CAUTION: Spoils aspects of Innocent Hopes, Twisted Realities, as well as aspects of When Nothing Remains through chapter 19.

Seriously, major spoilers here.

Assuming you wish to continue, read on…

Background: The third entry to All That Remains, the AU where the big question has the other answer, this chapter was fun to write. Despite its difficulties, there were some parts of this potential path that I couldn't resist, and what's coming next, the entire arc associated with it, was one of them.

Second knew that he was being punished; he didn't know for what, exactly, but that just meant it was a continuation of his ongoing punishment for failure.

He brought his finless tail around to look at, and stared at the tiny, almost invisible nubs on both sides. They were truly miniscule, and the wound had only just healed; had he not the words of the strange creature known as Ember, he would assume they were just flaws in his body's healing process, little lumps not destined to become anything more.

But they weren't pointless lumps, they were the first signs of a new tail coming someday. Long from now, probably, but someday. Someday, he would recover.

If his alpha did not just keep tearing his fins off as they grew in. It would be just like his alpha to do so; something taken away was not to be taken back without permission. It would be part of his punishment, just as being forced to hold out his tail while his alpha stamped on and mangled it beyond recognition before brutally tearing the remains off by hand had been part of his punishment.

He was Third now, for sure, though he did not yet think of himself as Third. There had been sweeping passes of his alpha's newest acquisition through his mind in the last few days, and with them hints that the one he had helped teach obedience would soon be taking his mind as forfeit. That the new Second had since then entirely let go of his mind for some unknown reason was not comforting. He would be back, perhaps when his power was done developing, and then Second would lose his will once more.

He did not particularly dread that day. It would be a relief. He was not quite so far gone as to want to die or never think for himself again, but it was becoming a tempting prospect.

Especially when being dead or senseless would mean he did not have to feel the gnawing hunger in his stomach, the growing need for water that would, if past deprivation had proved anything, eventually reduce him to drinking his own wastewater in desperation. He did not look forward to that.

The isolation was not bad, though. He didn't mind being away from his alpha's other servants, or even from his alpha-

No, that was disloyal, and he should not be thinking it. He was loyal. Third hadn't been, and he might now be called Third, but that did not mean he was just as bad as his brother, not yet.

Second was broken from his aimlessly circling thoughts by the telltale sounds of the stone doorway pulling open, and he respectfully stood, ignoring the throbbing headache a lack of water always brought on. Pain or humiliation would follow, they always did, but he was loyal.

His alpha stepped into the room, eyes gleaming with intent as always, and adjusted the cloak on his shoulder.

Here, Second noticed something just the tiniest bit odd; it was a different cloak. He knew that it had to be from the same source as the usual one, but the pattern of scales was different. Was it meant to tell him something, or was it just that the old cloak had been worn out, or that it had met some accident? He didn't know.

"Time to make up for your failings," his alpha rasped, gesturing behind himself.

Second couldn't help his eyes widening as Storm stepped into the chamber, her eyes downcast and her ears limp. As shocking as her presence was her lack of defiance; she wasn't even muzzled, but she acted as if she had no choice but to obey. He had thought, in the brief time he had interacted with her, that she was as unbreakable as her namesake, someone whose spirit could not be tamed, only weathered.

It seemed he was wrong; he should not have doubted his alpha's capabilities. But this meant…

This meant that he was definitely in for more pain and more punishment and possibly even the death that did not seem so unattractive, or just the oblivion offered by losing the privilege of thinking at all.

He was going to suffer because this was the one thing he just couldn't do, no matter the consequences. He was better than Third in this way, and he just couldn't let that go by doing as his alpha wanted.

"Well?" his alpha rasped, kicking at Storm as she passed by, causing her to flinch and walk faster, "get to it." He made no move to leave, obviously intent on watching to be sure he was obeyed.

Second tried to meet Storm's eyes, but she wouldn't look up, not even as she huddled in the corner furthest from him. She did not seem quite as broken as many of the females he had been forced upon in the past, but it would be more than enough for this.

"I cannot, alpha, as I said before," he objected, looking down at the stone and waiting for the blow to fall.

And it did, smashing across his shoulders, though not as hard as he had expected. His alpha wanted him capable of performing, not in senseless agony, so that made sense.

"Do it!" his alpha roared, slamming his hand against the wall and producing an ear-ringing sound that hurt his already aching head.

"I cannot," he repeated stubbornly, not moving a muscle. The next blow fell on the same place, and this time he flinched, more from the sudden force than pain. He was used to pain.

The process repeated itself until his body ached in most places, his alpha moving around him and screaming, yelling, wordlessly demanding submission. Second prostrated himself, but otherwise did not resist. But he also did not concede; this one thing would not be done, if it was the death of him. It was all he had left.

Storm was watching him too, from her place in the corner, her downcast eyes occasionally flicking up toward the scene playing out in front of her. He wished she was not here; it was just going to hurt her, and him. She should have flown free, not come back. At least then he could have served his alpha without reserve.

"So," his alpha eventually ground out, stamping a boot in right in front of his face, "you think you can pick and choose what you do? What orders to follow?"

He couldn't respond; that was what he was doing. He was disloyal on this one subject. But it was all he had.

"Do you think it will go better for her?" was the next snarled question, along with a finger pointing at the cowed Storm. "Do you think I will not find a way to use her to get what I want, with or without you?"

Second did think he wouldn't be able to manage it; it was not as if his alpha had any other subordinate dark wings, assuming the strange orange one was long gone.

