A/N: There are some things I did not think of mentioning in the notes for previous chapters. Those things will be in the end notes on this chapter.

I really had no idea what to title this one. Nothing was coming to mind from the content of this chapter. All I could find to latch onto was the predatory aspect, and so I did, but it's still only a kind of okay title. Eh, it'll do.

Happy Reading.

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General, cont'd

"Hold a sec!"

Deidara brought himself to a stop abruptly. "Hm? Why?"

"Porch wolves," Hidan answered. "They like to keep their people safe. I just remembered." He waved for them all to continue toward the outer cabin, just at a slower pace.

Konan glanced down at the mirror tucked under her arm. "It might have been a good idea to return this before entering the forest."

"Why would they mind?" Hidan asked. "They didn't mind my weird clothes when I came here, and they know people, so a mirror can't be weirder than clothes."

"I agree," Konan replied. "I was talking about how inconvenient it is to carry around." The mirror was small enough to be held easily, unlike the fallen door, but it was still large enough to require her entire arm to hold it. It stuck out some distance ahead and behind her in this position. Konan consulted her knowledge of measuring systems to find an appropriate one, and decided it might project about half a foot ahead and behind her. It is a strange system of measurement, but remarkably useful for these little estimations.

Deidara finished his double take. He'd forgotten that Konan still had the mirror. "I forgot you had it, hm. How'd you stop us in the woods when we saw the path?"

Konan briefly attached it to her belly with chakra. "Chakra. It is similar to how you can walk on water or vertical surfaces."

"Ohhhhh." Deidara smirked. "So that's how you hold that thing on your back, yeah!"

"No it isn't." Hidan rolled his eyes. "I told Kakuzu before, I don't have to. It just belongs to me."

Konan nodded. "It clearly can move on its own and use chakra on its own. It is more similar to Samehada than a typical weapon," she told Deidara. "Think of it that way, even if it does not have a face."

Hidan rolled his eyes again, but the wolf interrupted before he could say anything. It stood at its full height, with bristling fur, and its ears and tail alert and still. Guard dog. Hidan's ears twitched. Shit. What do I do here? Last time I just walked past them and everything was okay when I talked to Tiger Guy. How do I talk to dogs? What do dogs like? Fuck, I don't know!

Konan stepped in front of him and Deidara, spreading her arms to either side and tilting her head to indicate dominance over these two. She stood still and allowed the wolf to sample her scent, all the while projecting a steady stream of calm chakra. The wolf's ears lowered, and then the fur on her shoulders stopped bristling. Her tail stayed up and her ears stayed alert, but she turned away from them and barked. The sound was very rough and wrong-sounding coming from a wolf throat. Now that I think of it, wolves do not bark, do they? I have only ever heard dogs barking. I suppose the sound is unnecessary when you have no humans to alert, and may attract unwanted attention in the wild.

Some guy with short black hair stuck his head out the door and barely glanced at Konan's blue hair before saying, "Come in." The wolf's tail began to wave gently back and forth, and she curled up beneath the porch, out of their way. Konan nodded in respect, and the three of them entered the cabin.

Hidan started to purr as soon as he entered. There's the little fridge where he got stuff from to the left in the back behind that little divider thingy, and around that wall's the food, ooh and I wonder what's down that hall off to the right… Hey, how's that tiger guy doing? I should ask.

Konan glanced around, unable to locate a fire despite her senses telling her there should be a fire somewhere around here. Ironically, the comfortable atmosphere put her on edge. Where is it coming from?

Deidara waved at Sasori, who stared back impassively in response. He stopped waving and slowly lowered his hand, suddenly feeling awkward. Sasori continued to stare impassively, making Deidara feel as though he had done something wrong. He didn't think he had, but then other people besides Sasori were looking at the three of them, as well… "Um…" Did I do something wrong?

"All right!" Hidan exclaimed. "How's it going, guys?"

Kakuzu stared back. "Shouldn't you already know?"

"I'm getting a mixed mumble of things, nothing really noticeable or distinct," Hidan said after concentrating really hard. "So how the fuck would I know?"

Nagato stood up, followed by Sakumo. "It's all right," he told Hidan. "This is not a bad place to be; I had no idea a cabin could be so comfortable. But, it would be nice to know why you led us here."

