"You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore." - William Faulkner – Three Famous Short Novels
New Horizons
True to her word, Luna arrived at his cave entrance just after sunrise. He was already prepared and eager to begin. Several runes were already carved into the dirt off to the side where no one would step on them by accident.
"Shadowwing?" she called.
"Luna! Come in my den!"
She happily bounded inside and walked up to him.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
"Yes, I want to learn."
She settled down in front of him and gave him her full attention. He hummed happily and began.
"Two-legs talk to each other just like us. You can learn their spoken words if you listen much to them talking to you. Kin-liver would help you with that."
"That would be good," she nodded.
"Two-legs also make these shapes to talk for them."
She followed him over and looked down at the already drawn symbols.
"Each shape means a sound. Many shapes together mean sounds that sound like what they say through the air," he explained.
"I understand that."
"Good, look at this one."
He indicated the first small string of symbols that he had carved. She glanced in confusion at the odd and mysterious scratches.
"This is the two-leg way of making your name in pictures. Luna."
She lowered her nose to the shapes and inspected them far more closely. The shapes flew in her thoughts until she could easily see them with her eyes closed.
"And each of these shapes is a sound?" she asked.
"Yes."
He spent a few minutes explaining each of the sounds that went with each shape. It should have been a rather frustrating exercise having to teach like he imagined would be done for a child. Doing so with Dawn-Singer was quite appropriate, but this was a bit odd in her case. Instead, he found it enjoyable helping Luna to learn. It also helped that she never took offense at how carefully and simply he tried to explain everything.
It came time for the tedium of memorizing and practicing in the dirt, which she also took to without complaining. He stood there and watched over her shoulder as she scratched out letters over and over, only occasionally having to correct her on the shape of a new letter.
You are doing a good job of remembering. I think you really want to do this.
His thoughts were broken up by the arrival of another pair of smaller wings.
"Shadowwing!" Dawn-Singer cried as he bounded into the cave.
"Dawn-Singer, what are you doing here?" she asked.
Dawn-Singer blinked in surprise when he saw her there.
"Luna! You are learning the picture-talking also!"
"Yes, little one. It is very head-twisting."
He stuck out his tongue at her.
"You fly over that quickly when the pictures get in your head!" he answered.
"Why do you want to learn this flight?" she wondered.
"So that I can picture-talk to the two-legs!" he bounded on his feet.
"But why?" she grumbled.
"Why not! Talking is very good. Two-legs are good and warm to us."
She looked away from him without answering on that point.
"Why do you want to learn, Luna?" Dawn-Singer eagerly asked.
"I might want to... picture-talk with Kin-liver. She is not a true two-leg."
"I want to be able to talk with all of them!" Dawn-Singer eagerly announced.
She turned away from him and slowly shook her head, either in amusement or exasperation it was not clear.
"That is... good for you, little one," she rumbled.
"Shadowwing, I wanted to tell you that my nestmate sister Aurora is trying to fly now!" Dawn-Singer eagerly exclaimed.
That got all three tails swaying in excitement.
"She is? We should go watch!" Shadowwing answered.
"Yes, and we can laugh at her falling!" Dawn-Singer snickered.
Oh really, what are brothers for if not to tease...
All three of them took to the air and flew toward the other cave. Was-Grounded and Green-Wings were both sitting outside down on the flat plain and were watching Aurora's attempts at flight where the grass grew long.
Was-Grounded glanced up at the approaching flight and grinned to himself that they were arriving together. It meant that Luna had been with his brother for some reason.
I am not teasing them about this. It is definitely too early for them to think about flying those life-winds, and it is not the new-life-season. Still, the more time they have together... the more likely that they fall into the good life-trap.
All three of them landed and bounded up to him and Green-Wings.
"I brought them!" Dawn-Singer hummed.
"Yes, you did," Green-Wings greeted him with a lick to the face.
Was-Grounded hid the faint grin that he had as he slowly walked up to them both and sat down.
"Luna, I thought that only my brother would be there."
"He is teaching me two-leg picture-talking," she answered and nodded at Shadowwing.
Was-Grounded blinked in surprise.
"I did not think that you would want to learn that flight."
"Kin-liver healed my wings. I would learn this so that I could picture-talk with her."
A faint squeal echoed out as Aurora lost her grip on the wind and fell face-first into the long grass. Was-Grounded bounded after her and chuckled deeply when he saw her. She was on her back with her tail curled up over a shoulder and her wings flailed out wildly. She was staring up at the sky in frustration while faintly growling.
"Little Aurora..." he hummed.
"Baaadddd!" she barked.
He blinked and stepped back in surprise.
"Did you say bad?"
"Sssirrrree!" she hissed up at him.
"Aurora!"
He bent down and started licking her exposed belly until she was completely defeated and lost to her thrashing and high laughter. He looked back at the other three adults who were looking at him in bewilderment, confusion, and amusement, as though he had tied his tail in a knot.
"She is trying to talk!"
