Reconciliation

Shadowwing listened as Valka gave the announcement to the rest of the tribe that everyone was safely home from the adventure. There was no news about a new home, but no one was especially surprised or took that lack of good news poorly. Of course, the rest of the tribe didn't know that they were already on an unsustainable course. That was a problem for the future.

But it couldn't always be pushed off into the future. There just wasn't a good solution that came to mind. The hidden Night Furies were not an option, the Light Furies who lived in the packless chamber were not the most amicable, and the Light Fury pack was likely too strange for humans to want to live in, even if that Alpha didn't set impossible conditions first.

Grr, we could possibly trade with them, but they seemed very self-sufficient in their territory. There's nothing we could trade... except for certain favors.

It was possible that the Alpha would allow an arrangement if he and Was-Grounded... helped him with the problem of not having any Dawn Furies in his pack anymore. Just the thought of doing that was too strange and unacceptable as it directly conflicted with his conscience.

Must a leader be willing to ignore his or her own conscience for the greater good? That was a line of thought he didn't want to go down.

With Valka's speech completed, he went to Thorvald and ensured that he would take over all Chief-related duties for the next few cycles. Thorvald understood and agreed to take over.

Satisfied, he left the Great Hall while Valka continued speaking with individual people at the tables. Gobber was particularly relieved that she was safely back.

Curiously, or maybe not so strangely, Moon-Dancer was waiting just outside the Hall. His son leaped to his paws and dashed to him as soon as he left the Hall.

"Sire-father, can we talk?" Moon-Dancer eagerly asked.

He nodded toward the street beside the Hall, "Sure, what about?"

"See, we were at the Light Fury pack, and they have a name for their pack: New-Strength-Pack. We are becoming a pack too, with dam-mother's parents, Flies-Bravely, and maybe other strong-thinking sky-kin in the future. We should have a name for our pack. What do you think?"

"That is a great idea. Do you have any names you are thinking of?"

Moon-Dancer waved a paw at the surrounding village, "This is the New-Haven nest, so what about New-Haven-Pack? Is it simple and might need explaining to other sky-kin who do not know what Haven means, but that could help them understand us."

Where did you get so clever?

He purred and nodded in approval, "New-Haven-Pack, I like it. How about you go ask your uncle what he thinks. Tell him that I approve of the name."

"I will, sire-father!"

Moon-Dancer spun around and took flight.

It struck him that Moon-Dancer was more assertive and confident, not to mention slightly physically larger than before. His son was not as big as him yet, but they were close to being the same size.

My son is basically an adult. Gods, how time flies.

With his son gone, his thoughts turned to one other frightening detail Aurora and Valka had shared.

They had met a dragon which was like the monster he, his brother, and Luna had killed in the battle off the coast of Haven. He, his brother, and Luna had never mentioned its existence to anyone other than Green-Wings. Even Valka didn't know about it.

However, this Reflection, as the dragon named herself, was not interested in hunting Night Furies or any kind of dragon. Instead, she was being kept in place by Skrills and had no desire to leave where she was hidden.

He wasn't sure what to make of this news. The encounter had gone peacefully enough. However, Mimir had been wrong when he said those dragons were entirely gone. Or maybe he hadn't been wrong after all, since Reflection wasn't violent. Maybe she didn't count. Mimir could have kept the truth to himself for his own reasons.

The place was so far away that he had no interest in ever going there himself. Still, three other people needed to know about this.

Flies-Bravely had been around ground-kin and walked freely in the shared-nest for enough waking-cycles that she felt no reluctance around them. They were fine.

Being around Rain-Eater was far more twisted and confusing. He was entirely kind and polite so far, and it was good of him to be willing to help by pretending to be with her if her former pack came for her here. But there was also the possibility he and she might become more than a trick-pair in the future. It was far too early to want that or think seriously about such a part of life. But he was a pleasant and nice male.

Becoming a friend of his was probably the best first step to take, which was why she wanted to meet his ground-kin friend named Safiya. Being kind to his friend would be a way to learn about him in addition to knowing a ground-kin better. The one who was named Kin-liver was one she already wanted to meet and greet, as her liver was apparently very close to all kin.

