Unions
Aurora's prey calmly walked ahead of her as she darted and dashed, keeping close watch on him between the trees without being noticed.
What was he doing in their range? Sure, she knew what he had told her parents, but what was he really planning?
Nothing bad had happened in the first pawful of waking-cycles he had been here. He worked, listened to her kin, met ground-kin, and found a cave-den to rest in. But it was her duty as a sister to help protect her little sister! If he tried to do anything twisted to Mist-Wings, she would find him, pin him, claw at him so he never hurt a female again, and then she would let sire-father get him!
Light-Hunter stopped walking and spun around to face her, "Aurora, I know you are there!"
Waste pile, I got too close.
She held herself proudly and pranced to him through the shrubbery and long grasses, "Good to see you are not blind and deaf."
He shrugged, "Usually someone wants to be alone to relieve himself. Do you want to watch?"
That was an obvious attempt to make her go away, but it would not work. Further, her taunt did not provoke him, which was either good or bad, depending on what to think of it.
"That is not why you are here. The waste pits are in another part of the range," she pointed out.
He blinked, "Waste pits? Oh, I did not know I was allowed to use those. I have been going out here deep into the forest."
A likely story. He was hiding something.
She snorted, "Fine. I will not waste much of your important time, or my time, which is far more important. I understand you are thinking of my nestmate sister as a possible mate."
"True, as I have admitted to everyone. So?"
She stood before him and softly growled, "So I have questions for you!"
"Ask your questions."
"Why her? Why are you interested in her?"
He grumbled and looked away, "I do not know how to answer. I think she is... very liver-warming to look at. I want to know her better. No one chooses who they love."
Ha! He walked into her trap!
She barked and pointed a paw at him, "You love her already? Very convenient. You have known her, what, three waking-cycles? Very fast to say you love her."
He huffed, "No, I need to know her much better before I could say I love her. But of all the females I have known or been around, I have not felt like this about any of them. She is different."
There was the proof she was looking for. His priorities were clear. Males were all the same and-
Grr, stop thinking like that.
It was too easy to fall back into letting jealousy rot her thoughts.
"So, you have known many females?" she asked.
He chuckled, "You do not know how the packs live out there, do you?"
"Not really. How?" she asked, slightly curious.
"It is not twisted for pairs to let their grown young ones fly to other families to meet possible mates. After not knowing what that interest is like, males and females both want to learn about that part of life. So, yes, I have learned what I want."
She huffed, "Let me guess, claim as many females as you can so you can boast to males back home?"
He shrugged, "Some do think that way and want to be with as many as possible. I say being together for fun and pleasure is not enough. It does not satisfy the liver."
She reluctantly approved of what he said. She had learned that same lesson, though without needing to be with a male to learn it. The example of her parents, Shadowwing and Luna, her thankfully limited interaction with the Alpha of New-Strength-Pack, and trusting her liver-voice were enough in her case.
Or maybe he was only saying that as a trick.
"Okay. I approve if you truly mean it. Know that I will be watching you."
"You and everyone else in your pack!" he retorted.
"Good. We understand each other. Do you know of any other males like you out there?"
"Like me how?"
"Considerate and… not completely thought-twisted."
He blinked, "You are asking for yourself."
"How else?"
"Sorry to disappoint you. Light wings and you dark wings have cold winds between our kinds."
She started in surprise. For one, he did not answer her question. Secondly, what he said was confusing. Had she heard anything like this before somewhere? It sounded vaguely familiar.
"What? Explain. Why do you not care?"
He grumbled and looked away, "The light wings where I am from do not trust dark wings, and the dark wings do not fly to us. I am not sure why they think like that, but they always have. My parents helped me learn to not think in groups like most others do."
His not caring about the difference in kin-kinds was one more point in his favor, though that was already known when he admitted he was searching for someone here.
She grumbled, "So the problem is that other males like you would not trust me because I am a dark wing? That is twisted of them. Are they all like that?"
"Most prefer to keep to their own kind. Younger light wings are less untrusting, but there is still cold wind between you and them."
She rolled her eyes as she remembered where she had heard that. Her sire-father and Shadowwing had related a similar, twisted message after they found the hidden Night Fury pack. The problem was not only one which the Light Furies had. Even those Night Furies were not trusting of others.
"And the Night Fury pack does not trust us because of the ground-kin. Waste pile!"
"Night Fury? What?" he grumbled.
"We call ourselves that. Light wings are Light Furies!"
"Why Fury and Furies?" he asked, confused.
"Blame the ground-kin!"
She spun around and took flight, likely leaving him confused.