Could he assume that? Suddenly, he felt a flutter of unease in his heaving chest, and he glanced over at Storm. Maybe his alpha had the orange one, maybe its strangeness had not saved it, maybe this was his last chance to be anything in his master's eyes. Maybe he was going to be replaced in all ways if he did not do this.

Any price must be paid. He closed his eyes, knowing that however much it hurt, he couldn't compromise. Not here, not when he had compromised in every other way imaginable, conceded, given in…

"Last chance," his alpha threatened cruelly. "Obey, or watch as another takes your place. Watch as another takes her."

"I will watch, then," Second muttered, but he was not sure he would. He was better than Third, and that extended to not having any part in this. To not hurting the female Third had forcefully Sired, because he could claim to have done better that way.

But was it better if his refusal led to her being hurt anyway? He would not do it, but his alpha would have another do it, and he would have to watch because it would be part of his punishment, and she was already broken, just like him…

His thoughts were speeding up, barreling down paths they had not taken since before he became an adult, since long sleepless nights in the cold, alone or with a brother he could not trust. Thoughts he had then dismissed, lacking any reason to end his own life by folly of true resistance. Lacking any way to make it work.

His alpha was demanding, threatening, and now giving up. He was not winning, he was changing his plans and conceding, however he meant it to seem. This was a punishment, but it was also a victory, as alien as that concept was.

And with the possibility of victory came the possibility of rebellion. He had the means, he had always had the means, ever since his alpha had thought him truly loyal, but he was not, not if he disobeyed in any way, and if loyalty did not make him better than his brother now then why did he try?

Second was aware that his thoughts were muddled and possibly foolish, or stupid, or inconsistent; he had not been struck on the head in this particular beating, but hunger, thirst, and everything else was not leaving him with a clear mind, either. He didn't care; this felt like a revelation, and he had not felt right in a long time, only loyal. This felt right.

Storm was broken; he was too late. His alpha was even now describing the future he had thrown away, giving him yet another last chance to prove his loyalty.

His alpha was a danger to her, a threat. His alpha was planning to make her like him.

Nobody should have to be like him. His life was not worth living. He saw that now, thoughts of loyalty discarded now that he admitted that he was not, to deny his alpha anything.

He looked over at Storm, and then back up at his alpha, and decided. Death would come for him, but at least he would be done with it all, and maybe, just maybe, he could do something good for the female Third had made. Maybe she could recover without the destructive control of his alpha shaping her into a miserable shell of a person like him.

He stood, glared at Storm, shifted his body as if to approach her, and leaped upon his alpha, jabbing his worthless whip of a tail around to smack the bullhook from his hands.

Second expected to die or be defeated at any moment, but he fought to win, because he knew no other way to fight. He slashed at his alpha's throat, expecting to be blocked.

So, it was the shock of a lifetime to feel the parting of flesh beneath his claws and smell the blood as his strike dug far and deep through his alpha's vulnerable, vital flesh. He froze, his claws still in the one he had committed atrocities for, the one who had raised him, the one who had shaped him into the broken, empty creature he was now.

The last expression on his alpha's face was one that did not fit the moment at all. A smile of satisfaction. Light left the piercing eyes.

Then, to his utter disbelief, the body of his alpha dissolved into a pile of blacker than black ash. He fell forward, his paws slipping in the pile, and stumbled up, backing away and trying to wrap his mind around the mentally unhinging break in all that he knew. He had killed before; this did not happen. Right on the tail of him betraying almost everything he had ever known, it was just too much, his mind was already only limping along, addled by deprivation and belated epiphanies gone wrong.

"If you asked me what I thought was the least likely outcome here, it would be that one," Storm said from behind him, her voice clear and awed but nonetheless falling on deaf ears. A small, distant portion of his mind slowly worked through what she had said and wholeheartedly agreed, this was the least likely thing because it was literally unthinkable, and he wasn't sure whether he meant the ash, him attacking his alpha, or him killing his alpha. But most of him was just staring down at the pile of ash and not comprehending.

"And yet it was the one I hoped for," a male voice he didn't recognize volunteered from somewhere in front of him. He didn't care who was talking; they would not be able to put his mind at ease, nothing could after what had just happened, and that was all that mattered.

"So… I do not get to kill him?" Storm asked petulantly. "You did not tell me what would mean he had passed your test, but I feel like this would be it if anything was."

Second twitched at the mention of someone killing him, but he still couldn't look up. Did the ash mean something? Surely it was not just random; this didn't happen. Had his alpha done something to cause this? Was there some sort of disease or influence or… He didn't know what to think.

"He seems broken," an innocent female voice observed from the corridor. "Ember, is he… safe?"

"No, probably not," the male admitted. A paw pressed down into the ash in front of Second's face, orange and scarred. "You killed him."

"This is not right," Second objected feebly, unable to concentrate on anything else. "I do not understand."

"The ash, or his death?" was the unbelievably gentle reply.

"Both."

"You killed him. It was your action. You understand that?"

"Yes."

"And that was him taunting and threatening you."

"Yes."

"But he was already dead. I killed him and took his body. When I die, this is what happens." The gentle voice was speaking nonsense now, but it was so calm and collected that he didn't object, his eyes fixed on the ash and the paw in the middle of it.

"You killed him, though," the voice continued. "You did not know it was me, so you killed him in your heart."

"I did." The meaning of the impossible words was beginning to occur to him. Not that someone else had somehow killed his alpha; that needed to be dealt with separately.

No, the fact that his alpha was dead was sinking in. No more beatings, no more control, no more obeying… anyone. Freedom. He would have to be like Third, a wanderer, alone…

No! He whined to himself, making a sound he had not made since childhood in his mental agony. He could not be like Third! Not like that! He couldn't.

