Warmth
Shadowwing eagerly flew onward. They were almost home. Having passed the hidden ocean and the crystal throne-room, they were once again back in the familiar caves he knew very well. Down they spun between the large waterfalls which framed the massive cavern inside the depths of which New Haven awaited.
He and Was-Grounded led the way while Flies-With-Sun, Wilted-Flower, and Faded-Hope followed closely behind. The three Light Furies had not wanted to stop at all on this flight, for obvious reasons.
His heart felt like it might burst from excitement.
Luna was about to meet her long-lost parents. For someone who had been through so much in her life, had been very close to both her parents, and had not seen them in years, the upcoming reunion was sure to be one of the best moments of her life. She had been deeply moved when she found her sister again shortly after returning to the hidden world, so there was no telling how much more she would feel this.
He quickly glanced over his tail at Wilted-Flower and Faded-Hope, his new father-in-law and mother-in-law. Dragon names were more fluid and changeable than human names in his experience, at least if something about the dragon's life changed. Learning that their first two daughters were happy and alive instead of dead or lost was certainly a very big change. Maybe they would want to change their names to something more appropriate than their current names.
There was so much he wanted to talk to them about when the time was right. They deserved all the time they and their daughters could want together. Luna would have what he had not had: a chance to see both her father and mother again and together.
Though, he might have had that chance if he had been more prudent and not let himself get enslaved long ago.
He took a deep breath and focused only on the flight.
They passed between the large columns of rock and the massive crystals which glowed with dark purple, blue, and green. The ground far below narrowed and fell away into a rushing stream and lake hidden below the mists. The rocks down there were covered in dark green mosses.
Despite seeing so many other chambers and places where Light Furies lived, none of those caverns compared to this one.
Hmm, who's on guard right now.
He doubted that either Luna or Green-Wings would want to leave their youngest children, though maybe they would want to take over guard duty for a while as a break from being a mom. It was also possible that Lout, Legs, Ruff, Gobber, Eret, or anyone else whose dragon friend stayed around could be on duty.
A Light Fury roar went up from a small side ledge, and Flies-Bravely flew for them, answering his question as to who was on guard. It was pleasing to see how much more confident she had already become.
"Alphas! Welcome back!" she shouted.
"Welcome to you, Flies-Bravely," he answered.
She paused and glided beside him while staring wide-eyed at Faded-Hope and Wilted-Flower.
"Who are these light wings?" she asked.
"They are my sire-father and dam-mother!" Flies-With-Sun bellowed with joy.
"Who is this?" Faded-Hope asked, flying up beside him.
"I am Flies-Bravely!"
Faded-Hope and Wilted-Flower glanced at him out of curiosity.
"She joined our pack after leaving another pack," he explained.
Wilted-Flower winged closer to Flies-Bravely, "And you have seen the two-legs?"
"The ground-kin, yes. You should meet them!" Flies-Bravely answered.
Faded-Hope grumbled, "Maybe... in time."
Fair enough. No reason to rush introductions. If only Valka were here now. She could help a lot.
They arrived at the large ledge, so Shadowwing led them down onto it. Everyone landed and folded away their wings, and Faded-Hope loped alongside him.
"Is this the place: your shared nest-ledge?" Faded-Hope asked, looking around.
"Yes, this is where our family-packs rest much and where we sat with eggs. I thought you would want to meet here... away from the ground-kin," he answered.
"We would like that. Where is she?" Wilted-Flower eagerly whispered.
There was no question who she was asking about.
"Probably in the shared-nest with the ground-kin. I will bring her and our children here."
Flies-With-Sun hopped away and flared her wings, "And I will find my life-mate and Moon-Pinner! Be right back!"
Without waiting any longer, she jumped and flew toward her and Dawn-Singer's cave. It was unlikely they were there right now, but she probably just wanted to check before searching anywhere else.
Was-Grounded similarly stepped forward, "I will find Green-Wings. She will want to come here too."
He swiftly flew off toward New Haven.
Shadowwing faced Faded-Hope and Wilted-Flower. They were both anxious or nervous, their tails twitching as they kept looking from him to the rest of the visible chamber.
"Will you wait here for us?"
"We will," Faded-Hope agreed.
They faced Flies-Bravely and began speaking to her, asking questions about her previous pack and about this chamber. With them occupied, he jumped and turned for New Haven.
As he raced deeper into the cavern, he wondered again what they planned to do next. They would absolutely be allowed to stay here in his family's territory if that is what they wanted. They might be a little suspicious of the humans at first, but that could be easily helped once they got to know people and see more of the tribe. Best would be for them to meet Valka, but there were plenty of others whom they could make peaceful introductions with.
Flies-With-Sun spun in a loop and roared just for the liver-warmth of doing so, and also to announce herself! Her roar was answered from down below, just as she hoped, as she dove over a ledge toward a lower level of the shared-nest.
She saw Dawn-Singer and Moon-Pinner in the stream which flowed beside the Haffnar home-den. Erevan and Helga were playing with Dawn-Singer and Moon-Pinner, pouncing on her fledgling and splashing in the water. But the playing stopped as they watched her land.