More disappointment was, twistedly, less frustrating than she thought it should be. Being on her own was not too bad. Further, with Flies-With-Sun and Luna's parents sitting or expecting new eggs, there would be opportunity to be with hatchlings. That could be more practice for when her life changed for the better. It would happen, eventually. At the very least, entertaining her very young kin could replace the need to have one of her own.
Flies-With-Sun's previous suggestion came back to her again. There was always the option to name an egg or hatchling her own to raise, if the opportunity ever arose. It certainly would not happen if she waited here in the New-Haven-Range.
Rain-Eater walked through the deep forest with Flies-Bravely beside him. Many waking-cycles had passed since Kin-liver treated his shoulder. That treatment had worked very well, the rot going away and not coming back, though the hurt still stung a little sometimes. The deep cuts were healing well, and he now looked far more like a fighter. The hurt-marks, once fully healed, would give him a permanent bonus to intimidation, just like his nestmate sister now had.
But there was another important reason why he and she were walking together. The care she showed him in staying by him and helping him heal were very liver-warming, and had helped answer one of the lingering questions he had about her. Neither of them had talked about anything important since the treatment. Most of the cycles while healing were used sleeping, recovering his strength.
He looked around and saw nothing but tall mushroom-trees, other trees, flowers of all colors, plants, vines, and mosses in all directions. Completely on their own, this was as good a place as any for an important talk.
He sat down and faced her, "Want to talk?"
She shrugged as she lay down beside him, "We walked all this way just to talk? Why not?"
"Great. I want us to talk about us."
She chuckled, "Can there be a more important topic than that?"
"Not right now. I still might not be the best with liver-thinking, but I am not as bad as I was!"
"You made progress. That is easy when you start from nothing."
He looked down to his paws and up to her deep blue eyes, "You also saved my life, and you helped me when I was hurt. I do not want us to be trick-mates anymore."
She blinked and softly purred, "No?"
"You are liver-warming, beautiful, and very brave. Life can be dangerous, and it is best to be in a group. It might be a good idea to... be a party, you and me. Being part of a life-mate pair gives permanent buffs. What do you think?"
She stared at him until she burst out in laughter. Her laughter faded into nonstop purring as she nuzzled him, which was an answer in itself. Such attention no longer felt twisted or confusing at all.
"Yes, I will… party up for life with you, my life-mate," she whispered.
He returned her nuzzling for the first time as her life-mate, which was both a good and twisting thought. Was this what sire-father felt like when bonding with dam-mother?
"Hmm, thoughts on growing the party?" he chuckled.
She laughed and stepped away from him, "I like where your thinking is flying. Yes, eventually."
He had been teasing, since he already knew from prior talks that she wanted eggs and hatchlings when the time was good for that.
"You asked me once what I see when I see you," he hummed.
"And?"
"I see what I want."
She hummed, "About that, I have been eating no-eggs berries, so this is a very good time for us if you want."
"You have been eating no-eggs berries? Why would you do that?" he teased.
"Because you already caught my liver, and I want this too," she purred.
They slowly circled each other in the moss. Nothing existed except each other. He openly looked his life-mate over without hiding his interest as she did the same to him.
He smirked, "It sounds like you wanted to use me."
She rolled her eyes, "I am guilty."
"So am I."
Rain-Eater lay on his side with her, holding her with a wing over her back and her head under his chin. All the possible work, activities in the shared-nest, or even bonding with the rest of his kin did not matter. Nothing was more important than holding her, hearing her purring, purring to her, and just being there with her.
Flies-Bravely, his life-mate. Fled from a pack where her wants would not have mattered at all, joined his pack and named his pretend-mate for her own protection, and now his truly, just as he was hers.
Had sire-father and dam-mother planned this? They certainly hoped for it. They likely knew it was a possible outcome. Not that he was going to complain at all.
Was-Grounded thought he knew the meaning behind this pack-meeting. Rain-Eater and Flies-Bravely asked him, Green-Wings, Shadowwing, Luna, and all his nestmates to meet with them. Their reason was very obvious. How could it be anything else, especially given how close together Rain-Eater and Flies-Bravely were sitting and how much time they had together while he was healing? They must have decided on what they were to each other.
"Son, Flies-Bravely, what is it?" he asked.
In full view of everyone, Rain-Eater and Flies-Bravely wove their tails together and nuzzled necks.
Flies-Bravely purred, "We wanted you all to know we are life-mates. We are one."
Barks of pretend surprise and purring of approval followed from everyone. Green-Wings leaped forward first and nuzzled Flies-Bravely while he went to his son. He could remember when his Rain-Eater was very small and learning his words. Now his son was a grown adult with a life-mate of his own: a brave and liver-flamed Light Fury too!
"Rain-Eater, son, we are very warmed for you and her."
"Thank you, sire-father."
"Are you trying for an egg?" he asked, knowing that Green-Wings was probably far more curious than he was.
