"Oft hope is born when all is forlorn." - J.R.R. Tolkien - The Return of the King

Defiance

The water-walker rocked back and forth with the spray of the sea.

The captor two-legs called out to each other in their strange way.

And the ropes and chains around him...

He absolutely hated them with every scale and drop of life-water and breath of fire in his body. He frequently wrestled with the ropes while the thrall-making two-legs were not watching. But this trap was too tight. He was forced to settle down and pretend to be asleep whenever one of the thrall-makers poked its horrible fur-covered head in to gloat in triumph.

All he could remember was that he had been sleeping in the home cave-den when Hiccup's sire woke him up and beckoned him out into the trees. Curious at what the two-leg Alpha had to show him, he had followed and walked a great distance. The sire had pointed at something through the bushes.

Everything had gone dark.

Then he woke up bound in ropes on this water-walker far from home-nest-island and surrounded by two-legs not from his nest. It felt not so very different from it had been after he had rescued Hiccup in the death-valley and been taken as thrall. Ropes completely encircled his closed jaws, pinned his wings tight to his side, and prevented him from standing or grabbing. They had even tied down his tail so that he could not whip any of them out of frustration.

He had managed to wiggle his jaws out from the ropes on the second sun-cycle on the water. He had lashed out in anger at the nearest male and got a good bite in on its leg before being wrestled back to the ground. The price had been that he was kicked many times in punishment, costing him many scales and some foul-looking and stinging hurt-marks. It had definitely been worth it though to taste its life-water, pain, and fear. They learned from that mistake and checked the ropes several times each sun-cycle.

This trap had very tight jaws now.

He resigned himself to glaring and growling at them at every opportunity. Every time they came near, he would narrow his eyes at them and curl his lips with a growl. He spared a special hiss of anger for the dark-fur female-Alpha.

With the exception of a couple fish and a bowl of water, they seemed to have forgotten him in the dark belly of the water-walker. That in itself was rather welcome except that none of them ever came to clean out his waste.

His thoughts turned to home-nest-island when he closed his eyes and tried to forget everything around him. To the gloriously warm skies, to a belly always full of fish, to playing flying games with Hiccup, to Hiccup's kind-not-mate two-leg-kin Astrid, to the deep caves, to his triumph over the thralled, thought-twisted sky-light-eater, to rescuing Hiccup from the nest-invading bad two-legs, and lazy suns sitting around doing nothing except letting his scales feast on the sun's warmth.

What had actually happened? Something did not make sense about it, but he could not put a claw on it at first.

Whatever hit me had to be there...

There was only one person who could have done it.

Could it be? Had Hiccup's sire been the one who struck him? Why? Why would he want to hurt him? It made no sense at all.

The male was not a bad two-leg or a weak Alpha. He made his nest-island one which let kin live there without fear, freed him from the trap under the water many season-cycles ago, and made him a part of his nest alongside Hiccup. He never considered the two-leg to be like his own sire, but he definitely had been in a place deserving of trust.

That trust had apparently been betrayed. It could not be otherwise.

It should have filled his veins with wrath. He should have wanted to flame the sire and to tear his body to pieces in revenge. But he felt nothing. Maybe it was because he was trapped and not in a position to avenge the broken trust. Maybe he was too tired or weak to be angry. Maybe it was the shock of the realized betrayal.

The sire probably did not want Hiccup to know that he was going to be false-livered. What will Hiccup think when he learns what happened? If he ever learns…

What would Hiccup do in this position?

He would probably try to talk to the two-leg captors.

He growled to himself out of frustration that he had never genuinely tried to learn two-leg words or picture-talking. He had gone along with Hiccup's desire that he learn the picture-words as much as he could, but his interest had been limited to learning the shapes for his own name. Maybe being able to picture-talk in truth could have been helpful here.

Listening to their mostly incomprehensible shouts and growls reminded him of their cruel, hard eyes and their tendency to kick. Now that he seriously thought about it though, these two-legs were not at all likely to listen to him even if he could picture-talk to them.

He settled back down on the wooden ground and refrained from testing the chains and ropes. He needed to conserve his strength and wait for an opportunity to escape.

No such opportunity for escape presented itself.

The thrall-making two-legs continued to keep him in metal chains and thick ropes and were very careful to keep him muzzled as much as possible.

