To See The Dawn
Dawn-Singer felt very content. Flies-With-Sun, Moon-Pinner, Erevan, and Helga were playing games of hide and hunt in the forest while he watched the range. Someone had to do this watching, just in case anything went wrong such as sky-kin flying here and wanting to fight. That had happened before, most recently in the big fight of fire-scales and long-horns against this shared-range.
He got to his paws, stretched everything, and stared toward the distant cave mouth.
There was no one else who was in a good place to be the watcher. Both dam-mother and Luna had hatchlings to protect and be with. Hidden-Hope was far too irresponsible to be trusted as a watcher. As for his life-mate, he and she alternated the watching, and this was his turn. Further, having a young fledgling took more of her attention than did watching a cave-mouth for a very long time with nothing important happening.
He got up and flamed the rocks under paw until they almost glowed. Satisfied, he lay down on the warm rocks. If he was going to sit here much longer, he might as well be comfortable while doing so.
The buzzing of a rock-belly-gronkle got his attention much later. He flew to his paws and turned to face the approaching sky-kin.
"Dawn-Singer!" Skald shouted after jumping down from lugs-meat's back.
Lugs-meat collapsed in place and went to sleep, which was not surprising for a rock-belly-gronkle.
"Sskald, how arre you?"
Skald, the dear ground-kin who for some very twisted reason went by the pretend-name Legs-Of-Fish in the mission-games, stood by him and stared off into the distance.
"Not bad. To be honest, I'm glad I don't have guard duty."
"I knnow. Thiss iss verry borrinng."
"Where's the rest of your family?"
He nodded toward the forest, "Playinng hide and sseek while I ssit herre on guarrd. I knnow thiss musst be donne, but..."
Skald crossed his arms on his chest, "But you feel like your character has been idle far too long? You just want to get out there on a party raid, get some experience points, find some better gear, and level up?"
"Yess," he nodded.
Skald smirked and chuckled, "Perfect, because I had an idea you, your father, and Shadowwing could help with. So, you know I've been working on the new manual, the Hidden Words, a book about everything we know about all the dragons, plants, and places we know of in this hidden world?"
He nodded, having helped Skald with precisely that project by bringing him information from the hunts and flights he had been on.
"Well, the problem is that we've almost run out of paper, and we don't have everything we need to make paper. We can only get paper through trading in the above."
"Wait, arre you ssayinng we sshould fly up therre?"
It was an amazing thought. Flying to the world above and meeting with two-legs to trade for paper and other things sounded very dangerous, but also possibly fun.
Skald rubbed and shaped his mustache so that it curled up. Not many ground-kin did that. Most of them preferred to let their face-fur hang down or mass up like a face-bush.
"Yeah, if we had a couple of you Furies and one of us humans, myself or Dragonheart probably, that party would have a massive stealth buff on the raid. They could take a lot of loot, scales, teeth, bones, or something like that, to a trading post and acquire what we cannot find or make. The human could do the trading while you Furies hide in the woods or somewhere else nearby."
He thought about it and found that the plan had lift. It would be easy for one of the ground-kin to meet with two-legs, trade for things, and leave with the things. They would fly away at night so that none of the two-legs would ever know that sky-kin were up there at all.
"Good idea. Annd I knnow who sshould fly," he smugly purred.
"Who?"
"Me, my mate, and Drragonnhearrt."
"You want Flies-With-Sun to go up there with you?"
He nodded, "Yess, sshe hass wannted to fly to the above beforre. Thiss would be besst forr herr. Sshe could ssee otherr humannss frrom afarr."
"Great, any idea when you'll head out on the raid? Have to wait for Elder Dragonheart to get back first."
The thought of his brothers and sisters so far away on an adventure together was twisted now. Part of him wished he could be there with them, while the other part of him knew that his place was here with Flies-With-Sun and Moon-Pinner.
"Nno idea. I cann assk Sshadowwinng whenn he getss back."
"Yeah, he'd need to know and approve first," Skald mumbled.
Skald kept stroking his mustache, which was very strange.
Curious, he nudged Skald's shoulder, "Why do you do that?"
"Huh?"
"With yourr bearrd annd musstache..."
"Oh thiss. Well, it wasn't my idea at first. See, my wife really likes the mustache. She said it gives me an easy plus ten to my charisma. Between you and me, it gives me access to the love perk, but only with her of course."
"Sso, arre you annd sshe trrying to have annother baby?"
"Nah, Faen is enough for us. Maybe in a few years we might want her to have a brother or sister. Sure makes it easier to fill out your party for the next raid that way. What about you and Flies-With-Sun?"
He had not planned on having that question thrown back at him, so he shrugged, "We have nno plannss forr anny morre childrrenn rright nnow."
It was true, he and she had no shared-plan for another hatchling, but what he said also kept the secret that he did wish for one more.
"Fair enough. Anyway, I'll get that mission to the above arranged. I can collect shed scales, bones, and teeth to trade."
"Why do the humannss wannt to collect drragonn sscaless and teeth? I do nnot unnderrsstannd it."
Skald winced and looked away, "For some of them it is probably just that they want something to remember dragons by. Others think that having... dragon parts is a charm, ward against danger, or a plus five to charisma or intimidation. Others probably want to pretend they were the one who killed the dragon to show how brave they are."
"That iss sso wrrong. We drragonnss do nnot collect humann parrts."
