Whispers
Aurora perched on the edge of a large drop into a new range long after their Skrill guide had left them. She was not sure what to make of what was before them.
She and her kin had seen many different ranges on this flight: ones with a lot of water and the water-plants growing under the surface, dark and bright ranges, and normal ones with a mix of trees and mushrooms throughout. However, this range was different from all others she had seen either in the above or the hidden ranges.
The ground was sand, but there were no waters larger than small ponds surrounded by thick greens and many mounds. The plants she could see had spines on them, or were very long vines that climbed on other plants. Very large, red rocks were scattered across the sand, and the walls had many holes, as though there were small caves going all throughout the rock. The light-rocks were very bright, almost like a very hot sun-cycle in the above, and the air was warmer and drier.
There were no sky-kin she could see. That lack was not surprising, given how empty, warm, and not green the range was. She could not think of any sky-kin that would want to live in a range like this one.
"This looks different. A desert," Alvor said.
"Issnn't that food forr afterr dinnnnerr?"
"No, that's dessert. Gods, I could use a good berry pie."
She faced him and growled, "You arre twisstinng my tail!"
He defensively threw up his paws, "I swear. Not joking!"
Stupid ground-kin words.
"Whateverr."
Rain-Eater, Mist-Wings, Rock-Climber, and Moon-Dancer stepped alongside her on the edge of the drop. They all looked down at the new range she was considering leading the flight into. Not that there was anywhere else they could fly. The Alpha Skrill had explained this was the only path they could take if they wanted to find the Light Furies.
"That lookss nnice," Rock-Climber purred.
She shoved his shoulder with a paw, "You would thinnk that. Prrobably wannt to ssleep onn the warrm rrockss."
Rock-Climber, being the annoying nestmate brother he was, purred at that and nodded. He would want to just curl up on the rocks and take a nap!
Well, that did not sound like a bad idea, now that she thought about it herself. She and her kin had not stopped for a long flight. A nap was a very good idea!
She faced Kin-liver over on Mist-Wings's back, "Drragonnhearrt, we sshould rresst herre."
"I agree. We need to rest."
With that agreement, she glided down, leading the flight into the new range. The air was, as she expected, very warm, dry, and crisp.
Okay, where to sleep? Probably over there by the water.
A pond within a valley looked like a very good option. The water was clear and surrounded by vines and very thick trees which covered small mounds and hills of sand. The hills had large rocks growing out of them, and there were also big patches of rocky ground around the pool.
The place was good enough. Warmth made for good naps.
She touched down with a splash in the sand, just as her kin did beside her.
"Grrrr, thiss ssannd iss annoyinng," she huffed, shaking her paws to get the sand off.
"I know. It's course, rough, irritating, and gets everywhere," Alvor agreed after he hopped off her back into the sand.
"I like it!" Rock-Climber bellowed, rolling and thrashing on his back in the sand.
She smirked and slapped her tail into the sand, sending up a wave of sand into his face. He sneezed and rolled onto his paws.
"What wass that forr!" he huffed.
"Ssorrrry, my misstake."
He rolled his eyes and trotted toward the water. She, her kin, and the ground-kin followed him over to the pond. The water was clear and good for drinking, so they all drank. The ground-kin filled their water-containers.
As usual, she kept watch for any dangers. The safety of her kin was her responsibility as the flight-leader.
Rain-Eater kept wondering about the pool of water. Yes, it was good water for drinking, but there was something unknown about the place.
On one paw, there should be other sky-kin here. They would want to drink. But there were none either here or anywhere else in the range. There had to be a reason for that.
"We resting here?" Safiya asked, a paw on his shoulder.
"I thinnk sso," he answered.
"Good. We all need a break."
He saw her roll her eyes and subtly nod toward Aurora, "Yess, we do."
That his sister was getting more frustrated on this flight was not difficult to see. But, being the flight-leader meant a lot of responsibility, so her being frustrated was not surprising. Everyone contributed to the hunting, watching, and protecting, but she was the one who had to protect all.
Had anyone talked to her about that yet? Probably not. No one wanted to tell her that her head was up her waste end, so to speak.
He nudged Safiya's shoulder and, wanting to hear her thoughts, beckoned her away from the water so he and she could speak freely. She followed him away from everyone else into a small patch of sand-mounds near a grove of trees.
"Yeah, what is it?" she asked.
He nodded toward his kin, "Do you thinnk Aurrorra iss beinng-"
"Grouchy?" she offered.
He was not sure what that ground-kin word meant, "What iss that?"
"Upset, angry about something."
"Yess, that. You agrree."
Safiya shrugged, "Well, she's the leader for this adventure, so she'd be worried about us. It's probably nothing."
"Maybe nnot."
"We're all tired too."
That was a reasonable point. Everyone was tired from the flying. But he meant more than just being tired right now. Aurora had been... grouchy even before getting tired leading into this range.
"Fairr."
She nodded toward the nearest trees, "Mind waiting for me?"
"Yess, nneed a momennt?"
"Yeah, I'll be right back."
He nodded, and she went off on her own, climbing the nearest small sand-mound to go relieve herself in the trees. While she was gone, he sat down in the sand, stretched his limbs, and let his thoughts fly freely.