"Dam-mother!" Moon-Pinner splashed out of the water and ran for her.
She gave her daughter a nuzzling and licking of greeting, and then did the same for Dawn-Singer, though she also nipped at his ears. Better would be to show him more liver-warmth as only life-mates do, but they could do that later on their own. There were more important things to do with him right now!
"My life-mate, we are warmed to have you back," he purred.
"Very warmed!" Moon-Pinner shouted, rubbing her foreleg.
"Dawn-Singer, daughter, you should both fly to the shared-ledge with me! Follow me! Come on!"
"Okay, why? Has something happened?" Dawn-Singer asked.
"Something very good! We found my sire-father and dam-mother!"
His mouth fell open and his wings dropped, which made him look very twisted. She liked surprising him that much.
"Truly?" he barked.
"Yes, we found them! Shadowwing is flying to tell Luna!"
She paused, seeing Erevan and Helga staring at her. They were probably confused by how happy she was!
Dawn-Singer hummed, his tail now thrashing, "I want to meet your sire-father and dam-mother! Will they... be warm to me?"
"I do not know. My sire-father might want to fight you as a test," she teased.
"Yay! Fighting!" Moon-Pinner yelled.
Dawn-Singer gasped in surprise and looked worried, so she nuzzled his neck and whispered, "I am twisting your tail, my life-mate. They want to meet you and Moon-Pinner."
He sighed in relief, "Good."
"Should I fight?" Moon-Pinner asked.
"Yes, you must. My sire-father would want to play-fight you, my little one!"
"What about our ground-kin? Should they come with us?" Dawn-Singer asked.
"They should. My sire-father and dam-mother do not know ground-kin well, but Erevan and Helga can help them learn to trust. Can you ask them to come with us?"
He trotted to the ground-kin nestmates and spoke to them. They eagerly nodded after he explained the plan. Good. Of all the ground-kin still in this shared-range, they were probably the best ones to help her sire-father and dam-mother learn to trust ground-kin.
Helga, wide eyed, walked to her, "You want us to meet your parents?"
She purred and nodded several times to show how eager she was!
"Great, let us tell our folks! We will be right back!"
She and Erevan ran off into their house-den, were gone a few wingbeats, and quickly ran back out in their false-hides. Dawn-Singer and Moon-Pinner stretched their wings, ready to fly off.
She let Helga climb on her back while Erevan did the same with Dawn-Singer. They all jumped for the sky and turned their flights back to the shared-ledge.
Her liver burned so hot at the thought of the coming meeting. Her sire-father and dam-mother were going to meet so many of her kin: her life-mate, her daughter, Erevan and Helga, Luna, and three of Luna's children!
Just when she had thought her life-flight could not get warmer, it did!
Shadowwing found Luna and their three present children down by the shore of a stream outside the village. Nothing special appeared to be happening in the village right now, so he could take his time and meet with them later. This was far more important.
Balancing his duties as Chief and as a father and husband was not always easy, and it was a lesson that his own father could have learned better, in as much as circumstances allowed it.
"Sire-father!" Hidden-Hope and Night-Light shouted, dashing for him.
"Ssirrffrrthr..." Flower-Eater hissed, pawing at his foreleg.
He nuzzled his three present children before turning his attention to Luna.
"As beautiful as always," he purred.
"Oh, who is?" she chuckled, her tail swishing on the sand.
"Who? This range is," he gestured all around with a paw.
She blinked.
"And you are too!" he hastily added.
She rolled her eyes and purred.
"Sire-father, how was your flight? Was it fun?" Night-Light eagerly asked.
He considered what to tell them. They didn't need to know anything except very general details.
"It was. We saw many ranges and other sky-kin, Light Furies, and some Night Furies!"
"Really?" "Yay!"
Luna looked far more surprised, probably by his mention of there being other Night Furies, but she didn't comment on it. He could share far more details with her later.
"I hope you are all ready to fly!" he purred.
"Why?" Hidden-Hope asked.
"There are new sky-kin I want you to meet. They are at the shared-ledge. We should all go to them together!"
"Why?" Hidden-Hope asked again.
He faced Luna, nervous and eager on her behalf. This coming moment was one which she had hoped for and dreamed about for years.
"Because they are your dam-mother's sire-father and dam-mother."
Luna blinked and froze, her eyes narrowing and then going very wide as she stepped back a pace. Her swaying tail went motionless. She stared at him without moving anything or reacting at all, which was understandable given how life-changing this news was. Then she hung her head.
"I... I... are you... sure?" she whined.
Pierced to the heart, he padded over to her and lay his chin on her shoulder while purring very deeply, "I am. They were once named Hope-In-His-Liver and Paws-At-Bright-Flowers. Your sister knows them. They are your parents."
She leaned against him and whined softly, "They... live."
"Yes," he whispered.
"Second-parents! We should see them!" Hidden-Hope bellowed.
"Yes! Yay!" Night-Light hummed, his tail swaying eagerly.
He hopped to his children and nuzzled their foreheads, "I agree. We should all go together. I will carry Flower-Eater."
He purred at Luna after making that last offer. She clearly saw and understood why he offered to carry their youngest son: his doing so would let her be as free as possible to meet with her parents.
