Kindled
Far out beyond the New-Haven-Range, Aurora's gaze followed the pawful of Light Furies, all approaching from the path which led towards the rotted, twisted, fouled pack. That these were all males further confirmed which pack they must belong to. No other Light Fury pack was nearby or would have anyone fly from that direction.
Perfect!
She and her two older brothers were on the hunt for four-leg ground-prey in one of the ranges which no pack claimed and which frequently had good hunting. Being outside any pack's claimed territory had advantages.
She dropped down from the mushroom where she had been keeping watch and darted over to where her brothers were trailing the four-leg ground-prey. She heavily landed before Dawn-Singer and Rain-Eater, startling them.
"Quiet!" "What are you doing?"
"Letting you know I saw some Light Furies that need flaming. Interested?"
They forgot the ground-prey and followed her into the sky, flying low over the mushroom-trees and other trees. She flew ahead of her brothers so she could flame first! There were five Light Furies, even after checking with life-fire sight. This was an easy fight.
She roared to announce their presence, and the Light Furies pulled up in surprise, one of them winging ahead of the others.
"Nestmates, look! More hunting!" she shouted for all to hear.
"We are hunting for the pack!" the male flight-leader shouted.
"Here! Give this gift to your Alpha!"
She flamed him, a bright fireball exploding in his face and fouling his flight. Two more blasts exploded before the other four Light Furies, who reared back in confusion. Two of them even crashed into each other in their alarm.
A fearful howl followed as the Light Fury flight-leader called to his packmates and turned around. All five Light Furies hastily fled the hunting-range while she and her brothers flamed at their waste-ends. The Light Furies left with no catches or prey to take back to their pack.
Satisfied, she spun around to glide back to the prey while her brothers fell in at her side.
"Good shots!" Dawn-Singer huffed.
"Yeah, if you shoot enough you will eventually have to hit something," she teased.
"Speak for yourself. I have plus five accuracy on every attempt!" Rain-Eater protested.
She snorted, "Do you? Show us that with the ground-prey!"
He slapped her wingtip, "Challenge accepted!"
She glanced over her tail to check that the Light Furies were not returning, which they were not. This was the new normal whenever anyone encountered Light Furies which were likely from the rotted pack. Their Far-Fliers or Hunters were flamed and threatened, all in the between-pack ranges where fewer rules applied. Making these ranges more dangerous for members of that pack and limiting how much food they could bring in from outside their immediate territory were both ways to get a slow revenge on their Alpha. Both would make his control or his pack weaker, even if only slightly weaker.
Mist-Wings was still not ready to leave the New-Haven-Range. Her fear was too great, but that would not always be true. She would grow strong and brave enough to help on these missions again.
Aurora purred, hoping she would be there to see her sister flame someone in real fighting for the first time.
Rain-Eater perched on a hill on the island while keeping watch. Unlike in previous season-cycles, he was not alone in the above this time. Everyone was to only fly beyond New Haven or to the above in at least pairs, for safety.
That was partly why he flew up here with Flies-Bravely. She wanted to see a world she had never seen before. Her first wingbeats out of the cave were filled with her evident awe and wonder. The sun, the ocean, and the clouds were completely foreign to everything she knew.
Just as she was to him, in other ways.
He groaned and fell flat on his belly, though his gaze wandered to where a white shape was prancing on the sandy shore, alternatively chasing and fleeing the surf. It was humorous seeing her marveling at things which were completely normal, to him anyway.
She eventually tired of playing and instead curled up to sleep in the warm sand.
He looked away from her, staring instead toward the horizons.
Why was the thought of her so pleasing and confusing? Where before, time around her was almost like a duty, now it was a part of the waking-cycle he anticipated. She was a twisted mix in that she knew very bad parts of life from her prior pack, but she was also very innocent and curious. The bad in her pack had not truly touched her, though she knew fear and the feeling of being trapped. She was not nearly as sharp-thinking with numbers as he was, but that was no judgment on her as a person. She had as vivid an imagination as any of his kin.
What is wrong with me?
It was becoming clearer that their pretend-pairing was not only pretending. There was real bonding happening, or something. She was not only a friend, someone who flew in the winds of life with him for now. But he was a thinker, not a doer! When did all these twisted thoughts grow in his liver? Wait, were they in his liver-thinking or his head-thinking? Was there truly a difference, and how to think logically about this?