The entire flight had been away from the shared-range for maybe two moon-cycles. It was very difficult to know for certain, given how waking-cycles varied depending on how much flying was done and how sleepy everyone was.
Part of his liver wanted to be in that home-range. The appeal and wanting to explore and fly to new ranges was not so strong now. This would be much worse if he was not flying with his nestmates and his life-bond friend, but the flight was not as enjoyable anymore.
In all the time they had been away, they had not found any Light Fury packs. There were a couple chambers which ground-kin might be able to live in, but they would need to fight the sky-kin already living in those ranges, which made those less desirable options. But that was not a problem for him to worry about.
A more immediate problem was the question of this range.
The path they had flown down was very rounded and smooth, as if water had flowed this way once. Maybe this was a water-range in the past, which would explain all the sand. There was no wind at all to slowly bite away at the rocks now, though there could have been in the past.
The lack of any other sky-kin was the biggest tail-nibbling problem.
There is no prey here. Maybe that is why there are no sky-kin. I would not want to live here.
While there was no wind at all to tickle his wings or fins, there was a very quiet whispering which he could only hear now in the silence.
Twisted...
Growing more impatient, he got to his paws and started up the sandy slope toward where Safiya had gone. She had been away for a while, and checking on her from afar felt necessary. They left each other alone to do such necessary parts of life, but he had to keep her somewhat close in these strange ranges.
From under his paws came a crunching sound, so he leaped back in surprise. Sand fell down the mound's slope, revealing what was hidden underneath.
His ears flew back as he stared in shock at something terrible.
Bones.
Gnawed, broken, and snapped bones were hidden under the sand. Long lines, either from claws or teeth, cut across the bones in all directions.
The first time he had seen sky-kin bones was after all his kin and the ground-kin had flown into the New-Haven-Range. There were Night Furies dead in that range, and all his kin had seen the bones before they were taken away. Sire-father and Shadowwing had done a death-resting ceremony for those Night Furies who had died long ago.
Seeing the dead had chilled his liver, which was bad, but it also reminded him that death would happen eventually, which had helped him life-bond even closer with Safiya. Maybe that was similar to why Alvor and Aurora had become closer friends after the sky-kin and ground-kin trusting almost broke.
He slowly spun around in alarm and saw all the other mounds of sand all around the pond.
Great skies!
Either many sky-kin just happened to die here, or something killed them. Was this entire range a trap? Probably not, but there was an unseen danger.
Where could the hunters be hiding? The first place he would look would be in the forest since that be where he would wait, unseen until...
He jumped, racing across the sands toward the trees as fast as he could. Her paw-tracks in the sand were very clear, leading to a thick patch of bushes. But she was not there.
Was she gone? Hunted already? Killed and dragged away?
Had he already failed his life-bond friend?
"SSAFIYA!"
"Rain! What are you doing?" she shouted from behind the bushes.
Great skies...
She was safe. Not hurt, hunted, or lost.
"Therre iss danngerr!"
"Huh?"
"I founnd bonness."
"Oh, just give me a minute."
He waited until she returned, fully covered in the false-hides with scales, including some of his own shed ones. Her looking like a Night Fury and having a scale-hide was much safer for her than walking around in her natural hide or clothing-furs which gave no protection at all.
"Alright, what's this about bones?"
He crouched down and offered his back, both to more quickly show her what he saw and to keep her safer. After she hopped on, he flew away from the trees and glided toward the mounds of sand.
Unsurprisingly, Aurora was quickly flying toward him. She had probably heard his roar earlier.
"What is it?" she roared.
"I found bones and danger!"
"Where?"
He dove for the ground and landed among the mounds of sand as Aurora did the same. Beating his wings caused winds which disturbed the sand, revealing what was underneath.
Aurora and Safiya gasped in alarm and joined him in staring at the kin bones.
"Oh gods, is this a... boneyard?" Safiya whispered.
"Yess!" he hissed.
Aurora hopped across the sand to the next nearby mound of sand. A couple flaps of her wings pushed away enough sand to reveal the bones. Looking worried, she dashed back to him.
"Sso, what nnow?" he asked.
"Did you ssee anny thrreat?"
"Nno. Ssaf?"
She shook her head, "No, there aren't any other dragons here. None I saw anyway."
Aurora hissed while looking around, "Nnonne we cann ssee eitherr."
She flew up on top of the largest mound of sand. He and Safiya had to fly up the slope instead of climb up it. There at the top, they looked around at everything they could see in the range. The distant stretches of sand, the mountains of rock-sand, the small holes or caves within the walls, the thick forest around the water, the yellow and red light-rocks, all of it was visible. But there were no other sky-kin, not counting their kin resting by the water. Everything else was still and not moving.
'Remember, my little Rain-Eater, the best hunters are the ones you never know about. Both hunter and prey want to be silent and unseen.'
His sire-father's hunting advice had never truly struck his liver before. He was entirely skilled at hunting and knew how to provide for his kin and the shared-range, but there was no great thrill and liver-fire from hunting life. Hunting for answers to problems was always more fun and liver-warming.
"I ssee nnonne," he grumbled.
"What should we do?" Safiya asked.
"Go back to ourr kinn annd talk to them," Aurora answered and took flight.
He followed her back to the pond where Mist-Wings, Rock-Climber, Moon-Dancer, Alvor, and Kin-liver were waiting. The ground-kin had already laid out furs for sleeping on down on the sand.