Rain-Eater shook his head, "Not right now, but we will let you know when we start trying."
He chuffed, "Your dam-mother would be the one to tell first."
Rain-Eater chuckled, "True."
Shadowwing and Luna approached and gave them their congratulations. Dawn-Singer greeted his brother with a headbutt.
Aurora stalked forward and sat down before her brother and Flies-Bravely, "So you are life-mates now. Great. Does that mean you have finally done it?"
"Done what?" Rain-Eater teased.
"You know what! Have you climbed on her, or whatever you do?"
Rain-Eater and Flies-Bravely shared a glance and a chuckle before Rain-Eater answered, "I could give you details. First we-"
Aurora held up a paw, "Not interested! All I want to know is what happened to the Rain-Eater I knew? You never cared about finding a mate!"
"I learned to think more with my liver. I also realized there will always be another tomorrow or next waking-cycle to wait for. Life is too short to delay being happy."
Aurora nodded, "That has lift. You would know about being too short."
"How would you know unless you were looking?" he retorted.
Aurora rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Fine. I am happy for you both. Truly."
"We know you are," Flies-Bravely purred.
Amused, he chuckled at how Aurora was still herself, while being much warmer and more considerate to her kin. She had grown a lot at liver in the last season-cycle. Having her be the flight-leader for her kin on that adventure to distant ranges had been a good idea.
Mist-Wings and Rock-Climber gave their brother congratulations while Wind-Dancer did not entirely understand what was going on, though she appeared happy about everything.
Shadowwing spoke up, "Will you be taking a cave of your own together?"
Flies-Bravely purred, "Yes, he will stay in what was my cave. Now our cave."
Rain-Eater huffed, "And so everyone knows, we are not flying quickly into being parents."
Shadowwing nodded, "Understandable. Have any of the ground-kin been told about you two?"
"Not yet. We flew here after we... rested," Flies-Bravely chuckled.
"Kin-liver and Safiya will be very liver-warmed by this," Green-Wings purred.
Twistedly, Rain-Eater sighed, "Kin-liver will, yes. Safiya will want to twist my tail and tease me."
Shadowwing chuckled, "I am not surprised. She would do that."
Aurora snorted and turned aside, "I have already given my approval! I will be watching nearby ranges if anyone needs to find me."
"Flying away already?" Rain-Eater smirked.
"It is either that or listen to details about what you did with your new life-mate! Wait, she is my… Shadowwing, how do the ground-kin say it, my nestmate-sister-in-life-rules?"
Shadowwing chuckled, "Ground-kin say it differently, but the idea is the same. Not your life-water-kin, but part of the family all the same."
Aurora nodded and faced Flies-Bravely, "Good. Other-sister, do not expect me to treat you any differently from now on!"
"You better not. Are we still having a words-flaming contest later?" Flies-Bravely growled.
"Yes, and you will burn," Aurora growled.
Was-Grounded yawned and faced Aurora, "Daughter, who is going with you out there? No one should go alone, remember?"
"Good point. I did not plan to fly far, but having a flightmate is a good idea. Let me see, my brother and other-sister will be too busy with each other-"
"Hey!" "Will not!"
"-and almost everyone else has other duties here. Light-Hunter could fly with me if no one else wants to."
Moon-Dancer hopped forward, "I will fly with you. Light-Hunter was sleeping the last I saw him."
She nodded, "Okay, fine with me."
Moon-Dancer glided at Aurora's side as they flew through a passage into another range. They had flown together without talking much at all so far. There simply was not much to say.
He remained as attentive as he could on the flight. No one had been disturbed by the Alpha Light Fury's pack since the last confrontation, but he was going to take as much care as he could, both for himself and for Aurora.
She flew ahead of him, letting him briefly watch her flight. She was still as confusing as she had always been, but something was different… whether about him or her was not clear. Watching her in flight was as pleasant as it had been before. She was still as biting and clever in words.
He sighed, wondering if these twisted thoughts came from Rain-Eater and Flies-Bravely's announcement. Those two had seen their wants and acted on them, warming each other's life-flights.
Was such a want for Aurora a want he should even act on? Would it be wrong and twisted to be with her?
Being a sire-father was not a part of life that felt very important. The New-Haven-Pack already had enough sky-kin already, especially including the new hatchlings that would be in time.
Aurora eventually dove and landed on the nearest light-rock, so he landed beside her and joined her in observing the visible range under the island. It was in this range that Mist-Wings had been attacked by the monster Light Fury. Nothing bad had happened since then though.
Aurora sighed, "I was not cold to them, was I?"
"What?"
She lay flat on the light-rock and grumbled, "I am truly liver-warmed for my brother and Flies-Bravely. They will be good to each other. I do not know when I say too much or say the wrong words. Sometimes I say what I do not mean, or I do not say what I truly feel. Grr, I have life-problems."