When had he started seeing her as a female?
In all their talking and games of deep caves and sky-kin, her being female was not important at all. It only became more important after everyone started practicing fighting. Everyone picked different partners to train with every few waking-cycles, but she always preferred practicing with him. Pins were the most liver-twisting part of learning with her, but that was only practical.
He got to his paws, turned away, and strolled through the forest. Their side of the island did not have many trees, but there were enough that they covered the slopes in green between long stretches of grass.
Even without looking down on her from afar, he could see her in his mind. Her pure, plain white shape curled up on the sand. Her beautiful blue eyes on him as her tail swayed beside her.
Was beauty practical? Her confidence, bravery, and willingness to leave behind a bad pack were certainly practical.
Was she interested in him? It was possible her willingness to help him practice liver-thinking was because she wanted him, or maybe it was just practical kindness. Was there a way to know without asking her, which might offend her? If she was just a friend, if he misunderstood her signals, asking about that or suggesting that he wanted more, which was only a maybe right now, might hurt their friendship or claw at her trust of him.
He rolled his eyes.
"If only there was a way to roll a perception check in real life."
He walked idly, having nothing better to do but inspect the island. This was the only large island he knew well. The Haven-range had not been an island. But this island had some similarities to parts of the Haven-range, in that it had mountains, ample forests, and grasses. There were plenty of fish in the surrounding waters, but there were no large four-leg ground-prey, which was a difference. Ground-prey could graze on the fields of grass and mosses, since there were no prey-hunters up here.
He paused and looked around as an idea sparked to life.
Maybe we can bring prey-animals up here to grow in number. That might help with the food problem.
No sooner had that idea sparked to life than another idea followed, though it was more twisted. But that was a discussion to have with sire-father and Shadowwing. They might not like the idea, but it would address the biggest problem facing the New-Haven-range. It was also twisted that neither Shadowwing nor sire-father had proposed this answer before, though maybe they considered it and rejected it because of a problem he did not know about.
He took flight and turned back for the shore where Flies-Bravely would be resting. The day was nearing an end.
But she was not there on the shore. The place where she curled up to rest was empty. He could not see her soaring offshore to search for fish.
He landed, found her scent trail, and followed her away from the water, up the slope covered in long grass, and toward twisted and gnarled bushes.
Was she in danger? Did something bad happen? It was possible, though unlikely, that an enemy Light Fury could have followed them up here. The appearance of that Alpha Light Fury and his personal guards had changed normal life in the shared-range.
He ran faster, slightly worried about her. He was not truly a flight-leader for this watching, but he still wanted to keep her safe. Where had she gone off to? Had something bad happened to her?
Finally, a white shape appeared ahead among the pine trees. More importantly, she was safe, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Found you!"
"I was not hiding."
"You were not on the sands," he said as he arrived beside her.
She yawned, "No, being out under the sun-sky-rock is very warming, but sleeping is easier in the shade."
"True. Are you hungry? We could go catch fish if you want."
"I am not hungry. You?"
"Not really."
He lay down beside her after yawning, but slightly stiffened as she leaned against him, whether intentionally or not.
She chuckled before he could ask what she was doing, "We should share warmth."
"Sure. Yes. Good idea. I have just never done this before."
"Never shared warmth?"
"Not with someone who is not my kin. Not that you are not kin to me! Grr."
She chuckled and shoved his shoulder, "I know what you meant."
He purred in relief that she did not take offense, "Good. What do you think about the above so far?"
She sighed, purred, and lay her head on her paws, "I have no words for it. Never in my most twisted sleep-visions did I see a range this big and more in every way!"
"There are more islands near this one. The others are not as big or green."
"Tell me about them! There are bigger ranges with land that never ends, yes?" she eagerly asked.
"Yes, but the two-legs live in those ranges. The ranges beyond here are not safe for sky-kin."
"But your brother, Flies-With-Sun, and Kin-liver went out there."
"In secret. We can fly beyond only if we stay hidden and avoid two-leg nests."
"Do you want to?"
He shrugged, "Maybe to fly a flight like my brother did, but I do not want to be away from my kin for long."
"Neither do I," she purred.