And there was a solution. It was talking to him in careful tones, trying to make sure he understood what he had done. It was claiming it had killed his alpha too, and prior to him. It was saying that Storm was with it, that she was not hurt or broken like she had seemed, that this was all an act to see whether there was good in him.

He didn't care about most of that. The important parts were that Storm did not hate this person, and that this person had killed his alpha.

"I…" he rasped. "Your name. What is it?"

"Ember." The male dark wing who had taken half of his tailfins instead of killing him, and had called it a mercy, the one who was also a No-scaled-not-prey sometimes, the one who had freed Storm and the light wing, looked down at him as he looked up. "Why?"

"Alpha," Second rasped, knowing it was the only choice he could make that would ensure he did not become like Third.

"I killed him, yes," Ember said doubtfully.

Second lifted his head just enough to nudge at Ember's paw, and when it didn't move, let his face rest in the black ash in front of it. "You are my alpha."

O-O-O-O-O

Pearl hadn't watched most of the 'test', at Ember's request. He had told her that he needed to act as Drago would to draw out Second's true nature, and that it would be terrible, and she had agreed that she didn't want to see or hear it. She knew she was better off not knowing, not seeing.

But she hadn't been able to help herself, so once the sounds of pain had faded away and it seemed to be mostly talking, she had crept close enough to hear more clearly. She was insanely curious as to what Ember thought might happen, and the knowledge that Storm was totally safe and ready to bolt the moment Second made a real move on her made it all just palatable enough for her to feel she wanted to witness how it ended, if not how Ember brought it realistically to a breaking point, a point where Second would have to decide something permanent.

So she had seen the look on Second's face as he killed his alpha, and the shattered numbness that followed, and then the brief agony before the decision nobody had been expecting.

And she knew that Storm wasn't going to like it. Storm being Storm, she also suspected letting Storm voice her dislike where Second could hear her might cause problems.

So, as Ember stared down at the distraught dark wing in surprise, as Storm opened her mouth, her eyes narrow slits and her tail batting the ground in agitation, Pearl darted across the room, leaped over Second, and bulled into Storm, knocking her to the ground.

"Don't say a word," she hissed frantically. "He might go crazy and attack somebody!" This was Second, a hardened killer; she didn't think she was overreacting to say that. If Storm used her usual cutting words on someone dangerous and already distraught, anything might happen.

Storm, for her part, stared up at her in shock, and opened her mouth again-

Pearl, though she was beginning to feel the heat of embarrassment, managed one further act of audacity and stuck a paw to Storm's mouth. "Not a word."

"I do not want to be like Drago," Ember said to Second, immediately stealing most of Pearl's attention from the mutinous female in front of her.

"I do not want to be like me," Second said in a low, broken voice. "Command me, alpha. I do not trust myself to do right. Stop me from doing any more harm. Kill me, if that is the only way, if you will not command me. My claws and teeth and fire are yours."

"I'm not going to kill you, and neither is anyone else here," Ember said slowly.

Pearl could feel Storm's glare on the side of her face, but as long as the other female was not speaking, she didn't care. She was just here to keep Storm quiet and watch this totally unexpected development play itself out. This was between Second and Ember, however much Storm might think she deserved a say.

"Then command me."

"I don't want to."

"But you must."

"Do you really not trust yourself to live without control?" Ember asked softly. "You don't think you can do it?"

Second looked up at Ember, his eyes wide and vulnerable, a strange look on such a dragon. "No. I don't know how. And if I fail, it will not be me who suffers."

Pearl knew, in that moment, that Ember was going to accept. He couldn't not after hearing that; she felt she knew him at least well enough to know that.

"For now, I will be your alpha, then," Ember sighed. "If you really want it that way, instead of just going off on your own."

"Yes, I do." Second crawled away from Ember and sprawled out across the floor of the small stone chamber, his eyes closing as if of their own accord. He was not sleeping, his breath far too ragged and quick for that, but Pearl had no idea what else he might be doing.

"Ground rules," Ember said a moment later, speaking quickly. "No killing, no hurting, and no touching Pearl or Storm without their express permission. No threatening them, either. And unless I say otherwise, Pearl can order you to do things, and you will do them."

Pearl blinked in shock as Second nodded in assent. "Wait, what?" she said quietly. Why had Ember added that last part?

"Yeah, what?" Storm echoed, pushing Pearl away from her. "Why just Pearl?"

Ember silently motioned for them to leave Second's presence, and they did so, Pearl hurriedly and Storm impatiently.

"Pearl," Ember addressed her the moment they were out of hearing range of the collapsed Night Fury, "I trust you to treat him at least somewhat fairly. Storm, sorry, the same does not go for you. Since having him only listen to me is stupid and dangerous, I gave Pearl authority over him too. End of discussion."

"He does not deserve to be treated fairly!" Storm burst out. "He deserves to die!"

"Yes, maybe, but that's not your call anymore," Ember growled. "We will not kill someone who has surrendered and basically begged for help changing his ways."

"Is that what he did?" Storm asked caustically. "It seemed to me like he murdered his alpha and then panicked."

"He did that," Pearl agreed. "And he did what Ember said too. But Ember, are we really going to take him with us?" She wasn't sure how she felt about that. Second was a brutal, horrible person, much like Claw in some ways, but he had asked to be controlled, to be made safe. She didn't understand that mindset at all, but it seemed far less clear-cut than Storm was making it sound.