He started in surprise that she would say something like that to him. She rarely shared liver-feelings or life-truths with anyone, as far as he knew.
"Why do you think you have life-problems? I do not think you are twisted."
"No? I never bite or snap at my nestmates and kin?"
"Well, you have always had fast thinking, and you know how to fight with words. Nothing is bad about that. If you care though, you might try to not let yourself be frustrated."
"Not the first time I have heard that. How though?" she asked.
"Sire-father told me that it helps to close your eyes and count to ten. Doing that gives you time to think about what you would have said without thinking and then not say those twisted words."
"I heard about that trick. It would probably help some, but it does not help with my true problem."
"Which is?"
She looked away and deeply exhaled, "You would think less of me if I said it."
He gently shoved her shoulder, "I promise I will not think less of you. To be able to think less of you means I must think about you at all!"
She snorted and shoved his shoulder, "Very funny. Alright, my life-problem is that I am… was… grrr… jealous of my older brother. He had Flies-With-Sun fly to him, they became close very quickly, and they are a happy pair. I am alone, and I wish I had what they have, and what Rain-Eater and Flies-Bravely will have."
Aurora was unhappy that she had no life-mate? That was… surprising and confusing. Was this an opportunity to admit what he thought and wanted? Maybe, but telling her that truth right now felt twisted, as if it would appear too convenient.
She continued, "And I see that my want for a life-mate was a twisted want. I did not want to truly be with someone I loved, cared for, or respected. Instead, I was being jealous of my brother, and that made me colder to him and the rest of my kin."
"So what are you doing about your problem?" he hesitantly asked.
She grumbled and got to her paws, "Trying to grow out of it. That want for a life-mate was too big and rotted. I need to be happy with myself as I am before I could want anyone else in my life-flight in that way."
It was good that he had said nothing. If she knew herself, she was not ready to find anyone now anyway.
"At least you know all of that about yourself. Knowing what you want and when to… act on those wants is probably difficult to learn the first time. I should know," he said.
She faced him and stared, as if very curious all of a sudden, "What is this? Moon, are you looking for someone?"
He grimaced and shrugged, "Well, I am grown and feel more than I did before. Not that I have a big need to be a sire-father any time soon."
She chuckled, "Sorry, I just remember when you were so small. That is not you anymore. Why do you not fly to the packless Light Furies or the Night Fury pack? They must have females you could meet. Someone among them would be good to you."
"Maybe, but they would have problems knowing and trusting the ground-kin. I also do not need anyone any time soon."
She nodded, "Then you know yourself better than I did. No one can… wait, look!"
There was a flight of over ten Light Furies off in the distance, flying openly without fade. They were flying from the paths which led to the twisted pack of Light Furies, so they probably came from that pack, which meant they were fair targets for warning-flaming.
Aurora hissed, crouching down while glaring, "Is that… no. It cannot be them."
"What is it?"
"I thought one of them might be the Alpha, but none of them are big enough to be him. Also, some of those Light Furies are females," she explained.
From what he knew about that twisted pack, only males were allowed to be Far-Fliers. Females were not in that pack-role or any other pack-roles which would have them fly outside the pack.
"They must not be from that rotted pack. Should we go to them?" he asked.
She grumbled, watching as the Light Furies continued on their flight to somewhere else, "No, too dangerous if they want to fight. Speaking of dangerous, I do not think Light-Hunter is rotted or means Mist-Wings any bad, but you should watch him closely."
"He knows that I am watching him. Do you… have any other thoughts about him?"
She blinked in surprise, "What? Oh, no. No. He is healthy and grown, but I do not feel anything for him. Even if I did, I would not step between him and Mist-Wings, except to protect her if I must!"
"As would I."
Rain-Eater was not very afraid, but was perhaps a little worried. Before going to their shared cave-den to rest, he and Flies-Bravely were going to meet with Safiya to give her the good news. His ground-kin life-bond friend was sure to approve, having already told him in private that she liked Flies-Bravely, but this was still a big change in his life-flight. Such a change would impact how he and Safiya were life-bond friends, though hopefully not by too much.
He and Flies-Bravely landed outside Safiya's family cave-den. Safiya's sire-father greeted him and went inside to get her, since she was apparently napping.
Safiya walked outside, clearly having just woken up. Her head-fur was a tangled mess, and she was still wearing the sleeping-furs that ground-kin wore to sleep in with more comfort.
"Hey Rain, Flies-Bravely, what's up?" Safiya asked.
"The ceilinng," he answered.
"Yeah, it hasn't caved in yet."
"We have ssome nnewss forr you."
"Which is?" Safiya asked, yawning.