There was another hint of hers. Was this her trying to help him think and feel more with the liver, or was she being truthful about her interest? Maybe he should ask her right now.
He glanced at her, but she was already visibly trying to doze. That was almost a relief. He could wait to have that talk. Waiting longer was a way to put off the danger for later. Asking about this was a risk that might break or hurt their being friends.
The wind was not very cold, but there was almost a little chill. There would be for certain at night, so he stretched a wing out over her back. Sharing warmth was purely practical.
Moon-Dancer leaped, a paw held high to strike. Mist-Wings flung up a foreleg to block his strike. With his strike blocked, he spun away and retreated as she faced him. She growled very convincingly while showing her teeth.
The play-fight was going well so far. Now to test her even more.
He stalked closer, keeping low to the ground to present less of a target. One step at a time closer to her while remaining ready to pounce or dodge.
She flamed in his face to force him to close his eyes and look away. But a quick glance with life-fire sight let him see through the fire to where she had pounced at him. A quick crouch and lunge into the fire-cloud let him foul her jump so she tumbled over his back and landed heavily on her belly.
From there it was easy to hop onto her back and pin her, ending the play-fight. She had not expected him to move into the fire instead of away.
"I win! Know what happened?"
She did not answer.
"You should have-"
She started trembling and whining as if she was in pain!
He quickly scrambled off her and ran in front of her before sitting down, "Mist! What is wrong? Are you hurt?"
She stilled, gasped, and slowly got to her paws, though without looking up at him, "I am fine. Very fine. Fine."
He leaned closer and nuzzled her head, "Sis, talk to me. What happened?"
She leaned away, whined, and stared into the distance, "Sorry. I just... sorry."
He was confused by that for a couple wingbeats before the liver-chilling truth was clear. His playing with her made her feel threatened.
His liver-sister was still hurting.
"Sorry. I should have known that would be a problem."
She barked and growled at him, "No! You should not say sorry! This is my problem! I am fouled! Weak! I am-"
He almost answered her but he had no chance before she flamed the ground at her paws. Then she unsheathed her claws and started slashing at the dirt while growling and snarling. After tearing up the burned moss, grass, and dirt, she flamed one more time into the ground, blasting a hole as deep as a paw. Dirt rained down on both of them.
She breathed heavily, heaving and growling without looking up while smoke curled from her jaws.
Silence followed as he was not sure what to say.
"Do you want a hug?" he whispered.
She gasped, whined, and hopped to him, laying her head on his shoulder. He hugged her, letting her whine and nuzzle him to let out the hurt.
"You are not fouled or weak."
She stepped back, "I cannot control the… fear."
"You were very angry. Nothing is bad about letting out the hurt like that."
"But that is not what matters. I was afraid of you! I feared my sire-father when he found me! I fear my own kin!" she whimpered.
He had no idea how bad and liver-chilling that must be. To fear her own kin was truly terrible.
"Not your fault."
She sighed, "I just feel like I do not have control anymore. The fear burns brighter when it should not. I do not know what to do."
"Maybe it looks like that right now, but it will not always be. You have gotten better at fighting since we started practicing. You know that all your kin care about you and want to help. I do. Do you want to keep practicing?"
She sighed, "Sure. I probably should."
"If it helps, you can pin me next. I need practice trying to get out of pins."
"Okay, fine."
"And, for what it is worth, your hurt-marks look impressive, like you are a dangerous fighter."
She did not chuckle, though she softly hummed. It was a start. Further, he had another idea. He had already told her in confidence, but she could use a reminder.
"Maybe you should ask my dam-mother. She could give you help in learning how to be warm and braver."
She started in surprise, "Really? She would talk with me about what happened to her?"
"Probably. Just do not let her know that I know."
Mist-Wings arrived where Luna was resting with Shadowwing and Flower-Eater, though only Flower-Eater was asleep.
"Warm waking-cycle, Mist-Wings," Luna purred.
"And to you both," she answered.
Shadowwing whispered, Flower-Eater dozing on his back, "How was the practicing this cycle?"
She shrugged, "Good enough, I guess. May I talk to Luna alone?"
Luna got to her paws and nodded toward a ledge which dropped down along a waterfall. The noise from the waterfall would hide what they were saying if anyone else was listening.
"What is it?" Luna hummed.