"Yes... we should... fly," she whispered.
He stepped back and stretched his wings after picking up Flower-Eater. Together, they all took flight. Flower-Eater gently bit at a backfin to help stay on his back in flight.
Luna looked calm on the outside. What was she feeling in her heart?
His own reunions with lost parents had not gone so well. Finding Valka had been very touching, but that had also been difficult for them both. She had, after all, never come back to Berk, despite being able to do so. Her mission protecting dragons had been more important than her son. She had no good reason for it, but holding a grudge against her wouldn't have helped anything.
Meeting Stoick again had been a complete disaster. His father had tried to reconcile, but he had basically refused that offer out of spite.
But there was no bad blood between Luna and her parents. She would have told him if there was anything there.
Maybe I should take the kids for a while so she can meet her parents alone.
That was probably a good plan since she might want to speak freely around certain parts of the past. It had been a long time since he or she had needed to talk about that, but her parents were likely going to be very upset by what they learned.
Dawn-Singer was so nervous as he glanced at his life-mate at his side. What if her sire-father and dam-mother did not approve of him? What if they thought he was wrong for her since he was a Night Fury, not a Light Fury? What if they thought he had to be... more of a fighter or was not a good enough sire-father? What if they did not approve of ground-kin? There were so many ways they might not like him or what he cared about.
He did not want to fight her sire-father or dam-mother. Doing that would hopefully not be needed. She could explain anything more they needed to hear about why the ground-kin were good and warm-livered.
But he would prove himself to them if he had to!
At least he was sure that Erevan and Helga would help make these two sky-kin's first meeting with ground-kin a good one. But just in case...
"Nnothinng ssilly frrom you!" he barked after slowing to a glide.
"Who? Me? When have I ever done anything silly?" Erevan shouted.
"How about whenn you woke me up with a featherr ticklinng my nnosse?"
"You fell asleep in the doorway!"
"Yourr fault firrsst!"
"Okay, maybe deserved that... but point taken!"
He fiercely nodded, "Yess, we nneed them to like you! You arre the firrsst humannss they will meet!"
Erevan patted his neck, "Don't worry about me! I know to be on my best behavior."
"That iss it... we arre doomed."
"Love the confidence!"
They arrived at the shared-ledge where he could see his sire-father, dam-mother, very young sister Wind-Dancer, Flies-Bravely, and two more Light Furies were waiting, gently nosing at Wind-Dancer. The female Light Fury was letting Wind-Dancer paw at her nose, which was good of her.
The new Light Furies froze, staring up at him as he, Flies-With-Sun, and Moon-Pinner landed. They were staring warily at Erevan and Helga even after the two ground-kin hopped off their backs.
"Wait herre," he whispered.
"Got it," Erevan whispered after taking off his helmet.
He, Flies-With-Sun, and Moon-Pinner stalked closer to the two Light Furies. The female only had eyes for his daughter while the male glared at him without blinking. He stared right back without moving or showing weakness.
Flies-With-Sun nudged their daughter, "Come, little one. My dam-mother and sire-father want to meet you."
Sure enough, her parents loped closer and, their eyes wide with warmth, nuzzled Moon-Pinner furiously. Then the male, Hope-In-His-Liver, faced him again and bounded over to him.
He was bigger and stronger than Hope-In-His-Liver. Night Furies were slightly bigger and stronger than Light Furies, but Hope-In-His-Liver was visibly small for his kind... or maybe male Light Furies were smaller than females. He was not sure since he had not met many male Light Furies up close or peacefully.
"So... you are our daughter's mate... Dawn-Singer," Hope-In-His-Liver huffed.
"Yes, Hope-In-His-Liver, I am her life-mate."
Paws-At-Bright-Flowers kept playing with Moon-Pinner, licking her belly while she laughed loudly.
"She told us much about you on the flight here."
"Did she? What did she say?"
Hope-In-His-Liver snorted, "That you are very tail-twisting sometimes. You have problems with pouncing on her."
He gasped and growled softly. How could she have been talking with her sire-father about that!
"I do not have problems with that! We were both playing a game of pretending to not want each other!"
Hope-In-His-Liver glared at him, and he glared right back. Then Paws-At-Bright-Flowers and Flies-With-Sun loped over to him and stared at him, so he stared at his paws.
They started laughing, tails beating at the ground in mirth. Even his daughter joined in.
"Why are we laughing?" Moon-Pinner shouted after jumping over to them.
"Because your sire-father is twisted! He knows what he wants but does not pounce quickly!" Flies-With-Sun chuckled.
"No? I will show you later," he huffed.
He started in surprise when Paws-At-Bright-Flowers stepped before him and nuzzled his head.
"Our daughter told us how good you are to her. We thank you for having a warm liver, being a good life-mate, and being a good sire-father."
He purred and leaned into the nuzzling from his... second dam-mother? Is that what she was to him now? Luna was far more of a second dam-mother to him. But Paws-At-Bright-Flowers could probably grow into that role more.
"And I am glad you are both here. Flies-With-Sun and Luna wanted very much to find you."
Flies-With-Sun hung her head, "All that time they were in one of the few ranges I would not fly to. How twisted is that?"