Green-Wings gasped in amazement and darted over to them both.
"Were you talking, little one?" she asked.
Aurora only looked up at her, blinked, and licked Green-Wings's nose. A few wingbeats of time passed.
"I think you are hearing twisted whispers in your head, my mate," Green-Wings groaned as she stepped back.
"Dddammm!"
Green-Wings froze with her eyes very wide and turned back to her hatchling in surprise.
"You were saying?" Was-Grounded happily growled.
Green-Wings pounced on him with a happy snarl and tackled him. He made no attempt to resist her attack and let her pin him. Dawn-Singer hop flew over and started chasing Aurora. She eagerly flew to her feet with her tongue drooping from her mouth.
The flying lessons had almost instantly devolved into a wild frenzy of play, family bonding, and general silliness.
Shadowwing laughed aloud and felt a distinct warmth in his heart as he watched them playing with abandon.
"Look at how warm they are," he hummed.
Luna gave a soft hum of her own as she watched Aurora chasing Dawn-Singer's tail and Green-Wings and Was-Grounded rolling in the grass while playfully snapping at each other.
She closed her eyes as she felt something warm in her liver. A glow that had not been there in a very long time. She remembered seeing Green-Wings tenderly nibbling at Was-Grounded's ears or nuzzling his neck. She remembered how her own sire and dam would play much together even outside of life-making times.
"Yes, they are very warm to each other."
"I am sure that you all know why I called this meeting," Chief Thorvald announced to all gathered.
"The dragons, eh?" "A marriage?" "Who we fightin?" "I need an extension on my axe returns."
"No. More important than all of those. I need volunteers for a mission. Who is with me?"
Everyone looked around, no one stepping forward.
"Don't everyone volunteer at once. We only need about a dozen to crew the ship. After all, how are going to go trade for ale without-"
"To the ship!" "Off I go!" "If you want!" "I guess I can!" "Anything for ale!"
"I thought so..." he chuckled to himself.
Families and friends were already patting each other on the back at the mere thought that the ale would be back soon. Half the village had volunteered. Gobber came up to him after selecting the crew from among the eager volunteers.
"So Chief, you sure that you are not going with them?"
"Yep, the wife made it clear that I am not leaving her alone with Ysmir and little Theron unless I want to sleep outside in the stables for a year."
"Yeah, that sounds like her. Skald will manage this I'm sure. He has a way with the seas," Gobber added.
"I trust him to get the job done while making sure that the men don't drink everything on the way back. You'd only pick the reliable ones to go with him."
Gobber grinned at his remark.
"I'd never thought I'd say this, but yer shapin up into a fine Chief. Knowing when to rely on others is something that Stoick could have done a bit better," he solemnly added.
Thorvald shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm doing what I can, Gobber. All I can do is try and listen to those who know better than I do. Which is most people."
They stood by the shore and watched as the ship sailed away, laden with eager men and plenty of space in the hold for the all-important barrels of golden treasure that it would bring back with it.
"Well, they're off on a grand quest," Valka chuckled.
He snorted in response.
"Nords without ale for too long. That is a recipe for disaster. I guess we might do our part as well to help keep the peace."
He understood what she was referring to and nodded in agreement.
"Are you ready to do this?" Valka asked.
Yes, we should go now
The sooner the better
"Ok, just let me get some supplies and we can be off. Think I should bring the full flying gear?"
Makes for a better first impression
He lifted his eye-ridges and rumbled in amusement.
Though we might be giving them
A bad idea of what Haven is like
They might think everyone
Looks like you
"We wouldn't want that now would we? Can't have them thinking we are all crazy, feral, vigilante dragon-people!"
They laughed together.
"At least we wouldn't seem boring. Have you told the others how long we will be gone?"
I was going to before we leave
"Ok, Cloudjumper and I will see you down at the south side of the village."
He nodded and flew off for the caves to share the news.
Not sure what they will think of my being gone for a while. It is necessary after all to help keep the peace. We have too many dragons to support right now.
There was something surprising though as soon as he arrived back home at his cave. Luna was already there and waiting for him outside his cave as he came in for his landing.
Perfect, I can let her know that I will be gone for a while.
"Luna!"
She sat down at his approach and gave a soft hum of welcome.
"Shadowwing, warm winds to you."
"They are, and I will feel more of them soon. I am flying far from this range."
She blinked in surprise.
"What?"
"Yes, I am flying with Kin-liver to other two-leg nests around this range. Someone must tell them that the kin who fly these skies are not Monsters."
"You will be flying into strange two-leg nests!" she grumbled.
"Yes, but do not fear. I have done this before, and I know what to do."
Her ears fell slightly.
"What do you do?"
"I sneak into their nest in the night and write out my picture-words to say my greeting to them. They find it and know that I made it. I meet them the next sun. It will be different with Kin-liver flying with jumps-through-clouds."
She grumbled a bit.
"That is still liver-twisting. What if they are false and trick you? They will ground you or worse."