Rain-Eater returned from the ground-kin den with a ground-kin walking at his side. Ground-kin still looked strange, not to mention very similar, to her, but she could tell the males and females apart from head-fur and body-shape. This one must be his friend called Safiya.

Rain-Eater and Safiya stopped before her and faced her. Was she supposed to speak first, or would one of them talk? Wait, Safiya could not understand her anyway. Ground-kin could not hear and understand sky-kin speaking.

"So, is this your friend?" she asked.

"Yes, she is Safiya," he answered.

Ground-kin names were confusing. What did they even mean? How did their name speak to who they were?

"What does her name mean?"

"She told me that part of her name is like a blue stone ground-kin call a saphire. Her eyes are blue."

Safiya started saying something, though she had no idea what.

Rain-Eater translated, "She asked for your name. Do you want me to tell her?"

"Please do."

Rain-Eater began speaking to Safiya in words she could not understand. They were very much like ground-kin sounds, which they were.

Twistedly, Safiya stepped closer to her and held out a paw.

"What… what is she doing?" she warily asked, staring at the paw.

"Bonding. All you need to do is touch her paw with your nose or one of your paws. Either way shows trust and peace."

She gladly held up a forepaw and gently pressed Safiya's. While an odd bonding-display, it was also very warming that Safiya quickly wanted to be nice to her. With the bonding finished, she stepped back and curled up while Safiya sat by his shoulder.

He chuckled, "She said you are… pretty."

"Pretty what?"

"Pretty. Beautiful. Liver-warming."

She purred in approval. Safiya clearly was a very good-thinking ground-kin!

"She wants to know if you have any family out in the other ranges."

Family. None but a dam-mother she would not see again and did not respect much anyway. There were no important friends among the prior pack either.

"Tell her… no. My family is your pack since the pack is-"

Is all. No. It was too easy to slip back into that twisted way of thinking.

"-since your pack is where I feel safe and respected."

He spoke to Safiya, and she eventually made a ground-kin head-nod which had to mean she acknowledged the answer.

"She wants to know why you are here in our pack," he hesitantly said.

"Tell her that I flew from a bad pack, Shadowwing and Was-Grounded found me, and they offered to let me live here with all of you. She does not need to know all the details I told you."

"I understand."

He related what she wanted Safiya to hear.

"Can you ask her a question for me?" she asked.

"Sure. What question?"

She faced Safiya, "Will you tell me a twisted story about him?"

"What?" he barked.

"Yes, that. Your best ground-kin friend must have stories to tell," she chuckled.

He grumbled, briefly spoke, and then Safiya laughed before flying quickly into much talking. Safiya and Rain-Eater even punched each other with their forepaws, though far more gently when he was doing the punching.

Much like with Dawn-Singer and Erevan, or Flies-With-Sun and Helga, it was clear that both held the other to the liver and enjoyed time around each other.

He sighed and rolled his eyes, "So, she wants me to tell you about the time she and I were learning shared-flight. I was wearing a saddle and other carrying-things, but we had problems getting them off. I got trapped in ropes and could not get the things off-"

While it was a liver-warming and amusing story, it was not convenient at all for him to need to speak with both types of speaking. She really needed to learn to understand ground-kin and even to speak some of it herself, though that would probably take a very long time.

But, just being around ground-kin whenever possible had to help. Their talking already sounded less like meaningless noise than it had when she first got here. Some of the sounds were clearly used in specific situations or when greeting specific packmates.

Perhaps what was best about this was being around kin and ground-kin who had no plans for her, just wanted to be around her, and were interested by her. That was more than enough for now.

Shadowwing listened as Aurora explained to Luna, Green-Wings, and Was-Grounded what they found in a very distant chamber. He had wanted her to explain this to them in private. She finished explaining that the Skrill weren't hostile, which Was-Grounded was surprised by at first. He seemed certain they would be hostile, though he relented after her repeated reassurance. Then she described a dragon who called herself Reflection.

Luna and Green-Wings gasped and instinctively crept closer to them as she described what Reflection looked like.

Was-Grounded growled and pawed at the rock, "What! Where is it? We need to-"

Shadowwing calmly interrupted, "Peace, let her finish talking."

Aurora continued, "She is a very dangerous sky-kin, but she has thought-voice. She is strong-thinking like us and Light Furies. She is not a monster."

