Author's Note – To clear up any remaining confusion from the last two chapters, the dream Was-Grounded had gave him the same instant feeling of danger Toothless had in film I when Hiccup was in his graduation battle against the Nightmare. That event cannot reasonably have a 'natural' explanation, as the distance was too great for sound to clearly carry.
Training
Everyone gathered on a flat, grassy area far outside the village. There was no need to potentially scare anyone in New Haven with what was going to happen.
Shadowwing and Was-Grounded stood with Luna and Green-Wings before Aurora, Rain-Eater, Mist-Wings, Rock-Climber, Moon-Dancer, and Flies-Bravely. Luna's parents volunteered to keep everyone else occupied, since the younger Furies weren't old enough to be in combat anyway. Further, her parents had assured him and Was-Grounded that they were both already competent in combat. They would be joining the practice at other meetings.
Aurora, Rock-Climber, and Moon-Dancer were pawing at the ground and stretching, clearly eager for the lessons to get underway. Rain-Eater, Mist-Wings, and Flies-Bravely didn't appear as eager, though none of them had protested against learning physical combat.
Shadowwing nudged Was-Grounded, "Ready to start?"
Was-Grounded roared, getting everyone's attention. Everyone stopped muttering, hopped to their paws, and sat before him as he began speaking.
"As we said before, we should all learn more fighting! This will help if the rotted Light Furies or any other sky-kin want to threaten us! We already know how to flame from far away against other sky-kin, but fighting up close is different. You must know how to use your fire, claws, teeth, and speed on the ground. Being stronger, faster, and better at fighting will help us feel braver and be safer!"
Shadowwing nodded, "We want all of you to pick a partner to practice with. Who you practice with can change each time we practice."
"Does it matter who we pick?" Flies-Bravely asked.
He shrugged, "Not really. You will need to wrestle with them and be able to trust them. I think we all trust each other here, but speak up if you want to practice with someone specific."
Flies-Bravely huffed, "In that case, I will pick my dear Rain-Eater, obviously!"
Everyone chuckled, Rain-Eater included, as she went to stand by him. Luna bounded over to Mist-Wings, Was-Grounded went to Green-Wings, and Aurora and Moon-Dancer stood together. That left only Rock-Climber available for him.
"Well, nephew, looks like it is only us."
Rock-Climber looked positively giddy, "Yes! I get to fight an Alpha! This will be fun, uncle!"
"Yes, very."
With the partners determined, Was-Grounded got everyone's attention as they all stood more or less in a circle. Everyone was silent.
"What is the first rule of fighting on the ground?"
"Jump first!" "Bite first!" "Biggest flame!" "Roar loudest!"
"No! Never be alone! Always fight as a pack!" Was-Grounded growled, looking at everyone in turn.
"Oh." "Yes." "Got it." "Of course."
Was-Grounded paused, "That rule is important for all of you, but it is more important for females. Why?"
Aurora huffed and rolled her eyes, "Because males are bigger and stronger and more dangerous."
Was-Grounded chuckled, "Yes to your first two points, no to your last point. We are bigger and stronger, but you are quicker in flight over short distances. Your fire and claws are just as hot and sharp as ours. You can be just as dangerous as us, but you must work and practice more to make up for the strength difference. A male who knows how to fight will win against a female who knows how to fight. Two females working together will win against the same male."
Was-Grounded paused, letting them consider that advice. Aurora didn't look thrilled, but she wasn't protesting.
"The second rule is almost as important: always have the higher ground. That means you can see more, and any attacker must climb or run up at you. That gives you the advantage with more time to act. Claws out!"
Everyone slid out their claws as Was-Grounded went to inspect them one at a time. He alternatively grumbled or was silent before returning beside Green-Wings.
"Dull claws are not very helpful in a fight. Claws that are too sharp and long can break easily. Find a balance between them. Sharpen your claws every pawful of waking-cycles. I will check your claws from now on to make sure you are doing this!"
Shadowwing stepped forward, taking over, "Fire is still very important in fighting on the ground. Why?"
Unsurprisingly, Rock-Climber lifted a paw, "For blasting enemies!"
"How does that help?"
Rock-Climber appeared confused and didn't further answer.
Rain-Eater huffed, "Most sky-kin have hides thick enough that they are not hurt by fire, so the fire must not be for killing. Instead, it is for controlling the fight. Fire would make a sky-kin close its eyes."
He purred in approval, "That is one reason. Flame at their faces to blind them and then strike. You only need a wingbeat to get an advantage."
Rock-Climber eagerly shouted, "I have an idea! What if we wait for the other sky-kin to get ready to flame us, then we flame into their mouth so their can-be-fire-air burns up in them? That would make a very big fireball!"
Shadowwing and Was-Grounded faced each other and recalled fateful memories.
"Rock-Climber, you are your sire-father's son," Shadowwing chuckled.
Rain-Eater grumbled, "You know, that is true by definition."
Shadowwing smirked, "That too. Moving on from that. What do you all think are the targets in a real fight on the ground?"
Was-Grounded growled, "Remember, you are fighting for your life, so you need to be able to kill the attacker."
Those words might have disturbed a couple of the children, mostly Rain-Eater and Mist-Wings, but apparently not too much. None of them whined or looked away.