"I think that I learned from that mistake before."
"What happened?"
His ears fell at the memory.
"It was that bad two-leg Alpha that I told you about. I gave it trust when I should not have. My thinking that I could change the liver of any two-leg was much twisted. I am careful now to always be able to fly away if I need to."
She snorted and chuckled at his words.
"You are very twisted, Shadowwing. Sometimes I think that you have the liver of a two-leg in you..."
He rolled his eyes.
Luna, you have no idea...
"How long will your flight have you away?" she asked.
"We do not know. Maybe a pawful of suns and maybe half a moon-cycle. You may stay here and take my cave-den for more picture-talking while I am gone."
She slowly hummed in agreement.
"I can do that."
"You might get Dawn-Singer to teach you some more. He has been learning for more suns than you have," he grinned.
She huffed at that suggestion.
"Me learn from one who is flying on his third season-cycle... so twisting. But he has a good head and learned much from you. When are you flying?"
"As soon as I tell my brother that I will be gone."
She almost looked like she wanted to say something but paused and inclined her head.
"Smooth winds to your flight, Shadowwing."
He bowed his head to her.
"And to yours, Luna."
He turned from her and flew off toward his brother's cave. Unsurprisingly, all of them were asleep together in a warm, snug heap of tangled limbs and wings. It was still early enough in the day that he had managed to catch them before they had actually gotten up.
He chuckled happily to himself with his tail swaying as he walked up to them and nudged Was-Grounded awake.
"Brother," he whispered.
"Grrrr, what is it?" Was-Grounded groaned.
"I am flying with Kin-liver and jumps-through-clouds to other two-leg nests."
"You are flying from this range, why?"
"To tell the other two-leg nests to not fear the kin that fly from this range. The other kin are flying more from here for fish and prey."
"Yes, I know. There are too many kin here in this one range now."
"You must keep the kin and two-leg peace down in the nest while I am gone."
"Grrr, I am an Alpha, so I must..."
Was-Grounded yawned widely.
"Keep safe your flight, brother."
A brief nose-nuzzling followed.
"Grrrr, you smell like a kin," Was-Grounded softly laughed.
He got slapped in the face by a tail as Shadowwing spun around and left the cave with a laugh of his own.
Shadowwing turned his flight for the distant village where he saw a larger dragon hovering in the sky. That was sure to be Cloudjumper.
He threw one glance back toward his own cave where he saw a flash of white. And for one moment he felt unsure about something. A stirring that was shoved down before he was even sure what it was. He had a mission to get to and purpose to focus on.
Alright, time to get to this. This is what I am good at. Mostly.
He flew up next to Cloudjumper and saw Valka on his back in all her wild attire, her staff in hand.
He gave her a glad roar which was echoed by Cloudjumper as they turned for the south. That was where the nearest villages that would see dragons were sure to be.
And she gets to see what it is that I was doing before. This should be fun.
He still turned back one last time and glanced toward the village and where the caves lay hidden against the mountains as they faded from view.
Luna watched as Shadowwing and the split-wing flew off down the coast. They were gone over the distant horizon.
She sighed and bounded inside his den. Despite being invited to stay there and practice the picture-talking in the dirt, it still felt odd being there. It was not her den and smelled heavily of him. Not that the scent of the place was unsettling though. The number of two-leg things was far more liver-twisting.
But now she had a chance to inspect it all without him being there.
First, she nosed at the roll of tree-skins that had shapes and picture-words on them. He explained that some of these had picture-images of the surrounding range and ranges nearby. Apparently, two-legs did not remember ranges of the world as well as kin do.
Next, there were several of the pouches that he used to carry fish in almost an outside belly.
I do not understand him. Why does he try to live as if he is a two-leg in some ways? True, he was fledged in a two-leg nest from a hatchling, but his nestmate was also and he is not so twisted. Was-Grounded does not have a bond-two-leg like many other kin or try to learn picture-talking.
She blinked and shivered.
But I am becoming more like one by learning the picture-talking. Grr, I must be careful or I will become as twisted as Shadowwing. Never that height of twistedness.
She bounded back over to the dirt pile and put a single clawtip to the soil. She started by practicing the two most important picture-words she knew even though she knew them well enough by now.
Two names.
Stalking the prey. This was something that she rarely needed to do anymore. Her most-liver-warming Alpha life-mate particularly enjoyed hunting for her and bringing back catches for her and her little ones to feed on. Sometimes it was a catch from the four-legs in this range and sometimes it was a mouthful of fish from the mixed-nest.
But she was a wild, free dark wing in her liver, and that meant that she needed to hunt to stoke her life-fire. Even if the most-bad hard-hunting in her far away not-now range had somewhat chilled the pleasure of the hunt. The hunting was not that hard-empty now in this home-range.
Her tail swayed behind her as she crept between the bushes and close trees. The large buck four-leg was upwind from her. She readied her fire as she had seen her life-mate do many times before, though she had never quite relied on it for hunting in the past. Teeth and claws had always been her preferred way of hunting and killing.