The most terrifying night was when there was a storm strong enough to make the water-walker violently pitch and sway. He knew that he had no chance to escape this trap if the water-walker tipped over and started to sink into the ocean's belly.

The water-walker did not suffer any such disaster.

More suns and nights passed until he could not be sure how many suns he had been their thrall.

Then he started hearing the calls of birds from outside. Birds only nested on land.

Before too long, the two-legs came again, hauled him from his trap, and brought him out of the water-walker's belly. Even as he struggled against their grasp, he managed to look at his surroundings. The two-legs had built a very large nest with strange nest-structures next to the water. There were several of the water-walkers swimming in the water, and two-legs were walking everywhere and making all their different noises at each other. His captors took him to a two-leg ground-roller-walker that was pulled by large prey-four-legs. He was bound again, dropped inside out of view of all the other two-legs, and then a large animal skin completely covered him.

He spent a while thrashing about in anger and making the two-leg thing shake. The two-legs started yelling at him and wrapped him even tighter in ropes until he was barely able to move. It was all he could do to growl in anger at them.

Sun-cycles passed with nothing to see but the animal skins that were his trap and nothing to eat but the foul fish that the two-legs carefully tossed to him. Had they given him a single chance at one of their nasty, foul paws, he would gladly have bitten it off out of spite.

His thoughts eventually returned to the open sky and warm wind under his wings.

I wonder what he is doing. Will I ever see him again?

The sounds of a two-leg nest eventually became louder around him after many sun-cycles of quiet.

Two-legs, he had enough experiences of them for a lifetime. They had betrayed him too many times, shown themselves to be generally unfaithful, and were cruel to everything around them. Two-legs like legs-of-fish and Astrid were only exceptions to the normal way.

If I get out, I am never going to be in a two-leg nest again! I hate them!

His trap stopped moving and the fur-covering was lifted away to reveal a new male two-leg staring down at him. The vile-black-fur-wearing-she-Alpha started speaking to the red-fur male.

He glared right back at it, expecting the two-leg to look away or show some weakness. But it did not. It gave him a small teeth-showing while continuing to stare at him. Then the male turned to the female and extended its paw. She did the same. The two had clearly struck some agreement.

Then he realized something else about the male, something that he could only have known after catching its scent. The male had been around kin very recently. Many kin.

She is giving me to him! Why?

He started listening more closely to what they were saying to each other. Even with his very limited knowledge of two-leg words, he was able to understand 'kin' and the shiny rock that two-legs valued for some reason. It made more sense what had happened.

She gives me to the male, and the male gives her the shiny rocks. So I am the male's thrall now? I hate two-legs.

Owning something was not a new idea. Kin claimed their own dens, after all. But there was only one kind of kin that claimed ownership of other kin, the Monsters.

His trap started moving again, only this time the male followed along. It kept looking at him the whole time. It was very strange how it did not shiver at his growls and hisses. In fact, it started speaking back at him. He did not pay any attention to it after that. There was certainly nothing that it could say that he cared to hear or that he could likely understand.

The rolling trap eventually moved inside the mouth of a cave and emerged in a two-leg-built valley. The smell of other kin grew even stronger.

He realized that the two-leg was probably keeping other kin as thralls as well. He gave the two-leg Alpha as cruel of a glare as he could and growled deeply.

I will kill you, you Monster!

Deeper inside the cave they went until his trap stopped moving. The two-legs started swarming around his trap and making a lot of noise until the bars of his trap fell away.

He only weakly fought against them as they dragged him out and carried him into the next trap. They then started removing the ropes around his tail and limbs while keeping him pinned down. They left only the ropes tied around his jaws, and then they closed the trap's barred mouth behind them. All of them left except the Alpha.

The Alpha stood with its paws against the bars and continued staring at him. He glared right back, slightly baring his teeth with a snarl. Neither of them looked away. He held himself coiled like he was about to pounce despite the metal bars that would prevent a strike.

Something about the contest of wills seemed very important.

The two-leg eventually huffed and turned away with a wave of its paw, leaving him alone.

An odd silence fell over everything, only broken by distant sounds from the two-leg nest beyond. He relaxed for the first time in recent memory and investigated his new trap. It smelled of a spike-tail-kin. For that matter, there were the scents of several other kin in the air around him.

All he cared about was seeing if he could get out. He shoved against the bars, and they did not move. The ground was too hard to try to dig through. This trap had very tight teeth too. At least it was large enough that he could move around and stretch his wings somewhat. The ground was also covered in straw and far more comfortable than the wooden-ground he had known for many suns.