"I… still have bad dreams and get afraid. Even practicing with Moon-Dancer just made me afraid. I feel… fouled."
Luna sat down before her while softly purring, "Are you sure that Alpha only... hit you, nothing else?"
"Yes, I did not hurt back there if that is what you mean," she grumbled.
"Good. What I am going to tell you none of your nestmates know. I would like to keep this between us. Do you promise to listen to me?"
She silently nodded.
Luna gently lay a paw on her shoulder, avoiding any hurt-marks, "Before I met Shadowwing, I was a trapped-thrall to two-legs. They forced thralled sky-kin on me, all to try to get eggs from me. That is where I got some of my hurt-marks. I know the feeling of being powerless, trapped, and scared. Being fouled is not what you think it is."
She inhaled, blinked, and gasped, pretending this was the first she heard of it, "What? That is terrible. What is it to be… fouled then?"
"Being fouled is if you let what happened to you rot your life-fire and your thinking of everyone else who cares about you. You are too strong to do that to yourself. You can choose to be strong."
She sighed, "I do not feel strong."
"Maybe not now, but you are. We are all here to help you. Great skies, I needed much help before I could see Shadowwing well or trust him."
"So what should I do?"
"More of what you are doing. Practice fighting with others you can trust. Get stronger. Be around your kin. Play thinking-games with the ground-kin. Take life one waking-cycle at a time, growing a little stronger each time. And you can come talk to me whenever you want."
She hummed and licked Luna's cheek, "Thanks. I will."
"Good. You look tired. Want to rest with us?" Luna offered with a nod toward Shadowwing.
She followed Luna, flamed the ground for warmth, and curled up before Luna covered her with a wing.
If Luna could survive everything she had lived through and still be as liver-warmed as she was, her own situation could not be nearly as bad. It was only a matter of time.
Dawn-Singer was busy overseeing Moon-Pinner, Wind-Dancer, and Flower-Eater, though dam-mother and Flies-With-Sun were not far away, speaking with each other. The fledglings were being entertained by Kin-liver, Erevan, and Helga while Kin-liver told stories to help the young learn their ground-kin words.
A rush of wings and a thump signalled someone's arrival. Rain-Eater trotted up to him and roughly sat down.
"Hey, can we talk? This stays between us," Rain-Eater asked.
"Sure, about what?"
Rain-Eater's tail tapped on the ground, "What was it like when you met Flies-With-Sun?"
Why would Rain-Eater wonder about that? There was only one reason that came to mind.
"Wait, is this about Flies-Bravely?" he smugly purred.
"So what if it is? Just… how did you know Flies-With-Sun was good for you?"
He looked over the fledglings' heads to where Flies-With-Sun sat with dam-mother.
"It happened quickly. She wanted someone to show her around the ground-kin nest and help her learn about ground-kin. I helped her meet Kin-liver and Erevan. After that, we flew on our own to see more places in the range and talk about ourselves. She wanted to know that I was warm to my nestmates, respected her, wanted a hatchling, and wanted a life-mate, not just to have fun with her. We needed a pawful of waking-cycles before she decided I was what she wanted. Want to hear more?"
Rain-Eater huffed, "No need. But how did you know you would be happy with her?"
He snorted, "Honestly, knowing what I know now about my own decisions, I would not fly into a pairing as quickly as I did with her. It worked well for us because she has no twisted thinking, but it could have been a bad pairing. What about you and Flies-Bravely? Have you done anything with her?"
"Yes. No. Nothing mates would do, except bonding and resting and… grr… I do not know. She is thought-twisting."
He almost chuckled at his brother's twistedness, "That is a good sign. Do you want to be with her?"
Rain-Eater groaned, "Maybe. But I do not want to make mistakes with her either. What if she does not want me in the same way?"
"She will let you know if she wants your interest and cares about you, but you have to make a move too. Not acting can also be a mistake. For what it is worth, you are being more responsible than I was."
"For all the good that does me."
He gently shoved Rain-Eater's shoulder, "Talk to her about life and what you both want. The sooner you talk together the sooner you can stop feeling twisted."
Rain-Eater yawned and got to his paws, "Maybe it is that simple. Thanks. Oh, do not tell anyone about this."
"Tell them about what?"
Shadowwing ran slowly, leaping far higher than was needed. He intentionally stumbled several times to help the pursuers keep close.