He shuffled closer to Flies-Bravely and lay a wing over her back, "Fliess-Brravely annd I arre matess."
It took a wingbeat before Safiya understood, and her eyes went wide when she did. She squealed and threw her arms around his neck in a liver-warming hug before doing the same with Flies-Bravely. Flies-Bravely returned the hug by gently patting her on the back.
Finished with the hugs, Safiya stepped back and faced him, "I knew it! Took you long enough!"
"Wass it that obviouss?"
Safiya chuckled with liver-warmth, "I saw how you were looking at her. Always taking her under your wing and helping to teach her. You fancied her."
How had she known? They did not discuss relationships in great detail, though she knew about the arrangement for Flies-Bravely's protection. Maybe there was special knowledge which only females, ground-kin and sky-kin, knew about.
He snorted, "You ssaw betterr thann I did."
"So, was there a wedding?" she asked.
"Nnot how you humannss have them. Sshe annd I made ourr prromisse to each otherr, annd we told ourr kinn. I will be sstayinng at herr cave frrom nnow onn. You arre welcome with uss whenneverr you wannt, except… ssome timess."
Safiya blushed, "Right. Well, when you two want anything for your cave, just let me know and I'll help however I can. Al will help out too with any bigger construction."
She had a good point that a natural cave could be made better by having a door-curtain for better privacy and more darkness for sleeping in.
He waited while Safiya and Flies-Bravely hugged ahead.
"Rain, I'm really happy for you," she said, smiling.
"I knnow you arre. Nnow that we arre official, Fliess-Brravely wanntss to get to knnow you betterr, maybe evenn let you fly with herr too."
Safiya sighed, "In time. There's no rush."
"Wannt to ssee the cave?" he offered.
"Sure, if you don't mind."
Moon-Dancer rested on the mountain on the island above while Light-Hunter lay nearby on his back. The cooler wind rustled their wings as it whipped around the mountain.
The life-slowing season, autumn or fall, had flown in. The few non-pine trees had their leaves burn to red, orange, and yellow or fall away entirely. Maybe that was why the ground-kin called the season fall.
Water-walker boats floated in the water offshore while the ground-kin caught fish. Flocks of prey-animals grazed freely on the island, since there were no hunters they had to fear. Columns of smoke from small food-cooking fires rose high into the sky from inside the ground-kin nest.
It was a little chilling that these ground-kin had to be away from sky-kin, but they were the ones whose sky-kin friends were away far more, probably because their friend-bonds were not as strong. Further, these ground-kin entirely agreed with the need to keep the hidden world hidden, which was part of why they were living up here. Making a ground-kin nest on the island could make the island a place other two-leg packs would not want to go, as the island was already claimed.
All the ground-kin living here could live entirely on their own on the island. All that sky-kin needed to be here to do was be available to take news to the shared-nest below.
He glanced at Light-Hunter as the Light Fury slept on his back, letting his belly be warmed by the sky-rock-sun.
Light-Hunter was completely amazed by the above, which was not a surprise since he had lived in the hidden world his whole life. The whole reason for having him fly up here was to see this world, so different from the only one he knew before. While sleeping in the light of light-rocks was good, it was not as good and warming as was sleeping under the sky-rock-sun!
As far as he could tell, Light-Hunter was not a thought-twisted male. He had a good sire-father, dam-mother, and nestmate sister somewhere else in the hidden ranges. Very little had happened between him and Mist-Wings so far, as Light-Hunter had helped a lot with work, getting to know some of the ground-kin, and, probably most importantly, not making Was-Grounded upset with him.
Light-Hunter rolled onto his paws and faced him, "Should we help the ground-kin hunt fish?"
"Only at night and without flame. We do not want the island to be found."
"Because there are bad ground-kin out there on other islands?"
He shrugged, "We call the not-ground-kin two-legs, but you are right. There are more of them out there on other islands and water-walker boats."
Light-Hunter yawned, "Why are the two-legs bad? What do they do?"
"Some two-legs want fighting just for the fun of fighting and killing. I do not understand them that well. Are you ready to fly below?"
"No, I want to touch the clouds," Light-Hunter purred, gazing skyward.
"Again?"
"Yes."
He chuffed, "Fine. Do that tonight, and then we fly below."
Was-Grounded, Green-Wings, and Luna flew together to Dawn-Singer and Flies-With-Sun's temporary cave-den. Luna was the most interested to visit them, since she had another reason to want to be there, but he and Green-Wings also wanted to check on their son and his egg.
They landed and strolled into his cave-den which was just barely large enough for them, though they had to stay close together. Purring with liver-warmth, they went to where Dawn-Singer was resting with the egg while Moon-Pinner slept behind him. Flies-With-Sun was somewhere else on one of her rare breaks from sitting the egg.