"Yeah, and why those people want to collect stuff shouldn't really matter. We give them teeth and scales, stuff that you all lose anyway, and we get what we need so we can live here. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"
He thought about it and saw nothing wrong or twisted. Using shed scales and teeth to get what the ground-kin needed was only good, so long as no sky-kin had their scales or teeth taken directly from them by force. The ground-kin would not do that to them.
"Nno, therre iss nnot."
"Good. I wanted to get your opinion on that before proposing it to Shadowwing and your father. Gobber wanted me to pass on something else to Shadowwing when he gets back. Can you take a message to him please?"
"Ssurre, what iss it?"
"We might salvage some more metal, glass, or other stuff from the ruins above. It's worth trying at least."
He had nosed about in those strange ruins several times when he was the watcher. There was not much to find other than the remains of broken two-leg dens and halls. Finding metal or small tools would help the ground-kin living in the New-Haven-range.
"Trrue. Good idea."
"Great. So long, Dawn-Singer!"
Skald went over to Lugs-Meat, woke her up, and flew off toward New Haven.
There was much to think about after he left. His thoughts flew away to the safety of the island above, and then to his nestmates and kin far away exploring the hidden world or visiting the Light Fury pack.
It was good for him that he did not have the responsibility for the safety of the hidden world or the shared-range, not that he would knowingly fail to help protect either of them. He was not an Alpha, and he had no interest in becoming one, but the part about protecting those he held to the liver... he did not need to be an Alpha to do that.
Luna and her parents were busy entertaining the kids, which let Shadowwing finally find the time he needed to go back to New Haven and see what, if anything, had happened there while he, Was-Grounded, and Flies-With-Sun were away. He had been away for several waking-cycles after all... perhaps four or five days in total.
They had also discussed with Luna, Green-Wings, and Dawn-Singer everything important for them to know about the recent flight: mostly the existence of the hostile, or very isolationist, Night Fury pack, and the chamber of wild Light Furies with very complicated alliances among themselves. No one expressed any interest in going to meet those groups any time soon.
New Haven came into view around the corner, and everything looked very normal at first. Then he noticed something different and strange: men and women were working at building something in one of the largest clearings near the Great Hall.
The new construction looked like a giant arena with stone seating all around it. Stormfly and Meatlug were helping out by carrying rocks.
Huh? What is that for?
He shrugged in flight as he glided in, looking for Gobber or the Loutster. Jingles the Bonenapper was dozing beside Gobber's hut, which was a very good sign that his old mentor was home now.
There were also dozens of clay pots outside on the ground or on tables outside the makeshift furnace.
Impressive. You're really getting the hang of this...
"... and I've got muh mace and I love my... wife... with tha' ugly face! I'mma... wait, who's out there?"
He laughed, tail thumping the ground, "Who inndeed?"
"Oh, it's jus' tha dragon-Chief! Gimme a moment!"
Gobber left the pottery hut and came outside, holding a large pot in his good hand. The pot had a bright mix of flowers and rainbows painted on it. Where Gobber got paint from was a mystery. As was the rainbows, though maybe those were to remind him of the world above. Maybe the rainbows meant something else.
"Ah, Shadowwing! Good ta have ya back from yer adventcha!"
Amused, he trotted to Gobber, raised a paw, and gently punched Gobber's prosthetic arm.
"Good to be back. Hass annythinng happenned ssinnce I flew?"
Gobber sighed and gestured to the table on which he sat after setting aside the pot.
"Yeah, plenty o' stuff's happened. First with ya though. What did ya find out there? Anythin' interestin'?"
"Why do you thinnk I founnd ssomethinng?"
Gobber rolled his eyes, "Did ya forget that ya have a tail?"
He stilled the traitorous tail.
Gods, that's such a give-away!
"That's right. So... out with it. What happen'd out there?"
"Two thinngss: firrsst, we founnd a trribe of otherr Nnight Furriess."
Gobber gawked, speechless for a while, "Did ya now? So there was more of them out there. That blasted Grimmel was lyin' tha whole time! Glad ta hear it!"
He purred, "Yess, but the otherr Nnight Furriess wannt to be left alonne, sso we wonn't ssee anny herre anny time ssoonn."
"Fair enough. Live an' let live is my motto!"
"Sseconnd: we founnd Lunna'ss parrenntss! They arre livinng with uss nnow!"
Gobber stared at him in surprise, got up, and punched his shoulder, "Well! How 'bout that! You've met yer in-laws now! What did they think of... all this?"
"You jusst gessturred to all of me."
"Yep, so..."
He snorted, "They apprrove of me, but they do nnot knnow humannss well yet, sso they will take theirr time. They ssaid they wannt to live herre though."
"That's fair of em. I bet yer Luna was very happy ta see em."
"Sshe wass... iss. How iss everrythinng herre? Annythinng imporrtannt I sshould knnow about?"
Gobber frowned and twiddled his mustache for a moment, "Well, do ya want the sad part first or last?"
Oh great, knew something would go wrong.
He sat on his rear and crossed his paws, arranging himself for a... pleasant update, "Jusst tell me."
Gobber nodded, "Alrighty then. Ya know old Ungi Svorlagson?"
"Barrely..."
"Well, he passed away in his sleep. No one's surprised that he's... bought the farm... but, if ya ask them, his family will swear on Odin's eye itself that he died in a dream of glorious battle. That's good enough ta get him inta Valhalla, right?"
