"For night's swift dragons cut the clouds full fast... And yonder shines Aurora's harbinger." - William Shakespeare – A Midsummer Night's Dream
Aurora
A full sun of wandering the range had passed before she finally saw what she was looking for a short distance away among the trees. A no-horn four-leg. It was quite fat and ready to survive the cold-season.
That fat would feed her for very many suns if she could only catch the prey.
Closer along the ground she crept, doing everything possible to make no noise. She imagined dashing for it and sinking her teeth into its neck and belly and crunching on its bones.
But it had turned and was looking directly at her. It lifted its tail and bounded away deeper into the trees.
Was she too loud? She was not upwind of it.
What did it see? What could it possibly have seen that would give away her hunt?
And the bit of lift burning in her liver departed again when he remembered the twisting truth.
It saw her color of white against the fading green and brown of the trees. There was nothing she could do about that. It was not a matter of hunting better and being sneakier as long as she was on the ground.
Food and hunting had never been a problem back in the cave-den-nest when her sire and dam did the hunting for her. Her white color had not been a problem when hunting in the past with her wings and her belly-fire. Back in the good seasons when she flew the open skies, unclear and twisted though those memories were. Without flight and fire though, there was almost no chance at all of catching anything. But catching prey was exactly what she needed to grow strong again.
She again glanced at the dull stubs of claws. They had once been sharp claws that could easily tear through hide, but they had been worn down by two-legs trying to unclaw her and by her own panicked attempts to escape death in the abandoned trap.
You are weak... prey only...
She wanted to defy that twisted-whispering part of her own liver, to make it know that she was not weak. But she was not sure if she believed the hopeful part of her own liver.
I can look for a den to make my own near the mountains. And maybe I can find prey or fish somewhere in this range.
Several days passed during which the construction progressed smoothly. Even with only minimal tools and with their dragons helping as well as they could be instructed to, the makings of a village began to up in no time at all. Pens were constructed for the farm animals that they were able to bring with. A storehouse was put up to hold the fish and other game that were caught.
It was impressive how much the force of sheer stubbornness could accomplish. Though the impending threat of the winter was also a powerful motivation.
Shadowwing eagerly worked at all of it, giving his wings and back to the work as much as possible. Such tasks included hauling heavy logs, holding the logs in place as structures went up and people worked with tools, helping to dig holes for support columns, helping to fish both nearby and further down the coast, and bringing back the occasional hunt of his own for the butcher.
As long as he was working and exhausted, he was not thinking about the past. It helped to put a bit of distance between himself and the recent loss that cut so deeply.
In addition to his work in the village though, there was another thing that was greatly bothering him. Luna had vanished and had not been seen since she turned her tail on the rest of the humans. He had respected her wish to be alone, but now he was starting to get truly concerned for her safety. After all, she had been out there for several days on her own, and he suspected that she was not well prepared to be hunting right now.
She has no fire, no flight, no claws, and she was already very weak when she left. She needs the help even if she does not want it.
He sought out Valka to see how she might be able to aid him.
Luna probably needs help
She frowned and heavily sighed.
"I agree. She needs to eat much better before winter arrives. I do not think that she can hunt well like she is now."
Can you get me a pack?
I can carry fish to her
"Hmm, that might work. I actually might have something already, one moment..."
She got up and ran back inside her temporary hut. He waited only a moment before she emerged with one of her large packs he remembered from her stuff in the ice nest.
"Think you can carry that?"
She slung it over his neck, and he felt the leather pack dangle at his breast. He gave a satisfied purr.
This will work
Thank you
He dashed off to the nearest fish station. There were always a number of dragons gathered nearby. Amazingly though, they all backed away as he approached.
Why are they doing that?
It became obvious when one of them inclined its head to him.
Oh, Alpha, yeah... whatever that means... gods, that is still strange.
"Shadowwing!" Gustav cried out from next to the station.
The catches were still small enough that there had to be someone there to ration the food at the moment.
Good, he is on duty right now.
"What is that bag for?"
I need to take some fish to someone
"I can definitely do that for you."