And she darted for it with a snarl. The prey turned tail and ran with great leaping strides toward the deeper forest. Her fire flew toward it and missed, but did drive the prey in fear toward a more open clearing where her claws and teeth could...
A flash of white darted in from the side and tackled the four-leg to the ground. She leapt in with a snarl toward her prey that she had been stalking.
And she and Luna stared at each other as the white light wing held a paw down to the downed prey. Both of their tails swayed as they glared at each other and down at the prey that they had both been stalking.
"Green-Wings..." Luna hissed.
"Luna..." she hissed back.
"We were hunting the same prey," Luna answered.
You were hunting my prey.
"Yes, we were."
A quiet, tail-swaying moment passed.
"Would you... share the catch?" Luna asked.
"Why would you share it?" she tilted her head in thought.
"Your fire drove it to me, and I do not have my fire. But I did catch it."
Luna's ears went up as she softly hummed while the prey still struggled.
"We both eat. Fair?" Luna asked.
She purred in agreement.
Luna bent down and snapped the prey's neck to silence it while she calmly walked up next to the light wing. Luna used a sharp claw to slice off the prey's hide. Luna swallowed a large chunk of the prey's belly and stepped back after nudging the prey with a forepaw.
She took that as the invitation to feed as well and she did so, digging around in the belly until she found the liver. Her favorite part tucked away in her belly, she sat down and calmly regarded the light wing. Luna did the same to her.
"You know some of my life-story, Green-Wings. I do not know any of yours," Luna said.
"There is little to say of it before. I was hatched to a good sire and dam, very much far toward where the sun hatches. Two-legs were ranging closer to the cave-den. I flew from the nest and followed the sun's flight. I found my range where I could fly on my own. It had little prey, but there was also no danger from two-legs."
"It sounds like a very good range for you. A place for a true hunter to live," Luna answered.
"I was warmed by that range for season-cycles until I found a male dark wing. It was... very wild and strong."
Luna hummed softly.
"Was-Grounded is a good life-mate for you."
"No, it was not him. It was another male bigger than Was-Grounded. I... was very warmed to find a... kin like me," she growled in anger.
"Why are you angry?" Luna warily asked.
"It did not stay with me after we mated. I could not catch enough prey for me and my hatchling. My first little one died without enough food. I knew that I would never have any eggs again with that monster. I hid from it every new-life-season."
Her faint snarl gave way to a soft purr.
"One life-slowing-season, I found another, true dark wing in my range. He talked to me, hunted for me, and looked at me with much warmth in his eyes. He was very different from the other one. Still a hunter and wild in his liver, but warm and other-thinking with very twisted thinking about two-legs."
"Egg-mates, they are twisted in many ways," Luna groaned.
They both purred their agreement about that.
"But he did teach me things about life that I would not have known. I thought of two-legs as food before, and he told me stories about good two-legs with liver-warmth for kin. He also taught me to growl at and shake the neck of what was because we wanted something new or different to be. He made me a stronger kin. And now we have a nest and little ones."
"Your Dawn-Singer and Aurora are very warm fledglings. They have no fear of life," Luna sighed.
"What about you? You are strong and are not life-grounded."
Luna shuffled on her paws and did not look up at her.
"I still remember much bad from two-legs... and from kin."
She got up from where she sat and walked over to Luna. The light wing shrank back very slightly at her approach.
"But not from us. We have not hurt you, and we will not. You are... kin to us."
Luna froze and glanced up at her as her white ears lifted.
"You would name me your kin?"
"You have a liver with no rot. You are not a life-thrall to two-legs. My little ones are warmed to see you and play with you. And we can share words with you, something we cannot do with the other kin. Yes, you are kin to us."
She stepped back from Luna.
"The catch is yours. I was hunting less for eating and more for knowing that I can hunt. I can get fish from the mixed nest. You may fly to my cave-den when you want to play with my little ones. And if you try to impress my life-mate from me, I will eat your liver."
Green-eyes delved deeply into light-blue eyes that returned an even, steady gaze that did not blink.
"I will not do that. You should know that," Luna answered.
She only grinned a toothy grin and hummed in satisfaction as she turned tail and flew off to leave Luna to the prey. She turned her flight back to her cave-den where her life-mate was surely tending the little ones or out playing with them.
The flight of three passed several dragons lazily flying or otherwise lying on the ground as they themselves flew along the coast. It was a rather warming sight since they both knew how rare dragons were in the world.
To see more of them living freely here is very good. But there will be more tensions with the other people in this area.
The first village eventually came into view after much flying.
I did not visit this one before. Wonder how this meeting will go. We can probably try to make this faster than how I did it before.
He flew up alongside Cloudjumper and waved at Valka with a beckoning nod. The two of them dove down toward the central square. Valka stood aloft on Cloudjumper's back the whole time and did not even need to brace herself as the great Stormcutter backwinged and settled down on the ground. He dove as well and landed at his side.