"Faster, sons! He is escaping!" Luna bellowed.
Two young roars sounded as Night-Light and Flower-Eater crashed through the brush, hot on his tail in pursuit. He made a wild display of scrambling and fleeing while letting them catch up to him. Jumping off mushroom-trees with stalks as large as his wingspan, leaping over boulders, and dashing up the slope.
Jaws clamped on his tail while a weight jumped on his back, so he fell with a thump and all his limbs spread out.
"No! I have been hunted!"
Night-Light roared, "Got him!"
"Yay!" Flower-Eater barked.
Luna bounded alongside them, "Well hunted, sons. Be careful though!"
"Why?" "Why?"
"Because you did not ground him!" he shouted.
He rolled, making Night-Light fall on his belly while also flicking Flower-Eater with his tail. His sons gently crashed together and were covered after he pounced on them, holding them down with his paws.
"Looks like I got you!" he chuckled.
"Sire-father!" "Grrrr!"
Luna roared, "Do not fear, sons! I will save you!"
What!
She hopped to him, leaped at him, and pulled him over into a roll. Tumbling and roaring in surprise, he came to rest on his back as she pinned him, both her front paws on his belly.
"Attack!" she roared.
His sons echoed her roar and dashed at him.
"No! Mercy!" he bellowed.
There was no mercy. Flower-Eater was gently gnawing on one of his ears, and Night-Light was tickling his belly.
This play would only be better if Hidden-Hope or Moon-Dancer were here right now, but they had other duties they were busy with.
"Alright sons, we won. We should let your sire-father get up!" Luna chuckled.
They let him get up.
"Finally! You won!"
"Yay!" Night-Light shouted.
"Are you tired?" he chuckled.
"No," Night-Light yawned.
"Sleepy," Flower-Eater yawned.
Luna chuckled after getting to her paws, "It sounds like you big and strong males need rest."
"I am big and strong!" Night-Light barked.
"Grrrr!" Flower-Eater growled, pawing at the ground.
Luna nodded, beckoning their sons to follow her, "I knew you were both tired. There is a good light-rock to sleep by. Follow."
He fell in beside them, enjoying a moment of calm away from the combat training and activity in the village. There was always something going on with construction for buildings related to the various sports. Someone even had the idea of dragon-racing, which would involve dragons, all of the same type to be fair to everyone, and their human rider racing around a defined obstacle course. Winners would get extra rations, honor, and, in the case of the dragon, extra grooming services.
The only problem was in finding enough dragons of the same type who had riders and were around New Haven. Maybe there could be a-
Night-Light bumped his shoulder, "Sire-father, can we talk?"
"Sure, what about?"
"About... ground-kin life-bond friends."
He started in surprise and glanced at Luna. She looked just as surprised as he did at the suddenness of the question.
She smirked and continued walking, "I will let you take this one. Come, Flower-Eater."
Thanks a lot for that.
His youngest son continued following her, leaving him and Night-Light alone. Night-Light was, at about two years old, under half his grown size. While still timid and very mild, he was not as shy as he had been in the past. His learning of human words and writing was still progressing with mixed results. He knew far more spoken words than he did written words.
"Well, son. What do you want to ask?"
Night-Light started slowly walking, "Dawn-Singer, Aurora, and Rain-Eater have ground-kin friends. Brother and sister do not. Is getting a ground-kin friend a life-rule?"
"No, it is not a rule. Why do you ask?"
"I was just wondering. How do I know if a ground-kin is a friend?"
Hmm, have you been hanging out with someone?
His three oldest children were free to roam throughout New Haven, so it was entirely possible that Night-Light had been spending time with someone.
"That depends. There are different types of friends. Usually, a good friend is someone who is like you in some way. You and them share something you both like doing, and you want their life-flight to be warmer. Do you know a ground-kin who might be a friend?"
Night-Light shrugged, "Maybe. She is a little like me."
So there is someone.
"Good. What is her name?"
"Stella."
"Why... why do you think she is a little like you?" he softly purred, startled by this news.
"She does not have other ground-kin her age. She is a little like me… slowly learning her words and writing."
"Have you done anything with her yet? Any playing?"
Night-Light nodded, "I went with her, her sire-father, and her dam-mother to find berries and fruits in the bushes and trees! We also played paw-swatting games! She has been helping me with ground-kin words too!"