Green-Wings nuzzled their son's nose before closely inspecting the egg between his paws.
"How is the egg?" she asked.
"It is wiggling much more. The hatchling is getting closer to hatching!"
That news sent Green-Wings's tail thrashing against his. His life-mate was like that whenever hatchlings were involved.
Luna softly hummed, "Good. Are you or my sister chilled by this being your last one?"
"No, we are happy with this one and Moon-Pinner. If there can be more later in the future, good. If not, that is fine with us."
He huffed, deeply believing that two young was far too small a size for a flock, though he understood the need for control.
He nudged Luna and beckoned her out of the cave. They took a quick flight together to her parents' cave-den which was not far from Dawn-Singer's cave-den. He roared to announce himself as he and Luna landed in the wide cave. Luna dashed to her dam-mother and began whispering with her.
He thought it warmly tail-twisting that her parents had wanted to make another egg, one last egg as they said. Having many of the ground-kin now living above meant that there could be a pawful more sky-kin living in the shared-range, as Rain-Eater had explained it. Further, he and Shadowwing were not going to tell her parents that they could not have one more egg.
It was also twisting that the hatchling would be Luna's and Flies-With-Sun's nestmate brother or sister, when both of them already had children of their own who would be older than their own nestmate. But their family-packs were twisted in good ways already. This would only be one more type of twistedness.
He settled down beside Luna and purred at the egg which had the faintest yellow and red shine across the rest of the white.
"How is it?" he asked.
Paws-At-Bright-Flowers purred, "Well and warm. There is not much else to say about a new egg."
"Where is Hope-In-His-Liver?"
"He, Flies-With-Sun, Aurora, Light-Hunter, Mist-Wings, and Moon-Dancer were going hunting beyond the shared-range."
"Do you know where?"
"He said something about a range with mushrooms and many four-legs."
He remembered that one. It was a range with many of the four-leg prey which they sometimes would catch and bring back for the ground-kin. It was also a good place to go hunt for themselves. Not everything had to go to the ground-kin. Further, that was a range where it was possible to flame at Light Furies who needed flaming, as a continued reminder to that rotted Alpha that they were dangerous.
Luna nuzzled her dam-mother, "Let me know if you want a break. I can sit the egg for a while."
"Thank you, daughter. That would help."
Shadowwing, Was-Grounded, and Lone-Spark flew to the darker part of the chamber, outside where everyone usually flew unless there was a specific reason to go beyond.
Lone-Spark wanted to leave on her own without causing much fuss.
Shadowwing thought back over the last few months since they got her out of the Light Fury pack. In that time, Lone-Spark had trained in combat with almost everyone, noticeably gained strength, and proved herself a hard worker who caused no drama. He had no concern about her ability to defend herself, as much as was possible for someone flying on their own.
Further, he noticed that she really enjoyed the wrestling and physical aspects of training with their sons, far more than Flies-Bravely did. Her different personal interest was probably the reason why she thought nothing of wrestling with males. With her able to be truer to herself, it did not occur to her that anything about the practice could be provocative, which also helped her training partner feel more comfortable.
They landed on one of the dimmer crystals, and she spun to face them.
"Alphas, I thank you both again for helping me."
Shadowwing hummed, "You are welcome. It was warming having you with us."
Was-Grounded purred, "We wish you warm flights and success on your search. I do not know how many females think as you do, if that is important for you, but there are probably some out there."
Shadowwing nodded, "And you are welcome to visit us and our range if you are ever flying this way."
She purred and stretched her wings, "I will remember. Warm flights, Shadowwing, Was-Grounded."
"Warm flights, Lone-Spark," Shadowwing said.
She spun away, took flight for the distant cavern entrance, and vanished in a flash of fire.
"Think she will find someone?" he asked after she was gone.
Was-Grounded shrugged, "How can we know how many females think like her? I do not understand her interest, but I do not need to. If she finds someone else like her and they are warm together, then good for them."
Shadowwing hummed in thought while staring toward the distant cavern entrance in the distance. The only reasons anyone had gone beyond the safe boundaries of their territory for any extended stretch of time in the last few months were to fly to the island above or go on group hunts. There was no need to visit any of the other packs. Valka and Cloudjumper and other members of the extended family had flown beyond in small groups for hunting, foraging, or diversion from boredom. They had reported seeing far more Light Furies flying around where the corrupt pack was hidden. Some of those groups were too large to safely confront.
"What do you think he is doing?" he growled.
"What?" Was-Grounded asked, confused.
"The Light Fury Alpha must be up to something. More Fighters and Far-Fliers are flying in the skies around his pack. Why?"
Was-Grounded hissed, "Maybe he was worried by us taking ground-kin to live in the above. Or maybe he is more afraid of us. Whatever, threatening him looks like it worked."