"I will keep him on until he asks to go on his own," Ember said firmly. "If that's a few days, then it's a few days. If it's all the way through this journey for vengeance, then so be it. He cannot cling to me as his alpha for too long."

The unspoken explanation for that rang in Pearl's ears. Ember did not expect to live long past the end of his revenge. He still wanted to die. Compared to that looming problem, Second tagging along was not an issue. In fact, now that she thought about it, maybe being responsible for Second could help convince Ember to keep going once this journey did reach its end. It was certainly a possibility.

"He will murder us all in our sleep," Storm growled.

"You may feel free to leave our group if you feel unsafe," Ember sighed. "I am not forcing you to stay."

"I want revenge," Storm said just a little too quickly, "so no." Pearl was pretty sure she was still afraid of setting out on her own again.

"So do I," Ember snarled, pawing at the ground. "So, we agree. We will go after Viggo next, and Second will travel with us."

"I want the authority to order him around," Storm demanded. "Just in case he tries anything funny."

"Pearl has it for that sort of thing, and you will not get it so long as you want him dead or gone," Ember said bluntly, looking his half-sister in the eye. "As he is now, I believe he would follow through on an order telling him to drown himself, or bite his own claws off, or any number of other terrible things. You will not hold that power over him. It would be too tempting."

"And it will not tempt Pearl?" Storm retorted.

"I don't want any of that!" Pearl barked, feeling sickened by the very idea. "He scares me a little, but he never did anything to me. I don't even know for sure if he ate…" She trailed off, closing her eyes and doing her best to banish that thought before it got to her. Second was coming along with them like it or not, and she did not want to see that in her mind every time she looked at him.

"He didn't," Ember replied, surprising her. "I saw Drago's memories, and he wasn't allowed to eat anything for the remainder of the trip, as part of his punishment for failing to bring you both back."

"Oh, well, that's good," Pearl said faintly. Somehow, that made her feel better and worse at the same time.

"Well, if I do not get to order him around, then I am not dealing with him at all," Storm huffed. "When are we leaving?"

"I need to get a splint on my wing," Ember said, looking over at his bad wing, "but after that we can set the ship out and start the trip."

"I guess we can't fly," Pearl agreed. Half of their group was grounded at the moment.

"This just keeps getting better," Storm groaned. "I'm going to go find somewhere safe to sleep. You two have fun dealing with the kin-eater." She stalked off in the direction of the exit Ember had shown them.

"So…" Ember gingerly waved his bad wing. "Could you help me with this?"

"Sure." There were things between them that still needed to be addressed, and soon, but she wasn't Storm. She wouldn't let small issues stop her from helping with what mattered. They could talk while she helped him.

O-O-O-O-O

"Now wrap it around," Ember instructed, his voice tired and pained. "Just pull it tight and hold it. Please?"

"I'm 'rying!" Pearl complained. She was not regretting helping him, but this wasn't easy to do, and he only made it harder by forbidding claws or teeth, saying that ripping the cloth would just force them to start over. His sharp inhales of pain every time she so much as touched his wing wrong weren't helping either. They had been at this for what felt like far too long, as well, and she was extremely tired, but they couldn't be done until it was finished, or they'd have to start over.

"Yes, yes," Ember praised in a tight voice, watching her progress closely. "Now try and hold it there while the glue sets."

"Se's?" She wished she could talk clearly, but the tasteless fabric clamped between her gums made it hard.

"It will hold the stake to my wing and make sure it doesn't move," Ember clarified. "You're putting pressure on the whole thing to keep it tight while it dries. Usually we'd just wrap all around, but the wing is kind of hard to splint. You're doing good."

"How ge' i' off?" she managed, more to pass the time than out of genuine curiosity. Watching his No-scaled-not-prey form scrounge up random things and put them together had been fun, but this part was just arduous, and she wanted it over.

"Painfully, and probably with a few lost scales," Ember admitted. "But like I said, setting a wing bone is hard. I'll be content to just have my wing heal straight, even if it does hurt to remove."

"'Lame I'," she suggested.

Ember's eyes widened. "Well, yes, that would be far better," he admitted. "Good idea."

At this point, she was actually impressed he could make heads or tails of what she was saying, so she tried something out. "Ra' i' lim' 'im."

Sure enough, he tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. "What? I didn't quite get that."

She rumbled in constrained laughter and didn't explain that she had just been making random noises; his reaction was funny enough as it was.

"Okay, you can let go now," he announced a short while later. "It should be good."

Pearl dropped the fabric like it was tasteless, soggy, and entirely inedible, which it was, and eyed the piece of wood stuck to Ember's wing. It was holding his break straight, but it looked incredibly unnatural, and a little uncomfortable.

"First try on that, at least," he sighed, gingerly folding his wing in. "Now, I think I'm going to sleep as a No-scaled-not-prey, that way I can be rested in that form for getting the ship moving."

"Don't sleep somewhere Second can reach," Pearl warned. "I don't know if he considers the No-scaled-not-prey version of you as his alpha or not." She didn't like the idea of Second coming across him asleep at all, but as a helpless little No-scaled-not-prey would be far worse.

"But I cannot get anywhere he cannot reach," Ember said thoughtfully, looking down at the floor as if seeing something other than bare stone. "Anywhere I can go like this, he can go too, and there is not actually anywhere on this mountain a No-scaled-not-prey can get to that he cannot."

"The upward passages are too small, sleep in one of those," Pearl proposed.

"That might work." Ember looked up with a small, tired grin. "He has his own ways between floors, and those ways do not lead to the middle of a passage. Good thinking."