Hope-In-His-Liver hopped beside her and purred deeply, "But we are one flight now."
"Yes, we are. Will you stay with us?" she hesitantly asked.
"Why would we not?" he asked.
Flies-With-Sun faced Erevan and Helga, both patiently sitting where he told them to wait, "Because of the ground-kin in the range. Do you want to meet them?" she asked.
Hope-In-His-Liver and Paws-At-Bright-Flowers glanced at each other with their ears flying back. They stared without blinking, very wary and cautious, at Erevan and Helga.
"Maybe," Hope-In-His-Liver grumbled.
Flies-With-Sun barked and shoved his shoulder with a paw, "Sire-father, do not be twisted! Look at them... do they look dangerous at all?"
Erevan and Helga calmly sat on their rears while watching them. Both ground-kin had taken off their helmets.
"They could have false-claws... maybe they can..." Hope-In-His-Liver grumbled before going silent.
"Ha! You know they are not dangerous! Come here, let me show you," Flies-With-Sun purred.
"Fine, daughter. Show us," Paws-At-Bright-Flowers whispered.
Dawn-Singer got to his paws and walked over to Erevan while Flies-With-Sun did the same for Helga.
"Uh, what's going on?" Erevan asked.
"Time to meet ourr family," he explained.
"Really?"
"Yessss," Flies-With-Sun said.
"Jusst follow uss. Herr parrenntss arre... sshy arrounnd you humannss."
"Fine." "Got it."
Erevan and Helga walked between him and Flies-With-Sun over to her parents, both of whom looked wary of this meeting.
From what he knew about her parents' life-flights, they had been in the hidden world for a very long time, which meant they would not have known two-legs or been afraid of them. Maybe there was something he did not know about their past.
They all stopped only a few steps apart, and he gently put a paw on Erevan's shoulder.
"This is my life-friend, Erevan. The other one is his nestmate sister, Helga."
"Can they talk?" Hope-In-His-Liver cautiously asked, gazing at the ground-kin.
He purred, "Yes, but you need to learn their words before you understand. Listen, I will ask Erevan to say his name."
He nudged Erevan's shoulder and asked him to say his name, which he did. Hope-In-His-Liver and Paws-At-Bright-Flowers warbled and looked surprised.
"That is twisted talking. It sounds like nothing," Hope-In-His-Liver grumbled.
"As I said, you must learn their words before you can understand. We will help you with that."
Paws-At-Bright-Flowers hummed and leaned closer, "And these two-legs are-"
He quickly held up a paw and stopped her talking. It was important to remind her what she was talking about.
"These ground-kin... very different from two-legs."
"Oh, these ground-kin are your life-friends?"
He purred and gently nudged Erevan again, "Yes, he is mine, and his nestmate sister is Flies-With-Sun's."
Flies-With-Sun nodded and whipped Helga with her tail, "She and I are still learning, but I hold her to the liver. I am still learning words... very slowly."
Moon-Pinner hopped between them and happily barked, "I know many words!"
He nuzzled her forehead, "Yes, daughter. You know many words."
"Moon-Pinner, will you come here?" Hope-In-His-Liver purred.
She dashed over to him, tail swaying as he nuzzled her head and spoke to her, "You are so liver-warming! All your color-shapes. I have not seen a dark-light like you in a long time."
"A dark-light?" she warbled, confused.
Flies-With-Sun chuffed, "He means a Dawn Fury like you."
"Dawn Fury? Why that?" Hope-In-His-Liver asked, confused.
Dawn-Singer purred deeply, liking everything about that name, "Because dark and light, night and day, together make the dawn."
"What about Fury?" Hope-In-His-Liver asked.
"The ground-kin use that word for part of our name."
"Why do you use a two-leg... ground-kin name for your kin-kind?" Hope-In-His-Liver grumbled.
"Why not!" Moon-Pinner happily barked.
He purred, very pleased with how good her thinking was. He and Flies-With-Sun had raised her well, so far.
Moon-Pinner, bored with being the center of attention, dashed over to Helga and started playing with her.
"Helga! Errrvannn! Play!" she barked.
Hope-In-His-Liver and Paws-At-Bright-Flowers stared at them in shock.
"What!" "What!"
"Yes, we can talk with ground-kin words. Some words anyway. Other words are too difficult for us," he chuckled.
"Amazing," Paws-At-Bright-Flowers whispered.
A pair of Night Fury roars sounded from deeper in the range. His sire-father and dam-mother flew to the shared-ledge and gently touched down.
He got to his paws and trotted to them and his hatchling-sister as she hopped down from dam-mother's back. Wind-Dancer stretched her wings and stared with curiosity toward the two new Light Furies.
Dam-mother slowly stalked closer to Paws-At-Bright-Flowers and Hope-In-His-Liver while Wind-Dancer followed her tail.
"Are you Luna's sire-father and dam-mother?" dam-mother asked.
"We are. You are Green-Wings?" Paws-At-Bright-Flowers asked.
"I am. I see you met my first-hatched and his daughter."
They glanced at Moon-Pinner, still busy playing with Erevan and Helga.