But there was no way for him to see the sun or feel its warm life and light on his scales.

He paused from examining his trap when another two-leg approached. He almost growled at it to go away when he noticed that it had a bucket of fish. The sight and smell of fresh fish made his mouth water.

The two-leg reached into the bucket and tossed a couple fish into the trap. He desperately wanted to eat as they were large and fat fish instead of the bad, dry fish he was used to. But there was a problem.

His mouth was still roped shut tight enough that he could not possibly eat. He picked at the ropes with his claws, but the bindings did not come loose.

How do they think I can eat with this mouth-closing thing on?

The Alpha returned with one of its wooden-sitting-things, and it sat down right beyond the bars.

The two-leg stared at him. He stared right back and hissed at it.

What is it doing?

It kept glancing from him to the fish on the ground. Then it raised a paw with one finger pointed at him. It spoke something while staring at him.

The word was not one he recognized, but he could tell from the Alpha's demeanor that it was a command of some kind.

Never! I will not obey you.

So he turned away from it, curled up with his head covered under a wing, and ignored the two-leg. It was not easy to ignore whatever the two-leg kept repeating. His rather empty belly did not help given the fish right next to him but which he could not eat. It was a terrible temptation.

The two-leg eventually shouted at him and grabbed the bars of the trap.

"Kin!"

That word was one he recognized.

If he had been able to, he would definitely have turned around and roared. Instead, he took a deep breath and refused to react even when it kept yelling and pounding on the bars.

The two-leg eventually gave up and left.

Good, it is gone.

With the Monster away, he was able to return to the problem at paw. Getting the ropes off. Hiccup would probably know how to manage it. He looked around the trap for anything that a two-leg might try to use to get free.

Maybe I can break the ropes on something.

But there was nothing sharp to rub the ropes against. The ground was stone, and there were no rocks he could use. The metal teeth of the cage probably could not be melted even if his jaws were free and were too thick for him to force apart. The ropes were too tight for him to even slip a clawtip under and were too strong to cut with his claws.

Nothing happened for a long time during which he curled up to rest and to think. There were no sounds save for the chattering or grumbling of another kin in a different trap or the occasional miserable two-leg passing by.

His eyes closed and sleep finally overtook him.

He got up and stretched his little wings. He hated having to sit still while sire was out hunting. Dam had to stay close to the little nestmate and could not play with him.

But he was getting bigger and wanted to learn how to fly. He had watched enviously whenever sire and dam came and went from the nest-cave-den, their great wings stirring up the sky-breath.

He hopped around in the cave while flapping his wings, but he only managed to flip himself over and land on his head with a squeak of displeasure. How did they do it?

Dam lifted her head and called to him.

"First, come here."

He darted over to her and dutifully sat down to listen.

"You have much life-fire," she hummed.

"I want fly."

"Yes, you do. You should rest."

"Why? Want big wings."

She lifted her wing to show him his little nestmate fast asleep at her side.

"You need fish and four-leg-prey-meat to grow big wings. Second is sleeping because we have no food now."

"She need big wings to get food," he complained.

Dam hummed at him.

"You think well, First. Rest now."

"But…"

Fast as a flash of sky-light, she reached over and stroked under his chin. He went completely limp and blissfully collapsed on her paw.

He woke up later at dam's side when sire returned, and he hopped to his feet to run over to him. Sire had something wonderful clutched between his teeth.

Sire walked on and dropped the leg of four-leg-horn-head-prey on the ground before dam. She tore off several large chunks of meat for herself.

"You eat, mate?" she rumbled.

"I go back for more. It was a big prey," he rumbled back.

"Sire?" he peeped.

Sire turned and gazed at him.

"How you get big?"

Sire bent down and nosed him.

"Many season-cycles and being smart."

He was not terribly enthusiastic about that answer. It was not fun.

"Eat," sire commanded.

He ran over to the leg and started gnawing at it. It was a delicious and fatty leg. His little nestmate woke up, waddled over, and started staring at the leg while whimpering.

Sharing was not something he cared to do. Anything that another ate was something that he could not eat, so he stood protectively over the leg and hissed.

"First…" dam warned him.

"I want."

She growled softly in another warning.

He stepped down and stared at his paws in submission. The little nestmate pounced on the leg and started trying to tear off chunks of leg.