He had five large fish including a couple fat salmon in the pack only moments later.
Thank you
He gave the young man a brief nudge on the forehead, to which Gustav chuckled.
"Anything for a Night Fury."
Shadowwing briefly chuckled at that and took to the air with the bag swinging from his neck.
Alright Luna, where would you go? Probably far away from here, that is for sure.
He turned for the north and flew, all the while keeping his gaze down the land and among the trees. Her bright color should certainly help him find her down among the trees.
That actually makes her easy to find. Lucky for me.
He spent easily an hour in searching before he spotted a white flash that was out of place over near the mountains. He immediately winged toward it and was not disappointed.
Yes, there you are!
A loud cry announced his approach to her as he threw out his wings and touched down.
"Shadowwing..." she weakly greeted him.
"Luna, what is wrong?" he politely asked as he trotted up to her.
"The hunting is... hard here. I did not catch anything," she groaned while hanging her head.
She indeed still looked sickly thin.
"I have fish for you," he hummed.
Her eyes went wide as he wiggled the bag over his head, flipped open the pouch, and dropped the five fish on the ground. Her jaws slightly parted as she stared at the large fish sitting there for her. A nagging doubt nipped at her tail.
"Are they from the two-legs?" she slightly hissed.
"Yes, they are, but you need to eat. You are very thin and need food. Will you turn your nose at the fish because of where they are from?"
She did not move to snatch up the fish.
"You do not mind if I eat them now?" he teased and slowly bent down toward them.
She waited not a moment and possessively stood over the fish, which she swallowed in short succession. She was still so poorly nourished that those five fish alone stood out in her belly.
A quiet moment passed before she warily asked a question of him.
"Why are you helping me?"
He blinked and grumbled at the question.
"I already told you. I want you to be warm and happy."
She hummed and looked down at the ground, clearly deep in thought.
"But all want something when they do good. No one does a good thing without wanting a good thing done for them," she explained.
"Maybe you speak truth. There is a good thing that I could get from you," he eventually answered.
She inhaled and nervously waited without looking at him.
"I could see you be warm, strong, and happy again. That would be a good thing that I would want to see. What are you doing out here alone?"
She grumbled at his words in either confusion or disbelief before answering him.
"I was looking for a cave-den to make my own and sleep in. I want to be far from the two-legs and other kin."
"And you are sure that you will not sleep with me, Was-Grounded, Green-Wings, and Dawn-Singer? The cold season is very cold in this range."
"I am sure."
"What if the cold wind takes your life-warmth?"
"It will not."
He cast his eyes down and did not look up at her.
"I... have fear for you all alone out here."
She said nothing in response to that.
"You might not want the help now, but you do need it until you can hunt and get your life-fire burning hot again."
"How can I get strong again if I need others to help me!" she barely growled.
"How can you get strong if you die because you are still weak now and..." he fumbled, not sure if he was saying the correct thing.
"So you think I am weak prey..." she whispered.
"No, Luna, that is not... not always..."
He weakly sighed.
"You are not strong now, but you will be again. Will you let me help you? I will bring you fish and make fire for you in the cold-season if you want."
He blinked, stepped back from her, and almost snarled at himself.
"No. I will bring you those even if you do not want them. You are part of this twisted range as all of us are even if you do not want to be part of it. An Alpha protects all in the range!"
She slowly stepped back while staring at him in open surprise.
"You are an Alpha?" she gasped.
He closed his eyes and remembered seeing all the other dragons around him bowing toward both him and his brother. Even now he still felt the faintest tingle of that strange feeling he had first felt back. It was an odd fire in his belly and his blood, a fire which was noticeable now but had definitely not been there before. Or maybe he was only far more trusting and confident in himself at times now.
Whenever not dwelling too long on the past at least.
"I and my egg-mate Was-Grounded are Alphas together. We defeated the great-tusk-Monster to free all the kin. The free kin bowed to us both. We are still learning what it means to be Alphas. That has not been much until now."
He hummed in thought and looked at the clouds as she still stared at him.