"Wings." "Tail." "Neck?" "Head?"
Shadowwing nodded, "All good choices. If you break their wings, you can easily get away and have advantage of flight. Breaking the tail will also ground them and make their moving on the ground more difficult. Biting the neck or throat will end the fight in one move."
Was-Grounded continued, "Grabbing or biting the head can also win the fight. If you are the weaker fighter, you want to win the fight as fast as you can so the other cannot use their endurance. Stalk around them and watch how they move and lean. How they move their weight is a better hint to what they will do than where they are looking. Last, what if you are fighting and get pinned? There are ways to fight even when you are pinned, such as on your back. How?"
Aurora snapped her teeth, "Bite the neck or claw at the belly and wings!"
Shadowwing nodded, "Yes, the one pinning you puts themselves in danger by being close. Your sire-father said something very important earlier. Everyone, what is the first rule?"
"Never be alone!"
"Never be alone. We will practice swats and jumps first so you can all watch. Then you practice with your partner. Understand?" he said.
"Yes!" they eagerly answered.
Rain-Eater slowly stalked around Flies-Bravely, following every move of her deep blue eyes. Her tail slightly swayed as she walked in a wide circle across from him.
He was supposed to strike at her, but she had an evasion bonus. While not nearly as strong as him, she had specialized more into agility and was noticeably quicker to dart and dash. However, she was very new to fighting and defending herself.
She had explained many of her former pack's absolutely rotted and twisted ceremonies and expectations. One of them was that females were not taught any combat skills, since they supposedly would never need any such skills. Only males were allowed to be Fighters.
They were both beginners at this kind of fighting.
How to catch her?
A straight dash at her would not help, and flying was not allowed for this. What made the attack difficult was that failing in the strike would let her win as her goal was to tag his tailfins.
He settled on a strategy which he was a little afraid of trying, but it had been explained to everyone. She would respond without even needing to think about doing so.
He flamed so his shot would explode right before her face. Sure enough, she spun away with a yelp of alarm, and bounded to escape him as he leaped at her. But she shifted as soon as she landed and turned straight into him.
They heavily collided and collapsed at each other's sides. Confusion took over until he realized the result. He had a paw on her neck, and she had his tailfins in her mouth, though she quickly let go.
"So who won that?" he asked.
She hummed, "I am dead, but you are grounded, so you are also dead. We tied?"
"Sure. What was your move running straight at me?"
She groaned, "Sorry about that. I did not plan to. Your fire made it hard to see, so I had to guess where you were."
"Found me!"
She chuckled, which was a pleasing sound, as she got to her paws, "Take a break?"
"Sure."
They sat on their haunches while watching everyone else practicing with their partners. Some were doing pins, others using very small shots of fire to practice aiming at small targets, others were blocking swipes with paws, and others were keeping eyes closed while trying to swat aside tiny sticks thrown at them.
Flies-Bravely exhaled and hung her head, looking away from him, "Sorry about all this."
That came from nowhere and was very confusing.
"Sorry about what?"
"Your pack would not need to be learning this if not for me. You would all be safer if I never flew here and angered the other pack. Mist-Wings would not have been hurt."
He gently shoved her shoulder, "It is not your fault that pack has a rotted Alpha. We probably would have needed to learn fighting eventually anyway, so you should not feel chilled about this. She will be fine."
"I did not want anything bad to happen, but I did bring bad on your kin."
"Does not matter. You did not intend to bring danger here. You did everything you could to escape your pack without them knowing we helped. It is only logical and good head-thinking."
She huffed, "You and your head-thinking!"
"What about it? Should I think with anything else?"
"What about the liver?"
Liver-thinking was confusing. Feelings, emotion, and those wants were not like numbers or games with clear rules. Maybe there were clear rules he could not see. Maybe only females could understand the rules. He had no idea.
"I... am not very good with liver-thinking."
"Have you ever tried?" she chuckled.
"Not really. I have never had a reason to."
She looked away and shrugged, "You could practice with me."
That was a good suggestion. It could be like practicing fighting, only learning a completely different topic. If only he knew where to start!
"What if I... said I am not sure how to practice?"
She brayed and faced him, "Stop thinking."
"Easier said than flown."
She directly faced him before sitting down like he was while also letting her wings hang out a little. Her tail tapped on the ground at her paws.
"Just try. What do you see?" she huffed.
He grumbled in confusion.
She snorted, "Just look at me and tell me what you see. Remember that we are practicing, so this is all pretending. Do not feel twisted by anything you want to say."
What was there to say about her? She was a grown, healthy Light Fury. Her eyes were deep blue, she lacked any hurt-marks, and her wings had no color-shine. Of course, all of that only spoke to her in body, not her in life-fire. In that she was curious, imaginative, warm to his kin, and brave for fleeing a bad place. All very admirable of her. More than admirable, being around her was pleasant. What did that make her? A friend, yes. She was his friend, not just a trick-mate for her own good.
"I see a friend: a very brave Light Fury who I like being around."
"Good. Is that all you see?"
"What else is there to see?"
"Friends can be male or female."
He chuckled, "You are a female, but that does not change anything."
"Does it not?" she purred.
He paused, unsure what to say. She was the first sky-kin friend he ever had outside of his kin. Would it be the same if she were a male, leaving aside that she would not be in a trick-pairing with him at all? Or did this mean-
Great skies, does she really like me?