There was a great deal of confusion and screaming all around as people ran back and forth. Several dozen men ran out with spears and shields, though they were quite reluctant to advance.
Valka was aided down to the ground with a wing and turned to the soldiers. She removed her helmet.
"I would speak with your Chief!"
The men gaped at her in amazement and did not move for several stunned moments.
"Well, get a move on, or I will have this Night Fury eat every chicken in your village!"
He turned to stare at her and gave her a confused grunt.
"Oh, come on... I know you like chicken!"
They both stared at each other for several moments and broke down in laughter. His throaty peals carried over the village. Even Cloudjumper joined in a moment later in his odd way.
That seemed to break the moment all around.
One of the larger and better-dressed men slowly stepped forward while holding his shield and a spear.
"What is this!" he roared at them.
"Are you the Chief?" Valka asked.
"I am. What is with these dragons you have?"
Shadowwing stepped forward and put a claw to the ground.
Greetings Chief
The man gawked in disbelief.
"What trickery is this? Loki is at work here!"
Valka stepped forward while leaning on her staff.
"No Loki here. My name is Dragonheart. My dragon is named Cloudjumper. And the Night Fury is named Shadowwing. He knows his words as you can see."
"Impossible!"
Improbable
There is a difference
The Chief stared in evident confusion, clearly trying to process what he was seeing as compared to all the stories that he certainly knew.
"How... how can this be?"
Dragons are not monsters
"I don't... what?"
"What is your name, Chief?" Valka asked.
"Vilgar."
Valka and Shadowwing both slightly inclined their heads.
"What!" Vilgar exclaimed.
"We wanted to meet with you to explain something. You and your people might have noticed a lot more dragons recently."
"Yes, we did. It all started earlier this spring. They started flying down from the north and snatching up livestock."
She winced slightly at the confirmation and glanced at Shadowwing.
"They didn't hurt anyone, did they?"
"Not yet, but there have been close calls. Why are there so many dragons now? They were gone for years and that was good. We had peace," Vilgar groaned.
"A lot of them were slaves that had no choice but to fight. They are free now and want to live in peace. But there..."
"Peace! They hound our fishing boats and attack our cattle. What is peaceful about that?"
A chorus of muttering went around through the gathered audience.
Many of them were slaves in an army
They do not know better
"Even if that is true, that changes nothing for us. They are still dangerous."
Shadowwing hung his head as he thought about this dilemma and how to convey what was needed without saying too much.
No one is truly at fault here. The dragons need to fly further for fish and other food and that puts them in this tribe's territory. They are not trying to hurt anyone. And these people already know that we are somewhere up north.
The dragons that we freed must fly for food
There are too many at our home now to provide for
They do not mean any harm
"Well, tell them to leave us alone!"
If only it were that simple. I cannot control them or even truly talk to them.
"We only wanted to let you and the other tribes around here know that we mean no harm. There are also some things that you can do to help defend yourselves without violence," Valka offered.
"What? Anything you can share would help," Vilgar warily acknowledged.
Valka waved a hand at Shadowwing, having discussed before some possible advice they could share.
Most dragons do not like eels
"What? Eels?" Vilgar exclaimed in confusion.
"Yeah, only one type of dragon that we know of will eat eels. The rest will stay far away if they see any eels or even smell eels."
"That is a crazy idea... How will that help with our livestock?"
"You can also always keep lookout in the early afternoon. That is when dragons tend to range farthest from their homes," Valka offered.
"None of that helps us though. What if they attack? How can we defend ourselves?"
You could befriend them
Chief Vilgar's eyes bugged as he looked at the words.
"What!"
Become dragon riders
"No, no, no. We only want to be left in peace."
"We are glad to hear that. We will do what we can to keep the peace, but we cannot guarantee that nothing will ever happen..." Valka reluctantly granted.
"I must do what I can to keep my own people safe. You understand that, yes?" Vilgar replied.
She nodded.
"I... thank you for telling me, Dragonheart. Please leave us in peace."
We will
Thank you for understanding
Vilgar slowly nodded while staring back at the Fury and stepped back. The Chief had kept his wary and appraising look to him throughout the entire discussion.
Valka vaulted back onto Cloudjumper's back, and the two dragons left the ground a moment later. Shadowwing grumbled to himself as they put the village to their tails.
Well, that was mildly disappointing. Good to hear that it has not come to actual violence for them.
They crowded close around the campfire as Cloudjumper lay asleep coiled around them. A pair of fish were roasting in the fire as Valka rested against the Stormcutter's side. Shadowwing lay next to her and stared at the fire, his head on the ground.
All was peaceful.
"Well, that last one was... disturbing," she softly spoke.
Tell me about it.
"Why they thought you would want to eat someone as a sacrifice, I do not want to know."
He only shook his head at the reminder.