He shrugged, "I hope sso."
"Yeah, same. Anyway, he died well. We weren't sure what ta do about him. Can't really give him a ship or anything."
"Trrue, sso what did you do?"
"We burned him. His ashes went inta tha fields, and we picked a deep cave to keep tha bones in."
Keeping bones in a cave would not work forever. Eventually, maybe generations from now, there would be too many bones to store, but that was a problem for the future.
"Do I nneed to meet with hiss family?"
"If ya want. They're all fine. Rather relieved, really, since he was gettin' harder ta take care of... and forgettin' more stuff. Anyway, ya should hear about what else happen'd."
"Which iss?"
Gobber stood up and stretched, "We should take a walk. Might be best ta show ya first."
He sat beside Gobber, staring with curiosity at what Gobber brought him to see.
One of the simple homes, he could not remember whose right now, had burned down. The walls mostly remained, but the inside was completely charred. Nothing else had burned though, because of the required spacing between homes.
Good thing we enforced proper building codes and village-planning rules.
He gently shoved Gobber's shoulder, "What happenned?"
"There was a... how do I put it... a domestic dispute."
Oh great.
"A domesstic disspute? About what?"
Gobber waved his prosthetic arm at the burned house, "Well, it's really two families that were... not happy with each other. See, he suspected his wife was cheatin' with tha other guy, so he decided he was gonna get back at his wife by getting with tha other guy's wife! Turn's out though, his wife wasn't cheatin' with the other guy... she was cheatin' with other guy's brother!"
"Oh grreat, that'ss a messss."
"So the families had a fallin' out. Got a little roudy, some punches were thrown, a few death threats were made, and... then this happened. No one was hurt, but still..."
He growled at the ruins. People having problems with domestic disputes was not very abnormal, but intentionally causing fires was unacceptable. This behavior risked the lives of people who were not involved at all.
"I nneed to talk to them afterr all!"
Oddly, Gobber laughed, "No need. Already taken care of! Ya've got the great Thorloutster ta thank for that."
"Huh? What did he do?"
"Get this. It was such a Lout idea, so simple and stupid that it makes sense. Ya see, he suggested that the men fight each other, and that the women fight each other. Two big fights to resolve their... differences, and no need ta get all the rest of the families ta hate each other until after Ragnarok. For rules... no killin' or maimin', but just about anythin' else was fine. So they had their fights, we all took bets, they beat each other senseless, and everythin' was fine afterwards. The families aren't really friendly, but they're not causin' problems."
He snorted, "Why am I nnot ssurrprrissed?"
"I know, right? It gets better though. See, he had this great idea: if fightin' like that makes people feel better, which it does, why not do more of that? What we need around here is sports! Somethin' ta fill the silence and make people want ta work for a goal. So that's why they got ta work on the new arena over there."
That's what it's for. Makes sense.
Having sports and activities would give everyone in the tribe something to strive for and work for, not only entertainment value. Having contests like wrestling or anything else the people of New Haven could dream up would be a way to burn off nervous energy or even peacefully, for the most part, resolve disputes.
This was also what the other Light Fury packs appeared to do in their own ways, more or less. Everyone having a way to gain honor or favorable recognition from their peers would probably help with their feeling aimless and lost. It would be a way to pass the time, anyway.
"Good idea. Who helped dessignn it?"
Gobber held out both his arms, "Yours truly! Who else knows better what the ring was like back on Berk?"
"Fairr poinnt. Alrright, yourr prroject."
"Wonderful. Lout's takin' care of organizin' the games, so ya can check with him on that. Legs was helpin' with that quarryin'. Oh yeah, there was somethin' else. Lout said that some people were askin' about when they could start bein' paid again."
He grumbled at Gobber's mention of payment. Payment and coin just hadn't been an option for the tribe in a long time. Sheer survival at Haven, the chaos of being without permanent homes after Drago's attack, and even existence back on Berk, constantly under threat from dragons as it had been, had put far more importance on the survival of the whole tribe. Everyone understood that and was willing to live with far more reliance on the whole community.
But now with the peace everyone enjoyed it was natural for them to want to be paid for the different kinds of work done. There was just one major problem.
"We donn't have coinn orr gold. What do they wannt to be paid with?"
Gobber shrugged, "I dunno. Was hopin' you'd have an idea."
Great, thanks a lot.
"Let me thinnk about that. Annythinng elsse?"
"Other than tha usual line of complainin' in the Hall? Nah."
He rolled his eyes, "Guessss I knnow wherre I'm goinng nnext."
Shadowwing lounged on his Chieftain's rock in the Great Hall while Thorvald-Snotlout sat in his chair and appeared interested in what one of the random villagers was saying.
He wasn't sure what the man was complaining about, but it was something about a minor offense a generation ago for which the other side still hadn't apologized. He was planning to let Thorvald do whatever was best in this situation.
Plus, letting an irate member of the tribe ramble on and on gave him the time to think about more important problems: such as the problem of pay. How could he pay anyone anything or even have coin? The tribe didn't have large amounts of gold beyond only a little jewelry.
Thorvald muttered about another honor-duel, and the upset man left... only for a woman to take his place and begin a rant about something.
All that everyone was really concerned about was their food rations and that there was a method of making sure agreements were enforced. Having private agreements ended up in disputes all too often. What was needed was more public accountability so that the people of the tribe would watch themselves.