"Thanks," Pearl purred.

"And while we are on the subject, good thinking with shutting Storm up," Ember added after a moment, breaking the sudden silence. "It was needed."

"It was nothing," Pearl murmured, feeling uncomfortable. Her Dam would never approve, so she should be proud, but it still felt way too forward of her to race across the room and silence the female she wanted to learn independence and right-thinking from. She was not that assertive, not yet. "I was just trying to not get killed."

"She might have been able to drive him to hate himself and flee, but I do not think she could make him attack us," Ember said slowly. "So you still did well even if that would not have happened."

She nodded in agreement. It was good to hear that, and Ember would know better than anyone what Second might do now. He had gotten enough from the bad alpha's memories to know that Second might turn on him at all.

Ember carefully folded his wing in and out a few times, testing the strength of the splint, and then set off, leaving the open chamber they had been working in. "See you tomorrow," he offered. "I cannot fish, and neither can Second, and Storm will not want to help, so…"

"I'll fish for both of you," Pearl readily agreed. She wasn't about to complain about such a small, vital task. It would be easy enough, she'd just have to find them from wherever she was going to sleep…

She whined as that line of thought continued, and closed her eyes in an effort to think. She had terrible nightmares every time she slipped into sleep in the cell, and that might not stop, and she didn't know where Storm had gone, and Second was lurking in the mountain. She couldn't go back to her cell, but there was nowhere else.

"Pearl?" Ember called back.

"I have nowhere to sleep," she admitted. "And I don't feel safe here, alone."

"You can sleep at the foot of the stairwell," Ember offered. "I'll be within hearing distance if something happens."

She followed him, liking that idea more than the prospect of searching for Storm or finding some isolated corner and hoping nothing bad would happen. She would be glad to get away from this mountain; there was nothing here but empty corridors and fear, at least for her.

O-O-O-O-O

When Pearl woke the next morning, she found herself wedged halfway up the bottom of the narrow, curving stairwell, her rear and tail backed up the tiny stone ledges and her front half awkwardly resting on the bottom level of stone.

She knew why she was like that, though it was a humiliating, unhappy reason. Nightmares had gotten the better of her, and her half-asleep solution had been to try and get to Ember's narrow place of safety, going back end first because she could not bear to take her eyes off the long, dark corridor in front of her. Now, in the light of day-

The light? She craned her neck to look down the corridor and saw a faint ray of sunshine falling onto stone a few paces out, coming from an opening in the stone wall. There was a room beyond that opening, but she hadn't known that room had a hole in it leading outside.

All the better for that; she didn't know how she would have realized it was day if it were not for that faint but cheerful light.

She shimmied forward, eager to be rid of the cramps in her side and the small headache throbbing away in the front of her forehead, and dislodged herself, shaking vigorously the moment she was clear of the narrow spiral passage. Why had the No-scaled-not-prey made this place with almost all passages big enough, but not those? Maybe there was a good reason, but she didn't see it. They should have made the whole place that narrow and confining if they wanted to keep dragons out.

"Is alpha around?"

She let out an undignified squawk and jumped, the rough, strained voice far too close for comfort, especially as its owner had figured prominently in her nightmares. "Where are you?" she called out, her head turning so fast she felt her neck twinge in protest. He wasn't in the room, he wasn't in sight, so where?

"Up here."

Pearl looked up and saw the stone ceiling. "Up where?" she stressed.

"To the side, there's a little line in the stone."

"Oh." She locked eyes on the single slitted pupil and iris visible in what she would have assumed was just a small imperfection of stone had she even noticed it before. "How did you get in there?"

"It's a passage for invasions," Second explained gravely. "The idea is to pour boiling oil along here from the next floor. But there is no oil, and I can fit."

"Okay…" She would have stopped there, because talking to him so neutrally made her extremely nervous, but Ember had trusted her to handle him. "Can you come out?"

"Not easily."

"Then why are you in there?" She had to ask.

"It is the only way for us to go between floors," he explained. His tone was almost mockingly respectful. In fact, had she not seen him bow to his human alpha just as fervently, she would have assumed he was mocking her. "As you discovered, there is no squeezing through the stairs."

"How did you know that?" she demanded angrily, feeling the familiar, sickly heat of humiliation working its way through her body.

"I saw you there," he said simply, betraying no emotion. "Where is alpha? I have searched the mountain and not found him. I have been looking all night."

Pearl didn't doubt that; she could hear the dry rasp in his voice, the deep exhaustion. If he had stopped receiving food or water at the same time as her and Storm, he would not have eaten or drank anything in more than a day, now.

"Well, come out," she commanded awkwardly, ignoring his question about Ember. "I think there is good water in the big open bay with the ships, and I will be bringing you fish soon. Wait there, please."

"As alpha's female commands," Second said respectfully, his eye receding.

"Wait!" Pearl barked.

He came back to the crack in the stone.

"I'm not his female, I'm just… a friend," she finished lamely.

"Yes, alpha's friend," Second corrected himself.

"Just Pearl," she requested hopefully. "Right? Pearl."

"Yes, Pearl."

"And you can stop saying that, just an 'okay' or 'got it' would suffice," she pushed. If she was going to be interacting with him, the least he could do was not creep her out.

"… Okay." Was she imagining just the hint of annoyance in his voice? It certainly was not obvious.

She shrugged it off, gesturing with her tail. "Well, get going. You must be dying of thirst."

The large eye receded, and she heard claws scraping on stone as Second made his way through the passages she hadn't even known about. That was probably for the best; her nightmares would just have included that creepy detail if she had known.