"Good, First. Always share food when you can."

"Why?"

"Because kin who eat together become more kin. And the other kin might want to share with you when they catch prey."

He thought it was easier to just not need help from other kin. Instead of fighting, he returned to the leg and did not bother his little nestmate. She could not speak yet, but she apparently understood that they were not going to fight for the meat.

Between the both of them, the leg would certainly be stripped bare very quickly.

"Kin!"

He was violently woken up by the two-leg's shouting.

What does it want now? Just let me sleep!

The Alpha was again standing outside his trap. This time though it had one of its two-leg thralls next to it. The thrall was carrying a bucket.

He could see the water that splashed over the mouth of the bucket. Seeing that made him realize how thirsty he actually was. The only water that he could remember being given had tasted like drinking from water that had been fouled and been still a long time.

"Kin…"

The Alpha was pointing at him and at the ground when speaking. It wanted him to submit.

Submit and get fish and water or refuse and get more of nothing.

The Alpha snapped its paws at the thrall and sent it away on an errand, leaving the bucket of water behind. He did not need to wait long to find out why.

The thrall returned leading a spine-tail-kin by a rope wrapped around the kin's neck. There was nothing on the kin to control it other than that thin rope.

Why is it not fighting back? It could kill them now!

They did not seem at all afraid of it. The way it walked was completely submissive, head bowed and moving slowly. Its jaws were not even roped closed, and it was not hissing or growling at them.

The Alpha gave it a clear command at it while pointing at the ground, and the spine-tail-kin obediently lay down on its belly and refused to move.

"Good-kin..."

The spine-tail was rewarded by one of the two-leg thralls tossing it a fish, which it swallowed whole. It was then led away by the thrall.

The Alpha turned back to him, pointed at the ground, and gave the same command.

This was a test of his strength. His hunger bid him lay down and get food and water. He had not eaten well in many suns. His parched mouth almost watered as he stared at the bucket of water.

But his liver would not let him submit. To obey the Alpha's command in anything would be to lose something important. Would be to become like the spine-tail that had been led to him in demonstration; weak, submissive, and obedient. No different from the prey-animals that the two-legs kept in ropes back on home-nest-island.

No!

He fixed his gaze on the Alpha, gave it his coldest, most anger-filled stare possible, and then he growled for good measure. He was not going to grovel weakly and submit to the will of a weaker creature like a two-leg.

I will kill you. Maybe I will eat you too.

Oddly though, the Alpha did not seem angry at him. It just showed him its puny teeth. Unlike when Hiccup had once done so, its eyes seemed cold and hard. Almost mocking.

"You… bad kin…"

Then it leaned in and whispered something completely incomprehensible but no doubt malicious. For good measure, it poured some of the some of the water on the ground just outside his reach.

Then it turned around, and he was left all alone again.

Just him, the trap, and the bucket of water barely out of his reach. But now he was very aware of just how hungry and, worse, how thirsty he was. His head was already hurting from the lack of water.

He curled up against the stone wall of his trap and struggled to go back to sleep.

The only consolation was that he doubted this two-leg actually wanted him to die, as would surely happen eventually without any food or water.

I need to stay strong… will over body…will over body...

Light was terrible.

Light made his head throb in pain. His limbs and tail felt numb and weak.

He stared at the wall as the pounding continued.

It was hard to tell how much time was passing. Was it entire suns or only part of a sun since they put him in this trap? He had not passed waste-water in a very long time.

He could almost hear a stream filled with clear flowing water. Or maybe that was only his imagination. The ground was not comfortable at all, and he did not try to lift his head from the cold stone floor. He was not sure that he could if he wanted to.

The bars were twisting and warping even as he tried to look up at them.

One of the two-legs walked past his trap, and then its footsteps stopped.

"Kin?"

Go away…

"Kin!"

Go away…

Then it ran off...

Good...

...only to return later with several other two-legs including the Alpha. They all started shouting at each other and at him, but he didn't respond to anything they did. Then the Alpha shouted some orders and his thralls acted. They opened the mouth of his cell and rushed in around him. One of them nudged his limp head with its foot.

He barely stirred except to meekly groan in pain. Several voices mingled, and then he heard a command that sounded desperate.

Two-leg paws began working at the ropes around his jaws. They very carefully loosened his muzzle. Then he noticed the smell of several whole fish and heard the splash of water in a bucket immediately before him.