"Grroup talk!" Aurora shouted.
With several groans, everyone got to their paws and gathered together, yawning and stretching.
"What iss it?" "I am tirred." "Yess, Aurrorra?"
"We founnd drragonn bonness inn the ssanndss. Therre might be danngerr herre," Aurora explained.
Kin-liver leaned on her staff, "Did you see any dragons?"
"Otherr thann uss, nno. What do you wannt to do nnow?"
Kin-liver started pacing, her paws behind her back.
"Ssissterr, we arre verry tirred," Rock-Climber groaned.
Mist-Wings nodded and yawned, "Yess, you did nnot ssee anny danngerr annyway."
"Doesn't mean there isn't anything out there," Alvor pointed out.
"Sso we jusst do what we have beenn doinng sso farr. Have a watcherr sstay awake while the rresst of uss ssleep," Aurora explained.
He gently nudged Kin-liver's shoulder, "Drragonnhearrt, what do you thinnk?"
She grumbled before answering, "We should rest here. We didn't see any danger, there's water right there, and I don't know many dragons that would bother you five."
"I agrree," Aurora purred.
"Thenn I will be the watcherr," he volunteered.
Everyone else began to settle down to rest beside the flying equipment, saddles, and other supplies. The ground-kin wrapped themselves in their sleeping-furs, and Aurora, Mist-Wings, and Moon-Dancer lay down around them, covering them with wings.
Rock-Climber joined him perched up on a large, flat rock near their kin below. It was a normal rock, not a light-rock, but there was an orange light-rock nearby. That light-rock made it a very warm perch.
"Not sleeping down there?"
Rock-Climber purred and fell flat on his belly, all his limbs stretched out.
"I like being higher up like this," Rock-Climber said.
That was not strange. His younger brother, much as his name suggested, liked climbing very high without using his wings. That had been true since shortly after Rock-Climber hatched.
His doing so was perhaps twisted, but he was a little brother, so it was fine.
"You look very comfortable there," he said.
Rock-Climber snorted, "Yes, but it could be warmer here."
He rolled his eyes and gave his brother's back a flaming, as requested. Rock-Climber purred deeply in thanks and appeared to fall asleep.
That let him focus more on the watching and guarding. There was not much to see, but that was good. There was no motion, and the only sounds were that very faint whispering and their breaths.
"Do you miss the home-range?" Rock-Climber asked a few wingbeats later.
"Mostly sire-father, dam-mother, our brother, and Wind-Dancer."
"Same for me. But this is our first time flying so far away! This is fun!"
He huffed and whipped Rock-Climber with his tail, "You try carrying a ground-kin all the time. They are heavier than the bags of things you carry."
"You life-bonded with one. You... what is the ground-kin saying... have to fly with the one you have with you."
"When will you get a life-bond friend?"
Rock-Climber blinked in surprise and shrugged his wings, "That is... not important to me. Maybe I will find one or maybe not. I do not need one."
"Fair. You are also not big enough to carry one," he chuckled.
Rock-Climber wrinkled his nose and huffed at him for that tease. But he did not mean any true liver-twisting, so he did not dig in any more word-claws. Brothers could twist each other's tails and do so with warm livers. Not only that, but that brothers should tease was almost a life-rule.
"I could carry one! A small one anyway."
"Yes, you could."
Rock-Climber then curled his tailfins over his head and yawned again, "Will we leave this range after the resting?"
"Probably. There is a danger in this range, and there is nothing for us here."
"Grr, I wanted to swim in the sand."
"What?"
"I thought it could be fun to swim in the sand like in water. There is not much sand like this in the home-range."
With that, Rock-Climber curled up under a wing and went silent.
Rain-Eater stared out at the endless expanse of sand and mounds, many of which were probably hiding bones. Diving into the sand and digging through it was perhaps a fun activity, if the sand was warm enough. But knowing that there were bones in the sand made that not so fun. Bumping into the bones under the sand would be very bad and liver-chilling... very different from the playing in the snow he had done in the above.
But...
He glanced down at his kin and the ground-kin on the sandy ground. Was the sand on the nearby mounds slowly sliding, as if disturbed? There was no wind, so what was making that whispering sound?
Wait, there is unseen danger in this range. Maybe...
He jumped off the rock, gliding down beside his kin.
"Wake up!"
They did, flying to their paws and throwing their wings wide in display. Even the ground-kin jumped to their paws; they had learned to be ready to move with very little warning.
"What?" Aurora growled.
"The danngerr might be inn the ssannd."
Everyone glanced in suspicion at the sand underpaw.
"How do you know that?" Kin-liver asked.
"I do nnot knnow, but I have beenn hearrinng a ssounnd like... whissperrinng downn inn the ssannd."
Kin-liver took her staff and stuck it down in the sand, "Whispering, maybe Whispering Deaths."
Spinning-teeth rock-diggers?
It had lift. He had only seen those rock-diggers from afar, but their body-shape was good for digging in the ground or swimming in the sand. The ground-kin knew more about those sky-kin from the fighting long ago.
Were spinning-teeth rock-diggers truly sky-kin if they lived much under the ground?
Regardless, they could easily be the hunters which killed other sky-kin in this range. Their being in this range might also explain the holes in the rock-walls.