Was-Grounded grumbled, his tail tapping beside him, "Daughter, are you sure it does not want to hunt us?"

Aurora paused before answering and shrugging, "She did not threaten us, but she almost... doubted herself. She wanted us to leave before anything bad happened, so we did."

That was a new detail she hadn't shared before and which he wasn't sure what to think. Reflection had doubted whether she could resist attacking them, or something like that? If anything, that was further proof that Reflection was trying to not be a monster, but it was disturbing that she wasn't sure of her own potential or willpower. On the other hand, humans could be dangerous even to allies at times. The Berserkers were such an example in that they would become so enraged during battle that they couldn't distinguish friend from foe.

"Anything else we should know about it?" Was-Grounded asked.

"Yes, Reflection also said that her kind was a mix of Night Fury and something else. She did not say what that other sky-kin is."

He gasped in shock at this revelation. The terrible type of Hunter dragon which had attacked him and his brother and which had probably killed countless other Night Furies in the past was itself partly a Night Fury? A crossbreed? Maybe that explained why it was so similar in appearance in some respects.

But thinking back to the Hunter dragon they had fought, and considering the dragon's traits, he wasn't sure what that other kind could possibly be. What had crossed with a Night Fury to produce something so terrible?

"Do you know what the other kind of sky-kin was?" he asked.

Aurora shook her head, "No, Reflection did not name or describe that other kin-kind."

"Did she say where that other sky-kin kind could be found?" he asked.

"She said they might not be anymore. But she said something about ranges that are deeper and darker. I do not know what that means."

He glanced at Was-Grounded, feeling as though there was something they had both missed. Why did what she said sound familiar? Had they heard anything about darker and deeper ranges from anyone before and-

"Great skies. That is what the Alpha told us about," he said.

Was-Grounded started in surprise, "He did. The Night Fury Alpha pair did too. But we can talk about that later. Daughter, was there anything else you wanted to tell us?"

"No. You know everything important about our adventure."

Was-Grounded nodded, "Good. You probably want rest, right?"

She laughed, though her laugh turned into a yawn at the end, "You know it!"

Was-Grounded got to his paws and nuzzled her forehead, "Then you should go rest. Find a very warm light-rock and sleep all you want. No duties for several waking-cycles."

"If I must..."

Green-Wings purred deeply, "Well flown leading your kin. We are very proud of you!"

"Dam-mother…"

He chuckled, "I am proud of you too, dear niece."

Aurora rolled her eyes as if she was annoyed, but she could not hide her gentle purr as she spun away and glided off on her own.

Was-Grounded grumbled once she was gone, "So there is another of those hunter-monsters."

"But it does not hunt us, so it is not a monster. Choices matter more than... what something is," he added.

Luna warily hummed, "Maybe so, but I will be much warmer if it stays where it is. Let it stay far away from us and our children."

Was-Grounded huffed, "No argument there. When will Kin-liver, Dawn-Singer, and Flies-With-Sun fly their secret flight to the above?"

He shrugged, "I am not sure. Kin-liver will want to rest here several waking-cycles, and Dawn-Singer will want to see his nestmates more. We are in no great rush to have them go above."

Mist-Wings trotted along with Flies-Bravely while the Light Fury told her everything she knew about the plants. Flies-Bravely did not know as much as she herself did, but the Light Fury did know some details she did not know already.

Walking with her also gave the opportunity to learn more about her, both good and bad. Much about her former pack was very bad and confusing. Why would anyone willingly live as those Light Furies did? Being with unwanted males was very bad and twisted. Why would the sire-fathers and dam-mothers allow that?

Well, Flies-Bravely's dam-mother was apparently a little bad too. She had taken her to that pack to have her be raised in it, despite knowing what that pack was like. It was much better for Flies-Bravely that she was here with her pack and family!

"What about these ones?" she asked, brushing a paw against a bush with strange, orange fruit.

Flies-Bravely hopped over to her, "They do nothing I know about. Do you know of anything?"

"The ground-kin eat them and say they taste good. I do not like it though. Have you seen a no-eggs-berries bush yet?"