"At least they had not seen much from the dragons after all. I really do not know what we are going to do about them. The dragons from the tribes are all well enough behaved for the most part. It is the ones from Drago's army and from the ice nest that do not know so well how to behave. They've got a bit more violence and wildness in them."
I know. We are still having issues with them relieving themselves in the village.
"But we will figure something out. We always do."
She pulled the finished fish from the fire and ate them. More quiet and peace followed afterwards. The only sounds were their breaths and the crickets in the darkness.
"Son?" she whispered.
He slowly lifted his head and turned to face her.
"How are you?"
He shrugged and rumbled.
"How are you really?" she asked again.
He sighed, closed his eyes, and slowly wrote in the dirt patch they had cleared.
It does not feel that bad now
But I do not feel much of anything anymore
He wavered before continuing.
Like I am sleepwalking in life
"Always?"
He hummed softly for a moment and gradually let it roll into a soft purr.
Not when with the other Furies
They are almost all my living family now
But down in the village, being Alpha
That all feels more empty
Just a duty that I must do
It feels like I am being pulled
Away from everything I knew
"Responsibility can feel like that, true. That is part of growing up and letting go."
He gave a whining sigh.
I miss them so much
Dad and Astrid
"I know. I do too. I know what it is like to miss someone you love... do I ever..."
She wiped her cheek with a sleeve.
"But all we can do is celebrate them. The best way to honor them is to remember them and keep alive the world that they built and... died for. To give up on that world would mean that the fallen died in vain, that they died for nothing."
She paused before warily continuing.
"I've been meaning to ask. How is Luna? How is she doing now?"
She definitely seems a bit better. Flying and hunting on her own definitely helps.
She is learning well
Maybe enough to talk to you soon
"But what about outside of writing? How is she really?"
He closed his eyes as he thought about what to say.
I do not know if she will ever move on entirely from the past. She might never be able to trust humans as a whole now.
She is more free now
I tried to push her into the village in the past
I will not do that again
It is her choice if she ever wants to trust humans
Valka glanced one more time at his words and pulled her blanket over herself.
"I hope she does."
He stared up at the stars as the light from the fire slowly faded.
As do I.
Luna stared up at the sky-lights as the evening light faded.
It was a comfortable perch indeed up here on the highest peaks that overlooked the Haven-range. On her tail side of the rock lay the total wild and unknown. An expanse of trees that stretched out to the horizon. The other side of the rock sloped down into the range she knew. The range with the two-legs and other kin. The range that she had been in since the previous life-slowing-season.
Now she was ungrounded, free, and able to go where she wanted.
Where does my life-flight go now?
Several glances followed between the wild and the Haven-range. The wild called to her liver. To hunt on her own, catch her own prey, rely on no other, fly the winds back to wherever her den would be, and curl up there in...
Silence...
Alone...
She reflected on the life that Green-Wings had lived before finding Was-Grounded.
The idea was not as warming as it had once seemed.
My wants are flying apart from the other.
Her gaze went up to the mournful, ever-flying moon bright above.
What would you do? You fly alone high in the sky.
And a liver-warming idea filled her with wanting.
Maybe this is the night I tag you now that I am very strong.
So she launched herself from the rock and began the spiral upwards, easily losing her waking thoughts as she ascended the sky. Up past the lowest flying clouds and higher still. She even left behind the heights that she had flown on her first restored free flight.
All the while the far high flying clouds rolled and closed on the moon, threatening to block out its white light. The cold grew greater. The sky itself started feeling thinner and gave her wings less lift with each beat. Breathing became hard and brought less relief.
And the moon seemed to come no closer in all that time.
How high do you fly? You and the sky-lights. Are you not part of this world-range?
Still she flew on higher, determined to reach that lofty goal. Her head started hurting and the world started spinning as the chill closed around her. Her weary eyes closed as she weakly sighed.
'Remember that you must always think ahead when diving into deep water, little one.'
'What do you mean, sire?'
'You want to dive deep and catch fish, yes?'
'Yes, sire.'
She sat down and looked up at him as he spoke wisdom and life-guidance.
'And you must turn back for the air long before you feel your need to breathe. By the time that you know you must get air, it is too late to start kicking for air if you are deep under the water. Do you see the life-lesson?'
She blinked and thought about the liver of what he was saying.
'Know what I can do and what I cannot do?'
'Yes, my sky-light...'
Her weary eyes opened as she felt the spinning wind and heard the roaring rush around her. As she weightlessly tumbled back into warmer air.
What? Where am I?
She blinked wildly and shook her head to get the twisted, confused thinking out.
Falling. That is what she was doing.
A quick spin followed and her wings carried her aloft on the dark winds again. A few wingbeats passed before she recovered herself and mournfully looked up into the sky.
The moon was hiding fully behind the distant dark clouds. The high sky had fouled her attempt to fly to it. It was a flight that was not good for her.
She gave a short and sad cry at realizing that her old vision-hope of touching the moon one future sun would never be. They were flying in completely different world-winds.