That possibility was perhaps scarier than any of the fighting they were learning. Wanting to party up for the rest of life was... sure it bestowed buffs, but it also meant... feelings and everything about life-sharing.
What to say? Saying that her being female was absolutely not important might be to turn tail on her or to prevent a possibility from hatching. Was that a possibility he wanted to not be?
He looked down at her white paws, "Well, maybe a little."
She chuckled, "You are twisted! For what it matters, my pretend-mate, I like being around you too. We should get back to practicing!"
He entirely agreed. Practicing fighting would help get his thoughts off of everything else and her confusing words. Why was the thought of her becoming more confusing? The pretending did not make anything real or true.
"Good idea. What comes next? More swats and dashing?"
She smirked, "We have already done much of those. We should practice pins and pinning, unless you have a problem with that!"
"Why would I?"
"Why indeed?"
His ears flew back as the thought-picture became clear. But this practice was only practical and would help everyone be safer. She needed to know how to fight back if she were ever pinned, and he needed to learn how best to pin a real opponent.
He snorted, "Not because I am afraid of losing!"
She laughed and crouched down while facing him, her tail swaying behind her, "Good! Do not go easy on me! I need to practice!
"Same here!"
Rock-Climber lunged to close his jaws on Shadowwing's neck, but his uncle was too fast. Shadowwing twisted, dodged the snap, and spun, pinning his head to the ground with a paw.
Again.
But this was fun anyway! Fighting an Alpha who was also his kin was a fun way to burn off liver-fire while also learning! Someone had to be able to fight whoever had hurt his older sister!
Shadowwing huffed, let him up, and rumbled, "What did you learn?"
"Strike faster?"
"No, you are smaller and not as strong as me, so you do not want to be fighting up close if you can avoid it. Keep distance and go for the tail and wings. You are fast enough. Try again."
He lunged immediately after Shadowwing finished. His leap carried him up and over Shadowwing toward his lower tail which he tagged with a paw. But he also felt a paw brush his belly.
"How was that?" he eagerly barked, pleased with how far and high he had jumped.
Shadowwing smirked, "Impressive, but you would be dead in a real fight."
"What?" he grumbled, confused and chilled.
"Claws to the belly would open your belly."
"Grr, I just need to jump higher!"
"No, jumping like that is too risky. You make it easy for me to strike where you have no scales."
"Oh, right."
How did Shadowwing know so much that was completely obvious? Lots of practice, probably.
Shadowwing rolled his eyes, "What is the most important rule of fighting?"
Be the first to flame! No, not that. Something else that was not as fun.
"Do not be alone!"
"Good! You were listening."
Of course he knew how to listen! Usually. Whenever the topic was interesting enough. Fighting and combat were interesting enough.
Was-Grounded and Green-Wings paused in their practice, so they could watch everyone else. She needed far less practice than any of the children did. On the other paw, the season-cycles of being a dam-mother and not needing to truly fight anything up close had left her not as quick and practiced as she could be.
They wove tails together while watching the practice in everyone's part of the grassy field. Most of their attention was on Luna and Mist-Wings. Luna was pinning Mist-Wings while she tried to wiggle her limbs into a useful position to push her back. He, Green-Wings, and Luna had agreed it would be best for her to practice with a fellow trusted female, since it was still not even a pawful of waking-cycles since the attack.
The flaring wrath he felt when he first found her had dimmed, replaced with a smoldering protectiveness. The season-cycles since the fight with Grimmel had flown past mostly in peace, with only occasional fights with wild sky-kin. That time with nothing very bad happening had let everyone get too calm and not wary enough. But that had changed.
While far calmer than he had been after the attack, nothing had truly changed. That Alpha was going to die a painful, slow death to his claws and flame.
Luna let Mist-Wings up and spoke to her, probably giving her advice. Rock-Climber looked like he was having fun wrestling with Shadowwing. Aurora and Moon-Dancer were practicing swats and blocks. Lastly, Rain-Eater and Flies-Bravely were practicing pins, with him currently holding her down.
He chuckled at what that must be like for Rain-Eater. Rain-Eater had never shown great interest in females before, but he was giving her a lot of his time even outside of this practice. Maybe his lack of prior interest was from lack of opportunity.
"What are you chuckling about?" Green-Wings asked.
"Rain-Eater and Flies-Bravely."
She rumbled in warmth, "They will be a good pair, I am sure."
"Do you think she wants him?"
"Yes, even if she does not know it yet."
Flies-Bravely enjoyed being part of the twisted games Rain-Eater liked, and she was entirely warm-livered to all their kin. She and Rain-Eater would go on walks together, though he had no idea what they spoke about. Were there any more signs Green-Wings might have noticed? Possibly.
Only Rain-Eater and Flies-Bravely could know if they truly wanted each other, if they... loved each other. Pushing them together as had happened so far created opportunity for wanting and love to burn to life, but that was for them to make true.
"How is Mist doing? Anything different?" he whispered.
"More bad dreams, always the same," she answered.
Not surprising. Mist-Wings would be having bad dreams so soon after the attack. At least she was not flinching whenever he landed or approached to give her a nuzzle.