"The two-legs have a saying about rock-head problems. They try something that does not help them and keep doing it because they think something different will happen. Try not to do that to yourself. Have you claimed a cave-den yet?"
She eventually recovered her voice, though it was softer than it had been before.
"No, there are some good ones, but I wanted to look more before claiming one."
"You will find one, if that is what you want. Have you seen the hot-bubble-water place?" he eagerly asked.
Her tilted head and slightly lifted ears were answer enough. She had evident interest.
"Will you let me show you where it is?"
"I..."
.
"Will you tell me where it is so I can find it myself?" she asked.
He closed his eyes and took a very slow breath.
"Yes, I will."
She was quite certain of it now.
This was the best place in the entire range.
Floating in the hot-bubble-water was more relaxing than sleeping in a field of long-tooth-grass. This had the added good of being a bath. It was also quite isolated from all other kin and from where the two-legs were making their nest.
The only problem was that it was a very long walk from the cave that she had chosen to be her den. Her cave was far down the range away from where her fellow dark wing kin were nesting. She had almost wanted to walk up to them to see the place but had not done so in the end.
It was better to be on her own.
He and Kin-liver were going to be stopping at my cave to bring more fish and tell stories. He said that there were many good things Kin-liver has done throughout her life-flight. I wonder what they are. She was the one who helped my wings...
Further wondering could wait though. There was something far more important to do now.
She hauled herself out of the hot-bubble-water, shook herself dry, and lay down on the warmed rocks around this hot-bubble-water pool.
Almost as if I had flamed this rock myself.
The sleep that followed was very warming and very deep with no twisted sleep-visions.
"Will you go first and ask her if it is ok?" Valka whispered.
Yes, he nodded.
He slowly strode up to the mouth of the cave.
"Luna?"
A white head and light blue eyes appeared from around the corner inside the cave.
"Shadowwing?"
"It is us. Me and Kin-liver. May we come into your den?"
"Yes."
He nodded at Valka, and they slowly entered.
It is a good cave for sure. Rather deep and protected from the weather... definitely isolated.
Luna sat down and watched them both as they walked inside.
"Does she want me to do anything?" Valka whispered.
Uh, just stay with me.
He softly shook his head and warbled softly at her.
"Did you bring more fish?" Luna expectantly asked.
"Yes, Kin-liver has it."
He nudged Valka and nodded toward Luna.
"Ok, then," Valka mumbled as she reached into her bag and grabbed a large fish.
She held the fish out in her hands. She waited and let Luna approach and pluck the fish out of her hands.
"Heh, Light Furies can be toothless. Makes sense I guess."
Shadowwing softly chuckled at that.
"Why did you laugh?" Luna wondered.
"You can pull your teeth back like I can," he explained.
"Shadowwing, you are very twisted," Luna chuckled.
"We already knew that."
"You said that you were going to tell me stories about what you and Kin-liver did, true?" Luna asked.
"Yes, are you ready to listen?"
She curled up on the nearby rocky slope inside her cave. He lay down below her and waited as Valka crouched and rested against his side under a wing.
"Kin-liver's life-story starts when another kin, jumps-through-clouds, took her from her home-nest-island."
"That is her... bond-kin, yes?" Luna asked.
"Yes, jumps-through-clouds took Kin-liver to the ice nest where the white great-tusk was the Alpha. And there Kin-liver learned that kin are not bad life. She learned that kin only want food, safety, and to fly. She started living her life as one of that nest and helping to protect kin that would be trapped by thrall-makers."
"And all the kin trusted her?" she wondered in surprise.
"She had the trust of the great-tusk-Alpha. And the other kin saw her helping to free others of the nest. She would fly with jumps-through-clouds, and they would go to where the traps were. She would use her paws to open the traps and free the kin."
Luna looked at this Kin-liver in evident surprise.
"And her rescuing of thrall-kin is how she learned to help broken wings?"
Shadowwing solemnly sighed.
"Yes, some traps would break wings. She lived among the kin for two tens of season-cycles and learned to heal wings with much doing of it."