That was one of the most important parts of this little exploration with her, more than simply getting to know her better. While it was twisting to have to think about that part of life, that of mates, eggs, and making eggs, the effect of this specific bush was within her area of plants, health, and healing. Shadowwing had asked her to find this bush so that more of it could be grown for any pairs who might need its effect. A few tail-twisting talks with sire-father and dam-mother had made it clear that how her parents lived in the past did not have any lift here in the hidden world. Pairs could not have as many eggs as they could make, which made this bush important and helpful.

"I think they are close. Follow me!"

She followed Flies-Bravely deeper into the forest.

It was difficult to not think about her and Rain-Eater bonding and pretending to be a pair. He had to be very tail-twisted by that, even though they were only doing that for her good and protection! She knew too little about Flies-Bravely to know whether she could give her sisterly approval to chase her brother truly. On the other paw, that Flies-Bravely left her old pack because she objected to its rules said a lot about her.

They stopped beside a small bush which had bright white berries and small bugs flying around its flowers.

"This is one of them!" Flies-Bravely proudly said.

She recognized the bush, though she had not known it had such an effect.

"I remember seeing these before. How do they work for us?" she asked.

Flies-Bravely shrugged, "From what I learned in that old pack, three of these berries will stop us from getting eggs for a... life-making time. They work best after much regular eating them."

Hmm, about a moon-cycle then?

"Do the berries do anything else to us?"

"Nothing I know of. They do not cause problems later. Eating too many of them at once might make someone sick."

She huffed, unsurprised by that. Too much of anything, even good things, could make someone not well.

"What about when they should be eaten? Does it matter when?"

Flies-Bravely grumbled, confused, "What do you mean?"

"Before or after a pair are... together."

"Oh, that. Before and eaten regularly is best, but soon after will probably work too," Flies-Bravely said, looking away.

The Light Fury was clearly a little tail-twisted by the talk and subject, which was actually encouraging. Their slight reluctance around the topic of mates was a way she and Rain-Eater were probably similar.

"Good to know. How did your old pack grow these? Are they easy to move?" she asked.

"Move plants? What?"

"Yes, ground-kin can dig plants and move them to new places without breaking roots. You probably cannot do that."

"No, we... they just dig holes and put a mouthful of the berries and seeds in them. Then they tend the plants until they make berries. Several of the packmates are more responsible for growing those plants. There have been times when there were not enough berries, and those were good cycles, from what I heard!"

That sounded confusing. Why would a lack of those berries be something good?

"Why were those good cycles?" she asked.

"This was before my dam was part of that pack, so I only heard stories. The males could not... act on their wants, since the pack must control its own numbers. They have rules about egg-making. No one wanted to be making eggs and destroying them. The stories are that the females had more influence then, since we could not be used as easily."

It was liver-chilling, hearing how casually Flies-Bravely said something so terrible. That pack she came from was a deeply rotted one! She could also see the lift in Flies-Bravely's explanation of how no-eggs-berries could be misused outside of a loving pair of life-mates.

She chuckled, "So, are you using these berries now? Is there anything I should know about you and my brother?"

Flies-Bravely's ears went back, "What? What! No! How can you say that?"

"Well, you are mates!" she teased, laughing.

"Only in name as a trick! We are not... doing anything! Not like that!"

"Good to hear. I and my sister would have our revenge on you if you were taking advantage of him!"

Flies-Bravely snorted, catching on to her teasing, "Very scary. But how do you know he would not want to do that with me?"

"Because he is our brother. We know how he can be. He even gets twisted in the pairs made for fun in the deep caves and sky-kin games!"

Flies-Bravely appeared confused, "What?"

Flies-Bravely had no idea what went on in those fun games and campaigns. Maybe she could join a game before too long. Doing that would be an excellent way to help her get to know ground-kin better.

But first she had to explain what those games were, so she lost no time and flew into explaining everything. It was good that Flies-Bravely appeared to want to learn. Flies-Bravely learning the rules of the games might also help her with Rain-Eater!

Aurora finished her duties to the shared-range and let Rain-Eater take over the watching and guarding the shared-range. Her brother was not alone though. He and Flies-Bravely wanted more time together to bond, talk, or whatever they were going to do together.

She flew deeper into the range and found a light-rock to collapse by, which she gladly did, splayed out on her belly.

The waking-cycles since returning from the adventure were very pleasant. It was nice to fly back into the normal routine and not need to worry about her nestmates and the ground-kin being in danger in every single new range. Being away from her nestmates and from Alvor was relaxing in its own way. After so many waking-cycles needing to stay close to them, constantly smelling their scents or hearing their snoring, and worrying about them, distance was welcome.