"I promise on the sky-breath that I will kill that Alpha myself," he hissed.
She sighed, "If you get a good opportunity, yes, but do not do anything rash or twisted."
"What?"
"He could have killed her or forced-mated her. It could have been much worse."
"That is no excuse to not act. I will not let him get away with what he did to my daughter!"
She hissed, "To our daughter. Would you risk everyone else just to get revenge?"
He looked away from her and said nothing. Her words were annoying. Why did she not seem to care about what happened to their daughter?
She continued, "We are acting. Think. The Alpha wanted to hurt us without… making our packs fight, probably because he does not think he can win if we were to fight. But we cannot be certain. It is enough to flame some at his packmates out in the open, take ground-prey they would have gotten, and become stronger so we can fight better. We will not do more!"
Completely certain, she left no room for argument. Maybe it was her dam-mother instincts to want to avoid actual fighting. Maybe she was correct that acting out of burning anger would only make everything worse.
If she and Shadowwing both agreed that seeking out revenge was not the best plan, maybe they were correct, though he would still take the opportunity to kill if opportunity presented itself.
Aurora growled and swatted at Moon-Dancer, barely missing his face. Her claws were hidden, so hitting him would not hurt much, but she could imagine her claws were sharpened and fully out.
"And then I will tear away mouthfuls until I get to the ribs. Bite down on one of them and slowly pull it out!"
Moon-Dancer snarled and went on the attack, swatting and swiping at her as she dodged and blocked his strikes with her forelegs. When had he gotten so strong?
"Good plan. Do not kill him too slowly!" he growled.
"Oh, I will not. I want him alive so she can have her way with him!"
She flamed at his face and leaped through the fire, but he had already jumped back out of the way and dodged her. He met a wide strike with a paw and knocked her forearm aside before lunging for her neck. His strike was easy to dodge, and she pushed him away.
"Will she? You know how she is," he grumbled.
"Grr, I am working on flaming her liver. She will have no problem fighting and killing!"
He stuck out his tongue, which was unacceptable!
She leaped with a paw raised to swat at him. He ducked to the side, lunged, and blocked the strike, which left her imbalanced as he knocked into her. She rolled onto her back and held up her limbs to push him away as he jumped to pin her.
But he was heavy! When had he gotten so big? With a heave, she shoved him onto his side, scrambled to her paws, and leaped to pin him. He rolled aside and flamed into the dirt, sending up a spray of dirt and dust into her face.
Blinking furiously to clear her vision, she backed away, but it was too late. He jumped and fell on her, driving her down on her belly. She kept pushing and shoving, refusing to give up, but he won the fight by biting her throat.
"Waste pile! You win!"
He let go and purred to himself in triumph.
"Only because you are bigger!" she protested.
He chuckled, rolled off her, and got to his paws as she did the same, "No, I provoked you. You pounced too quickly."
She thought back to a play-fight with Kin-liver. Kin-liver had beaten her by teasing her into striking too quickly.
"Grr! Kin-liver told me that before. Acting without thinking is a problem of mine. Good move with flaming the dirt. I must remember that one."
He shrugged and sat beside her. It was a little annoying needing to look up at him, though not by much. He never intentionally tried to annoy her.
"I would not say you act without thinking. You did very well as the flight-leader, especially with that Alpha in New-Strength-Pack," he said.
Well, he was right about that. She could have gone with that Alpha and had fun, if that was even an accurate word for it, but that would have been to act without thinking. It was thinking and trusting her liver-voice which kept her away from that Alpha.
"Maybe. I do not want to be a flight-leader like that again, not for a long time anyway."
"Why not?" he asked.
"Because there is such a thing as being around kin too much. Being responsible for my brothers and sister, not even counting the ground-kin, was very tiring."
He snorted, "I understand. Being the first-hatched puts much weight on my back to be a good example for them, but that is part of being first-hatched."
He grumbled and looked across the field to where Luna and Mist-Wings were practicing, "How is she?"
"Why do you ask?" she whispered.
"She has not said much to me since it happened. I do not know if she wants to talk about it."
She sighed, "She has spoken with me. You should talk to her too."
"I will."
"Her dreams have not been warm, but I had her helping me with work to keep her thoughts busy."
"Good idea. Sire-father told me that working can be a way to not feel hurts, as long as the work does not take too much time away from kin."
She hummed, looking away from him, "I know you felt her pain and flew to help her. Thank you for that."
"She is like a nestmate sister to me," he said.
While he certainly did not mean anything chilling, his words still unintentionally cut at the liver. He felt Mist-Wings's fear when she had not.
"And she is mine, but I did not feel it," she growled at herself.
A cold settled in her liver at the reminder of how she was a rotted nestmate to her kin, at least she had been before. That was going to change now and in the future, but her past behavior toward her kin, toward Alvor, toward everyone, had not been warm at all.
He nuzzled her neck while purring deeply. Having not shared her private regrets with anyone else, he was the first person to comfort her, which was nice. He could be trusted to not be annoying, teasing, or anything else.
He pulled back and huffed, "I asked my dam-mother why I felt it. She said it is like the together-seeing-feeling."
"What else did she say? How does that happen?" she eagerly asked.
"Care for the other, sky-kin or ground-kin, is needed, but a calm mind is also needed. Someone who is confused or flying many thought-winds cannot do the together-seeing-feeling or whatever I did."