"Good. Well, son, I think you should keep giving her time, playing with her, and being around her. She is very warm to all sky-kin. Just remember that we sky-kin grow up much faster than ground-kin. You will be an adult when she is still a fledgling, even younger than Safiya."
"When will I know if she is a friend?"
He shrugged, "There is no one time you will know. It just happens, almost like learning to talk in ground-kin words. You start not knowing anything, end knowing almost everything, and there are big skies between those."
Night-Light purred and kept walking, the talk apparently finished and his curiosity satisfied.
My son and Stella as friends. Astrid, if you can help that happen, do it.
Paws-At-Bright-Flowers hummed as Flower-Eater dozed on her forelegs. The young fledgling knew she and Hope-In-His-Liver were his life-water kin, so he slept easily with them. It had been a long time since they had sat with their own young life-water-kin, and this gave Luna or Flies-With-Sun time alone or time with their life-mates and no other distractions.
Life was good, filled, and warm again, even if it was still strange and twisted to be learning more about the two-leg ground-kin every waking-cycle. Their words were too confusing, but it was always easy to bring over someone who did understand and could speak for her.
Hope-In-His-Liver was away at the moment on duty as a watcher. Someone had to always be a lookout.
Flower-Eater rolled in his sleep, flicking his tail against her chest.
Flies-With-Sun had whispered that she and Dawn-Singer were trying for another egg. That was very good for her, Dawn-Singer, and Moon-Pinner too. Having at least one nestmate would help a fledgling grow up well and be able to think well about others of their same age.
Her other two children, now grown and with their own mates, had joined a very distant pack where they would be safe.
The terrible cold and emptiness which had settled in her liver at the thought of having lost three of their five young was gone now, replaced by a warm flame. Being around young ones helped much in sparking that flame. Watching the young of others was good, but it was not as good as those of her own kin.
Or her own young. Many life-making cycles had passed since she sat with one of her own eggs or hatchlings.
She lay her chin on Flower-Eater's back while purring to him.
An idea had hatched in her liver, even though the idea was a twisted one. Would Hope-In-His-Liver even think as she did on this possibility? Maybe. Hopefully. It was not absolutely necessary that anything happen, and life would be warm enough without what was nibbling at her thoughts. But there was a possibility at least worth considering and discussing with him.
Hope-In-His-Liver returned to find his life-mate after a long and thankfully boring waking-cycle of watching the shared-range while Moon-Dancer and Mist-Wings helped pass time by listening to his stories. Boring waking-cycles of watching were good ones.
He arrived at their cave-den, but she was not inside. She was probably with the fledglings somewhere, so he went to search for her. They were not in the ground-kin nest itself, which was a minor relief.
The ground-kin two-legs were not bad or dangerous, but he simply did not care to be around them. They were not important to his life-flight. Not like they were to Shadowwing, Luna, and the rest of their kin. Being around the ground-kin was still strange and confusing in some ways, as he could not understand their words and twisted practices. Why did they punch each other and knock each other down in bonding-greeting? Maybe the mysteries of ground-kin would be explained with time.
He found several of the Night Furies and other kin Light Furies practicing fighting, and went to them. Dawn-Singer was taking a break from the practice and was available to speak with him.
"Dawn-Singer, how is the practicing?"
"Second-father, everyone is getting better. Flies-With-Sun always tires me out."
He chuckled, "Good. Do you know where Paws is?"
"She was just here, but she went that way on paw," Dawn-Singer said, pointing with his tail.
He thanked Dawn-Singer and continued on his way after her. He easily found her scent and followed her deeper through a field of mushroom-trees and thick bushes toward the deeper forest. Trees and bushes with large fruits, weaving vines, and glowing flowers passed around him. Why would she want to wander in the forest on her own?
He found her resting beside a patch of various flowers, and lay beside her.
"Paws, are you well?" he purred, resting his tail over hers.
"Yes. How was the guarding?"
"Boring and peaceful. What are you doing out here?"
"I was thinking," she hummed.
"What about?"
"About us as a sire-father and dam-mother."
He inhaled, not particularly liking that flight of thought. Too many bad memories flew with that part of their lives. Even though they were wrong in what they had thought, the bad still felt real enough. Believing that they had lost three of their five young had been most life-fire chilling, even to the point that it kept them apart as mates.