Konan alleviated her discomfort with motion, finding a place to put down the mirror and surveying the room while Hidan explained. "So we were making plans," he explained, "and I don't remember who said what but it made me think of a path of light, so I got the cool idea to lead people somewhere interesting. And we had that nice fork in the road that nobody's been down before, so…"

Nagato tilted his head. "But you had no idea the path led here?"

"No!" Hidan looked around. "Pure luck."

"What kind?" Sasori asked. His voice was flat and his tone wasn't quite right. He looked away, obviously preoccupied with something else. In truth, he was still having visions of parts linking together, chains winding around gears, and other mechanical mirages dancing in front of his mind's eyes. Some part of him supposed this prank was a good thing because it would help him focus, but he was too busy thinking to care about what was good for him or not, so he was quite grumpy and thought of this adventure, not his thoughts, as the distraction.

"Well, now that everyone on our side is here," Nagato began. Wow, I'm a little nervous. Even if Other Me was used to being in charge, that doesn't help me, apparently. "Sakumo and I decided we should consider ourselves allies. Official ones." I hope it wasn't overstepping to make that decision without them. Nagato rubbed his palms on his pants and waited for Hidan or Konan to say something.

Kisame straightened. "Really?" He hadn't expected this, but he liked it. They're trustworthy. It's fine. Yet, a little feeling of uncertainty squirmed inside him. Dammit, I can't be comfortable and trusting even here?!

Itachi was pleased, and not very surprised. Deidara realized he wasn't either. Hidan grinned; a significant part of said grin was everyone else's feelings of approval and liking this idea, but he was sure he himself agreed with that feeling. And Konan looked up.

"Alliance?" She pushed away the annoying atmosphere for now and concentrated. It was true that Sakumo had been the first person to help her in this world, and for that she was impossibly grateful. It was true that they already worked together jointly on Ruta's project. It was true that there was every reason in the world to make their alliance official. And yet… And yet… What?

And yet there is no way this version of Nagato thought of such reasons, she realized. That was the reason why something about this claim felt strange to her. "Why did you decide this, Nagato?" She already had some idea why, somewhere inside. Her chakra tightened.

Nagato turned red. Oh, crap, she realized. He glanced back at Sakumo, who looked similarly alarmed. Did they really want to talk about that in front of everyone? "Um…"

Hidan looked around. Why is there sudden tenseness, and where is that cool Tiger Guy? Hey, wait, Tiger Guy… Hidan remembered when he had met Mitsuki. "Hey, that could totally work." He turned to Konan. "I told Tiger Guy I act like a cat just because it works, even if I'm not really one. You're like me, and tiger people, and hey, it could work the same for you! You should totally meet Tiger Guy."

The room was silent after he finished. It was not a good silence. Hidan felt the urge to tremble, and realized the tenseness was getting to him. That was why he'd completely shattered what should have been an important moment between Konan and her brother. Hidan could feel the broken mood in the air and shrank inside. He shouldn't have said anything. "I… Sorry." He edged backward and out the door, face turning red. Oh, shit. Maybe I can look for Tiger Guy to make up for it. He waved at the wolf, who stared intensely at him, and stopped walking. "Hey, do you know where I can find Tiger Guy?" he whispered. He still had little idea how to interact with a dog, but she would do.

Meanwhile, Konan and Nagato tried to get back to what they had been doing. The fact that they even had to was concerning. Konan wondered if something was wrong with Hidan, or if his social skills could still be expected to lapse from time to time. Nagato felt bad for Hidan, because he knew what it was to be embarrassed. The only proper thing to do was capitalize on what Hidan had said, so he could truthfully tell him later that there was no reason to be embarrassed and everything was really all right. "That's kind of it, actually," Nagato said. "You do act like you have predator's instincts, and they would know all about that, so that's why I wanted to…" He waved at Sakumo.

Sakumo nodded and picked up the cue. "Of course. We're all different from ordinary people in more ways than just having chakra. We should support each other in all ways."

Nagato sighed in relief. "Yeah. If we can talk about my eyes and the moon and bond over that, we can talk about you and tigers." I hope that makes sense. It sounded a lot better in my head.

Konan sensed there was something they weren't quite talking about, and she was glad they weren't talking about it. "Thank you." Once again they do things for me, out of consideration that I might need help. A spike of fear slammed through her. No! This is like before, when Yahiko and Nagato needed to protect me. I'm falling into the trap all over again! She ground her teeth together, tightened her fingers to stop them from curling, valiantly withheld her chakra from broadcasting her feelings everywhere, and turned to leave. Only when she was outside could she breathe again. How did I not see it? It's all happening again. I have to stop it, before history repeats itself. Visions danced before her eyes, every time one of them had come for her and suffered or risked suffering in exchange for it. Her breathing was fast and shallow.