"Yes, you have a very good and warm-livered son, so we have heard from... Flies-With-Sun."
He blinked and glanced between dam-mother, Paws-At-Bright-Flowers, and his life-mate.
Great skies, what are they saying about me... as a son, a sire-father, and a life-mate?
Paws-At-Bright-Flowers and dam-mother began talking freely, probably because they could easily relate to each other as dam-mothers. Meanwhile, sire-father brought Wind-Dancer over to him and dropped her at his paws.
"Hello sister, how are you?"
"Brrrothrrr!" she growled and started gnawing at his foreleg.
He just shook his head at how quickly she was growing up. It seemed like just last waking-cycle that she was newly-hatched or even still in her egg!
Sire-father lay down beside him and whispered, "Son, how are they doing with the ground-kin?"
"Well. They briefly met Erevan and Helga, but with no bonding yet. They do not dislike ground-kin much."
"Really?" sire-father asked.
"They are... suspicious, but they can learn to trust."
"True. She and Shadowwing should be here soon."
Luna could barely breathe on the flight back to the familiar shared-ledge.
How many season-cycles had it been since she saw them? Seven season-cycles had flown past since she met her life-mate the first time, but how long had it been before then? Two more season-cycles? Three? Ten?
So much time was gone and uncertain.
Her flight had taken her from the distant safe-range she had hatched in up into the above where she had searched for other Light Fury packs. Sire-father had told her where they were, but they were gone when she arrived there, as if they had disappeared entirely. Much searching followed in the seasons after, always staying away from two-legs.
One cold-season, two, three... flew past until she arrived at the island where everything went wrong and she was trapped.
She closed her eyes, only listening to the flight of her family around her. Everyone except Moon-Dancer was here with her.
And her parents were not dead or always lost! Shadowwing would not lie, but he could be wrong... no, he would make sure to not be wrong about this.
Stuck between wanting to race forward as fast as possible and also wanting to fly as slowly as possible to wait longer.
She took a very deep breath to calm herself as she and her family flew. Watching Night-Light and Hidden-Hope helped to calm her racing life-organ.
Around a spire and the shared-ledge was visible ahead.
Three Night Furies, two ground-kin resting with a young Dawn Fury, and three Light Furies. Three Light Furies. Flies-Bravely would be somewhere else since she was the watcher, so Flies-With-Sun would be one of the three.
And the other two...
She flew slower, letting Shadowwing, Hidden-Hope, and Night-Light land first. She touched down and stared at deep blue and light-blue eyes staring back at her in fear and awe.
Shadowwing said something, but she could not hear what he said. He was nudging Flower-Eater, Night-Light, and Hidden-Hope away from her, but she did not look at them.
She took slow, trembling steps toward the two Light Furies who were slowly approaching her.
Deep blue and light-blue. The same small hurt-marks: a small cut on an ear, and a scratch on the shoulder. The same faint red shine she remembered from looking up from under a red-tinted wing... long ago. A purring chin on her head as she and he stared up at the sky-lights and the night sky-rock.
So close she could feel their breaths and scent them.
A warm cave-den in a safe range very far away. Warm hums, purrs, nuzzles, and stern voices when she did wrong long ago.
"Dam-mother... sire-father..." she gasped.
"Little one..." "My sky-light..."
Such familiar, familial voices known deep in the liver.
Two chins were on her shoulders as she hung her head and whined.
So many season-cycles...
Not knowing if they lived...
Or if she would see them again...
Lost for so long...
And found again...
Shadowwing purred and sniffled, watching as the love of his life met her parents again. None of them were saying anything he could hear, not that they needed to speak at all. Some moments just didn't need talking.
Even his daughter was purring softly while Night-Light leaned against his foreleg and Flower-Eater kept chewing on his tail.
Finally after a long time, Luna and her parents finished greeting each other and slowly padded over to him. Her mother kept nuzzling her while they approached.
"Dam-mother, sire-father... these are three of my children... Hidden-Hope, Night-Light, and Flower-Eater."
He gently nudged them forward, "Daughter, sons, meet your dam-mother's parents."
Hidden-Hope and Night-Light eagerly dashed forward to greet Paws-At-Bright-Flowers and Hope-In-His-Liver, both of whom looked awed to see them. Luna's mother started nuzzling Hidden-Hope while her father turned his attention to Night-Light. Flower-Eater remained beside him, staring warily at the new Light Furies he didn't know yet.
"Hidden-Hope! Look at you, so beautiful!" Paws-At-Bright-Flowers said, poking at her folded wings.
"I am beautiful! And brave! And fun!" Hidden-Hope barked.
"And trouble!" Night-Light snickered.
She growled at her brother.
"Trouble? What trouble?" Paws-At-Bright-Flowers chuckled.
Hidden-Hope huffed, "Nothing. I just like to have fun and show that I am brave!"
Luna slithered beside her and lay a wing over her, "Yes, daughter. You are very brave and growing up fast."
"Grr! I wish I was as big as my big brother!"
Luna's wide-eyed parents faced her, begging for an explanation.
"Our first-hatched son, Moon-Dancer, is away with other kin now. He is almost as big as Shadowwing," she said.