Wait!
His words were very important! Her own confusion, thought-twistedness, and feeling that her life-flight was unsettled were likely the reasons why she had not felt her sister's pain in the moment. It was not that she did not truly care!
She purred as warmth filled her liver, "Want to practice more?"
He growled and stepped back, "Yes, but I will try to pounce on you while faded. You try to react without using life-fire sight."
That was an interesting idea which had lift. Light Furies were the type of sky-kin they were most likely to need to fight against. Light Fury fade could be a problem if not always looking with life-fire sight. Even faded sky-kin made sound as they walked, could sometimes be seen as a shimmering shape in the air, or were visible as they pushed aside grass or left tracks in sand.
"Good idea. Actually, we should suggest that everyone practice that. It could be useful."
The trees and bushes were very thick as she frantically ran, leaped, and bounded in fear. The pursuer only came closer.
Run, run, run! Faster!
A fearful glance went over her tail as she dashed under a mushroom-tree. Where was he? Not behind her.
She shook her head and continued running, only to crash into...
Him.
Big, growling, white, yellow eyes.
She whined in fear and spun around to run, flee, and hide!
"For the pack!"
He jumped with a roar.
She thrashing and struggled. He was all around, everywhere, shouting her name, holding her down...
"Mist-Wings!" "Daughter!" "You are safe!" "Safe!"
Safe?
She opened her eyes and saw only sire-father and dam-mother, both whining softly and gently nuzzling her.
Just a bad sleep-vision. Not real. It only happened in thinking. But in a way, everything happened in thinking. No, it was very real, just as real as the actual thing.
"Sorry," she whined, staring into the distance.
Dam-mother nuzzled her, "No, do not say sorry. You should not apologize for anything."
She sniffled, "Will they ever stop?"
"The bad sleep-visions?" dam-mother warbled.
"Yes."
"They do. One sleep-cycle you will have the dream again, but you will fight him and win."
That was a warming thought, but it was probably not going to happen. How could she fight such a big and strong opponent? Maybe the rules in dreams were not the same as in real life. Hopefully. Killing that Light Fury in her dream would probably help a lot, but that probably would not happen. She was not a fighter at all. Not yet.
Shadowwing landed by Mist-Wings and Was-Grounded. She was dozing under an outstretched wing, though she stirred and woke up after he landed. He dropped a branch with a couple glowing flowers before her paws.
"Warm waking-cycle, Mist-Wings," he hummed.
"And to you, uncle. What is that for?" she asked.
"Remember when you brought me pain-helping flowers before Flower-Eater hatched?"
"I do."
"Well, I do not know if any of your hurt-marks still hurt, but I thought I could bring this anyway."
She purred, ate one of the flowers, and lay her head on her paws, "Thanks. None of them hurt much anymore."
"How was the practice this waking-cycle?"
"Good. Luna was rough, in a good way."
Was-Grounded purred and nuzzled her head, "You have gotten better after only six waking-cycles of practicing. We all noticed."
Shadowwing sighed, laying down before her, "If you are not ready to talk, that is fine, but I wanted to ask how you are doing."
She shrugged, "Not too bad. There are dreams when I feel like I am back there... with him hitting me. I feel fouled and weak."
"You are not fouled or weak. Did you know I have bad in my life-story."
"What?" she whispered, apparently curious.
"I failed two ground-kin I held to my liver. I was not there to help them, all because I was thought-twisted. They died because I was not there to save them. After that, I thought I was fouled, in a very different way. I blamed myself and felt guilty. It is not your fault you were attacked. You stayed alive, and you will be even stronger than you were before."
Was-Grounded growled, "You will. We all will."
Everyone was applying themselves more seriously than they had before the incidents. The threat of the Light Furies was known by everyone old enough to appreciate it for what it was. Mist-Wings's scars were visible warnings of the danger.
Rain-Eater, Aurora, and Was-Grounded had flown together on a group patrol outside of New-Haven's territory. They had spotted several Light Furies in the distance, certainly keeping watch on the cavern for whatever the Alpha's purpose, and those Light Furies had kept their distance, never approaching, but that was not enough. Was-Grounded and his children had chased them away, flaming at their tails. No one was hurt, but that was to be the standard interaction from now on.
He hummed, "Do you want to practice with me next time? Practicing with Luna is good, but it might help if you practice with a male too. Only if you feel like you are ready. I or your sire-father would be glad to help."
She purred at the suggestion, "Sure. Good idea."
"Great. Luna is waiting for me."
"Warm flights, uncle."
On his glide back to Luna, Night-Light, and Flower-Eater, he kept glancing to the distant cavern entrance, waiting and hoping that there would be returning wings. Dawn-Singer, Flies-With-Sun, and Valka's flight to the distant trading post and return journey should be finished any day.
Hidden-Hope would be with them. She had to be.
What am I going to do about her? Maybe her learning combat will help with the rebelliousness.
His daughter, Dawn-Singer, and Flies-With-Sun would need to learn combat as everyone else had been for the last week or so.
The sooner they were back here, the sooner he could stop worrying about them, but especially about his daughter. Further, he had a very pleasant surprise for Valka. At least something had recently gone well.