Down from the sky she flew toward the mountains far below. Lost in her thoughts about a flight that would never be flown, she flew down the side of the mountain and started looking for the caves.
But the caves were all gone. Nothing was familiar at all about the range now.
She pulled up away from the mountain and growled at her own lack of care and confusion.
This is the wrong side of the mountains. What was I thinking?
Back up and over the peaks she swiftly flew, this time taking note of the fire-lights from the distant Haven-nest and the familiar shapes of the rocks and the distant ocean. Down the range her flight took her until she dove down toward her own den, landed, and eagerly bounded inside.
The familiar comfort of the place wrapped itself around her like warm wings. Her smell that claimed the cave-den and marked it as hers. Her shed scales shoved into a corner against the rock wall. The quiet peace and silence.
Alone.
And there was something wiggling in her liver. A wanting that was barely noticeable and which her life-flame shied away from without her knowing-thoughts seeing the choice. That future was flying in a dark cloud which she could not see into. Two different life-paths, poised between them and not knowing or feeling how to choose which one to fly.
But aloneness was not so warming now.
Was-Grounded was flying back to his cave-den, Dawn-Singer at his side after grabbing some fish together, when a flash of white caught his attention in the early sun's light. He saw Luna dive down the mountain and alight outside his cave shortly before he himself did.
What are you doing here?
"Was-Grounded," she nodded respectfully as he touched down beside her and sat down on his rear.
Dawn-Singer spared no formalities and bounded up to her with a happy hum.
"Luna! Are we going to do more picture-talking this sun?"
"We can later young one. You can help teach me more."
"Is there a flight you are flying, Luna?" Was-Grounded kindly asked.
Her light blue eyes stared back at his green ones.
"A flight, yes... I remembered how alone we are as kin in all the ranges of the world. I... want to be around my kin more."
He hummed warmly, still trying to figure out her true meaning behind her words.
"We are the almost the same kin, but are we kin to the other? Are you kin to my nest, Luna?"
"That is a silly, twisted question, sire. Yes, she is our kin!" Dawn-Singer eagerly declared.
That depends on how she sees herself and us, my little one. If all were so warm as you are now.
Green-Wings and Aurora slowly exited the cave-den as well and came over to him.
"Luna!" Aurora hummed.
The now-fledgling dashed over to Luna and started prancing around her. It was not lost on them that the fledgling was loudly declaring them both as known to the other.
"Little sky-breath one," Luna softly hummed.
"Bright wing! Bright wing!" Aurora jumped to bat at Luna's folded wings.
They all laughed at the fledgling's antics.
"Luna, you still seem to carry a chill with you now. Is something hunting you?" Green-Wings observed and asked.
Luna looked up away from Aurora and glanced toward the mountains.
"I was thinking much about this range, the two-leg and kin mixed-nest, and... my life-winds."
"What about them?" he wondered.
"I see that I do not see clearly. I think I want different things that cannot both be."
"Do you want to stay here in the wild of this Haven-range?" Green-Wings asked.
Luna paused and grumbled softly. She threw a glance up toward the peaks of the mountains before answering.
"There are no other ranges to go to that I know of. This one has good hunting. The two-legs here are not much rotted kin-hunters, even if I will not let them touch my liver. I should stay here long."
Was-Grounded and Green-Wings shared a glance.
"That is warming to hear. If you are going to be staying here, will you make a nest of your own?" Green-Wings asked.
Silence followed.
"I have my own cave-den already," Luna warily answered after several twisting moments.
"That is not what I..." Green-Wings was silenced by a subtle nudge from Was-Grounded.
"What?" she hissed.
"I will tell you later..." he answered.
He turned back to Luna.
"Will you watch Dawn-Singer for us as you learn more picture-talking?"
Luna hummed and turned to Dawn-Singer.
"Let us fly to Shadowwing's cave and fly more of the picture-talking flight."
Dawn-Singer happily growled, and they both leapt for the sky.
"Me fly too!" Aurora hummed.
They both followed Aurora on the ground to watch her as she flew. She only had a pawful of suns under her wings and was a bit clumsier than her older nestmate still. But she was learning as she got stronger, and she had the same flight-joy as she beat her small wings and spun up above them.
"What was that about?" Green-Wings asked with a hiss.
His ears went back, and he gave a wary hum.
I guess it is finally time to fly the truth with her.
"You were going to tell Luna to take Shadowwing as her mate, truth?"
"Yes, that would be good for them both," she confidently replied.
A soft growl of his own followed.
"Do you trust me, my mate?" he asked.
"Always," she rubbed his neck for emphasis.
"Do not talk to them about that. I do hope that they will fly together as mates, but we should not talk to them about it."
She grumbled in confusion.
"Why not?"
"My mate, will you say on your wings, your liver, and your life-breath that you will not tell any other what I will tell you now?"
Her eyes narrowed in consideration as she gave him her fullest attention.
"And on our being life-mates, yes," she declared.
"There is something about him that I have not told you. You will not think it possible."