He glared at the sand and dug his paws into the sand.
One of those big-mouth, many-teeth hunters attacking from below could be very, very dangerous, especially for the ground-kin.
"We're all tired, and there's nothing around us now. Whispering Deaths are ambush hunters. They won't openly attack a group like us while we're alert. How many of you want to sleep here?" Kin-liver asked.
Rock-Climber, Moon-Dancer, Mist-Wings, Alvor, and Safiya raised a paw.
"We should sleep up on the rocks, not on the sand," Kin-liver proposed.
"Good idea," Aurora agreed.
They gathered all the bags of things and furs, and carried them and the ground-kin up onto the rocks, particularly the flat one he and Rock-Climber had been on. The rock was solid with no holes or small caves in it, which made it safe to be on. Even the spinning-teeth rock-diggers certainly needed time to dig through rocks, and their doing that would be heard in the silence.
Everyone settled down as they were before, except Aurora sat down beside him, remaining awake.
"Sister?"
"Brother?"
"I can be the watcher more. I am not tired yet," he offered.
"You do that. I also want to watch," she huffed.
"Fine."
She perched there on the edge of the rock, and stared beyond at the expanse of sand. Her ears were back while she softly growled.
There was still a very faint whispering, both near to them and far away at the same time. Either that whispering was something normal about this range, maybe the sound of unseen waters, or it was the sound of burrowing... things.
Aurora snorted, her tail tapping on the rock beside her. He knew his nestmate sister well enough that he could see she had a problem. As if the rest of the flight and his talking with everyone else was not enough to know that.
He nudged her shoulder and glided to another nearby rock. She followed him there where they could speak on their own.
"Is something twisting your tail?" he asked.
"What?"
"You feel... quick to show some anger, like there is a problem."
She grumbled and flicked an ear in annoyance, "Why do you think that? I am very happy. There are no problems."
"Really? Sister, you can talk to me."
"There is nothing to say. I am tired as we all are."
He doubted that was the real problem. Being tired could make anyone upset, but there was more to this than that.
"Well, I miss the home-range some. Do you?"
She paused before answering, "Maybe a little. It would be nice to play with Wind-Dancer. She is probably talking a lot more."
"How much more do we need to fly this flight?"
She glanced over her shoulder at Kin-liver, "I do not know. We have not found a good range yet. Do you think we should fly back?"
He shrugged, "Maybe soon if we do not find anything important. This would be very far to have half of the ground-kin come to live in even if we find a range."
"True, it would be. I can talk to Kin-liver when she wakes up."
They glided back onto the large rock, and Aurora curled up to sleep on it. Oddly, she kept her distance from Alvor, preferring instead to rest alone.
That is twisted of her. Did they have a fight?
He remained awake since he was the watcher. Doing this also let him think more about what her problem might be.
Maybe they had a fight, and she wants more time on her own, but she is stuck carrying him.
He and Safiya rarely had fights, but he had wanted time to be on his own away from her after those fights. Maybe this being stuck together much was not so good for everyone. If only there was a way to change something so that everyone would be happier.
He facepawed, seeing the very obvious answer to that problem. He doubted this would make Aurora very liver-warmed, but it might help.
Valka liked Rain-Eater's suggestion. As usual, the level-headed, thoughtful Fury had the idea they all should have thought about already. She especially liked that this plan might help with the budding frustration among some members of the group.
"You wannt to what?" Aurora asked.
"Yeah, why?" Alvor added in agreement.
"Becausse it might help forr uss to have a channge of who we carrrry!" Rain-Eater explained.
Rock-Climber smirked, "Yess, who wanntss to carrrry me?"
"Verry funnny," Moon-Dancer huffed.
Rain-Eater purred, "I will carrrry Alvorr, Aurrorra carriess Ssafiya, annd Moonn-Danncerr carrrries Drragonnhearrt. Misst-Winngss annd Rrock-Climberr cann carrrry the ssuppliess."
Everyone purred and nodded in agreement. She, Alvor, and Safiya switched over the saddles and packs to the appropriate Furies. Everyone went down to the pond to have a last-minute drink and refill the canteens.
Aurora found her and beckoned her aside. The Fury looked troubled, so she put a hand on her neck.
"Yes, Aurora?"
"I wass thinnkinng about thiss jourrnney. Sshould we go home ssoonn?"
"We haven't found a good place yet, but..."
There was some heartache from not being around her dragon-son and her grandchildren. Being away from little Flower-Eater and Wind-Dancer was the worst, since they were going to be learning their words before too long. But she had to think about the future of the whole tribe too, and that meant finding a place where some of the human part of the family could live, at least partially, in the future.
Further, she was the Elder for the tribe. Being around Alvor, Safiya, Erevan, Helga, and the other dragon-friends was fine; they were like her, but everyone else was just that little bit different. It was more difficult to relate to everyone else. This adventure away from home was far more comfortable to her than being back among the tribe as their Elder.
There were reasons both to return home and also to remain away longer.
"But... we should keep looking. Finding any Light Furies around here would help. If we don't find anywhere soon, then maybe we should head back."
"Okay," Aurora hummed.
They returned to everyone else and began packing up. Moon-Dancer was standing slightly apart from everyone else, so Valka went to him.
"You ready?" she whispered.
"Yess, thiss will be funn," he eagerly nodded.