He huffed softly and resisted the urge to face-paw. There was an answer which would do for now. All private agreements and trades would have a record publicly kept here in the Great Hall. Terms would be agreed to by all involved, and this would be done with witnesses.
Planning for a tribe and new society was frustrating.
Dad, how did you manage it all those years? Probably helped that you had simple problems to worry about. Just had to keep everything going as it had been for generations.
As for what to use for pay, maybe they could find something rare that could not be made more of. Those limited things, whatever they were, could be like coin... redeemable for extra food rations. All that mattered was that people could be reasonably certain that the number of those new coins was fixed, thus those new coins would have value. Was there anything he was certain there was only a limited quantity of?
His thoughts drifted to a cave which had its entrance caved-in. Then he stifled the growl.
The terrifying Hunter dragons had very large and unique teeth and scales. Maybe those could be used like coin if someone went to retrieve them.
"I completely agree with you. Right, Chief?" Thorvald asked.
Uh... whoops.
"What do you thinnk, Thorrvald?"
"Her cousin should give her back the special sword if she can find it. If she cannot find it, she should pay for it in jewelry or services to be agreed on."
"Ssounndss good to me," he agreed.
Pleased, the woman ran off, letting the next person in the line step forward. A slightly chubby, though not nearly as portly as he had once been, Skald-Fishlegs approached.
"Huh, Legs? What's up, other than your investment in the Luck perk?"
Skald smirked while twiddling his mustache, "That's a permanent buff. Plus five charisma too. Anyway, I'm not actually here for you or with a problem. I need to chat with Shadowwing."
Interesting, this is different.
He settled down while Skald stood before him and Thorvald took the next person in line.
"Sso, what iss it?"
Skald started eagerly waving his arms around while gesturing, "So you know that we've been building a new kill ring, well not really a kill ring, it's more of an arena... but it's designed like the old kill ring on Berk, probably because Gobber helped design this and he used to work back there on Berk and had so many neat ideas, but you wouldn't need to know about that so don't worry about it, since all you need to know is that we're making a new arena where everyone can have sports, contests, settle disputes, challenge each other, you know, stuff like that, right?"
"Rright."
"Great! So we ran into a problem at the quarry. There's still plenty of rock there, but we chipped some of the tools. Lots of the tools, actually. Now, we've been able to fix stuff so far, but we won't always be able to. We just don't have the supplies we need. We can't replace everything."
That was a fair and frustrating problem. Surely they could just...
He grumbled, seeing no clear answer.
Skald continued, "Not with what we have with us now anyway. I've thought a lot about this, and I've got two ideas for you!"
"Grreat. What arre they?"
"First idea, you'll like this one a lot more, is those strange ruins up above. Those have never been really investigated, right?"
He paused before answering. Those bizarre ruins, a mix of buildings made of metal and stone, had been unexplored as far as he knew. He had inspected them as well as he could during his duties as the guard in the above. However, there were rooms he physically couldn't get inside. The tribe had salvaged some metal from the outside so far.
"Rright. Sso you wannt to go ssalvage annythinng morre we cann finnd therre?"
"Yeah, knew you'd get it. I, Eret, and Gobber could make a raiding party, go up there a few times, look around, and retrieve any loot."
"Good idea. Let me knnow whenn you plann to do thiss. Have to be carreful about it."
Skald smiled and nodded, "Got it already planned. We go up there during the day, keep someone on watch if one of you Furies isn't there, maybe even make a camping trip out of it. Could be really fun delving into unknown dungeons. Alright, plan two. You're not going to like this one."
"Wonnderrful. What iss it?"
Skald paused and twiddled his mustache, which he only did when he was trying to look better for his wife or was just generally anxious, "There's another problem. Some things we need, like paper and ink, we just can't make or find in ruins. We have no option but to trade with people."
He blinked, certain that he had misheard, "Trrade?"
Skald crossed his arms and frowned, looking very serious, "Yeah, like at a trading post or a mainland tribe. I've thought it all out. We cannot make everything we need with what we have. There's no way around that."
This was a very serious problem. Admitting that the tribe was not purely self-sufficient was like... a small defeat.
"So here's what we'd do. Someone, probably Dragonheart, would go with one of you Furies to the nearest trading post. I asked Eret if he knows a few good locations, which he does. Get to the trading post and trade with them. Trade what, you are asking."
True, what do we have that others would want?
Skald paused and exhaled, "Dragon parts: scales, teeth, bones... that stuff."
He took several deep breaths to calmly think about that option. It was very morbid to be considering using dragon parts in trade, like so many peoples had done for generations. Dragon skulls were used to make horrific helmets, necklaces were made out of teeth, and weapons were fashioned out of some bones. Those relics would remain in the world for generations to come.
But there wouldn't be any more, which meant the supply would be limited.
That would give his tribe an advantage if they were to trade in anything that could be found, like spare scales and shed teeth. Those could be collected without any harm to dragons. Trading bones was... not so obviously good, but no one would miss the Hunter bones if they were gotten rid of. No, there was no good objection to trading in dragon parts.
He had hoped that the tribe could become fully self-sufficient and reliant on nothing except their own stubbornness and everything the hidden world could provide. However, that did not appear plausible.
"Let me thinnk about it. It iss verry danngerrouss, but we might nneed to do thiss."