Hidan stumbled to a halt, causing the she wolf to hold her ears up on alert for danger. She sniffed the air in every direction. Hidan blinked, trying to clear his eyes and failing. I can't see! "The cabin," he said. "Go back there. I can't see." He lowered himself to the ground in a defensive crouch, scratching the dirt as he got ready to fight. His lips pulled back in preparation to roar.

Wave sensed clearly that the strange human knew something she didn't, and did as requested. She found the Alpha crouched on the stairs to the porch, giving off signals of DANGER DANGER DANGER. Wave whined, because she did not sense any danger. What did these humans know that she didn't? Both of them had said DANGER DANGER DANGER in their body. Wave grabbed the Alpha's wrist gently with her teeth and pulled. The strange human had not said so, but from what she knew of humans and dangers, they liked to be together. He must have meant for her to bring Alpha to him.

Konan focused on the world she was in when she felt the wolf's teeth clamp onto her wrist. She looked in alarm, but the teeth were over the sleeve of her cloak and not biting down very hard. The wolf they belonged to was obviously distressed. Goldeneye. Yes, dogs knew body language. This one must have seen her and realized something was very, very wrong. Dammit! How do I reassure her?

Konan let the wolf lead her away as she thought. Obviously, she would not get anywhere if she tried lying to the beast. The wolf would never believe she had not seen signs of danger when they both knew she had. "The danger is not for you," Konan said. "The danger is for humans only. For me and my people, not any of yours." The wolf's teeth relaxed somewhat, even as she continued leading Konan away.

They found Hidan crouched defensively in the common clearing between the cabins, although he had untensed and was now panting. Before Konan could say anything, he asked, "What's wrong?"

I've hurt him again. Konan closed her eyes briefly. I am sorry. She had forgotten, been careless again. This had to stop. This carelessness was part of it, the beginning and the end of this vicious cycle that swallowed up those she loved and put their lives in danger. This is what Hell must be like, she thought suddenly. Repeating the same vicious cycle over and over, thinking I can stop it but failing, over and over, knowing it is my own fault the entire way. I may very well be in Hell. Is this my Hell?

Hidan shook his head. He couldn't see again. Inside his head, he gathered all his energy, tensed his muscles and prepared to roar. In the outside world, all he did was grit his teeth, because a real roar would make this everyone's problem and they did not need that. But inside his mind: No. No! Bad! Bad. Rrrrrrrrr. He took a deep breath. RrrrrRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGG!

His eyes snapped open, and with teeth bared he lunged at Konan. He grabbed her and squeezed her tightly, wishing for a tangible enemy to sink his claws into. "No! Bad! Stop!" He still couldn't see. "See me! See."

Konan's thoughts frayed and broke like a spider's web before a blowtorch. Her eyes flew open wide, and she saw the sky through the trees. Or rather, the deep (should it be that deep) blue of the sky came through the trees to meet her. For reasons she could not name, Konan vividly remembered looking up at the sky after crashing to the unnatural ground at the hospital. She had lain there, disconnected from her own body, and tried to move. She had tried to turn around inside herself. Konan had thought about that peculiar experience in the week since, and had not been able to figure out exactly how that worked. Now she remembered precisely what it had felt like to try to move that way. She tried again.

She spun to the side, lost the ability to see through her eyes for a second, and felt her train of thought stop dead in its tracks. She had not moved very much; it felt as if she was bound by thick cobwebs. But she had moved, and the cobwebs could be parted. Konan returned to her normal position and pulled on the cobwebs. Her chest moved, and she gasped for air. As long as those cobwebs existed, she was bound to her body, or more likely it was the other way around. She was bound. But she could, conceivably, not be.

Her eyes remained wide, even as she relaxed for the first time since she had come out onto the porch. To be not trapped… It was an incredible relief. I can escape. She leaned forward into Hidan. Her terror of just a minute before was gone. She was not trapped. She could escape. Because of that, she no longer wanted to. This is not Hell, then. In Hell I would not be able to move. To Hidan, she whispered, "I see." Thank you for showing me that I am not in Hell.

