from the picture and looked more closely at it.
Not too bad... almost her.
The image of his life-mate in the sand had its jaws open in a toothy roar while its wings were spread wide. However, sand had no color. The image of her was very difficult to know as her, except that she had fewer frills on her head compared to him.
He froze when he heard her step up next to him, her green eyes narrowed on the picture in the sand. She stared, moving nothing, so he stretched a wing over her back and lay his tail over hers.
"I do not understand. Is this a picture of me?" she whispered.
"Yes. This is how I see you in my sleep-visions: you are strong, brave, and warm in your liver."
She whined, "But if I cannot be a dam-mother anymore-"
He interrupted her, "Not a problem! You gave me six children: six strong-thinking, warm, brave, and kind children. True, being a dam-mother is not as... liver-flaming as a fight of nests, but raising children well and flaming away their bad thinking or rotted life-ways is also a way of fighting. Look at me!"
She did, and he leaned closer until their noses almost touched. There was nothing in his world except her deep green eyes filled with worry.
"We are one, life-mates. That is truth even if we never make another egg. You trusted me when we flew from your range. Trust me now."
She blinked and sighed, again staring at her paws, "I... do, but I still wish... life did not force our flights and stop our egg-making."
He felt like he was so very close to putting a claw down on something important. Making eggs was very important to her. That had been true for as long as he had known her ever since she accepted him for the first time up on a mountain peak in her range. They had always answered the need in the new-life-season. He did not object at all to being the sire-father of a very big flock.
But she spoke as if she needed many young, as if there was no choice for her. Maybe giving in to nature and need was what other sky-kin or small-thinking life would do, but not him or her.
What did she get out of being a dam-mother to a very big flock? Why was always having a new little one, a new hatchling, so important to her? It was as though there was an emptiness which she was always trying to fill through having another hatchling. Why would she think she had to fill an emptiness or replace something which was lost and-
Like a flash of sky-light, the truth struck him to the liver.
"You still feel a chill from losing your first hatchling," he whispered.
She gasped as he continued.
"That is why you always want another egg with me. Deep in your liver, you still think you failed the first one and are trying to replace him."
"No. No... I... How could you... I..."
She closed her eyes, hung her head, and started whining like he had never heard from her before: a weak, trembling, lost sound. So he held her closer with his wing while purring to comfort her.
Her first hatchling, sired by the same thought-rotted Night Fury he and she had killed together, had died of hunger because its sire did not stay with her to be her mate and help provide. Her range, while liver-warming and wild, had very difficult hunting. She had not been able to catch enough food for her hatchling all on her own.
That death was not her fault, since the sire should have stayed to help provide and be a father. But she blamed herself for it, even though she did not know she felt any fault.
She eventually stilled under his wing, though she kept sniffling.
"What did you do with the hatchling?" he whispered.
"I... dug a pit for him... and covered him with dirt."
"Good. You should not stay there in the past. Do not think you need to prove you are a good dam-mother, not to yourself or me. You are, but that is not all you are."
He paused to let her hear and know that, "If we can have more children much later, that would be good, but I do not need more. You will still be mine, and I will be yours even if we never have another egg. Can you believe that? Do you believe me?"
He had very little doubt that she would. Everyone needed occasional reassurance from those held closest to the liver.
"Yes, I can... I do," she whispered.
He closed his eyes and held her underwing, content to simply be there with her. Nothing more needed to be said between them in the long peace and quiet. It might take her time before she truly believed in her own liver that she did not need to prove herself as a dam-mother, but there would be-
The calm was broken when Wind-Dancer barked for attention.
She was dripping with water and sitting before him... right in the middle of the drawing he made in the sand! Her swaying tail and pawprints had completely fouled the image!
"Wind-Dancer, you stepped on the picture of your dam-mother," he chuckled.
Wind-Dancer toothlessly grinned and started bouncing around in place for some twisted reason, further fouling the image as her tail slapped the sand.
But Green-Wings laughed freely and purred as she lunged, tackled Wind-Dancer, and started licking her. That warmth, more than anything else, reassured him that she would be fine.
Her problem was very much like the one his brother had, both unknowingly carrying around a thorn or spike from the past. While Shadowwing's hurt was in body, hers was in her life-fire. She would eventually still need to adjust to new life without needing to tend to a hatchling or watch out for a fledgling once Wind-Dancer was grown. But he had plenty of experience helping someone adjust far more to a new life.