"I understand, Chief. I've made a list of only the essentials we can't make on our own. I'd probably want to wait for the other Furies and Dragonheart to get back."
"Agrreed. Nno onne betterr thann herr to do thiss."
"Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun already volunteered."
"We cann talk about thiss laterr. Did you hearr the nnewss?"
Skald smiled widely, "Sure did. We're all very happy for Luna and Flies-With-Sun. Are their folks staying here?"
"They arre."
"Good to hear. Alright, I'll ask around the tribe and find out if there's anything essential I don't know about. Thanks, Chief!"
Skald left him, which let him return his attention to Thorvald and the next person in line to share complaints. Fortunately, all he needed to do was purr and nod while thinking about something more productive.
Ugh, not exactly a two ice blocks day, but a long nap will be very nice after this.
Dawn-Singer lazed about on his back while watching the entrance to the shared-range. The moss and rocks were very good to scratch against!
Everyone else was resting or playing on one of the flat levels in the darker part of the shared-range. Hope-In-His-Liver and Paws-At-Bright-Flowers were very eager to be second-parents to the young, to Moon-Pinner, Shadowwing's children, and even Wind-Dancer. That they were so warm to someone who was not their own life-water-kin was a very good sign of how warm their livers were.
Watching was very boring, but at least the watching down here was more pleasant since he was closer to his kin. He had to roar at a couple wild kin, but they knew to obey and fear a Night Fury's roar.
He thrashed, scratching at an itch on his back. Then, the itch defeated, he rolled to his paws and stared toward the distant cave-mouth. It had been a very long time since he had seen most of his nestmates, maybe three moon-cycles now. Where were they, and what had they seen?
Were they all safe? Yes, they had to be safe. Aurora would not let them fly into any danger.
Hmm, being flight-leader will help her. Did she find anyone out there yet?
That was a very tail-twisting question. She probably wanted a mate, but her... words-fighting and quick-to-bite temper might push away most males. That was her life-issue to deal with.
He heard wings approaching, and he was sure who it must be: his dear life-mate! So he did not even bother glancing at her.
Flies-With-Sun landed and hopped up beside him with a purr which he echoed. Moon-Pinner was not here, which could mean she wanted...
Then Shadowwing landed on his other side.
What! Grr...
"How is the watching?" Shadowwing purred.
He nodded toward the dark cave-path, "Well. Nothing is happening."
"What a surprise."
"I know," he smirked, leaning against his life-mate.
Shadowwing paused and glanced at Flies-With-Sun, "I wanted to talk to both of you together. There is a flight that must be flown."
"What is it?" he asked, curious.
Shadowwing grumbled, "The ground-kin need things they do not have and cannot make with what they have. They must trade for new things with two-legs far away. I heard that you volunteered. Kin-liver would go to the two-legs to get what the ground-kin need. It could be fun for the three of you."
He sighed, having completely forgotten to talk to Shadowwing about that. But the time after everyone returned here had been very busy with family meeting each other and talking. Interrupting to talk about work would not have been good.
"Kin-liver is the only ground-kin flying with us, yes?" he asked.
"True, only she knows enough. Erevan and Helga will stay here."
He nodded in agreement, "Then we will do this. We will tell our sire-fathers and dam-mothers."
Shadowwing nodded and grinned, "Try not to scare them."
He stood up straight and puffed out his chest to look bigger and more liver-flamed!
"I am not afraid of the above! I am a brave Night Fury! My life-mate is not afraid either! We will fly through much danger, fight bad two-legs, and barely escape after a close fight!"
Flies-With-Sun yawned widely and loudly.
"Thank you very much for that," he huffed.
Shadowwing burst out laughing and beating the ground with his tail.
"What?"
Shadowwing smirked, "Oh, you just remind me very much of younger me in some ways."
Did he? That was curious, but probably good!
"Some ways?"
"Good ones," Shadowwing huffed.
Flies-With-Sun chuckled, "I have heard stories from my sister about Shadowwing. I would agree."
That was fair. If he had some of Shadowwing's life-ways, that was good to hear!
Shadowwing arrived with the rest of his family at the flat where they were playing and spending time together. Everything had been taken care of in New Haven, so he was free to spend time as he truly wished.
Luna was talking with her mother, her father was playing with Night-Light and Moon-Pinner, Was-Grounded and Green-Wings were following Wind-Dancer and Flower-Eater, and Flies-Bravely was resting by a glowing crystal.
Everyone looked very happy and relaxed. However...
Hmm, I'm missing something.
It struck him that his daughter wasn't here.
Great, where is she?
His brother and Green-Wings arrived at the top of a slope above a pool and waterfall. Then he barely saw Wind-Dancer and Flower-Eater peering over the slope, as if wondering if they wanted to jump.
Wind-Dancer, being older than Flower-Eater, had already flown occasionally, but she didn't have the stamina to stay in the sky for a long time. She was also a smaller hatchling.
Was-Grounded heavily shoved her off the cliff only for her to tumble, wobble in flight, and gently splash in the pool below.
Wait... you're not going to push him, are you?
He was sure his brother wouldn't do that without permission, but Flower-Eater hadn't truly flown on his own yet, and he was stretching his wings more. There were also no boulders a clumsy fledgling could land on.
What could go wrong?
He dashed to the poolside while Green-Wings glided down to the shore where Wind-Dancer was splashing out.