The regular chasing away of any of his packmates who were anywhere close to New Haven had worked out well. There had been no further incidents after openly confronting him outside his territory. The open threat of active war had dissuaded him from doing anything else, though flaming at small groups outside each pack's territory was still entirely allowed. His relatives were always the first to act and force the others away, surely because the Light Furies were afraid.
Shadowwing hummed, "But now that you mention it, Aurora said there were females flying with the Far-Fliers last time she saw them."
"I am not sure I want to know why."
There was no good reason he could think of for why that Alpha would have females fly with the Far-Fliers. Maybe he planned to give them to an Alpha of another pack as a gift. It was inconceivable that such a terrible Alpha would change his attitude toward females and be more empowering of them and respectful to them.
He grumbled, "They are leaving us alone, for now. We should not expect any more from them."
Mist-Wings was resting by a waterfall which always sent up a spray of mist. Resting on a large rock by the waterfall covered her wings in a faint mist, which had always felt appropriate.
Life was good, peaceful, and regular. Rest in a pile with her available kin, play with Wind-Dancer and Flower-Eater, help her kin on group hunts outside the shared-range, join deep caves and sky-kin campaigns, practice fighting with her brothers, and enjoy the warmth of life. Everything was good again.
But Light-Hunter was confusing.
No male had ever shown her any real interest before. He was being very respectful to her and all her kin. He worked a lot for the range, never complained, was trying to learn to understand a pawful of ground-kin words, and was pleasant enough to be around. The most they had done together was go on walks around the shared-nest. He asked many questions about her kin, the ground-kin, and the above. She in turn asked about ranges he had seen, his kin, and his nestmate sister, Moss-Muncher. He was clearly good with the young, as he freely played with Wind-Dancer and Flower-Eater to entertain them.
This was not at all what she thought a male Light Fury showing interest would be like. He was not displaying how male he was, boasting, being pushy, or doing anything else! It was a pleasant surprise that what she thought he would be like was wrong.
A voice in her liver had whispered that he was no different from someone she wanted to forget about.
In all their talks so far, she had not told him what had happened to her. He did not need to know that she was attacked and weak.
Watching him from afar as he slept, played, or worked caused part of her confusion. His being different in shape from a Night Fury might be a reason for that. He was pleasing enough to look at: strong and lean.
She yawned, resting her head on her paws and closing her eyes.
A recurring problem was her sire-father. He would always find a reason to be nearby whenever she and Light-Hunter were on their walks. It was becoming annoying and frustrating that he thought she needed to be protected so much.
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.
The Alpha Light Fury. Big, growling, white, and with yellow eyes. Claws out and a paw raised to swat.
She growled in defiance and crouched to pounce, attack, and fight!
He stepped back, his yellow eyes widening in surprise.
She roared and pounced. Swatting. Growling. Snarling. Slashing. Life-water spilling and flying.
With a gasp of alarm, she woke up and flew to her paws, remembering where she was. She caught her breath and settled down again. It was only a dream. What was she told long ago? She would grow strong enough to fight him off in her dream?
It might actually happen! How the dream had ended was unclear. She could not say if she beat him or not, but she could not recall ever fighting back in past dreams. That she fought at all this time was progress.
She smugly purred as she lay back down on the mist-covered rock for more rest. This had been a very good waking-cycle so far.
Mist-Wings yawned as motion got her attention. Surprisingly, sire-father and Light-Hunter glided down from above and landed by her. They clearly came for her, so she got to her paws and jumped down from the mist-covered rock.
Light-Hunter purred softly in greeting, "Mist-Wings, how are you?"
"Well. You?"
"Same. I wanted to tell you that I am flying from this range."
She started in surprise. He was leaving? What? Why was he leaving? Did he not like this range? Did sire-father make him feel so unwelcome that he wanted to go away?
"Oh, why are you leaving?"
"I told my sire-father and dam-mother that I would go back to them and my nestmate. They will want to know I am safe."
That was entirely fair of him. He just wanted to let his kin know he was safe and well. They had to be worried about him after he had been here for part of a season.
"Do you plan to come back?" she asked.
"I do. This range is special. I might even bring my kin to see this range and everyone in it. Your Alphas said I may offer to let my kin fly here to see the range."
"Good. How many waking-cycles will you be away?"
He shrugged, "I do not know. Two or three pawful, more if my kin cannot fly here soon. I will not get lost on the flight this time."
"Okay. I wish you a warm flight, and do fly back here safely when you are ready. Your kin will like seeing our pack if they want to fly here."
He faced sire-father, slightly bowed to him, hopped away, and took flight. She watched as his white shape flew off over the mushroom-trees and the distant forest until he was gone from sight.