"Pearl?" Ember's No-scaled-not-prey voice called down from the stairway.

"Right here," she barked. "Everything is fine. I'm going to go fishing now." Maybe flying out in the open air would help her shake off the lingering unease. She had not had a pleasant night, but the morning could be better.

And the evening, when she could turn her back on this heap of stone for good, would be better still.

O-O-O-O-O

She spent most of the day flying and avoiding Storm. She would have done more if Ember had asked, but he had told her to enjoy herself while he got the No-scaled-not-prey ship ready and set sail with Second; apparently, what little one such as herself could do, Second would be handling.

That was why she was avoiding Storm; after seeing Second bow to Ember's No-scaled-not-prey form just as vehemently when she returned with fish for both of them, she trusted Ember would be safe from Second. Storm, to put it mildly, did not feel so confident about that.

"Ten!" Pearl barked out, swerving to the side to avoid Storm. "No, for the tenth time!"

"You want his attention and you want him alive, and yet you leave him alone with Second!" Storm roared as she dove past. "Getting hit on the head addled your mind!"

Pearl grumbled to herself and flapped hard to get away from Storm. Apparently, Storm's resolution to have nothing to do with Second precluded her going down and hanging around for Ember's sake, but she had no problem periodically bothering Pearl over the same issue, and taking all she knew to try and elicit a response.

But the sky was nice and empty and blue and free, and Pearl couldn't bring herself to leave it to avoid Storm. Camouflaging would work, but that brought its own issues, mainly that she didn't feel as free when she was hiding from sight. So, she dodged and ignored instead, and savored the quiet times in between attempts, listening to the endless waves as she flew aimlessly around the mountain.

It was good out here, and peaceful, but she would be glad to get away. So, when the sun finally began to turn orange and slide below the horizon, she made her way to the wooden craft bobbing merrily along the waves.

It was a small thing, with only one stick of wood in the middle and nowhere to go below the top layer of cut wood, the small space below filled with things she did not understand or recognize.

When she landed, Ember was resting near the front of the craft, his orange limbs tucked neatly beneath him as he stared at nothing in particular. Second was pacing the length of the ship, walking stiffly, his whiplike tail swaying in time with the craft's gentle rocking.

"Welcome aboard," Ember said casually, looking over at her for a moment before resuming his aimless staring into the distance. "There's good water in the barrels over in the back, and plenty more in the hold. You can sleep down there if you want, but it'll be cramped. Try not to cut any of the ropes around here, and don't set things on fire."

"Enough water for the whole trip?" Pearl asked. She did not need much water, none of them did, but if they ran out things would get difficult. Salt water was drinkable but not enjoyable, and apparently bad for one's body. She'd never needed to live off of it yet herself, so she wouldn't know first-paw.

"Enough for all four of us for a very, very long time," Ember confirmed. "Don't worry about it."

"I won't. Do you want any fish now?" she asked. Ember hadn't eaten since morning, after all.

"A few would be nice," Ember admitted. "Second?"

"I need nothing, alpha."

"Okay, let me phrase it differently," Ember said calmly. "Are you at all hungry?"

"Not to the point of it affecting me."

Ember shook his head, fixing his eyes on the other dragon. "Are you hungry, yes or no." There was just the slightest hint of a commanding tone underlying that request for information. Pearl glanced back over her shoulder to see Second staring at Ember with an uncertain expression.

"Yes," Second finally admitted.

"So, if you would, Pearl," Ember concluded, nodding at her. "I am sorry it has to be you every time, but Storm…"

"I get it," she assured him, leaping up once more. As far as she was concerned, Second was already pulling his weight simply by keeping Ember alert and focused on something. He hadn't gone all quiet and distant yet, not like he had been before they attacked the mountain.

Besides, being the one to provide for them made her feel like she was pulling her weight, too. It made her feel useful and needed.

The sun had totally set by the time she had enough large fish in her mouth and paws to bother returning with. Storm flew up beside her on the way back.

"That had better not be for Second," she griped.

Pearl ignored her. Storm had no right to say what Second ate, or if Second ate. Really, she had no right to hate Second, given he'd not done anything to her, but she seemed to have an issue with holding anger and grudges. That was one thing Pearl did not intend to copy; Ember didn't do it, and he was a good person, so it was not necessary.

"Will you go flying out with me after you drop that off?" Storm asked a moment later. "We can find somewhere safe to sleep, a sea stack or an empty island."

Pearl realized that Storm expected an answer, so she tilted her head and cast the other female an annoyed glance. Did Storm think the fish in her mouth would just disappear to allow her to easily speak?

"At least you got this thing moving," Storm announced as they dropped onto the ship, throwing a snarl Second's way as she prowled to the spot furthest from him.

"Here," Pearl said quietly, setting all the fish she had gathered into one big pile for Ember and Second to split as they chose, though that probably meant that Ember would end up dividing them. "Is this enough?"

"Yes, it is, thank you," Ember said politely.

"Thank you," Second echoed tonelessly a moment later.

Pearl looked from Second to Ember, who met her gaze with a small purr. She had to hold in a similar reaction herself; it was just so odd, hearing the scarred and brutal dragon thanking her, and just because Ember had undoubtedly told him to while she was gone didn't make it any less strange to hear.

Storm snorted cynically, looking as if she was ready to fly away again. "Pearl, are you coming?"

"To search out some random place to sleep when there is a good place right here?" Pearl asked doubtfully. "No, I'd rather not. See you tomorrow."

"I was always the only one with any sense of us three," Storm complained, leaping up into the air.