"Son! Jump!" he roared.
Flower-Eater perched on the edge of the drop without moving, though he was looking over the edge. His son paused there, not acting on his own until Was-Grounded pushed him off.
Flower-Eater barked in surprise as he tumbled head over tail.
You can do this!
Flower-Eater barely stretched his wings and flapped once before landing in a splash. Then he popped back up in annoyance and swam to shore as Was-Grounded touched down.
"He was not jumping," Was-Grounded huffed.
"So you had to push him?"
Was-Grounded smirked and shoved his shoulder, "He was fouling his flight by not trying. I wonder where he got that from."
"Sure... sure. Very funny."
Flower-Eater climbed out of the water, shook himself dry, and dashed over to him before sitting on his haunches and growling at Was-Grounded.
"You would not jump," Was-Grounded huffed.
Flower-Eater growled at him until Was-Grounded's ears fell as he leaned closer.
"Sorry, I did not want to chill your liver, little one. Learning to fly will help you to..."
"Roaaaar!"
Flower-Eater pounced on Was-Grounded's head, forcing him down onto the sand with a playful bark.
Shadowwing laughed, pleased that his son had set a trap.
Very clever, son!
Luna and her parents trotted to him.
"What happened here?" she warbled.
"My brother tried to... help our son fly, our son did not want to fly, and then he... attacked, as you can see."
Was-Grounded endured the playful pawing and gnawing on his backfins.
"I do see. Our son is very playful," she chuckled.
"And he tricked Was-Grounded. So smart."
"Help me!" Was-Grounded shouted.
Luna's parents chuckled and dashed forward to start playing with Flower-Eater, as he forgot his attack on Was-Grounded.
Amused, Shadowwing turned to Luna, "Do you know where our daughter is?"
"Yes, she is on the level next to this one."
"Why is she there and not here?"
She smirked, "She wanted to be hidden to try something. You should go to her."
"Alright. Will do, my love. How is everything else here?"
"Very good. My sire-father and dam-mother were telling stories about my other nestmates. Speaking of them... where is my sister?"
He smirked, "She and Dawn-Singer are probably busy."
"Are they? Good for them. I want to have my sire-father and dam-mother watch our children soon. You and I could go be busy if you want."
He purred and nuzzled her, entirely liking her suggestion that they could...
Wait, what about...
"I would like that, but what about you... being afraid or having bad memories?"
She glanced at him before exhaling and looking away, "My love, as I said before... I am not afraid of being with you. I never was and never will be."
There was no way to know if that was her being honest with herself or if she was just saying what she wanted him to hear.
"Still... let me know if there is... anything I can do to help," he whispered.
She glanced at him, chuckled deviously, and looked away.
"What?" he warily asked.
"Oh, I just remember something you said to me after we became mates the first time. You do not need to do anything special. Just be you. That is enough for me."
"I can do that, but first... I am off to find our daughter."
She stepped away and chuffed, "Good luck!"
He shot an inquisitive glance at her, though she didn't explain herself at all.
He took flight, landed beside Flies-Bravely, and woke her up. She flew to her paws at attention before he reminded her to relax and that she didn't owe him subservience.
Old habits were difficult to break out of entirely.
He explained that Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun would return to them eventually after having time to... rest together as a pair. She could take over as the primary watcher after they returned. She agreed and resumed her nap, and he flew on to find his daughter.
The flat level he arrived at was very empty, lacking a true forest and vegetation. However, it had one very conspicuous alien tree. Something like a tall, weeping willow with glowing branches and leaves grew alone, the only tree of its kind in the New Haven cavern. The tree was fed by a very small stream, and had different types of mushrooms, mostly white and blue, growing around its base.
The place had a beautiful yet somber feeling about it, mostly because the tree was so strange and was alone on the level. There was also nowhere a playful and mischievous Dawn Fury could be hiding.
Hmm, where could she be?
She was not anywhere visible, so he bounded over to check the branches of the tree. She was not hiding up there.
"Daughter!"
"Sire-father."
He spun around in surprise that his daughter had sneaked up on him so well.
"Daughter, you surprised me!"
"Good! I have learned to be... sneaky."
He rolled his eyes, "Wonderful! That is just what we needed. What are you doing out here and not with our kin?"
She hummed, her tail twitching, "Because I... was learning and practicing something. Do you want to watch this?"
He had no idea what she was talking about, but she was clearly eager to show off something.
"Sure. What is it?"
She stepped back and stretched her wings while gesturing at him with a paw, "Stay here and... watch."
He sat down, "Alright."
She took flight, flew a short distance away, and spun to fly toward him.
What are you-
She flamed before herself, spun through the cloud of fire, and vanished from sight. It was the first time he had ever seen her flame before.
Oh great... now you can get up to so much more mischief.
While that was true, she had also learned her fire far sooner than he had. On the other hand, she had no deep internal conflict regarding what she was, so it made sense that she wouldn't have great problems with a natural part of being a dragon.
His heart glowed with her success. He had been proud of Moon-Dancer's first time demonstration of fire. This was similar but also a little different since she was his daughter. Moon-Dancer had always been responsible and never got into much trouble.
A slight rush of wind brushed over him as something unseen touched down before him. Then her teal eyes appeared. Her fade was very good and left behind only a shimmering around where she was.
"I have flame and fade! What do you think?" she smugly purred.