He weakly buried his face in the bucket. The pain in his head began to recede as the crisp water filled his belly. It was only after the second bucket that his thirst finally began to feel quenched. Then he attacked the fish and swallowed them whole before the two-legs had a chance to take them away.

At a word from the Alpha, the other two-legs began to disperse after strapping on his muzzle again and closing the trap.

The Alpha, leaning against the trap and looking very glum, was left alone. He could feel its gaze on him even after he turned away with a grumble and hid his head under a wing.

Its steps faded away shortly thereafter.

He allowed himself a small grin and growl of satisfaction. The two-leg had given in first.

How long it had taken he was not entirely sure. Long enough that his very senses had started failing him.

It will try to break me again. I will not let it. I am stronger. Weak creature...

The suns fell into a routine. A lot of sleep and some water and fish each morning. They even occasionally brought meat for him.

A few two-legs would come to clean out his trap every few suns now that he was eating again. They were only thralls that were doing something that he rather wanted them to do, remove his waste, so he didn't see a reason to bother them.

As patient as he was, doing nothing for many sun cycles was testing him and making him grow restless. He became snappy and growled at most passers-by. It was not good for a kin to sit still and be inactive.

The routine was finally broken when several two-legs came and fitted a rope to his bound jaws. Rather than fight them, he allowed them to lead him out and through the underground paths. Finding out more about the place where he was being held thrall was at least worth doing. He passed several traps on both sides of the path. Traps in which kin slept. Stone-bellies, spine-tails, and fire-scales, the most common types of kin.

He could not help but notice though that most of them were large and had many scars, some of which did not look very old. Oddly though, most of the scars looked like they had been made by other kin.

Why would they have new hurts? Probably the two-legs somehow. Monsters…

They brought him to a new trap. This trap was the most torturous of all that he had been in.

Metal teeth blocked the path before him and prevented him from walking out into the open air. Looking out from between the teeth, he could see what appeared to be a valley outside this trap. The valley had walls like the death-place where he had rescued two-leg Hiccup from the fire-scale-kin.

Just imagining collapsing on the warm sand and feeling the sun on his back and wings was tantalizingly torturous since it was so near but also far away.

He was left there in chains for a very long time. Two-legs started appearing around the outside valley. They were sitting all around up on the walls, just as the two-legs had done in the death-valley back on home-nest-island. It was not hard to imagine why they were gathering.

It is fun for them. They want to watch fights.

The Alpha strode out into the arena and started calling out to the gathered two-legs. He naturally had no idea what was being said. The crowd seemed to roar, in its weak two-leg way, its approval of whatever was being said.

Then he saw the Alpha raise a paw and point in his direction. Several thralls rushed in around him and held him tightly as the metal teeth began to rise.

His liver was chilled in concern as they led him out into the open. Was he going to be forced to fight now?

The two-legs all around the valley started yapping and hissing to each other excitedly while pointing in his direction. It was obvious that he was a new and strange sight for them.

If only you would scream in fear. Let me out and I will show you what I can do.

He was tied to a giant metal tooth driven into the ground just outside the cave mouth. The two-legs then stepped back from him while staying nearby. Finally being given a bit of space, he unfurled his wings for the first time in an unknowable number of sun-cycles and looked up to the open skies.

The temptation to try to break free was very strong. A glance at the thick rope binding him to the ground crushed the bit of lift that idea had held. It was far too thick for him to break. It might break if he could bite or flame the rope, but his muzzle prevented either of those. Trying to claw at the ropes would easily be noticed and punished.

His predicament left a question biting at his tail though.

Why do the other kin not fly away?

The once-death-place on home-nest-island had used a metal web to enclose the top of the trap. This one was completely open to the sky.

Something was definitely twisted here.

He folded his wings away and settled down on the ground to watch, trying to remain alert to whatever may be about to happen.

The Alpha eventually got back its sway over the other two-legs and started calling out to them again. It finished a moment later and was acknowledged with much cheering and roaring. Then it ran over and stood near him, evidently clearing the arena.

A large fire-scale-kin burst out of a trap and jumped out into the arena with a roar. The crowd added its own roar with its appearance.

Then he noticed the three two-legs who had also been let into the valley. Each of them appeared to have a fur-skin, a short metal-tooth-weapon, and a long-metal-stick.

They need more than that to fight a fire-scale-kin.