Both Furies glanced at her wings. Valka noticed.
"Can you ask her if I may check her wings? I want to make sure that everything is going well."
Luna did not object at the relayed request, and Valka stepped over to inspect the stitching. Valka gave a satisfied hum of her own and returned to Shadowwing's side.
"They look like they are healing well. None of the threads have come loose."
"What is she saying?" Luna asked.
"She says that your wings are healing well."
"Why did she help me? Can you ask her that for me?"
He glanced around the cave and found a small dirt patch.
Why did you help her wings?
She wanted me to ask
"Tell her that I wanted to help her because it is the right thing to do. No dragon deserves to be grounded. You are great creatures who deserve to be free in the sky and to be able to live in peace with us humans."
Luna heard his translation and grumbled softly.
"The first part of her words have lift, but I do not know about the last. Peace is best if we are apart. There is no hurting or killing that way."
Shadowwing heard her words and winced at them.
"But that is not good or true peace. Separating the nests into kin and two-legs is not a good way to make peace survive."
Luna stared back at him with a very level gaze.
"It would be no killing, fighting, hurting, or thrall-making. That would be good," she whispered.
"Do you think so little of all two-legs? Even the ones who only have warmth for kin?"
"Kin-liver did good for me and wants me to be free. I know that and I will not forget it if I do fly again. The others are nothing to me," Luna hissed softly.
A quiet silence followed until Valka spoke softly.
"Luna doesn't seem happy about something."
She does not like humans
Valka put a hand on his neck and softly sighed.
"That is fair of her. I cannot say that I blame her at all. I probably would if I were in her position, caught by Monsters and treated so terribly."
Her words left him with a question though. It was something he had wondered for a while now.
"Luna, do you remember much from before... you were a thrall?" he asked.
"No," she softly whimpered.
"Nothing?"
"Very little. Why?"
"I wanted to know how you were caught by the bad thrall-makers."
Luna closed her eyes and looked away toward the side of her cave.
"I know that I flew long over many ranges."
"Why were you flying far?"
"I was looking for... something good and warming... a life-mate," she painfully whispered.
Toothless wanted to do that too. His journey went a lot better for him than yours did though.
"I do not remember where my nest-range is. But I flew over many ranges and waters for season-cycles in the wild. I saw an island that had many kin on it even though there was a... two-leg nest on the island."
He blinked in surprise.
Wait, what?
"Did the island have many tall ocean-rocks and one mountain in the middle?"
"Yes."
Is that Berk?
"I did not know what to think about it, kin and Monsters so close but not fighting. I went back to that twisted mixed-nest a few suns later, but the nest was empty. There were many water-walkers on the water and thrall-kin in the sky."
She whimpered.
"I saw a great-tusk, and... I only remember being in the trap where you found me..."
He looked away from her and failed to restrain his angry growl.
"That is the great-tusk-Monster that I and Was-Grounded broke and tore from being Alpha. It will never hurt kin again," he softly snarled.
"That is warming to hear," she whispered.
A silence followed as he considered what she had told him.
She was probably caught around Berk when Bludvist showed up there. So they had her for about a year. Gods... it could have been worse, I guess.
"Son, anything I should know?" Valka nudged him.
Oh, I will let you know, mom...
Was-Grounded woke up to an eager nudge at his side.
"What?" he mumbled.
"The egg!" Green-Wings whispered.
His eyes eagerly flew open, and he turned to look at the egg. It was wobbling and had a large crack as it lay between her arms in the sand. He stared for several moments as great warmth burned hot in his liver. He glanced to his side where Shadowwing normally was but was not on this night.
"How long?" he hissed.
"Soon. Why?"
"I want Shadowwing to see this."
She nodded after a moment of thought.
"Be fast."
"I am a Night Fury. What kin is faster?" he grinned back, much to her amusement.
He stroked her neck with his tail, spun around, and flew from the den. His flight was very fast as the bright sky-breath was glowing far above with all its colors of red, green, and yellow.