"Don't drop me."
"Do nnot jump off, usselessss rriderr."
She laughed at his wit which so reminded her of someone else she had come to know dearly. A wry, dry sense of humor mingled with humility.
He was truly his father's son.
It was perhaps a little strange to be flying with him since he was her grandson, not that he knew that. Keeping that wonderful truth from him was necessary for many reasons. Further, it didn't really matter anyway. She was part of the family to him as they were.
She wasn't worried that he would be unable to carry her, even though he had never, to her knowledge, carried anyone before.
He crouched down and let her climb on, which she did.
"Rready?" he purred.
"Yep, you've got this."
He probably didn't need the encouragement, but she gave it anyway.
She warily considered the nearby mounds of sand, under which dragon bones were hidden. No one saw any signs of Whispering Deaths, or any other kind of dangerous dragon, but there was definitely something in this chamber. Everyone was very eager to get out of here.
Including herself.
Moon-Dancer was so very glad to leave behind that sand-range and the whispering sound coming from under the sand. Everything about that sand-range, the bones under the sand, the plants with spikes, and the unknown danger, made it not a place for living in or being in for long.
It was much better to think about how he was now carrying Kin-liver! She was a very warm ground-kin, with the liver of a sky-kin no less, and she was like a ground-kin dam-mother to him and his nestmates. No other ground-kin had held him when he was a hatchling.
And now he could carry her! That was not truly a surprise since he and Mist-Wings were the same size, and Mist-Wings had carried her until now without any problems.
This was a little scary. He had no fear that she would fall off him, and she could fall-fly if she did. She also did not weigh much at all, so carrying her was not difficult. No, what was a little scary was that her being with him meant that he had to protect her. Him protect her from danger?
By the skies, he could remember her holding him when he was a hatchling!
I can do this.
It helped a lot that he was not alone for this, and that they had stayed away from groups of other sky-kin on this flight. There was little danger for anyone if no other sky-kin flew at them.
The flight continued over the sands, following the curve of the sand-range until another cave-mouth appeared high above. The rock-spikes grew from the ground and hung from the roof of the cave like teeth. None of that was important.
What was important was the Light Fury they saw perched on the edge of the cliff.
Great skies! We found one!
Aurora noticed it at the same time he did, and she gave a joyful roar which all in the flight echoed. The Light Fury jumped to its paws as they all dove to land by it. He landed beside Aurora and waited as Kin-liver hopped off his back.
The male Light Fury was large, but not as large as his sire-father. Truthfully, he himself was as large as this Light Fury, though it was perhaps a little stronger.
"Are you dark wings?" the Light Fury gasped, keeping his distance from them.
Aurora purred and stepped forward, "We call ourselves Night Furies, except for Moon-Dancer. He is a Dawn Fury, but he is kin to us. What is your name?"
"I am Second-Watcher. Which of you is the flight-Alpha?"
"I am. My name is Aurora."
The Light Fury looked very confused by this, but he shook himself free of that confusion.
"How can... you be a... what pack-role is that name?" Second-Watcher asked.
Aurora grumbled in confusion of her own, "Pack-role? We have none of those."
"Truly? That is... different. Who are the other kin in your flight?"
"My nestmates are Rain-Eater, Mist-Wings, and Rock-Climber. Moon-Dancer is not my nestmate, but he is kin to us."
Everyone purred and lifted the tips of their tails at their name being spoken. Second-Watcher glanced at Mist-Wings, Aurora, and the ground-kin.
"Are those... your young?" Second-Watcher asked, staring at Alvor, Safiya, and Kin-liver.
Everyone laughed until their tails slapped on the rock underpaw. That the ground-kin were in their false-hides made thinking of them as sky-kin young an easy mistake to make for those who never saw ground-kin before.
"No, they are ground-kin," Aurora explained.
"What are those ground-kin?"
"Ground-kin are life like us. They have no tails or true wings, but they have life-fires in their livers."
"What?"
She smugly purred and beckoned Kin-liver forward with a wave of her tail. Kin-liver approached and put a paw on her shoulder.
Second-Watcher stared at her in confusion, especially after she took off her helmet. The sight of a ground-kin with no scales and a different face-shape must be very twisting and strange to him.
Moon-Dancer chuckled.
He has never seen one before! Hopefully he likes them.
"Do they have words?" Second-Watcher gasped.
"Yes, but they cannot talk like us. We can learn their words, even if that is very confusing."
Aurora whispered something to Kin-liver, and Kin-liver bowed to Second-Watcher in a respect-sign. Alvor and Safiya did the same without removing their helmets.
"They do understand you. Where do the ground-kin come from? Are they from a far range?"
"They are. We all live together in a far range. Other sky-kin also live in that shared-range. That is why we have flown this flight. What are you doing here?"
"I am watching this path and searching this sand-range for danger. One of us must do that to protect against danger."
Second-Watcher stepped back and started pacing, his tail twitching in agitation. He glanced at Aurora and resumed his pacing.
"Why are you here on this flight of yours?" Second-Watcher asked.
"We are searching for a new range some of our ground-kin might live in."
Second-Watcher froze, staring at her in more surprise and thoughtfulness, "You are searching for a new pack to join?"
"A pack? Not truly that. We more need to find a range that many of us could live in. Do you know of any such ranges?"