"What about us?" he whispered.
She continued with a soft purr, "We were very wrong."
"Thankfully."
She sighed and rolled a paw, gently brushing the nearest plants and flowers, "This might be twisted of me, but seeing the other warm pairs here and all their young reminded me of something."
"Of what?"
She leaned against him and nuzzled his neck, "We are not too old. I am not past my life-making cycles."
What she implied was clear, but it was also a big surprise. They had not even come close to bringing up that topic in recent memory.
"Are you sure? We have not had a hatchling in a long time," he grumbled.
"Too long? We have not been trying since before Hops. Even he was going to be our last, but it might be good to have one more. This range would be safe, and we have many of our kin to help us. Unless you do not want another. That would be fine with me too," she whispered.
What did he want? An egg and a hatchling were a lot of work, and he had long since accepted that he and she had flown that part of life already.
Or had they? They watched over young for other family-packs, both as a way of filling the time and also because it was good to do for others. Maybe that was important because they had not truly flown on from being a sire-father and dam-mother.
Was there any reason not to have one more? Shadowwing and Was-Grounded had explained how everyone had to control their numbers for the good of the pack. Becoming too many for the range was not an immediate problem, and he and she could always return to another range if necessary.
The real question was why she wanted another.
"Would you… we... be doing this to replace Hops?" he whispered.
She softly hummed and looked to her paws, not answering for several wingbeats, "Maybe a little. We did not truly fail him; I know that. This is not about… proving anything. Maybe this is a twisted idea, but what do you think about it?"
He decided and nuzzled her neck, "I never could refuse you, and I will not start now, if this is truly what you want."
She chuckled in her way that always warmed his liver, "It is. We should tell Shadowwing and Was-Grounded about our plan. They will want to know."
Luna watched as her sire-father and dam-mother winged away to their chosen cave-den after delivering amusing news to her and Shadowwing.
Her parents were going to be trying for one final egg. Her getting a hatchling nestmate was almost a twisted idea. But her parents' life-flights were their own to fly. Her parents had been very cold toward each other in the past, all because they thought they had failed and lost three of their five children. Their having warmed toward each other enough that they wanted another egg was good for them, though possibly inconvenient in other ways.
She faced Shadowwing as he was visibly amused, his eye-ridges lifted high.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing. I just wonder what you think about that."
"I am warmed for them. Growing the pack by one is not a big problem."
He grumbled and looked into the distance, "No, but our numbers are a problem, even if far off in the future. We cannot delay this forever."
She started on paw for their kin, most of whom were playing in shallow pools or dozing, and he followed her.
She did not understand how he and Rain-Eater figured out the population problem, but she trusted in their conclusion. The food and numbers problem would move a little closer to the present because of the pack having more sky-kin in the shared-range.
"Have you thought more about what we should do?" she asked.
"There is always turning more of the ground into growing-fields for plants and mushrooms. We could try to catch more fish in the water-range."
She shivered at the thought of that water-range. Every flight there so far had ended well, but the presence of things with mouths big enough to eat water-kin whole was very chilling. Going to that range was asking for one of their kin to be lost.
"But that is very dangerous. Any other ideas?" she asked.
He grumbled, "None that have much lift. There are the packless Light Furies. If we could show enough of those family-packs that ground-kin are good, we could either trade with the Light Furies or maybe let some ground-kin live with them."
"But that probably will not happen any time soon," she sighed.
"No, it will not. The other idea is not good at all, but the twisted Light Fury pack has a good range with food they do not eat. Ground-kin could live there, if that pack was peaceful and did not have its Alpha."
"Or all its other rotted ceremonies!" she growled.
Neither of those options he suggested were good ones. Both involved a lot of danger to any of the ground-kin that would be living in other ranges, and that was assuming that the Light Furies would allow ground-kin out there. Many, like Red-Paw and her pack, would not want that. The hidden pack of Night Furies would also be a problem if ground-kin were to be out in the other ranges.
He nodded, "Maybe we can wait to find another way. We could always have some of us go on more flights to far ranges. There must be somewhere we or ground-kin can go."
She chuckled, "And it is not as though we will have more eggs or hatchlings here next waking-cycle."