Sire-father was staring at her.
"What?" she grumbled.
"I am wondering about you and him."
She looked away and huffed, "If only it was wondering and nothing else."
"What do you mean?"
"I know what you are doing. You can stop following us around when we go on walks. Keep trying to scare him and he might not want to come back at all!"
Sire-father sighed and looked away from her, "I know that I am being cold to him, but it is hard to not see him as a possible danger."
While sire-father meant well, he was being very twisted! This was very, very frustrating!
"I am not your hatchling or a fledgling! You do not need to protect me from everyone!"
He winced, "Sorry. This is my life-problem. I will do better and be warmer to him when he comes back."
"If he comes back," she huffed.
He grumbled, "He said he would. It would be rotted of him to not be interested by you, dear daughter."
It was nice to think that was true. If she was truly liver-warming enough to grab Light-Hunter's interest, a little being apart would not break that interest. If anything, this time away from him might help her learn what he was to her. If being apart from him was not pleasant, that might be a hint.
"And I promise on my wings to not try to make problems for him when he comes back," he added.
Well, if sire-father promised on his wings, then he would do as he promised.
Rain-Eater sat beside Flies-Bravely up on a light-rock in the darker range. They let their tails fight with each other to help pass the time. Guard duty when alone was not pleasant. Guard duty in pairs was more pleasant because of the conversation and planning.
"I still say the campaign-flight would be better with more islands and places for the party to stop at," she proposed.
She tried to add in elements from the world above whenever possible. That was not a surprise, given how awed she was of that world. But the campaign was meant to be underground; after all, it was part of the name that the game was done in deep caves!
"Good idea. The islands can be in large water-ranges with kin-hunters in the water! Did you know that I have seen one of those kin-hunters in real life?"
She gasped, "What?"
"Yes, a hunter that could eat water-kin whole. It was the biggest creature I ever saw."
"Did it try to hunt you or your kin?" she asked, visibly worried.
"We never gave it a chance. From what Dawn-Singer said, it was not very fast in the water. Maybe it only eats dead or slow water-kin. I do not want to know."
"Me neither. I am never going into the deep water again! Back to the campaign-flight, what if we include a big sky-kin that has thinking-powers? It can turn the party against itself unless everyone in the party passes a willpower test."
That idea sounded vaguely familiar from somewhere, but it was a good suggestion, so he added it to the thought-list he was keeping.
He was about to continue when a flash of motion got his attention out in the distance. He looked more closely and saw a sky-kin approaching from outside the shared-range, and this sky-kin was probably a Fury from its size and shape. But it had a set of colors he had not seen before.
Regardless, meeting this sky-kin was his and Flies-Bravely's duty as the watchers. He roared a welcoming call to the unfamiliar sky-kin which turned for him.
The sky-kin landed further out on the light-rock, and he started in surprise when he saw the sky-kin, almost certainly a female, more closely. She was very much like a Light Fury in shape, as he thought from afar, but she was also strange and different. What looked like soft spines ran down her head, neck, back, and tail. White, blue, and purple colors flowed across her hide, scales, and wings, though discolorations showed several hurt-marks all over her shape.
The strange sky-kin stared at him and Flies-Bravely without blinking or looking away and was holding herself slightly tense, certainly ready to flee if she felt threatened. He made a point of not doing anything threatening, since he was certain this sky-kin was strong-thinking and could talk. Further, this sky-kin was not sneaking around or trying to hide, though it was being very cautious and deliberate in this first meeting.
"Is this the range of dark wings, light wings, other kin, and two-legs?" she calmly asked in a soft, mild voice.
He purred, glad that this sky-kin was asking questions, "It is. We are New-Haven-Pack. If I may ask, what kin-kind are you? We have never seen your kin-kind before."
She looked deeper into the range before facing him again, "I am a mixed-kin of light wing and... I do not know what else."
It was chilling that she did not know half of what she was. There had to be a reason why she did not know that detail about herself.
Flies-Bravely purred, "We do not have any cold to mixed-kin like you. You are welcome with us. My name is Flies-Bravely."
"And I am Rain-Eater. What is your name?"
She blinked once, stared into the distance, and paused before answering, "Call me Skadi."
Author's Note – This is the end of Children Of Dawn. I would like to thank my beta-reader VigoGrimborne for all the help he gave in proofreading and other suggestions. For those who have not been following it, Skadi's story is titled Echoes Of The Past and begins back around the initial departure of the dragons and dragonriders into the hidden world during Brothers Of Night. Echoes Of The Past is rated M and has been posting for some time. The sequel to both Children Of Dawn and Echoes Of The Past will be called Liberation and will pick up from the ending of this chapter. I am not sure when it will be ready as I have other projects, new work responsibilities, and EOTP to work on.