"Yes, there is where my pack lives. We have a new range with not many kin in it now. Our pack is a small one."
A Light Fury pack!
That was very good news! They might have just found a range for all to live in. Even better, this Light Fury, and probably his entire pack, had not shown any hate or anger towards ground-kin.
But there was something he thought was strange. He stepped forward and stood beside Aurora.
"Second-Watcher, why are there not many kin in your range?" he asked.
Second-Watcher grumbled, as if annoyed by the question, "We left another pack that had a rotted Alpha who would not fight for us! We made a new, stronger pack, though we are small in number."
Aurora purred, "Good for you. Having a weak Alpha who will not fight for you is bad. Our Alphas are strong fighters."
That was a strange thought. He never truly saw his sire-father or Was-Grounded as fighters, though they had done that in the past. The closest he ever saw to his sire-father as a fighter was the fighting against the small flights of other sky-kin that tried to take the shared-range.
"You have Alphas?" Second-Watcher asked.
"In our home-range, yes. What about your pack?" Aurora answered.
"We have one Alpha. He would want to meet you, all of you."
"Give me a few wingbeats."
She walked away from him and beckoned everyone over to her. He, her nestmates, and the ground-kin gathered around her to talk.
"Sso you knnow what we have beenn ssayinng: he iss Seconnd-Watcherr forr a pack of Light Furriess. He offerred forr uss to vissit the pack."
Kin-liver smiled, "Good, anything else?"
"Nno. He ssaid therre iss danngerr inn thiss rrannge, but we knnew that alrready. Hiss pack iss ssmall annd might have rroom forr uss. He did nnot ssounnd like he orr hiss pack hate humannss."
Mist-Wings purred, "We sshould fly to ssee them!"
Aurora nodded, "I agrree. We sshould meet them."
Kin-liver, Alvor, and Safiya nodded in agreement, and Aurora went back to Second-Watcher.
"We will fly with you to meet your pack. Our ground-kin are coming with us. They want to see your pack."
"That is fine. You can bring them."
"How long is the flight?" Aurora asked.
"Not very far. We must go down this path. Follow my flight!"
Second-Watcher took flight and began circling above. Alvor went to Rain-Eater, Safiya to Aurora, and Kin-liver climbed on his back. They all took to the sky, following behind Second-Watcher as he led the flight.
Moon-Dancer fell in beside Mist-Wings, and brushed wings with her to get her attention.
"Bro?"
"We will meet a Light Fury pack! Are you excited for this?"
"Very! We have never met so many other strong-thinking sky-kin!"
He agreed entirely.
There were sure to be many Light Furies in the pack, even if they did not know how big the pack was. There might even be...
He caught his thoughts immediately. What if there were unpaired Light Furies there? It was likely there were. What if there was a female who became... interested in him? That was a very twisted thought, but it could happen.
Kin-liver must have felt his liver-confusion, because she rubbed his neck, "You alright?"
"Yess, jusst thinnkinng."
"Well, that's dangerous!"
"Thannk you forr nnothinng."
Aurora followed closely beside Second-Watcher as he led them down bright and dark caves into a mixed forest-range and water-range. The ground was deep water in many places, and the water was filled with water-plants of many different colors. The solid ground similarly had vines, bushes, trees, bright flowers, mosses, and mushrooms of all colors. Flying birds and ground-prey flew and dashed throughout.
The entire chamber was filled with a soft blue and green color from the light-rocks, both in the water and on land. Those colors were very close to her liver, since those were her colors. She saw no hunter-kin or any other dangers at all, which was also good.
But there were no other Light Furies in the range.
She winged closer to Second-Watcher, "Is this the range?"
"No, the pack hunts here some, but this is not our territory. I wondered if we might see someone, but she is not here. Follow me!"
Second-Watcher flew them higher up above all the mushrooms and into a small cave near the top of one end of that range. That cave was dark and long, but it led down into a much larger path filled with light-rocks and which stretched out as far she could see.
After much flying down that new path, the walls narrowed again as more light came from a cave ahead. The cave widened, dropped off a ledge, and opened into a very green and large chamber filled with trees, small streams, and many light-rocks. The trees had vines, glowing flowers, much fruit, and many tiny-wing kin and birds. Small prey-animals flitted and dashed through the thick greens. The range had much life, which was good.
Further, the range, from what she could see while gliding behind Second-Watcher, was not as big as the New-Haven-Range, but this was still much bigger than many others they had seen.
Second-Watcher roared to announce himself, and several other Light Fury roars answered his. He led them further into the middle of the range where an open space without any trees was. But there was something strange in the middle of the range.
A very big hole opened up in the ground, as if there was a cave that went straight down under the ground.
Maybe their cave-dens are down there.
Second-Watcher dove and landed on the dirt outside the hole, so they landed beside him. The ground-kin climbed down also and helped take off the saddles and other riding-with equipment.
Second-Watcher observed this with interest.
"What are those things you were carrying?" he asked.
"They help us carry the ground-kin and other things for them. What is this big hole?" she asked, peering over into the hole.
"That is where our pack lives. All have caves we sleep in. We fought for this range and killed the hunter-kin that lived here before."
"What hunter-kin?"
"Stinging-tail hunter-kin. They left many bones around these caves, but we took the bones away."