Ember watched her fly away with a faintly amused look. "Does she think I am choosing to not follow?" he asked nobody in particular. "For all she knows, I would if I could."

"You could ride her in your No-scaled-not-prey form," Pearl suggested, looking around to try and decide where she wanted to curl up for the night. It was not particularly cold at the moment, but it might get colder as the night wore on, and she didn't know if Second or Ember had already staked claims to any particular bit of deck.

"Okay, yes, I suppose I am choosing to stay here, then," Ember admitted. "We should not all sleep, though. I will take the first shift. Second, you can take the other."

"Are there only two?" Pearl asked. "I can take one, so there can be three."

"You are providing food and can fly all day," Ember retorted, walking over to the fish pile and pawing through it, dividing it into two equal, smaller piles even as he spoke. "Even if you could do that and watch, it would leave you more tired in the day, while Second and I will not have much to do but laze around here."

"Alpha, I do not need as much as you," Second objected, watching from the other side of the ship.

"I don't believe that," Ember growled lightly. "We are about the same size and build, and I know how long you went without food prior to this, and I know what you ate this morning. Whatever you are used to does not matter. You'll eat as much as I do until you are used to that, because that is normal."

That seemed to satisfy Second for some reason, possibly because it was a direct order. He and Ember set about to eating, and Pearl paced the deck, looking for a spot that particularly appealed to her.

She eventually found one, a spot of wood that had been smoothed, right near the base of the upright log sticking through the center of the craft. She experimented with curling around the log, but that made her feel strangely exposed, so she settled for lying on her side next to it and looking up at the stars, not quite yet tired enough to go to sleep.

The rocking of the waves lulled her to sleep far sooner than she expected.

O-O-O-O-O

Pearl woke with a fearful cry stuck in her throat and a pounding heart, and though she could not remember her nightmare she knew she had suffered one. Her body trembled, and the light breeze across her scales felt as cold as an icy wind. She felt desperately alone and vulnerable in that moment.

A pair of deep orange eyes slowly opened, staring at her from the far end of the ship. Second blinked twice, slowly and steadily, and made no move to get up.

Pearl shuddered under his gaze and rose, wanting to be out of his sight. Well, no, what she really wanted was to go to Ember and huddle up next to him, but she couldn't…

Why couldn't she? Because Second was watching? This was not related to her trying to catch Ember's attention; she had not yet really continued to do that. This was just her wanting to touch someone and reassure herself that she was not alone. Second's eyes did not do that, and Storm was not available to go to, so it would be Ember.

But she did not want to wake him, or make things awkward. She hesitated, stepping toward where he was lying sprawled out on deck, his wings twitching at every shift in the breeze, but not committing.

"Alpha," Second barked loudly.

Ember's eyes shot open at the noise, though it took them a few long seconds to focus on anything. He looked at Pearl, and then Second. "What is it? What is going on?"

"The female was considering approaching you," Second said coldly. "She seemed conflicted."

Pearl let out a little noise of frustration and whirled on the other dragon, forgetting just how intimidating he was in her irritation. "I was conflicted because I did not think it was worth waking him!"

"For what?" Ember asked carefully.

"Nightmares," Second revealed tactlessly. Pearl made another, louder sound of frustration somewhere between a snarl and a whine.

"Okay," Ember sighed, flicking his tail around aimlessly, "Second, thank you for your concern. You can go to sleep now, I'll start my watch."

"Yes, alpha," Second intoned, and curled around so that his back was to them.

"I was not going to… But he butted in…" She felt so stupid and childish, having her issues divulged by someone who could not have sounded any less sympathetic or understanding if they had tried.

"I know, but you can't exactly expect tact from him," Ember sighed. "There's no way to order him to be considerate, either. That would require some kind of judgment on his part, and he refuses to decide anything for himself right now."

Pearl took Ember continuing to talk to her as an invitation, and came over to sit beside him. Not touching, not right now. She didn't need to, the fear was rapidly fading just from listening to him talk about other matters. She settled down a few paw-lengths away, wary of making him uneasy the way she had in the past. Right now, that sort of interaction was the last thing she wanted.

"So…" Ember looked over at her. "Nightmares?"

She nodded sadly.

He crooned in sympathy. "From being in the cell?"

"Not just that," she admitted, though she could not honestly have said what form her dreams had taken, as she couldn't remember. Ember didn't know of her past, and she wasn't about to overturn that rock anytime soon, not without a very good reason, but she didn't need to elaborate to reassure him that this wasn't his fault, at least not totally.

"But partially that," he murmured. "I'm so, so sorry."

"I understand it had to happen," she rumbled. She didn't get exactly why, but now that she knew for sure this was really him, she knew he had a very, very good reason. He sounded so sorry, and yet he'd never even come to see her and explain. It all pointed to there being an actual point to her suffering, which made her feel much less betrayed. Even then, at least the one she trusted was trying to protect her from something worse. That was still an improvement over what she had in the valley.

"Do you want me to tell you about it?" he asked quietly. "I feel like I need to. You should understand exactly why I did it."

"I would like that," she admitted. "I believe you that it was necessary, but I would still like to know." Maybe it would help her take her mind off the lingering unease.

Ember glanced over at Second, checking to be sure he wasn't obviously listening, and then began to speak, to go over everything he had found out and why he had done what he had. He went into how the 'new Second' had been found, and how the bad alpha had raised it, and what the bad alpha had known it could do. He told her about how he had frantically thought up the only possible way to bluff and deceive an end to the danger.