She rolled over and stared at the distant ceiling while lashing her tail in agitation.

While a nap felt very appealing, something was bugging her. Maybe it was merely a relief to have time on her own again. No, that probably was not it. Nor was it any other duties which were part of being in the New-Haven-Range. The best she could guess was that the annoyance might have to do with one of her kin.

Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun were soon going to fly with Kin-liver to the above to trade for stuff the ground-kin did not have and could not make on their own. Going with them might have been fun, but not so soon after getting back from her own adventure. She was too tired for that. Further, she had agreed to fledgling-sit her niece for them. No, he and Flies-With-Sun were not the problem.

Mist-Wings was annoyingly blind to how cold life could be, but that was her sister's problem. It was pleasant enough being around her whenever not discussing or worrying about serious matters.

Rock-Climber was a young brother, always wanting to play and fight. He had no problem amusing himself by exploring the New-Haven-Range with Hidden-Hope. Not him either.

Moon-Dancer? Nothing was annoying or tail-twisting about him. He had even shown himself to be much braver on the flight than she thought he could be. No, he was not frustrating at all. Being around him was usually entirely pleasant, other than needing to be responsible for him.

Who was left?

Alvor.

She had not spoken with him in the several waking-cycles since returning. He had wanted time to get used to being in the shared-nest again, be around his ground-kin friends, and tell stories about what he had seen. He and his sister were apparently more popular since they had seen far more of the hidden ranges. That was good of him to get more status in the nest.

But he and she had not spoken much about their fight, disagreement, or whatever it was called. They had avoided talking about their friendship problem on the flight home from the spinning-teeth rock-digger's range.

It was all his fault that-

She sighed, rolled over, and got to her paws, flaming away that twisted thinking. No, it was not his fault at all. She was the one who got frustrated with him and everyone else over nothing. In her defense, being flight-leader was stressful and tiring, but that was only an excuse for treating him poorly. He was not the only person she had been... snapping toward. Her nestmates said the same thing, more or less.

Why did she get so easily frustrated with others? She had wondered that aplenty on the flight home, but no answers had become clearer since then.

Her nestmates would forgive her being cold to them, though apologizing to each of them would probably help, but he was another situation. As difficult as it was, he deserved an apology first.

Resigned to that annoying need to apologize, she flew to search for him. He was probably somewhere in the shared-nest or at his family's home-den.

She landed at his parent's home-den, briefly spoke with his dam-mother, and learned that he was at the great-hall-den, probably to play games, so she flew there.

Once there, she noticed Shadowwing and Kin-liver speaking on their own outside the great-hall-den.

"Aurrorra, how arre you?" Shadowwing asked.

"Well. You both?"

Kin-liver smiled, "Same here, and excited!"

She leaned closer and whispered, "Whenn arre you flyinng?"

"Next waking-cycle. Remember to keep that quiet. We don't want everyone knowing."

She nodded, understanding that the flight was a secret.

Shadowwing yawned, "Arre you lookinng forr ssomeonne?"

"I'm lookinng forr Alvorr."

"He'ss innsside playinng carrdss with otherr frrienndss."

Cards were annoying games, mostly because sky-kin could not hold the cards. Only ground-kin paws were good enough to do that. Maybe someone needed to make bigger cards which sky-kin paws could hold.

"Thannkss."

She strolled into the great-hall-den, briefly looked around, and saw him at a table with several other ground-kin his age. She did not know any of them well enough to remember their names, though she had seen them in the shared-nest many times.

There was a vague recollection that these ground-kin might be colder than most because their sky-kin friends were away far more? That might be it.

Alvor and his friends, or his packmates if they were only that to him, looked like they were having fun, so going to interrupt would be good and... and… no. They were busy having fun, and sticking her nose into that fun just to ruin the fun would be inconsiderate. It was not like she had anything else to do at the moment.

She strolled to the nearest fireplace, rolled some wood into it, and set the wood alight before curling up. Games of cards could take a long time, so napping by the fire was a good way to pass the time until they were done.