Hope-In-His-Liver gently pawed at Night-Light, "Dear Night-Light, your nestmate sister is very fun and brave. What are you?"
Night-Light almost hung his head but didn't, "I am... slowly learning ground-kin words. And! I like being a big brother!"
"Oh, are you?"
"Yes... but Flower needs to grow up faster so we can play more!"
"Is he your little nestmate brother?"
"Yes! He is with sire-father."
Her parents purred and slowly approached him and Flower-Eater, so he nudged his wary son forward.
"Son, meet them. They are our family."
Between his and Luna's purring of reassurance, Flower-Eater crept forward and was quickly nuzzled by Luna's parents. Flower-Eater quickly came to trust them, and rolled onto his back to let them attack his belly, which they did with licking attacks.
Luna stepped alongside him and leaned against his shoulder.
"Shadowwing... I... I..."
"I know, my love. I know..."
They said nothing at all, not needing to say more right now, while watching her parents meet and eagerly talk with the children. Their daughter and son got talking about their favorite places in the chamber, adventures they had gone on, and the village far deeper within. Meanwhile, Flower-Eater occasionally growled a jumbled words in between pawing at Hope-In-His-Liver's tail.
Her parents were very patient and good with children, unsurprisingly. But they gradually kept looking toward him and her.
As heartwarmed as they were to meet the children, they probably wanted to meet far more with Luna.
So he stepped away from her and went to Was-Grounded and Dawn-Singer.
"We might want to talk to them alone. Will you take Erevan, Helga, and my older children, and go... somewhere else?"
Dawn-Singer purred and nodded, "I can carry both ground-kin. Flies-With-Sun will probably want to stay here."
"True, she would want to be there."
Was-Grounded huffed, "We can all go to... the warm water-pools. They always like swimming and sleeping there."
"Good idea. I, Luna, and her parents want to... talk about the past."
He and his brother shared a glance. Dawn-Singer knew nothing about Luna's past, and he would not learn anything now.
Was-Grounded nodded, "I understand. Son, we should fly."
They trotted to speak with Green-Wings and Flies-With-Sun while he went to his two older kids.
"Son, daughter, I know you are very eager to meet Hope and Paws more, and they will play much with you later, but I and your dam-mother want to talk to them. Will you fly with your uncle, aunt, and cousin?"
"If I must..." "Okay, sire-father!"
Was-Grounded quickly gathered Green-Wings, Wind-Dancer, Hidden-Hope, and Night-Light, and flew off with them. Dawn-Singer followed with Moon-Pinner at his side. Their departure left only himself, Luna, her parents, Flies-With-Sun, and Flower-Eater, who was too young to understand much. His youngest son was also looking drowsy and might fall asleep soon.
Satisfied, he trotted to Flies-With-Sun, "Are you sure you want to stay here for this talk?"
She glanced at her paws and sighed, "Yes, I should be here for this."
"Thank you."
He spun toward Luna as she lay down before her parents with Flower-Eater between her paws. Then he lay down beside her and stretched a wing over her back. Flies-With-Sun trotted to her parents and sat down next to her father, who was staring very intensely at him.
A brief silence followed, no one speaking up first.
"So we should..." "What happ..." "Do you want..." "Where were..."
Another awkward quiet followed.
Luna purred, facing her parents, "So, you might have told Flies-With-Sun already, but... how are our other nestmates? Where are they?"
Her mother sadly purred, "Dreams-Of-Sky and Ashen-Whisper flew from us several life-making cycles ago. They found mates and joined a light wing pack far from here."
Flies-With-Sun huffed, "Not one of the packs we know about."
Luna nodded, "Good. Good for them. Can we fly to them?"
Her parents hung their heads until her mother spoke.
"No, that place is too dangerous to fly to now. Only a pack could fly there now... maybe. They are safe."
Luna sighed, "They were young anyway, so I never truly knew them well when I flew... on my flight."
Her parents glanced at each other, and her father then spoke sadly, "We... had one more after you flew."
Her ears flew up and froze as she saw that her parents were not happy, "What... happened?"
"Hops-In-Bushes, a male, was our last. He died in very bad fighting. We... had no others after him," her father explained.
Luna took the news, that a brother she had never known about had died, well. She softly hummed and nodded once.
"I wish I had known him. What... happened to you all at the home-range? I and Shadowwing flew to that range long ago, but you were not there. The cave-den was empty."
Her father leaned against Flies-With-Sun's shoulder while covering her with a wing, "We had to flee the range because of stinging-tail hunter-kin. There were only a pawful of them, but... being alone and far from light wing packs was a problem. We fled there, lost... your sister in the flight to flee."
Flies-With-Sun snorted, "That was my fault. I flew the wrong way, but I hid in a cave the hunters could not get in!"
Hope-In-His-Liver continued, "We flew back there to search, but we could not risk Dreams and Ashen. The hunters were searching the range, so we had to leave. Flies-With-Sun must have missed us or still been hiding."
"I was very scared then," she huffed.
"We flew long until we found another small light wing pack to fly with. I do not know how long we flew with them and others searching for a new range, but we ended up in a new part of the hidden ranges: where we lived until now. There was... another pack we could have joined, but that pack had bad life-rules."