Hidan blinked many times to confirm that he could now see normally, and squeezed her tightly. "Oh for fuck's sake. I thought you'd gotten lost. Stay here. Don't get lost." He rocked them back and forth.

"It is fine. You found me." But even as she said that, Konan remembered that it was not fine. The fact that Hidan had needed to find her was the problem. But I only needed to be found because I was thinking of the problem. If I didn't think of it, I would not have needed finding. Her brow wrinkled in confusion. What is the original source then? I must have entered this cycle from somewhere, but where? It appears to be a closed circle, with no entry in or out. What the hell?

"Hidan."

He let her go, but continued to hold on to her shoulders. "Yeah?"

What she had planned to say evaporated on its way from her head to her tongue. Konan found herself unable to speak, grasping for words. Like Yahiko. "I…"

Hidan sniffed. "You."

She blinked, then closed her eyes. "I...I need you not to help me."

Hidan searched her face. Was she serious? She looked serious, and she felt serious. "I don't think I can do that," he admitted. "I need to. You're me. I mean, you…" He shivered as coldness raced up and down his spine. His heart pounded, and his entire body suddenly became horribly uncomfortable. He knew this discomfort. Am I going to forget?

Konan opened her eyes. He just said… But of course. He spoke the truth. She remembered further into the past, when she had been walking away from the park bench Nagato and Yahiko sat at, where the moths fluttered in the lamplight and the moonlight. She had had a vision of reality secretly being made of something else, as if material existence was an illusion. And then she had seen something completely unlike reality inside, beneath Hidan. Sasori had said the blue color she saw there was everywhere else, too, and weren't her own body and mind technically a part of reality? Hidan was speaking literally. Or something was speaking literally through him. Either way, he's right. He has to.

Hidan grimaced. "Mm." His head was spinning. His head was spinning and tilting and jumping like a skipping record. Forgetting, forgetting, for- for- for- what- Forgetting what? He tried to build a mental bridge out to reach this knowledge, but every part of the bridge crumbled as soon as he laid it.

Konan grabbed the sides of his head. "Tell me." What did he need her to do?

"H-help."

She pressed her forehead to his. "Hidan. Listen to me."

His mind was spinning too fast to hear her.

"I understand what you mean. Your feelings are made of mine. You must help me because of that." She sighed. "I know you have to. I only meant that, right now, I need to feel as though I can stand alone. I need to track you down and draw from your strength at my will, not at your generosity, because I have suffered too much from being treated generously. That is all I meant."

Hidan groaned. What? I… was going to forget...what? She says...my feelings are made of hers… Oh! *click* His eyes slowly fluttered open. I said she was me. That's so weird, but, yeah. Makes sense. It still made his breath shake to think of saying that, but his head felt screwed on now. Hidan took a step back, and sat down on the ground, exhausted. "Mm. I remember saying that - that weird thing. Is that it? I didn't forget anything?"

Konan took a deep breath and counted to herself before saying or doing anything. It was making her head spin to think of belonging to him that way. She exhaled, and crouched over him. "That is all."

"Thanks." He let out a sob of relief, which he hadn't known he felt. It was another one of those feelings from nowhere. He took her hand and held it because he was very, very glad she was there. "Thank you."

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She could ask him to promise to do what she asked another time, when she felt more stable. They sat together in the clearing in silence.

Wave sniffed the air. She was still there. The Alpha had said the truth; Wave had seen the danger, had seen it attack the humans and seen the humans fight it off, but had not been affected herself. But that did not mean she was safe, and even if the Alpha had said it would not harm her humans, she had to be sure. Wave prowled in a circle around the two of them, sniffing to make sure there was nothing moving in the air. She didn't know what that was, hadn't been able to clearly see it, but she knew air was not supposed to move like that. It was different when the air moved as wind. That was normal. This was something that was not exactly movement, not exactly staying still, not exactly changing, not exactly not-changing, and overall Strange and Unknown and therefore Dangerous. It didn't really matter what it was, as long as it was strange and unknown and therefore dangerous. She patrolled a circle around the two strange humans, and did not sense any of the strangeness. They had fought the danger off.

Yahiko

This time, Yahiko saw her fingers tense. This time, he knew enough to realize not feeling something from her chakra was a bad sign. This time, he was ready to do something about that.

He didn't really hear what anyone else said after Konan left, and did not care. After several minutes of fighting with himself over how much time she needed vs. how much comfort she also needed, he finally managed to tear his eyes away from the door. He nudged Nagato's hand. Nagato saw the look in his eyes and nodded. "Good luck," the redhead told him.