It was very impressive how quickly the two-leg tree-dens went up. There were already more of them than he could count on all his paws. True, they were not as large as those he remembered on home-nest-island, but these were sufficient for the need of surviving the cold-season. Many of the kin were already making their massive piles of like kinds that would help keep them warm as they slept. Other kin were resting in their small tree-dens the two-legs had put up for them.
Down into the nest he flew and quickly spotted the dark bulk resting near a two-leg tree-den. That tree-den, next to which the split-wing jumps-through-clouds was sleeping, was where Kin-liver was nesting for now.
He landed and bounded over to the dozing Shadowwing. His brother had said that he might sleep down in the two-leg nest if he was very sleepy. The hatchling decided that this would be the night though.
"Brother, wake!"
Shadowwing opened his drowsy eyes and yawned widely.
"What...?"
"The egg is hatching!"
Shadowwing blinked slowly for a moment before the words sank into his head. He flew to his feet, all his weariness and sleepiness gone.
"What! It is hatching now!"
"Yes, I want you to see!" Was-Grounded's tail thrashed.
This news got Shadowwing's tail eagerly swaying as well.
"And Kin-liver? She would want to see it also," Shadowwing asked.
Only a brief moment of consideration was necessary.
"Yes, her too. She is kin to us, but no other two-legs."
Shadowwing bounded over to the two-leg tree-den, gave a brief cry, and started making picture-words in the dirt. Kin-liver emerged a moment later, read the picture-words on the ground with Shadowwing's kin-fire giving light, and eagerly ran over to jumps-through-clouds.
The four of them were aloft moments later.
Shadowwing looked up at the brilliant aurora far overhead as he flew. It was the most strikingly brilliant heavenly display that he could remember ever seeing.
Maybe the gods wanted to bless this day and make it special. A new Fury is hatching!
They arrived at the cave after the brief flight and bounded inside. Valka dismissed Cloudjumper, who turned to fly back to Haven, and had a torch lit for her as she entered the cave alongside the other two Furies.
They all proceeded to the rear of the cave where Green-Wings still lay with the egg between her arms. The egg was visibly cracked and rocking faster in the sand.
"Well, here is a sight I have never seen before. A Night Fury hatching... Just look at it," Valka gasped.
Shadowwing only nodded as her felt Valka's hand on his neck. His gaze was on the black egg rocking back and forth on the sand. There was a large crack down its side, and a large number of spider-web breaks were clustered closely together on the top half of the shell.
"I have never seen an egg hatch before," he whispered.
"There is little that warms the liver more," Was-Grounded answered from his side before adding a snide remark and a nudge.
"Maybe making the egg warms the liver more."
Shadowwing snorted openly and rolled his eyes.
"You would say that."
"What was that about?" Valka asked.
He only shook his head with a faint chuckle and turned back to watch the egg.
They all waited together, Valka occasionally caressing Dawn-Singer's wings, much to his delight, as the egg continued to shudder. All three adult Furies found themselves humming encouragement to the egg.
The top half of the egg shattered, and a tiny, slime-covered head emerged from within and gasped at the open air. The hatchling's eyes were still closed as it let out a faint cry. It thrashed wildly with a burst of strength and broke out from the rest of the shell.
The hatchling lay there motionless in the broken shards of its egg and slowly recovered its spent strength.
Her tiny head had only a few frills and her surprisingly wide open eyes were a mix of green and blue. She stumbled onto her little limbs and wildly thrashed her messy tail. Her head spun around as she looked around at all the voices, eventually settling on one voice in particular.
Green-Wings bent down and started licking her clean while he and Was-Grounded hummed adoringly.
"Is that a girl?" Valka gasped.
Yes, Shadowwing nodded and purred.
"Wow, look at that, Dawn-Singer. You have a baby sister," Valka laughed.
Dawn-Singer stared warily at the new little member of the nest. It was not clear if he had any thoughts on this development as he had not yet said anything.
Green-Wings brought up a recently eaten fish for the hatchling, who was immediately taken with the important task of filling her belly as fast as possible.