Flies-With-Sun barked, her ears swept back, "Did that other pack have a no mate-pairs or names rule?"
"Yes, it did. And a bad Alpha that... had very twisted thoughts about being Alpha."
She snorted, "I also flew to that pack. I told the Alpha to shove his tail up his waste end."
Everyone roared in laughter, tails crashing into each other.
Luna eagerly nodded, "And... Flies-Bravely flew to us from that pack, but that is a secret. All that pack knows is that she vanished."
"Why did she join your range and pack?" Paws-At-Bright-Flowers asked.
"Because she would have been... paired to someone she did not want. No, not even paired. She wanted to be free, and she was brave enough to ask for help, so we helped in secret."
He paused and sighed, "No female should be hurt or used by anyone."
Luna hung her head for a moment. Both of her parents glanced at each other and then her. They had no idea of the truth.
"Do you want to tell them your story, with all the good and the bad?" he whispered.
"Yes, I must."
She took a deep breath and then faced her curious, wary parents, "Sire-father, dam-mother, I want you to know what happened on my life-flight, as much as I can say. My nestmate sister knows all of this already. Will you wait until I tell the entire story before you do anything or ask anything?"
They both softly grunted once in agreement.
He remained at her side as she spoke to them of her wandering above in search of other Light Furies, her capture by Drago Bludvist, all she had endured in captivity, and everything that happened between her and him after her rescue. Her parents alternated between stunned shock, growling in anger, and evident sorrow on her behalf.
She finished speaking, and no one moved for a long time. Finally, her parents got to their paws and approached. Her mother lay her chin on her head, and her father stared, wavering between slit eyes and a wide, pitiful gaze.
"My little one, you... you..." her mother gasped.
"Dam-mother, I am warm now."
Her father lunged forward and nuzzled her, "My sky-light, how can you say that?"
She leaned back and sat upright, "I do not understand. What do you mean?"
"How are you not afraid of him?" her father glanced at him.
Luna paused, glanced at him, and faced her father again, "I was afraid of him at first, but he never threatened me or pushed me to do anything. He let me take a cave-den of my own to sleep in. He was only there to help me grow strong again. He has won my liver. So you will approve of him. He is not going anywhere!"
Her mother approached him and gently nuzzled his head, "Shadowwing, we do not know you well yet, but we thank you as our kin for everything you did for her."
Her father purred, still facing him, "We hoped she would find a good life-mate, which you clearly are, but I still wish that bad did not happen to her. If she had not flown alone or if-"
Luna huffed, "And that is why we will not have our children fly alone when they want to find a life-mate. Flying as a small pack is much safer. Even though someone liked flying alone..."
She and Flies-With-Sun smirked.
"What?" their father asked, confused.
Flies-With-Sun rolled her eyes, "That was me. I never truly joined a Light Fury pack. Too many of them were twisted in many ways. Wanting me to bow to an Alpha male or pair, males wanting to have fun with me, telling me I must forget my name. Many twisted ceremonies."
Shadowwing hummed, wondering whether he would get an answer to a question which had bothered him ever since everyone flew into the hidden world: why did the Light Fury packs have such strange traditions.
"If I may ask, why do the Light Fury packs make very twisted ceremonies? Are they always like that? Paws, do you know?
Paws-At-Bright-Flowers answered, "They live as they do because they always have. Almost none want change. Life being very slow and limited by food-needs forces packs to obey rules and pack-orders very much. Obeying rules makes change very difficult."
Makes sense. If tradition has always worked, then why question it? Too much obeying stops new ways from growing though.
"But you were different? You did not want to live in a pack. Luna said that when I asked about you," he asked.
She purred, "My sire-father taught me to think more for myself and to trust my liver. My old pack had ceremonies which my inside-voice said were not good ceremonies, so I flew from that pack. I found a new, unclaimed range very far away, and I found my future life-mate there."
"As if we were meant to find each other," Hope-In-His-Liver purred, nuzzling her.
"Though you had some help with that," Paws-At-Bright-Flowers whispered to him.
"Yes, I did."
Luna chuckled, "Dam-mother, remember when you twisted my tail about maybe finding a dark wing to be a mate?"
"And now you and your nestmate sister have dark wing Night Fury mates!" Paws-At-Bright-Flowers laughed.
Everyone laughed heartily until Flower-Eater woke up, yawning widely.
"Son, have a nice nap?" Shadowwing purred.
Flower-Eater purred loudly, jumped to his paws, and slapped him with his tail before dashing at Paws-At-Bright-Flowers. She started playing freely with him.
Hope-In-His-Liver got to his paws, hesitated, and glanced at Luna, "Luna, will you come talk alone with me?"
"Yes, sire-father."
She trotted with her father to the far corner of the ledge, and they began speaking about something.
He turned his attention back to his son, now playing with Flies-With-Sun and Paws. It was obvious that Paws had a lot of experience with playful hatchlings. Even as she picked Flower-Eater up by the scruff and tossed him in the air, his son just squealed in happiness.
Paws bounded before him while Flower-Eater attacked her tail.