Yahiko nodded in reply. "Thank you." I'll need it. Then he got up and left to find Konan.

She was not anywhere obvious outside, but Yahiko saw tracks in the dirt. They were not human tracks, more likely Wave had left them, but they didn't look right. He followed them in the direction of the central clearing, his heart beating rapidly. I have to do something, and it has to work, he realized. Because if after all this time and trying to make myself braver and more capable, I still can't help someone, I won't know what to think about myself. For the sake of his relationship with himself, he had to succeed.

A few steps later, he stopped moving. Huh. It feels like it does back at the base, where we have that symbol in the basement. But there's no symbol here. What's causing that? He shuffled stealthily around the side of a cabin and peered out into the clearing.

The first thing he saw was Wave. She should have noticed him, because that was her job, but she hadn't noticed him at all despite being only a few feet away. Then he saw Hidan and Konan embracing in the middle of the clearing, and understood exactly what Wave was whining and cringing in fear of. The quality of the daylight was starting to change, but enough remained that he could see Hidan's eyes clearly. They were a deep purple-blue, and the sight of them made Yahiko twitch as though he was being electrocuted.

He gasped and pulled himself back behind the cabin wall, shaking. Oh, my god, what is that? His teeth chattered. He checked, and saw his hands were shaking very badly. I can't do anything like this. It's a bad time. I'm just going to stay here and wait it out. Yep.

It probably was not long, but it felt like forever before the feeling went away. Yahiko stretched his muscles, trying to relax while Hidan and Konan murmured to each other too quietly for him to hear. He was massaging his hands and taking deep breaths to get the last of it out when he heard them say:

"Hidan?"

"Yeah?"

Something quiet and hesitant sounding. Then -

"I...I need you not to help me."

What?!

They continued speaking at a volume he could have heard if he had deliberately listened. But Yahiko did not deliberately listen. What? She doesn't want to be helped? But… Well I know she probably wants to feel confident and capable, like I do, but...No. No buts. He looked down at his hands in understanding. That's exactly it. She has to, like I have to. She's a ninja like I want to be. She needs to feel that as much as I do.

Finally, he understood her. But what could he do with this understanding?

What does she like to be capable at? Yahiko curled up, hugging his knees to his chest, and thought. She likes to fight and use techniques and battle, so I guess she needs to feel like she can fight on her own. How do I help with that? He squinted at the ground, and did not see any answers written there. I don't know!

Konan's voice rose. Yahiko's hopes rose too. But maybe she does! He moved his head closer to the edge of the cabin, but not past it so he wouldn't interrupt, and listened. He heard her speak to Hidan, and by the time she finished, he had slumped back against the wall.

What does that mean? Other people trying to help hurt her somehow? Yahiko had never heard of generosity being bad for anyone before. Of course he knew receiving charity could hurt someone's pride, but she spoke like it was the cause of deep, lasting wounds. As if generosity was not really generosity after all. What kind of generous am I trying to be? Is it the right kind? Yahiko bit his lip against the self-doubt he knew was descending. I'm trying to do the right thing, but am I? How would I even know?

Yahiko took a deep breath, trying to think, and realized he hadn't heard anything for some time, not even quiet muttering. Then he heard scuffling. He gathered his courage, lifted himself up, and peeked around the corner. Hidan was sitting like he was tired, Konan was crouched next to him, and Wave was patrolling a circle around them, sniffing the air. Yahiko wondered what she was sniffing for; it couldn't be regular scent, because she still hadn't noticed him. She surely would, very soon. He had to make up his mind, and fast.

There are only two things I can do. One is nothing, and the other is what I think is right. That's all I can do. Yahiko ground his teeth together, and shoved self doubt aside. That's all I can do. He forced himself to his feet, and came out from behind the cabin wall.

Wave stopped her patrol and looked up. Konan followed her gaze. As usual, her eyes flicked downward and her face tightened when she recognized him. "Yahiko."

So, what do I think is right? That was a very good question. Yahiko wished he had Nagato's mind for making exact plans as he greeted Wave and sat some distance away from them. "Hey."

Konan stopped looking away from him and became very, very still. Yahiko guessed she knew what he had heard. How do I make this not awkward? That was another thing he believed Nagato to be much more skilled at. But Nagato wasn't here, so he would have to do. "Hey, um…" Think! What do I say? "..." He had no idea. "Um…" No ideas were coming. "Well…" What am I even making sounds for I shouldn't be trying this now.