He closely watched as the three two-legs grouped together and advanced on the kin, which was in turn eyeing them closely.

His life-fire burned with shock, anger, and fear when he noticed something horrible about the fire-scale. Its wing-bones had clearly been broken at the shoulder and were not allowed to grow back properly. It was grounded.

That is why there was no web over the valley. There was no need for one. The more chilling thought was that they might try to do the same to him.

I will kill them all if they try!

He felt very conflicted as he saw the two-legs and the fire-scale start fighting. Fighting for need or survival was one matter, but this seemed something else entirely. This conflict was not necessary for either's survival except because the conflict was forced to be by others that were not fighting.

The two-legs lunged with their long-metal-teeth and tried stabbing at the kin's head. In turn, it nimbly hopped around them, flashing its very long talons and trying to flame them.

It did not seem like an equal fight to him. These two-leg-males were not as big as Hiccup's two-leg kin and did not have big enough metal-teeth to hurt a kin.

One of them saw an opportunity and hurled its weapon-tooth, striking the fire-scale in the chest. The kin howled in wrath and recklessly leapt at the two-leg, which was crushed under the kin's foot. The other two charged desperately and were met with a wall of flame. One of them caught on fire and ran blindly while screaming until it fell motionless to the ground. The kin deftly caught the other dazed two-leg in its maw and swallowed the struggling two-leg alive.

Then it looked around the valley for any other combatants and, seeing none, bent over to pick up the first victim's body. It carried its prize out of the valley and retreated inside its trap to lick its wounds. A few thralls came out and disposed of the burned body.

The two-legs watching from around the valley had cheered throughout the entire fight, even when they saw their own kind get killed and another eaten.

Why? Why would they celebrate that?

The more he learned about two-legs, the less he thought of them. Even the battle he had saved two-leg-Hiccup from was somewhat understandable as a test of Hiccup's fighting worth to the nest. A ceremony of battle-skill. This did not even seem to have that somewhat redeeming trait.

More kin were brought out to fight against two-legs. Only one of the kin, a smaller spine-tail, was killed. Far more of the two-legs died to fire, claw, and tooth.

He continued to lay on the warm sand, feeling a distinctly foreign feeling in his liver. He had seen fighting between kin and two-legs many times before. He had seen death before and had struck killing blows before. But there had always been a reason for it; for other kin to feed the Monster and stay alive or to protect those very kin.

There was no reason he could think of here other than strange, twisted enjoyment. Pleasure at another living thing's suffering and death.

The final fight ended, and the Alpha came out to speak to the watchers after the last other kin was led back into its trap. The two-leg spoke in a very loud voice, pointed at him, and all those around the valley cheered again.

Then they all began to walk away and disperse. Several of the thralls came over to him, untied his rope from the ground, and led him back inside. One of them left a bucket of water and a couple fish in his trap and then left him alone.

Why do they do that? They do not need to fight kin, but they do and they celebrate it.

He thought back to the two-leg fighters he had seen. Few of them had looked like true fighters. They seemed to have ice in their livers instead of fire and had smelled of fear and waste-water when they were in the valley.

What if they did not want to fight at all? Maybe they were only thralls like me.

It was quite likely they would make him fight eventually. That seemed like the main reason that the Alpha captured kin, to make them fight two-legs and other captive kin for the pleasure of those watching.

All the kin he had seen had their wings broken and were all grounded-kin now.

That is why they have no life-fire. They have nothing to live for. They are as broken as their wings.

But what did he have in this trap and bad place filled with two-legs? The possibility of having his own wings broken, of being torn from the skies again, was terrible enough to send a shiver down his spine and to cool his fire. As terrible as the thought was, he had to wonder why the Alpha hadn't ordered his wings be broken already.

Maybe he does not want to break his special kin. Maybe I have not done anything to anger him enough.

That would make trying to escape or harming any of his thralls a very bad idea.

I will have to fight and keep the Alpha happy.

He growled his frustration to himself and closed his eyes. As was becoming more common as the suns went by, he retreated into his own thoughts to find some comfort in memories of gliding on warm currents and soaring toward far-distant peaks.

They were one of the few things that two-legs could not take from him.

He was falling from the sky, something strange having wrapped itself around his wings and fouled his flight. He crashed through a large tree and tumbled head over tail down into a clearing. Once he recovered from the crash, he felt the burning pain in his tail. A quick glance behind him confirmed his fear that flight would be forever impossible.