Ground-kin came and went, talking about every topic under the ceiling: food, gossip about who was pursuing who, plans for the next den to build, and boasting about sports and contests for fun and status. Ground-kin had so much to talk about and fill their life-flights with.

Laughter roared from the table. It looked and sounded like one of the ground-kin had told a very good joke or been the rear-end of a joke. Someone, not her Alvor, lifted a mug and drank while everyone else cheered.

Ground-kin ceremonies...

The drinker finished to cheering and slaps of approval on the shoulder. One of them saw her watching, and he got Alvor's attention, pointing to her. Alvor got to his paws and approached, stopping before her.

"Hey, didn't know you snuck in. What's wrong?" he grumbled.

"Nnothinng. Why do you thinnk ssomethinng iss wrronng?"

"Because you don't just sit patiently. You always... nevermind."

"Alwayss what?"

He crossed his arms and looked away, "Not now. This isn't a good time."

What was he hiding? Why was he being so inconsiderate, secretive, and-

No. Twisted thinking.

"Do you nneed to finnissh yourr game firrsst? I donn't nneed too lonng to talk with you."

He shrugged, "Yeah, we're right in the middle of the game."

Why was he being so cold and... uninterested? It was not good for friends to be snappy with each other or-

She sighed and counted to ten in her head, a way sire-father had told her helped to not get too frustrated or upset.

"Alvorr, I jusst wannted to ssay I am ssorrrry forr beinng ann... ann asssss."

He blinked, shook his head, and stepped back, "Wait, what?"

She nodded and looked down to her paws, "Yess, onn the advennturre beyonnd. I wass verry upsset annd frrustrrated with everrythinng, annd I took it out onn you the mosst."

"Sure did. So what?"

"Annd I wannt to apologize forr that. I have beenn a bad frriend. Ssorrrry."

Everyone else kept eating, drinking, talking, and laughing. He said nothing else, instead just staring at her. What was he thinking? Was he so angry or upset that he would not want to be friends anymore? Maybe so, since they had not spoken much since returning from the flight.

He sighed, "I don't know. Why should you have to apologize for being who you are?"

"What do you meann?"

"I mean, you've always been a little like that. How you tease and joke without caring what other people think or feel."

His words struck her liver with sharp claws. How could he think that she did not care at all? Is that truly what he thought of her?

She took a deep breath, worried what he would say, "Annythinng elsse?"

"I don't know why it's gotten worse. I tried to help you if you wanted to talk, but you always got angry at me, every time!" he scowled.

It was true. He had offered many times to talk about anything getting under her scales, but she had always ignored those offers or even snapped at him.

"I wass frrusstrrated annd worrrried about everryonne. That iss ann excusse, yess, but I alrready ssaid I wass ssorrrry."

"Did you mean it? After so long doing the same thing, now you're going to be different, just like that?"

"I... I cann trry."

"Al!" "Come on!" "Cards 'r waitin'!" "How long you gonna take?"

The other ground-kin at the table were getting impatient. That did not matter. They could and would wait.

"Sso, what do you thinnk, my frriennd?"

"I... can we do this later? They're waiting for me."

While delaying this talk was not ideal, at least he was open to having the talk, which was better than not being willing.

"Okay. I will wait annd watch yourr game," she offered, getting to her paws.

She followed him and sat down behind him so she could watch the game. It looked like they were playing a card game they called gwent.

Each player had cards belonging to different groups: the Northern Tribes of ground-kin, the Union Empire of ground-kin, a pack of Elf-things like ground-kin but different, the Monsters, and the Sky-kin. The sky-kin were once included in the Monster group, but the ground-kin had decided to make an entirely new group just for sky-kin, mostly to make it clear that sky-kin were not monsters. The game was not difficult to learn, but it was difficult for a sky-kin to play without a ground-kin moving the cards for them.

"So, Al, your girlfriend gonna watch us play?" the ground-kin named Borlasson asked.

Alvor laughed, "Really clever. You know what you are? A bore and an ass."

Everyone laughed, beginning the games again while Alvor also told stories about the adventures beyond. It was liver-warming to watch him having a good time with his packmates. While he was an older fledgling, he was starting to become an adult, if the face-fur he was getting was any indication.

Further, watching the games gave her more time to consider what else to say to him later in their important talk.