Hidan still looked tired, but he mustered a smile. "Heya, Sunshine."

Yahiko forced aside his panic long enough to wave and smile back. Oh god oh god oh god what do I even. The problem with Yahiko's thoughts, as it occurred to him in calmer times, was that he didn't think in words most of the time. His thoughts were a mixture of sensory inputs, including sound, and sometimes those mental sounds took the form of words if his thoughts were clear enough. But when his thoughts were not clear, all of the forms they came in degenerated into babble. The general tone of his thoughts could be translated into words, but they were really better represented as $ (&((*($))G(*V *D&SE%($? ^*#*^!& and other meaningless, staticky sounds. Mental images, too, were affected by this phenomenon. He saw brief flashes of Konan fighting and being really good at it and enjoying it, but none of these images showed or contributed in any way to his understanding of how to help her feel like that without hurting her.

Hidan frowned. His thoughts were suddenly all unclear, and he was very confused and kind of frightened. "Nng." He started scratching his head.

Yahiko heard a metaphorical clock ticking down. The moment for reaching out to her was ending, which of course worsened his problem. He made a spontaneous decision to babble, like he had when he tried to approach her that day they made the Christmas tree out of boxes. Babbling was good. It was speech of some kind, at least.

"So, um, so, you like fighting and- and- I want to… Um, that. Fighting, yes, I want to- to- no you said you didn't want help um… Training! Let's have training! Yeah. Um. Um." And he clamped his mouth shut. ((*$jYFB335 #*($$*... His thoughts tentatively calmed down, but still buzzed like anxious flies. Training? Was that really the best answer he could come up with? That answer had been tried before. It had, right? He was pretty sure it'd come up before, at least. Wait… Maybe it wasn't a bad answer. He couldn't be sure if it had been tried before, or if it had worked.

Actually, Konan thought, that wasn't a bad idea. As the past stream of babbling demonstrated, he wasn't in the condition he ought to be in, for her comfort or anyone else's. And there was nothing better for personal growth and change than training. She looked up to his eyes, so now he was the one avoiding her gaze. Her blood and chakra flows filled with warmth, and Konan felt her inner will wake up and growl out its desire to be expressed. Yes. She would transform him into who and what he needed to be through training. Her lips lifted, and she started to purr. Chakra pooled beneath her shoulder blades.

Hidan, remembering what Kakuzu had said that first day, tried not to swoon too obviously. There she was! He broke out purring. "Nice one, Sunshine."

Yahiko calmed down and looked up at those words, but Konan was already looking away decorously. He could see the look on her face, though. It reminded him of the hunting look in her eyes from when she'd chased him, except less dangerous and more rational. He swallowed. So that's it. In order to make her feel strong and powerful and confident, I need to get that look on her face. She's always had that look when she felt strong, and never anytime else. How did I not see that? He gulped. If that was what would work, he would do it. He just hoped he wouldn't be hurt too much in the process.

.

A/N: A couple chapters ago, when Harbi broke out and he was playing with Samehada in the aquarium, there were two things I should have mentioned which I did not. The first thing is that all my knowledge of aquariums comes from very (very) distant memories of visiting a local aquarium twice on school trips, generalized media representations, and Finding Dory. Seriously, that movie is the only place I have ever heard of touch pools. So that's what this part of the aquarium is based on.

The other thing I should have mentioned is that I have someone to give credit to for the way Same's thoughts and communication are represented. I think I thought of some aspects before, like when Same is described as gesturing some emotion. That's my idea. But the more intricate ways nonhuman communication is represented, as a long string of various emotion words, that has definitely been influenced by my reading of another series of fics. I urge anyone interested in Sammy's scenes to read Le'letha's Nightfall series. It is a series of 3 How To Train Your Dragon fanfics titled Nightfall, Stormfall, and Freefall, all based on the 3 HTTYD movies, and each one is told half from the viewpoint of the dragons. This style of stringing together words that I use is similar to and partially inspired by the way dragon communication is represented in those fics. Those fics may be based on the movies, but they actually follow a completely different continuity of their own, so feel free to read even if you have not seen the movies. I have not seen the 3rd movie, and that did not impact my ability to enjoy Freefall at all.

I wrote this chapter yesterday, so I have no idea how good it is. Hope it was okay. See yall next week.