Was-Grounded roared in liver-warmth and relief as he saw three different sets of wings approaching from the dark passage. Two of the sets of wings were white, and the other was dark. They were safely home.
He jumped and flew to them in greeting. The bags and holding-things Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun carried looked very filled, certainly with ground-kin things.
"Son! Flies-With-Sun! Hidden-Hope!"
Dawn-Singer roared with joy at him, settling for that greeting instead of anything rougher which might hurt Kin-liver or damage the bags he was carrying.
"Sire-father!" Dawn-Singer shouted, gliding beside him.
"Second-father!" Flies-With-Sun bellowed.
Hidden-Hope vaguely nodded to him. She drooped slightly in flight, and she looked like she needed rest.
"Did Kin-liver get everything the ground-kin need?" he asked.
"She did. How is everyone here? Did we miss anything?"
He held in the growl, though his ears went back, "Much has happened, but this is not the time to talk about it. Follow me."
He led the flight through the range until they arrived near the outside of the shared-nest. They landed, and their kin immediately began approaching from all around. Green-Wings and Mist-Wings were still away.
His present children joyfully roared at their brother, while Moon-Dancer and Night-Light pounced on Hidden-Hope. Everyone greeted their closest kin with various levels of bonding.
Shadowwing eventually arrived and strode to Hidden-Hope without saying anything.
He was not sure what his brother would do to her, since she had been very bad by running away. But that was not for him to worry about. He had something far more important to share.
He patiently waited as Kin-liver took all the bags and other things off Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun, now nuzzling Moon-Pinner. Then he hopped to them.
"We need to talk without your daughter listening."
They followed him out of everyone else's hearing. He noticed Mist-Wings and Green-Wings arrive with Wind-Dancer.
"Sire-father, what is it?" Dawn-Singer asked.
"There are two things you need to know about. First, we are all practicing fighting. You both need to do this with us."
"What happened?" Flies-With-Sun warily asked.
"The Alpha Light Fury of that twisted pack flew to us. He learned that Flies-Bravely is living here, he threatened us, and we refused him. We must all be ready to fight against Light Furies, if we must."
She growled, "We will! I already know some fighting, and I can teach your son what he must know!"
Dawn-Singer barked and faced her, "What? Are you saying I cannot fight?"
"I always pin you."
Dawn-Singer chuckled, looking very smug, "There is a reason for that."
He grumbled, interrupting their teasing, "Still, you should both join the practicing with us."
"Fine. We will. What is the other news?"
He growled, "You did not hear this from me. Mist-Wings was attacked by the Alpha Light Fury. She has many hurt-marks."
Dawn-Singer's purr vanished as his eyes narrowed to slits. Flies-With-Sun snarled and lashed her tail.
"Is she well?" Dawn-Singer growled, his gaze going to where Mist-Wings was speaking with Kin-liver.
"Yes, she is only hurt in her liver."
"Is he dead?"
He growled, flicking his claws, "I wish. He attacked us because we helped Flies-Bravely and would not let him take her away. We think he is leaving us alone for now. No flying off to get revenge on him."
Dawn-Singer grumbled, "Fine. I will go to her soon."
"Same here," Flies-With-Sun added.
He glanced aside to where Moon-Pinner was anxiously shuffling on her paws while staring his direction. The fledgling was slowly losing restraint, so he relented and summoned her. She dashed over to them and jumped on Dawn-Singer's back.
Not seeing her sire-father or dam-mother for over half a moon-cycle could make even rock-headed fledglings very warm to meet their parents again.
"Good to have you back, son, Flies-With-Sun. How was the flight?" he asked.
Dawn-Singer glanced at Flies-With-Sun, "Much happened on the flight. Shadowwing and Luna will hear from Kin-liver, but so you know from us-"
"We missed you so much!" Night-Light chuckled.
"Yeah, you are just saying that!" Hidden-Hope pouted.
Moon-Dancer snorted, unsurprised by her attitude, "Yes, we did just say that, and we meant it. You could have told us you planned to fly away."
"And you would have told sire-father!"
"Yes, but so what? Do you know how afraid and chilled they were?"
Twistedly, his sister hung her head instead of pouting more. She did not snap back or say that sire-father and dam-mother did not care, like she almost always did in the past.
"I was wrong," she whispered.
"Who are you and what have you done with my sister?" he chuckled.
She rolled her eyes and brayed, "Whatever! I learned my lesson."
Night-Light leaned closer, "Did Kin-liver hit your nose with her staff?"
"No! I... I... I was caught by two-legs."
"What? Did they hurt you?" he gasped.
"Not really. I forgot about my fade, they saw me in their nest which I should not have gone down into, and they trapped me. Kin-liver, Dawn-Singer, and Flies-With-Sun saved me. End of story."
"Is that all?" he grumbled.
She snorted, "There might have been some two-leg life-water spilled. But it all worked well!"
Night-Light laughed, "Just wait until sire-father and dam-mother hear about this!"
Hidden-Hope sadly hummed, "They will punish me. I know. I am... just glad to be safe again."
Moon-Dancer stepped to her and hugged her, nuzzling her shoulder, "And we are glad you are back here!"
Night-Light took her other shoulder, "Same!"
They both purred to her while she purred back to them. Then she must have realized they were bonding, as she shook them off.