He paused, seeing so many ways this development could be problematic. It all depended on how she would use this power of hers, but she was only a fledgling... going on four years old.
"I... think you are growing up very fast, dear daughter."
She let her fade fall away so she reappeared as a shimmering in the air. Then she was entirely visible, her pure white shape which was just staring to show a very faint red on her wings.
"Really?" she huffed, looking weary.
It was likely she had been practicing a lot, probably to try to impress him.
"Yes, you are. You have been practicing your fire a long time, and... I am proud of you."
She looked away and stared into the distance, "So... can I go on the hunts with our kin, and be the watcher on the island above, and fly beyond more?"
Not this again... you aren't ready for any of that.
"Not yet on the flying beyond. The hunts with our kin... maybe."
"Moon-Dancer can. I asked dam-mother about this."
"What did she say?"
She huffed and sat down, "That I should talk with you."
"Well, you are still growing, and the ranges beyond are not always safe. Learning your fire is one big step to growing."
She grumbled, "Sure."
"It is. Come with me. We should go back to our kin."
"Alright."
She didn't look happy, so he gently tapped her shoulder with a wingtip.
"How do you like your dam-mother's parents?"
She shrugged, "They are warm and good."
"Very much. We should all make them feel warm and accepted here. They have never known the ground-kin before."
"Because they did not fly in the hidden above that I very much want to see?"
"Yes, that place. We should fly. Good talk, by the way."
Hidden-Hope was so tired of this as she followed sire-father back to their kin.
It was always the same with him! Why did sire-father not understand? She had her flame and her fade, so she was safe now! There was no good reason for her not to fly above, fly on hunts with her kin, or... fly close to some danger! That was part of growing up!
Was he trying to keep her trapped here so she would always be his little hatchling? Probably.
So twisted of me to think he would change...
Learning her flame was not easy, but it happened after much trying! She put her head-thinking to a goal, flew for the goal with her rock-head stubbornness, and learned! She grew up a little!
And sire-father did not want her to grow up.
He was not proud of her.
He did not understand.
But there had to be something she could do to prove herself to him.
She hid the growl.
No, she did not need to prove herself to him... only to herself! If he did not really care, then... at least she could care about herself!
How to prove that she was brave and strong? Was there anything to do? Flying the distant caves alone was not a good idea; there were too many stories of danger out there. Fighting other sky-kin was not good. No, there had to be some other way to prove how hot her liver was!
Stay awake, watch, and find an opportunity to pounce on!
Flies-Bravely perched up on a bright light-rock from which she could see the cave-path leading into the shared-range. There was no need to sit on a light-rock to be a... what was this pack-role?
No, this was not a pack-role. Her new pack did not have pack-roles. She was a... guard right now?
That thought made her chuckle.
The rotted pack she had been in never allowed females to be fighters, guards, or any pack-role which would allow them outside the pack's territory. The females hatched in that pack never knew anything except the five very large ranges which together made the pack's territory.
Something else they were not allowed to do was claim light-rocks as perches. Having a light-rock to claim was only allowed for the Alpha or his Firsts, since having a light-rock for a perch was a display of status.
That the other pack would not allow her to sit on a light-rock was a reason she took every opportunity to do that now in her new pack!
Life had changed so much since she flew here so many waking-cycles in the past. She did more work to help provide for her new kin and for the ground-kin, and the work was more tiring than anything she had to do in the rotted pack... though being with multiple males would probably have been tiring.
Now, after a long waking-cycle of watching the shared-range, hunting with her new pack, or the little work she had available to do closer to the ground-kin themselves, she could go back to her cave-den or the light-rock just outside, and then she could sleep peacefully.
Work also helped her become stronger. She could fly longer, carry heavier weights, and play longer with the young sky-kin dark-wings and dark-lights.
A female being stronger was not seen as... good in the rotted pack, which was another reason she wanted to be that now!
"This one... grrr... I like this!"
She stretched out on the light-rock to eat up as much warmth from it as possible.
While life was very peaceful, good, and warm now, there was one future-event which was... bothering her more. Shadowwing and Was-Grounded had mentioned, as a condition of letting her join their pack, that they wanted her to meet with a pair of their male young, one of which... might... become her mate. The Alphas and their mates had reassured her that there would be no forcing a pair to be if she and the male did not want to be mates, but...
For her to not want either of the male young would be almost like... not doing what she had agreed to. The liver could not be forced to want another, but could it be... nudged? Liver-wanting was not allowed in the rotted pack.
Truthfully, liver-wanting was not needed for a pair to be or to do what it must do. Making and raising hatchlings, and protecting each other could happen without liver-wanting, but... it might be a much colder life-flight. Shadowwing and Luna, and Was-Grounded and Green-Wings had liver-wanting in their mate-pairs, which was very different from all she knew and remembered.
But this was far more liver-warming. Any young they had would probably be much like them: good to her, if that was needed.
A rush of wind caught her attention, so she looked and saw...
Nothing.
There were no kin nearby in the sky.
But every sense whispered that she was not alone. Maybe one of her kin had sneaked up on her for a game.
"Who is there?" she chuffed.
There was the sound of wind again... and then a thud as something unseen struck the rock-spire out of which the light-rock grew.
"Is this a game? Does someone else want to watch?"
The unseen sky-kin appeared in a shimmering, revealing... a male light-wing... a male Light Fury.