"Brother, what do you think about giving her a name?" Was-Grounded hummed with a dancing warmth in his liver.
Shadowwing found it hard to think as he stared at the tiny hatchling. At his own niece. She was perfectly black with not even a hint of any color yet. Green-Wings had explained that any coloration would apparently come with time.
He remembered the most memorable detail about this particular night. Specifically, something beautiful he had noticed on the flight up here to the cave.
"Aurora. It means the brightly flowing sky-light-breath that flies with all different colors above the clouds."
Was-Grounded tested the word a few times as Green-Wings looked up in thought. They both hummed their approval at each other.
"You can make not-twisted names," she chuckled.
A brief moment passed before Was-Grounded stepped over to properly greet his little one, now with her eyes wide open and fixed on him as she stepped back from the fish she had her nose buried in. He stuck out the tip of his tongue and licked her tiny face.
"You are Aurora, my little one."
Aurora trilled happily at his touch. And she returned her attention to what truly mattered: putting the fish in her belly.
In her deep but narrow cave, Luna coiled herself up and faced the mouth of her new den. It was very far from the two-legs and let her hide from the other kin. A couple of them had poked their heads into the cave, but all had turned and fled at her snarl directed at them. Where she was hiding, only a very few knew. It was very sheltered from view and from the cold, biting wind.
While it twisted her liver to do so, she knew that she could not resist Shadowwing's bringing her fish and the promise of fire every sun. The fish were there every new sun outside the mouth of her den. It felt warming in a way for an Alpha to do that for one he had to protect. Not once did he try to enter her den itself after bringing over the pile of downed tree-wood. That was for burning later, as he explained its purpose. At least, he never entered except to provide fire and only when she knew he was there.
Fire will help much during the cold-season. Grr, I still cannot make any on my own.
Her upper-belly bones were no longer bulging against her side as she put more fish into her belly every sun and recovered lost weight. The constant pangs of needing food started to recede slightly every sun.
She spent most of her waking time on the two tasks now most at paw in her life-flight. Specifically, working her wings and sharpening her claws.
It built slowly each sun. Holding the wings stretched out longer and giving them more slow flaps every time. Slowly building strength and endurance. Licking the old-fixing hurts and wondering at the small not-vines still weaving through the wing-skin. The wing-skin that truly looked like it was growing again.
And as for my claws...
She again reached out with her forearm and dragged the dull claws against the rock one at a time. Over and over again. She inspected the result.
A very thin part of the dull edge of each claw had been scraped away. She clenched each of her short digits in turn and glanced back at the rock. It would be many suns before her claws would be long enough again to make her a true threat and hunter. But it would happen.
She closed her eyes and imagined sinking her sharpened claws and teeth into prey caught completely on her own.
Hatchling steps.
One more glance followed out the cave-den's mouth toward where the skies were starting to rain frozen water. It would be time for the long dark sleep soon. Many long sun-cycles with very little light would pass during which she would fly the hidden skies of sleep-visions while growing stronger in body.
And as she stretched out with a snarl and began sharpening her claws again, she felt that warmth and defiant fire in her liver where there had been only smoldering embers before. That warmth eventually carried her to a sleep filled with her spinning white wings, bright clouds, the sun on her back, wild ranges, and freedom.
Life paused in the village as almost everyone stayed indoors to avoid freezing to death. Fires were kept roaring, the most defiant and stubborn hunters roamed the countryside during the day, and people told stories and slept late to pass the very short days.
Shadowwing took one more glance around himself and gave a great, happy sigh from under a sheltering wing. Was-Grounded lay between him and Green-Wings, his wings stretched over them both. She sheltered both Dawn-Singer and little Aurora between her and his brother.
He closed his eyes. His last thought before oblivion took him was that it was appropriate that they would all sleep together in this particular cave. It was the same place where he had met Green-Wings and Dawn-Singer for the first time.
It was where he was welcomed into a family that he had never thought he would see.
Author's Note - You can check out 'To Fly The Winds Of Life' chapter 6 for a bit more of Luna's backstory.