He struggled against the bindings that wrapped themselves around his body. Two-leg things. How could they twist these not-vines and throw them so high that they could down even a kin? Two-legs had such clever paws and thinking. These not-vine-vines were too tight for him to break out of.

Something started crashing through the darkness toward him, sending his life-organ racing in fear. He rolled and tossed, struggling against the bindings again to no avail. Then he stared up at the two-leg Alpha. It was unmistakable from its large mane and forelimbs.

They both stared at each other for a moment. Then the two-leg Alpha roared its defiant triumph and drove its false-tooth into his chest.

And he scrambled awake in a moment of confusion and fear. He hit his head on his trap, causing a large crash which echoed out through the enclosure in addition to a sharp pain. There also seemed to be a phantom pain in his chest.

Only a sleep-vision... it was not real... not real...

The routine changed one sun. Food and water started coming more infrequently, and the Alpha started spending more time around him. It was clear that this was a renewed attempt by the Alpha to put its claws on his liver and make him submit.

A group of thralls eventually came into his cell and tied his wings in against his side. Then they led him out into the trap-valley. Surprisingly, there were no two-legs sitting up above to watch an impending fight. There were a number of the Alpha's thrall two-legs down in the valley though.

What are they doing?

It only became more confusing when his muzzle was removed and he was allowed to walk freely without any ropes holding him back. The first thing he thought about was the possibility of escape. He subtly inspected everything while pretending to sniff around the valley. However, the walls were too high for him to be able to jump without use of his wings. There were also many thralls nearby with nets and ropes, clearly ready to trap him again if needed.

A cave opened, and a rock-belly-kin was led out. The other kin was, as rock-belly-kin always are, heavy and imposing, if not as tall as him. It waddled in his general direction, aided by being prodded by two-legs carrying poking-sticks. The two-legs clearly wanted to provoke a fight.

They want to see how well I can fight.

He was of half a mind to sit down peaceably and give them no entertainment, except that the rock-belly-kin did not look to share his inclination. It snarled at him and charged.

He spared the Alpha a glance, crouched, and turned his attention to the enraged kin.

This is too easy.

He jumped up and over the rock-belly-kin and easily landed behind it. Several of the two-legs laughed. The other kin had to awkwardly turn itself around to face him again with a roar of anger.

His counter-roar of challenge began to rise unbidden before he deliberately chose to stifle it. This weak, enthralled kin was not his true enemy.

If only it knew that.

It charged again, blinded by its misplaced anger. This time though he calmly walked to intercept it, keeping his gaze fixed on its yellow eyes. Eyes that wavered in his glare as he flashed his teeth and talons and readied his fire. The rock-belly pulled up a length from him and then started backing away with a whimper of submission.

He snorted in its direction in derision.

The two-legs started squawking at each other and pointing in his direction. It was hard to tell if they were disappointed or surprised at what happened.

What were they expecting? I wish I knew more of their words...

He became far more interested and afraid when he realized they were pointing at his wings. And he remembered the grim fate that all the other kin had suffered. The thought alone was enough to make him shudder, and he held himself at the ready in case he had to fight for his life.

Then he noticed something odd. The Alpha seemed to be disagreeing with his thralls about something, about him.

"You... not... ... the kin... ..." the alpha shouted something at his thralls.

The two-leg thralls eventually dispersed at the Alpha's command and put their weapons away.

Something in his liver whispered that he had just barely avoided a terrible fate.

He rolled over onto his side and hid his head under his tailfins. Back in the familiar comforts of his trap. It now smelled only of him and had no trace of the last kin that had been in here.

The thralls had taken away the rock-belly-kin shortly after he made it submit. Then they brought him back into the cave shortly thereafter. He kept wondering at their actions.

Why did they want me to fight the other kin? I do not understand it. Maybe they want to see if I can fight well so that the Alpha can put me in the fighting-valley for two-leg fun.

And why did the Alpha not want his thralls to ground me? They ground every other kin.

He grumbled to himself at the strangeness of two-legs. Cruel and hurting on the one paw and protective on the other.

I can win any fight. No kin will be able to fight me. And two-legs... they have not seen my real fire yet.

He imagined the Alpha standing outside the trap and smugly looking down at him.

I will endure you. You will not break me. I am strong. I am not a weak kin.

"I am a Night Fury."