She growled, "We had to do something like that too. Our home-range had bones of our own kin-kind who died long ago."
He huffed, "Wait here. I will bring the Alpha."
Second-Watcher jumped down into the hole and dashed away into the caves. She returned to her kin and joined them in looking around at what they could see of the range.
What was most important was the several Light Furies who were looking to them from the edge of the trees. Noticed, the Light Furies, two females and a male, slowly began approaching on paw.
Kin-liver, Alvor, and Safiya stayed close to their sides, just to be safe in case these Light Furies were not friendly.
"Uh, what should we do?" Alvor whispered.
"Nnothinng. Jusst wait," she hissed.
Satisfied that he would not be annoying, she faced the Light Furies and approached them, "Warm flights, light wings. My name is Aurora."
The male stepped closer and purred, "I am Second-Fighter of New-Strength-Pack. These are First-Plant-Tender and Second-She-Far-Flier."
She wondered what those roles meant. The plant-tending was probably what it sounded like, but the She-Far-Flier was a different role which was unclear.
Second-Fighter looked her over, clearly confused or interested, "What are you? A dark light wing? Did you burn your hide dark?"
"No, we call ourselves Night Furies, or dark wings if you want. We are like you but different."
Second-Fighter glanced at the ground-kin, "Are you flying with your fledglings?"
She rolled her eyes, amused that he made the same mistake, "No, they are not our kin-kind. They are-"
Motion forced her to pause in the explanation as three Light Furies flew up out of the cave and landed before them. One was Second-Watcher, another was a female with a faint red wing-shine, and the third was a male slightly bigger than her.
The male was strong and confident, given how he held his head and shoulders high. He commanded presence and respect, definitely because he was the Alpha of the pack.
His gaze went first to her and Mist-Wings and then to the ground-kin. He stared at them in confusion and surprise.
"Dark wings, welcome to New-Strength-Pack. Who is the flight-Alpha?" he asked.
He looked from Rain-Eater to Moon-Dancer first.
Grr, he probably thinks a female cannot be an Alpha... surprise!
She stepped before him, sat down, and huffed his direction, "I am the flight-Alpha. My name is Aurora."
He blinked and purred as he sat down, "Aurora, I do not know that name or pack-role. What is it?"
"It means like the flowing, flying sky-breath, but you would not know about that unless you flew in the above."
"I... see. You will call me Alpha in this range. Who are these others in your flight?"
"My nestmates: Rain-Eater, Mist-Wings, and Rock-Climber. The mixed-kin dark-light, as you might name him, is Moon-Dancer."
Again, each of her kin indicated themselves when she named them.
"And is this your mate?" she asked, with a glance at the female standing behind him.
"One of them and my First. She is the First-Female for the pack."
He said that so casually, but it sounded so twisted. He has more than one life-mate? What? That was... not what a life-mate was. Having more than one life-mate was just... wrong, strange, and different. There was also something dismissive about a female's name being just a female with a number. This pack had twisted naming-ceremonies!
She had no opportunity to ask before he again noticed the ground-kin and stared at them. He sniffed at the air and must have noticed that something was different about them.
"What are those? They are not young dark wings. They smell different from you," he grumbled.
"True, they are not dark wings or any sky-kin. We call them ground-kin. They are life like us."
"Like us how?"
"They have strong-thinking, understanding, and life-fires in their livers. Do you want to meet them?"
He grunted, "I should as the Alpha."
With that, she beckoned Kin-liver forward with a nod. Just as with the previous meeting, she kept close to the ground-kin to help keep her safe from any unprovoked danger. But she doubted there would be a need in this case. Alpha was calm, very sure of himself, and showed no signs of being afraid, all of which was easily explained by him probably knowing nothing about the ground-kin.
This was the first time he or his pack would meet ground-kin.
He still started in surprise when Kin-liver took off her helmet and false-hide. He also purred in approval when Kin-liver bent her head in respect. He did not offer any nose-touching or bonding though, which was fine.
"Do they talk?" he asked.
"Not in our words, and they do not understand us. We can learn their words, but they are very twisting to learn. We would like the ground-kin to meet others in your pack. The ground-kin want to show their warm livers."
Alpha huffed, "That is good. We can talk while your ground-kin meet with the pack."
He roared loudly in summons. Within a few wingbeats, five Light Furies appeared from the forest and the underground caves. They and his present mate went over to her nestmates and the ground-kin. Meanwhile, she followed Alpha a short distance away from everyone else so they could speak without distractions.
"Aurora, there is much you can tell me. Tell me about the range you come from," he said.
"It is very far from here. Ground-kin and... winged-kin live there in peace. We flew on this flight because we are searching for a range some of our ground-kin can live in."
He blinked and purred, "You want to join a pack? I could find a place for dark wings in this pack, if you are looking for a pack."
She knew the most careful and unhurting answer would be to not immediately reject the offer. But this offer was not at all what this flight was for. None of her family wanted to leave the New-Haven-Range.
"We are not searching for a pack to join. If you were not listening earlier, I already said we are searching for ranges some of us and our ground-kin might live in. Best would be for us to not need to fight for the ranges. Are there any ranges like that near here?"
He stared at her without blinking, so she stared right back at him. That he was a little bigger was completely unimportant. This was a small test of life-fires, and she smirked on the inside when he glanced away from her first.