She and Alvor walked in silence out from the shared-nest until they arrived at what the ground-kin called 'Armpit Ridge'. A particularly foul-smelling type of mushroom grew there, contributing to the foul smell. Once there, they turned aside and, far enough away that none of the shared-nest was visible, found an isolated slope where a willow tree with glowing leaves grew near the edge of a ledge and waterfall. The blue mushrooms which grew around it were not foul-smelling at all.

It was as good a place as any to talk far more about a liver-touching and possibly chilling topic.

He sat down, back to the willow tree, and she lay down beside him. Neither of them said anything for several wingbeats.

"Sso, how werre the gamess?"

He shrugged, "Good enough. My Monster deck wasn't that effective this time. Bit of bad luck with the draws. But everyone there wasn't really interested in the game."

"They wannted to hearr about yourr advennturress, rright?"

"Yeah, they heard most of it from Elder Dragonheart, but they also wanted to hear from me too. It's strange. I've never been popular before. Me and Saf both, really."

She chuckled, "The onne nnamed Gudmunndssottirr wass watchinng you a lot."

As expected, he rolled his eyes while his face turned a little red, "And I'm telling you again, I'm not interested at all by her."

"Why nnot? Iss therre ssomeonne elsse?"

"Aurora, who could possibly compare to you?" he asked, throwing up his paws.

They stared at each other before bursting out in shared laughter.

She finally caught her breath, "Well, I'm pleassed you thinnk sso much of me! Forr what it matterrss, everryonne elsse at the table looked to me verry innterressted by the sstorries."

"I know. Daeronson, Gudmundsdottir, and Borlasson weren't the... nicest in the past. I think they were jealous of me and my sister having you and Rain-Eater for friends."

That was understandable. She and her brother, and all their nestmates, were special among the sky-kin. It was fair for other ground-kin to be jealous!

"Hmm, I donn't knnow them well, but I'm glad they arre beinng warrmerr to you."

"So am I. Borlasson and Gudmundsdottir are doing better since their dragon friends came back."

"Rreally?"

"Yep. His Gronkle and her Nadder apparently both came back while we were gone. Borlasson said he wasn't as worried about his friend leaving in the future."

That was good to hear. Ground-kin learning to live on their own and be content in this world without their life-bond sky-kin always around would help them be stronger and less upset. Some of the ground-kin had been getting upset and frustrated with life on their own in the hidden world, for various reasons.

Was that truly different from her own life-flight? Something was not good about her life-flight, and that wrongness felt like it was knocking her about on rough winds.

"But we're not out here to talk about them, right?" he softly asked.

"Nno. Do I nneed to ssay all that againn? I'm ssorrrry forr beinng meann to you."

"Really?"

"I wouldnn't ssay it if I didnn't meann it," she protested.

"Yeah, you've never said something you didn't mean."

She collapsed limp on the ground, staring into the distance without looking at him, "Grr… I knnow I have prroblemss. Will you help me with them?"

"How?"

"You could tell me whenneverr I am beinng sstupid annd sshorrt-temperred. We cann have a code-worrd."

That got his attention.

"Code-word? Huh?"

She eagerly faced him and chuckled, "Yess, or a sspecial phrrasse. You ssay I am beinng 'amazinngly abnnoxiouss Aurrorra' orr ssomethinng like that, and I will sstop fightinng orr beinng a prroblem. I will trrusst that you ssee ssomethinng I donn't if you ssay that. Onnly usse that whenn I am beinng a rreal prroblem though."

He nodded, "Sounds fun. Anything else?"

"Anny idea why I get frrusstrrated sso eassily? I donn't thinnk I wass alwayss verry bad."

He idly started scratching her neck, "Well, to be fair, being the main dragon leader of the adventure party was tough. But it's also a problem from before all of that. I don't know. What's your guess?"

She really had no idea other than that being frustrated meant something was not good about life. Something was missing that should be there. It would have been nice to find someone worthy of her on the adventure, but that had not happened. Maybe that was part of the problem, but that explanation could not explain any of her frustrations from well before the flight.

"Donn't have anny good oness, which iss why I assked you. Didnn't meann that to be a joke."

He rested a paw on her head, "I thought you didn't. Anyway, I'll try to be more patient too, now that I know you're trying to get better."

She purred, liking the moment of friend-bonding. It had been a long time since they did that.