This had not happened before, so she jumped to her paws and raised her wings while glaring at the male. Something about it... was vaguely familiar. He was not an especially big male, so she did not feel very threatened.
"New-Helper, the Pack has been searching for you. Are you safe?" he asked, warily looking around.
New-Helper. Her old pack-role in the rotted pack. This Light Fury was a Far-Flier for her old pack.
"Yes, I am safe, but I..."
"Stop! Do not say that!" he growled.
"Say what?" she asked, confused.
"The wrong-word! That word is not pack-correct!"
Pack-correct. The rotted-pack had rules that stopped all packmates from using certain words which the Alpha and his kin decided were wrong. That was done to protect the pack and keep all rot from it, so they said.
But she knew the truth. Making pack-rules to silence packmates and stop them from using words was only a way of controlling and tricking the packmates into obeying. Controlling words was to control thinking itself.
"I do not care! I am not one of your packmates anymore! I have a name! I am Flies-Bravely!"
He lost his grip on the rock-wall and fell onto the base of the light-rock. He barked in shock and scrambled away from the light-rock while looking around in fear. Why would he do that? It was as if he thought he was being threatened and...
She burst out in laughter, "You will not sit on the light-rock? You are blind because of that pack's rules!"
"Lost one, you should not sit on an Alpha place! It is not allowed!"
"This is not an Alpha place. My new Alphas do not care if I sit on a light-rock."
"Wrong-word!" he barked.
"So? I will say what I want even if you are offended!"
"Wrong-word! Rot-thinking!"
"So what? I do not understand your problem."
"Wrong-word!"
His eyes were unfocused, as if he was not truly looking at her. Even his voice was... not like she was actually talking to someone. As if he was not truly here.
She snorted, "Why did you fly here? What is your... number?"
"This one is Ninth-Far-Flier. You, lost Helper, are to return to the Pack! The Pack has been searching for you. You must obey!"
She rolled her eyes and flashed her teeth, "I will not obey! I..."
She remembered how Shadowwing and Was-Grounded had helped her. What she revealed and did not reveal was important.
"I tricked the dark-wing Alphas, and they let me join their pack. I am happy here, so you can fly back to your pack and tell your Alpha to forget about me."
"But the Pack is all! You must obey!" he hissed.
"The pack is not all, and I do not need to obey!"
"Rot-thinking! Obey your Alpha's command!"
It was as if he was not even thinking about his replies. He just barked back the same thing over and over in response to anything she said, not even hearing her objections. His thinking was maybe too... shaped to be changed. He was obedient to that pack and to that Alpha.
"I have new Alphas now! You will leave, or you will start pack-fighting. I am a... Watcher for this pack."
He paused, as if not sure what to say, "You will not return to the Pack?"
"Never! Leave now!"
"This one... must tell Alpha you are here... Helper."
"I am not a Helper! I am Flies-Bravely! And tell him to forget about me! I am where I want to be."
He snorted, jumped from the base of the light-rock, and turned his flight for the distant cave-mouth. She closely watched his flight until he vanished in his flame. Then she similarly flamed and faded while flying toward where he had been, and while watching with life-fire sight. While dark-wing Night Furies could see with sound, she had not learned how to do that. Life-fire sight was good enough to let her know if that Far-Flier had turned around, which he had not.
He was gone.
With his departure, she was both relieved and tired. It was only a matter of time before her prior pack learned she was not there, and then they would either forget about her or search for her.
They must have decided to check this range since Shadowwing and Was-Grounded had been at the Light Fury pack for peace-talks.
But at least that Alpha would now know that she was gone and no longer considered herself part of his pack. He, his Firsts, and all in that pack could forget about her entirely, since nothing could or would make her want to return to that pack. This New-Haven-range pack let her be free, and respected her so much more than the other pack would have.
The Night Furies, Light Furies, and even the young Dawn Furies actually wanted her here not as one personless and selfless kin in a pack, but as herself... as Flies-Bravely.
While gliding back to her preferred watching-perch, she wondered if Shadowwing and Was-Grounded needed to know about this encounter. Nothing bad had happened, but it felt important to let them know that the pack knew where she was. But she had told Alpha, through Ninth-Far-Flier, that she was not returning to that pack. She was only a New-Helper in that pack, so there was no need to ask for her back. Shadowwing and Was-Grounded surely would not allow that even if Alpha asked for her.
Telling them was the safest option, so she would while also making it clear that she let Alpha know not to bother with her.
Was-Grounded growled while facing the distant cave-mouth. Flies-Bravely had just told him and Shadowwing that she was secretly visited by a representative from her prior, rotted pack.
He and Shadowwing had assured her that they would protect her if she was visited again. She had explained that she told the Far-Flier to leave her alone, but he doubted the Alpha would accept that as an answer.
But that would not change anything. Let that Alpha come here and ask for her. She was one of his own pack now, so he would help protect her if anything were to happen.
He and Shadowwing had been careful to not leave their pawprints over her disappearance from her rotted pack. There was nothing the Alpha could say to prove that they helped her escape, or that their story about finding a packless female Light Fury outside the pack's territory was false. In a twisted way, it was not false, since he and Shadowwing did find her outside her pack's territory. Further, having turned away the unwanted attention the Alpha sent their way, they could deny that they knew her from their time within the pack itself.
And if the Alpha refused to listen, there was always death threats. All sky-kin understood those.