"Has he flown yet?"
"Not yet. He is taking more time to fly on his own than his nestmates did. But we have seen him stretching his wings."
"Has he been eating enough?" she asked.
He paused before answering, since her point was a fair one. Not getting enough food could plausibly contribute to delays in expected milestones.
"We think so. Food can be a small problem, but none of us have been hungry for long before."
She seemed satisfied with that reassurance.
He glanced at Luna, and saw that she and her father were still talking about something.
They stopped on the far corner of the shared-ledge where no others could overhear them.
"What is it sire-father?" she asked.
He hung his head and stared at his paws for a few wingbeats before answering, "I feel very cold... thinking about you being hurt like that, my Sky-Rock-Gazer. If I had not taken you up to the above, if you had not flown you would not have been hurt so much."
She lay her chin on his hung head, and hummed softly to him, to her dear sire-father, "If you had not shown me that good world, I would never have met Shadowwing and would not have four children with him. The bad was very bad, yes, but the good is far more."
He raised his head, looked past her, and bent down to whisper even more quietly, "And he is good to you? He never does anything twisted... or forces you to do anything?"
Sire-father.
She slowly spun to watch Shadowwing, her sister, and dam-mother playing with Flower-Eater.
"Sometimes he can be so thought-twisted that it is like he is hitting his head into a rock and thinking the rock will break in two," she chuckled.
Sire-father just grumbled, so she continued, "He... has saved my life more than one time. He is to me what you are to dam-mother. I love him."
Sire-father sighed and relaxed, only now letting his tail sway in his happiness, "Well, I must approve of him now. Still, being around the two-legs would not... I do not have good memories of them, from the little I saw them above."
She took a deep breath before continuing to the next topic which her sire-father and dam-mother needed to know about. Telling them this was very scary, for multiple reasons, but it had to be done.
"You and dam-mother should know that, you would learn this eventually, bringing the ground-kin here to the hidden ranges was my idea. I suggested it to Shadowwing and Was-Grounded."
He blinked and looked very surprised, probably not sure what to say at first, "Well, you must have had your reasons. I did say that you would do things no light wing had done before... my sky-light."
She hung her head and whined at that liver-touching reminder of words spoken very long ago.
"The two-legs that-" sire-father began.
"The ground-kin," she interrupted.
"The... ground-kin that we met were not dangerous, but they were young ones, true?"
"They were. Even the grown ones here in the range are not dangerous to us. None of the ground-kin trap sky-kin or are bad to us. Shadowwing says that some of them grumble and hiss to each other about twisted problems, but they help fix their own thought-problems."
She paused before continuing to the next topic, "I need to ask you and dam-mother something together."
"Okay."
They returned to their kin, and she snuggled against Shadowwing while sire-father did the same with dam-mother. Flower-Eater was busy gnawing on one of Shadowwing's ears.
"So, dear Luna, what did you want to ask us about?" sire-father warbled.
"You do not need to bond with or know the ground-kin if you do not want to. But everyone who lives in this range must help work to support the pack and the shared-nest. Do you want to live in this range?"
Sire-father and dam-mother did not even glance at each other.
"Will one of you show us where the unclaimed caves are?" dam-mother purred.
Flies-With-Sun eagerly barked, "Yes! I know a good one already!"
Sire-father and dam-mother looked amused.
Shadowwing purred, "We will show you everything you need to know about the range and the ranges beyond: the waters for drinking, the waste pits, where there is food, everything. There are a pawful of ground-kin you will want to meet, but only when you are ready and can trust them as kin to us."
Sire-father and dam-mother purred, clearly able to accept that, which was good of them.
She hopped away and stretched her wings, "We should fly to our kin! They will want to bond with you very much!"
"Good idea." "Yes, we should!"
Flies-With-Sun purred, "I will tell Flies-Bravely that our sire-father and dam-mother are living here now! See you soon!"
Her sister flew off while Shadowwing grabbed Flower-Eater and followed sire-father and dam-mother into the sky, their flights turned for the deeper parts of the range. Finding their kin would be easy.
The liver-warming truth struck her as she flew between her parents and her life-mate: all her true family was here. Her two living nestmates far away in another pack, she did not know them well enough to feel much from the separation. But they had mates of their own, and were probably happy.
Her parents, lost for so long, were living here in the New-Haven-range from now on.
She subtly glanced at Shadowwing as he glided, holding Flower-Eater as he had before. This was going to be a new experience for Shadowwing: truly getting to know her parents almost as he would for his own... what was the ground-kin saying... parents-in-rules? No, it was something else.
Her parents were very good at hiding their liver-thinking, but there was a faint cold around their livers. The reason why was not difficult to know: they thought three of their five children had died or been lost. But now they knew that was not true. Maybe they were also wary of the ground-kin, which would not twisted for sky-kin who did not already know ground-kin.
Here, with her, Shadowwing, her sister, the children, all other Fury-kin, and the good ground-kin, her parents would find far more warmth.
Author's Note –This chapter has been slightly condensed from the initial post after beta-review. Unfortunately, work has been completely crazy the last few weeks. I'll do my best to more regularly post new chapters, but I can't promise it at the moment.