The moment done, she shook off his arm and got to her paws, "Come onn, we sshould fly."

"Uh, do I need to get my wings or a saddle for you?"

"Nno. Let me carrrry you without thosse. Jusst a sslow flight forr funn."

He smiled without showing teeth, "Sounds great. Thanks a lot."

Aurora watched as Flies-With-Sun flew toward her with Moon-Pinner following closely behind. They landed on the ledge where she had been resting, so she got to her paws and strolled to them. Flies-With-Sun was already wearing the ground-kin packs for carrying things.

"Are you and my brother leaving?" she asked.

"Yes, it is time to fly," Flies-With-Sun answered.

Moon-Pinner huffed and sat back on her haunches, "And I cannot go with! I have to stay here!"

"Yeah, that is better and more fun. They are only going to be doing a lot of flying over the ocean, sleeping in the cold and bad weather, and a lot of other stuff that is not fun," she said, trying to reassure her niece.

Flies-With-Sun nodded, "We plan to fly fast without stopping over long distances. You would be too tired."

Moon-Pinner did not yet look very encouraged, so she leaned closer.

"You are not afraid of being away from your sire-father and dam-mother, are you?"

"No! No! I am a big Dawn Fury!" Moon-Pinner huffed, holding her chin up.

She chuckled, "Oh, I know you are! I was planning to test myself later by doing long swimming under the water. Want to do that with me? You like swimming, right?"

Moon-Pinner's tail started swaying. She always liked swimming and games in the water.

"Well, if I have to stay here, why not!" Moon-Pinner barked.

"Great! I will see you at the deepest pond."

Moon-Pinner quickly shared words with her dam-mother and then flew off on her own. With her gone, she faced Flies-With-Sun.

"Keep my brother safe, or else!"

Flies-With-Sun smirked, "I will do my best, though he knows the above better than I do. Kin-liver knows far more than any of us. Thank you again for watching Moon-Pinner while we are gone. My parents will watch her the most, but it is good for her to have her kin more her age to play with."

She huffed and rolled her eyes, "At her age everything is just running around, chasing fish, and being trouble."

"And yet you have always been good with young ones, from what I have heard," Flies-With-Sun purred.

Was that true? Yes, she was good with young children and fledglings. At least before they became annoying to be around. They were fun enough before that twisted age.

Flies-With-Sun chuckled, "Have you ever thought about having one of your own?"

She snorted, "More than you know, but I have one small problem. It is not easy to have a hatchling without a partner!"

"No luck finding warm-livered males out there?"

"The only ones that showed any wanting or interest were not good possible mates. You know what that must have been like."

Flies-With-Sun softly grumbled, "You could always fly to a range where sky-kin go to find possible mates. There are sure to be males who would help you get an egg without having other responsibilities, but you would not want to do it that way, right?"

It took only a wingbeat of consideration to flame away that option. Having a male only for that one purpose was not acceptable. He would have to be there to help raise their child with her, and it would be better if she had claim to his liver too.

"Nope."

"I thought not. There is another option. You could offer to name an egg or hatchling yours after the young one lost its life-water parents or if they reject it. Every pack has some who were not claimed, or lost a parent or both parents."

That was an option she had not considered much. It was entirely possible to adopt an unwanted egg or hatchling, assuming she could find such a situation to step into and help with. Finding a young one in need of claiming and raising would probably happen only in another pack, maybe in the hidden Night Fury pack or among the Light Fury families who did not form one whole pack. Further, that option would still have the problem that the young one would only have a mother, her, and not a father, which was still better than having neither.

"I will need to think about it. Warm flights."

Flies-With-Sun stepped back and stretched her wings, "And to you, Aurora. Do not let Moon-Pinner drive you up the cave wall."

"No problem! If I can survive five nestmates, I will be fine."

Dawn-Singer and Kin-liver arrived. He was also wearing bags filled with dead sky-kin bones, teeth, and scales. She had already said her farewells to her older brother, so nothing more needed to be said to him.

Flies-With-Sun took flight and followed Dawn-Singer out toward the distant cave-mouth. Their time flying far away would be very different from her own adventure with her nestmates.

Seeing other nests of two-legs would be interesting, as she had not seen any such nests before, but there was also danger which she did not care for after all the danger and stress of being flight-leader.