"Yeah, enough! What happened to Mist-Wings? What hurt her?" she barked.
He hissed and explained what happened, making sure she knew that the Light Furies were a threat, though sire-father would instruct her in everything she needed to know.
"Well, at least she got impressive hurt-marks from it! I got one too!" she said, probably trying to be cheerful.
"Where?" he barked back.
She huffed and tilted her head to show off a tiny line on her neck.. The hurt-mark was barely visible, but there was a small hurt-mark. Her being proud of it was a little twisted, but he was not going to argue or ask for details while their little brother was there.
Night-Light leaned closer to her, clearly curious about something, "Sister, you have seen the above! Tell me about it! What is it like? Is it as big as big brother says it is?"
"Bigger!"
"Woah!"
"Scary too. What he said about bad and dangerous two-legs is totally correct."
Night-Light was about to ask more questions when sire-father landed by them.
He and Night-Light stepped aside to let sire-father go to their sister, whose ears had fallen while she stared at her paws.
"Daughter," sire-father calmly said.
"Sire-father, I am sorry. I will not do it again!" she whined.
"Follow me. I and your dam-mother want to talk to you."
Sire-father and their sister trotted away together. She glanced back at them, so they gave her encouraging nods. Whatever punishment she was going to get had to be very bad.
Shadowwing walked beside his daughter. She walked glumly with her tail dragging on the ground, but she didn't openly complain about anything.
She was back safely, which was all that mattered.
They arrived at where Luna and Valka were waiting with Flower-Eater. Luna's parents took Flower-Eater to keep him occupied.
Luna went to their daughter and nuzzled her forehead without saying anything. Then she stepped back, and Hidden-Hope faced him before looking to her paws.
Hidden-Hope whined softly, "Sorry! I will not fly away again! Promise! I promise! Sorry!"
He saw no deception. She looked genuinely upset. Maybe she had learned her lesson after all.
"Drragonnhearrt, you wannted to ssay ssomethinng?" he said.
Valka nodded and crossed her arms, "There is. I'll explain more later, but what you need to know is that she thought it would be a good idea to sneak away from us and go into the trading post. She got captured and taken prisoner on a boat. We rescued her, but we had to kill."
He gasped at the thought of his daughter being taken prisoner. Nothing terrible had happened in her case, but after what happened to Mist-Wings so recently, this news was still concerning.
Luna grumbled, "Little one, what were you thinking?"
"Sorry," she whined.
That was not an answer. Shout at her. Demand an explanation for how stupid and reckless she had been! Did she think life was a joke or a game? How could she have-
He caught himself, recognizing that way of thinking from long ago. Shouting and being forceful like that would not help change behavior, so instead he strode to her and hugged her, nuzzling her neck.
"Daughter, why did you do that? Why did you go to the two-legs?"
"You...are not... mad?"
He stepped back from her, "A little, but I am more happy that you are safe with us. Why did you do that? Please tell me."
She looked down at her paws, "I wanted to have fun and be brave. Seeing the big and amazing above was very fun. But-"
"But you also felt trapped, like I was not letting you do enough for how big you are? You wanted to prove how brave you could be."
"Maybe," she softly said.
He glanced at Luna, and she subtly nodded to him. They had spoken at length about what to do in the future to prevent this from happening again. Hidden-Hope had expressed a lot of interest about the world above, which was surely part of why she had flown off as she did. Night-Light was starting to ask similar questions.
He huffed, "Good. Now we need to talk about punishment."
"Okay."
Luna spoke up, "We want you to help Gobber in his working-place. You will help him with your fire to make his holding-things and other tools."
"Okay, I will."
He continued, "And we also want you to fly with your kin in a pack when they go hunting. You will work to help the shared-range."
His daughter started in surprise and looked suspicious, "But... am I grounded?"
"You learned your lesson when you were trapped. We want you to work as we all do, and you will practice fighting skills like we have been. Will you do that for us?"
"Anything else?"
"Do not fly off on your own again. Did you see what happened to Mist-Wings?"
She whined, "Yes."
He sighed and slightly slumped, "And I will help teach you everything I taught your brother and should have taught you long ago. I promise."
She spun in place, letting her tail sway wildly, "Thank you, sire-father, dam-mother! I will work and make you proud of me! Promise!"
Luna barked, "But remember to never fly alone beyond. There are dangers out there. We only fly beyond our range in a pack. Understand?"
"Yes, dam-mother! I understand!"
He gently nudged her shoulder, "Good. You should go be with your kin, get your rest, and then start your... punishment!"
She darted away toward her brothers and everyone else while he walked back with Luna and Valka.
"That looked like it went well," Valka said.
"It did. Sshe will be helpinng Gobberr. Borrinng worrk, but it will keep herr bussy. Sspeakinng of sstayinng bussy, wannt to take the ssuppliess innto townn?"
"Sure."
They paused to watch everyone else greeting each other. Dawn-Singer was speaking with Mist-Wings while Flies-With-Sun inspected the healing injuries. Valka had already been told what happened.
Luna chuckled and nuzzled his neck, "Are you going to show her?"
"After we take the things to the ground-kin. Will you stay here with our daughter and everyone else?"
"Sure."
He darted to Rain-Eater and Dawn-Singer to get their help in carrying the bags of various supplies. He also offered to carry Valka, since it would be a long walk for her otherwise. There were supplies to distribute.