She rolled her eyes and huffed in his face.
"Coming from a twisting kin like you. Try to surprise me."
"He was not always a kin like us. He was once a two-leg."
Her mouth fell open in confusion, and she was about to speak when he continued.
"You remember what I once told you about a two-leg who was my kin, who has a place in my liver?"
"Yes."
"That was him. He was the two-leg male who had a chance to kill me and make his two-leg nest speak well of him. But he did not do it. He freed me, brought me fish, and… became as a nestmate to me."
She eventually closed her parted jaws and blinked very rapidly at him.
"That is... I do not know... what to think."
He swung his tail around in front of him and stroked her nose with the left fin.
"I was grounded. I lost this fin to a two-leg trap."
She stared at the restored fin, licked it once, and shivered at the thought of it being lost.
"He built me a two-leg not-tailfin thing to fly in the place of the lost one. That was how I was made not-grounded the first time. We learned to fly together with him on my back and helping me with the new tailfin. We killed a nest-Monster and freed a nest of kin, but we both were hit by its tail-spikes."
He hung his head and whined at the memory.
"I knew that he was going to die and I was also going to die in my fall, so I used my life-will-power on both of us. I did not know if it would do anything and heal him since he was a two-leg, but I asked the great sky-breath to heal us both, to save both our life-breaths. The next thing I knew was that I had hatched out of a new egg. I could remember everything about my life-flight. I had a new and good hatchling body with both tailfins. And there was another hatchling with me."
"Shadowwing?" she gasped.
He hummed, pleased that she understood.
"His life-breath was saved, even with his two-leg body being made not. My liver-bond two-leg became my egg-mate that sun. Or, to use the two-leg word he taught me for what we are, my brother."
He finally stopped speaking and looked at Green-Wings to see her reaction. She seemed completely stunned and struggled to say anything for many wingbeats.
"I never would have thought that. He has always been very strange and twisting for a kin, but that is the most twisted thing I have ever heard. It does explain why he does many two-leg things and knows their words and picture-talking," she eventually mumbled.
"You see why we should not push them to fly together?"
"Because he was a two-leg once?"
"And because of how much he lost at the ice nest. He needs many suns for his liver to heal from all the death and grounding."
He growled as his eyes narrowed slightly.
"And the winds of Luna's life were not warm to her. The idea of having a mate, of having a male be one with her, might still hurt her liver. We should let them both grow together with many sun-cycles on their own."
Green-Wings glanced up at the spiraling Aurora up above.
"Luna does feel warmer now than she was when I first saw her. She was chilled only by seeing us and how warm our livers are," Green-Wings remarked.
"Her life-winds will not be grounded long. Her scales already shine bright in the light. Her tail is long and her wings are strong. She is free now of the badness of two-legs, and she is wild at liver. Any mate of hers would be very warmed by her," he hummed.
Jaws closed around his neck as he was tackled to the ground. Green-Wings hopped onto his back and roughly sat on him.
"Grr, why did you do that?" he groaned.
"You are mine," she growled down at him after releasing his neck.
He twisted under her, rolled to spill her on the ground, and completely pinned her as though to claim her, though she barely fought back and was clearly pleased to be so pinned. He nuzzled her nose and purred deeply to her.
"And I will always be yours. What? Do you think I would go join with her when I want her and my brother to become mates? You twisted she-kin!"
She had no chance to freely retaliate because Aurora landed and hopped up to them. She chirped in confusion and struck as well.
"Play-fight!"
And she was nibbling on an ear a moment later. He fell to the side as his fledgling struck. Green-Wings struck from his other side and nibbled on his other ears.
He was defeated.
"You win! I am grounded!" he bellowed in amusement.
"No sire, you are Was-Grounded!" Aurora yelled after she released his ear.
Both females laughed deeply in their livers and smugly purred to themselves at their triumph. Green-Wings fell in at his side and wrapped her tail around his.
"You did not doubt me, did you?" he warily hummed.
"No, I only wanted to twist your liver."
He sighed softly.
"Luna is warming to look at, that is truth. Maybe I would have been a good mate with her in a different life-flight. But I do not have for her the warmth that I have with you. She is more like a second-nestmate if anything."
He softly nudged her side.
"You saved my life before when you chose me and helped me kill the thought-rotted male. You have given me two little ones and another egg in a few moon-cycles. And there will be many more in all future season-cycles."
They both lost themselves in their trusting croons and tender nuzzles.
"Will they become mates?" she eventually asked.
"What do you think?" he raised his eye-ridges at her question.
"Their life-winds are flying closer every sun. Yes, they will," she declared after a moment of thought.
They both purred at the idea. Aurora joined in from under his wing where she liked to snuggle.
"I agree. He is still some twisted in his liver at past hurts, but he is warming to her. His ears always go up when he sees her. And he looks long at her without knowing it," he chuckled.
His ears went up as he gave a soft chuckle and looked down at the clearly confused Aurora.
"I have an idea. We can help guide their flights together."