It took time; the moon went from the height of the sky to substantially lower as he talked. She listened silently, only occasionally asking a question when he accidentally left out details that were needed to make sense of the rest, usually by skimming over the bad alpha's memories as quickly as possible.

It was not an enjoyable talk, but she could feel the lingering unease between them soothed as he spoke, at least on her part. As it went, the familiar awkwardness she had somehow put on hold returned, but that was still better.

At the end, when he finally reached the moment where he sent the new Second to challenge the older, more experienced ice nest alpha, she purred loudly.

"You think that was a good idea?" he asked. "I worry that he might actually succeed, somehow."

"No way," she said firmly. That dragon could handle anything short of another exactly like him, and the new Second by Ember's account was not even close, despite being the same kind of dragon. Maybe with a few season-cycles to reach his full size and gain experience, but even then it did not feel likely. "It was a good answer."

"He will probably die there, though," Ember admitted. "He was no worse than Second, probably less terrible simply because he had less time to be terrible, and I sent him to his death."

"You did what you had to."

For some reason, that seemed to reassure Ember immensely. He looked over at her with a grateful purr. "Really?"

"Yes. Did you not think so yourself?"

"I did, but hearing it from you…" He shrugged his wing shoulders and winced, likely at the pain doing so brought about. "You are innocent, or at least more so than me. Hearing it from you helps."

"I am not that innocent," she objected. Really, in any sense of the word she was not, through no fault of her own.

"Compared to me, or Second, or Storm, you are," he sighed, resting his head on the ground. "You do not have to travel with us. Once my wing heals, we could take a detour to somewhere safe, and you could go there. Or you could go home, wherever that is for you."

"Tell me about this safe place," she requested, though she had absolutely no intention of going anywhere. It would be easier to say no if she heard him out first, and maybe, just maybe, she could convince him to stay with her in that safe place. That would be much better than risking his life in revenge, and she could work on helping him move on…

"Berk," he said quietly, his voice even lower than before. "I left, and they will not want me back because of how I left, but they would happily take you in, and Astrid is fair. There are good people there. You would be safe and happy."

"The island of No-scaled-not-prey and our kind living together?" She had not even considered going there, and the idea didn't really appeal to her now. Visiting, sure, but not settling down there. From what he had previously said, there would be nobody like herself, and that sounded like a lonely life. Surrounded by happy people, and yet alone. Not to mention her unfinished business here, and with Storm, and with him.

"Yes. It would be much better than staying with us."

"Not in my opinion," she replied honestly. "I want to see this through, not fly to safety and never hear from you again."

"You'll never hear from me again soon either way," he whispered so quietly she didn't think he meant her to hear it. "Just this, and I will be done."

The certainty in his voice made her shiver, and she didn't say anything for a while, letting him think she was considering it, though her decision had never wavered for an instant. That was why she was not leaving. She thought she liked him, and she wanted to see that gone from him. She couldn't do that anywhere else.

"No," she said firmly. "I am sticking with you. With this quest."

"If that is your will, then I will not argue," he conceded, closing his eyes. "It will be a long, slow, boring journey, and then I do not know what we will find. I sent Drago's fleet to assault Viggo's holdings, and they will have failed, but I do not know how badly, or what state it will all be in."

"Surely it does not matter?" she asked, hoping to draw the conversation away from her choice lest he try and convince her despite saying he wouldn't. "We just have to sneak in and do the same thing we did with the other."

"No, we cannot. I cannot." He shook his head. "Viggo will have more protection, for one thing, and I have destroyed one of the two big powers in this part of the world. I cannot leave the other unopposed. Drago was the reason Viggo played it safe, and vice versa. I must destroy his empire as thoroughly as I did Drago."

Pearl held in a highly inappropriate laugh of glee; she didn't like the talk of destruction and probably a lot of death, but surely the endeavor of ending a massive organization of No-scaled-not-prey would take far longer than killing a single one. She would take all the extra time she could get to work on Ember.

Their ship drifted onward in the soft, chilly breeze of the night, lit by the moon and stars. Onward, in the rough direction of the enemy, leaving the mountain fortress behind, deserted and empty. The rest of the world seemed very far away to Pearl that night, and she did not very much mind the feeling. That night, it was just her, Ember, and Second, and Second didn't really count.

When she drifted back to sleep in the early light of dawn, her mind was at ease, and she felt better than she had in days. There was time, and a purpose, and a returning affection she felt for the hurt, strong, considerate dragon beside her. There was worry, too, and ingrained awkwardness, but that too felt far away for just a little while.

Author's Note: And so our party of adventurers expands to four. Second might not deserve another chance (or maybe he does, it's really not a simple issue to pass judgment on), but Ember isn't in the frame of mind to refuse him one, even if it is as strange as this. Also, whichever of my reviewers on the original story theorized that Ember might kill Drago and thus end up having Second's loyalty, look, it happens here! Kind of.

As a more technical note, wow, it was hard to get myself back up to speed on Pearl, Storm, Ember, and Second. I've been working on Usurpation of the Darkness for so long that I've gotten used to thinking of them as their character-arc-complete selves simply because When Nothing Remains is over. Going back and jumping into their heads mid-arc was and is difficult. Ember, in particular, is hard. If he seems more energized, well, I've explained that as the time he spent impersonating Drago basically forcing him to act more normal, and it not having worn off yet. Besides, this quest was supposed to get him to live a little, even if in anger, right? We just didn't get to see that in canon thanks to that whole thing being rendered moot almost immediately. But there may be some authorial adjustment going on as I write him again for the first time in a long time, so it's good that I have those in-story excuses.