Shadowwing called an all-tribe meeting, gathering almost everyone inside the Great Hall. Valka stood beside him at the head of the Hall. It was time to share good news with the tribe.
"Trribe, ourr Elderr wisshess to sspeak!"
Valka stepped forward and addressed everyone, "We have good news! I and two of the Furies recently flew to the world above. We went to a distant trading post to barter for goods."
People muttered among themselves, remarking that this explained where their Elder had been for the last few weeks. It wasn't uncommon for her to be gone for stretches at a time.
Someone stood up, and he recognized the person as Sigurdsdottir, one of the leaders of a more disgruntled family.
"Yes?" Valka asked.
"Elder, why can you go up there but not us? We would have helped."
He grumbled, unsurprised that this objection came up. The tribe didn't need to know about the trading mission. There was no reason to get their hopes up when the mission could have ended without success. Disappointment was the last thing anyone needed.
"Because we had to make this mission in secret. Having too many people go up would make it more likely someone discovers us."
Sigurdsdottir crossed her arms, "We lived in secret for years before we came down here. It's not fair that most of us aren't allowed to go up there at all."
"Yeah." "Come on." "Why not?"
Valka glanced at him before answering, "I know it appears that way. We did not need help on the mission, and the fewer people went there the better. We have supplies for everyone!"
The promise of supplies helped a lot as people watched the large bags get brought inside. Valka took charge, separating the bags into groups based on what they held.
But it still frustrated him that a portion of the tribe still apparently felt resentful at their circumstances. While getting new tools, clothing, and other supplies would help morale generally, the more bitter or concerned families wouldn't be satisfied. They were a simmering problem which he still saw no clear answer to.
Skald-Fishlegs was extremely giddy as he riffled through the rolls of parchment, pencils, quills, and vials of ink.
"Yes! This is perfect! I'll get right on the new manual and maps! So many pages of new dragons with all their stats! We'll still have lots of paper left over too!"
He chuckled, "Glad to hearr it."
Gobber came forward after Skald went off with the writing supplies, "Well, whatcha got fer me?"
He nudged a bag which Gobber inspected, "Ah, let's see here... yep, that'll help with smelting, got some whetstones, nice, bit' of ore, not bad. Bout time we put Gustav ta work again. Wait, where are they?"
"Wherre arre what?"
"My new undies! Mine are fallin' apart. Here, lemme show you."
He quickly held up a paw, "Nno! I believe you! Drragonnhearrt hass all the clothinng."
Gobber nodded, picked up his smithing supplies, and went off to Valka's line.
Disaster had been averted, so he sighed in relief. Of all the things he wanted to see, Gobber's tattered underwear were not on the list.
Eret approached him, "Chief."
"Erret. What arre you herre forr?"
"The medical and planting tools."
"Rright."
He found the appropriate bag and nudged it forward. Eret had been learning more medical skills, an interest which apparently started after the surgery Eret gave him. Further, Eret more or less managed part of the fields of crops, so he was responsible for most of the farming tools held in common.
Finally, everything was handed out, which let him and Valka have a moment to themselves as everyone left the Great Hall.
"Wannt to rresst?"
She yawned, "Yes, the last couple nights were restless. We were eager to get back, so we barely stopped."
They left the Great Hall and walked together toward her hut on the outside of the village. Once out on their own, he paused and crouched down with a nod to his back.
"What for?" she asked, climbing on.
"Therre'ss ssomethinng elsse I wannt to sshow you. You'rre goinng to like thiss onne."
"Alright. What is it?"
"A ssurrprrisse."
He flew higher to another ledge above the ground level where Valka had her hut. The ledge had a grassy clearing without any other trees or plants larger than the blue, green, and yellow vines.
Valka froze and clutched his wings when she saw what was in the clearing.
"Cloudjumper!"
The proud Stormcutter immediately woke from his rest and scrambled toward him as he landed. Valka leaped off his back and ran to embrace Cloudjumper's head.
"Oh Cloudjumper," she whispered.
He let them have their moment before he softly hissed, "Look!"
She only then realized the real surprise. Looking at them from over Cloudjumper's right shoulder was another Stormcutter which had fewer head-frills, a more rounded head, was blue and yellow, and was slightly smaller than Cloudjumper.
Valka stared in amazement as Cloudjumper nuzzled her, "My friend, you finally found one."
"We nnamed herr Ponndpounncerr. You cann guessss why," he chuckled.
Slowly and cautiously, Valka approached Pondpouncer while Cloudjumper stayed close to her. Pondpouncer deeply sniffed Valka after Cloudjumper gently pushed her closer and licked her. Valka didn't protest that at all.
Pondpouncer licked Valka once and hummed to herself. Valka giddily giggled, gently stroking Pondpouncer's head until the new Stormcutter leaned away, curled up, and went to sleep.
Only then did Valka return to his side, and she had to wipe away her tears.
"She's beautiful."
"Sshe keepss to herrsself annd Cloudjumperr, nnot goinng innto the village sso farr. They arrrrived ssoonn afterr you left. Nno eggss orr baby Sstorrmcutterrss yet."
"That's fine. I'm just happy he's not alone anymore."
"Sso arre we."