"There are no other good ranges near here. Most are only cold rock. There is... the pack we flew from before we lived here, but you do not want to go to that bad place."
Second-Watcher had mentioned something about a pack they had lived in before.
"What pack is that other one?"
He growled, "Ice-Water-Pack! They have a weak Alpha. That range is very cold and filled with ice. You do not want to fly to them, unless you and your ground-kin like the cold."
He was correct that such a place would not be good for the ground-kin. At a minimum, a good range needed to be able to grow plants. Just like this range.
"No, we do not. Thank you for the warning. What about this range here?"
"What about it?" he warily asked.
"Well, how many are you in your pack?"
"Ten and six, with three eggs. We are not many because we fled Ice-Water-Pack. Others also joined our pack since we made it. We wanted to be free," he smirked.
It sounded like that other pack had some very bad customs which everyone in this pack had fled from. They wanted to be free to live as they wished. She could respect that.
"Good for you. I ask because our ground-kin need to grow plants to eat, and this range might be one they could live in. Would your pack want to share your range?" she asked.
"That would be much to offer. I would need to meet the ground-kin first and learn how they would help me."
He would think about peace that way: as how knowing the ground-kin could help him as the Alpha. Whatever. It was a start which could help make peace.
"You have never met them before, correct?" she asked.
"Never. They are new life to us."
She got to her paws and nodded toward her family and the ground-kin. Alvor had a paw on one of the female Light Fury's noses. Good, he was doing small-bonding with them. As annoying and frustrating as he could be, he was also very warm-livered to sky-kin.
"Do you want to meet them now?" she asked.
"Yes, why not?"
She took several steps toward her kin when she noticed that he had not moved. He was still sitting where he was before, staring at her.
"Are you coming with?"
"Yes," he grumbled and started walking.
She thought she knew what was bothering him all throughout their talk. Being an Alpha, he was probably a male who did not get talked back to by anyone. He probably felt threatened by her!
Good. Let him be. She was not like most females.
The introductions went very well as far as Aurora was concerned. Several more Light Furies in the pack came and met the ground-kin before returning to their duties, some of which involved sitting the three eggs she heard mentioned before.
Hearing about that, the pack's pairs trying to make eggs, was liver-twisting because of how it reminded her of that problem in her life. Well, the egg-making was certainly not the problem, there was no reason to think she would have such a problem.
The Alpha had kept some distance so he could watch over his packmates. She was not certain what he thought about the ground-kin, though he showed no fear.
Kin-liver nudged her shoulder.
"Yess?"
"Think you can ask him where we can rest?"
Rock-Climber and Mist-Wings were looking rather tired, and both Alvor and Safiya were yawning.
"I will."
She trotted over to the Alpha and got his attention, "Alpha, we want to rest soon. Is there anywhere in the range we can rest?"
He purred, "We were not planning on having a place for any others, but I could... make space for some of you below."
Sleeping in the dark caves below? No.
"No, we will rest up here. Are there any places we could rest on our own and out of the way?"
He grumbled, "What if I do not want that? This is my range, and I make the rules here."
"Too bad. I am flight-leader for my kin and nestmates. We protect each other."
"Why do you think you can talk to me like that?"
"Because I can. Are you afraid of me?" she chuckled.
He blinked and relaxed, "No, Aurora, not afraid. I just see how you are very different from the female light wings in my pack."
"Am I? How so?" she asked, curious what he meant.
"You are not afraid to say what you think or to speak with biting words. That is good of you. Not even my mates do that."
It was not much from him, but that was at least a slight acknowledgement that she was different from the female Light Furies. He was willing to praise her when that praise was deserved. Good for him. Being acknowledged simply for being herself was very welcome.
"How many waking-cycles do you plan to be in my range?" he continued.
"I must talk to my kin about that, but not many. We flew from our range to learn and then fly home."
"I see. Do you need anything more from me right now?"
"We will rest where we are now, if that is no problem."
"It is not."
"Good. Could you have someone show us good water for drinking, where to relieve ourselves, and where we can find food?"
"Yes to the first two. I will have food brought to you for one waking-cycle. You must hunt on your own if you are here more than that time. We are few in number, and all must work."
That was fair of him.
"I understand, Alpha. You have our thanks."
He stepped alongside her and purred deeply, brushing his tail against hers, "I am glad to help you and your kin. Just tell me if there is anything else you... need or want."
He jumped down the hole and vanished into the caves. She idly trotted back to her kin to explain the situation, all while trying to stop her thinking from flying away.
No male had ever shown her any wanting-signs before, and she did not know what to think about that or him. He had some twisted thinking about females, at least it seemed so at first, but he had no great distrust of ground-kin. He clearly thought much of himself and far less about others. But he was an Alpha, and he was strong and liver-flamed.
Most twisting was how he had three mates. That was not a life-way she understood. One mate was absolutely enough. Did he want a fourth? Did he want her? He probably did. That had lift as a hidden reason behind what he said and did, now that she thought about it.
Did she want him?
No. The thought of him climbing on her and... doing anything with her... was just... no! She would rather shove her nose in a pile of waste than let him do that to her.
But, there was a little liver-warmth from knowing that he wanted her, regardless of what his wants or reasons truly were. It felt good to be wanted in that way by someone important.