CAUTION: Spoils aspects of Innocent Hopes, Twisted Realities, as well as aspects of When Nothing Remains.
Seriously, major spoilers here.
Assuming you wish to continue, read on…
Background: The tenth and final entry to All That Remains, the AU where the big question has the other answer…
A note for those of you who have an eye for timelines: I may have bumped a character's age up by a few years for one specific scene in this chapter. Given they weren't introduced until Usurpation of the Darkness, that's fine, because that isn't canon to this AU anyway. Said age change is the only change I made to that person apart from the obvious ripple effect this whole story is based around.
"Go, Silva, go!" Pearl cheered. "You too, Blur, but mostly you Silva!"
The two wrestling fledglings both growled and continued with renewed energy. They were roughly the same age, just out of the hatchling stage of life, and evenly matched. Silva was on top for the moment, but Blur was fighting back, using his tail to smack at her and pull her hind paws out of position.
Silva let out a small whine as Blur kicked her in the stomach and knocked her off. She ran to Pearl and hid behind her.
"I win!" Blur cheered, seeing his opponent vanquished and lacking the ability to understand that there was anything more important than their game.
"That is why females do not wrestle males." Diora's voice was quiet but smug, and Pearl was glad she was watching from atop a rock, not right next to her. It was easier to ignore her that way.
"You okay?" Pearl asked, crouching and putting her tail over Silva.
"He hit me!" Silva burst out with another whine.
"That was the game," Pearl reminded her. Blur had kicked surprisingly hard for a little fledgling, but Silva had struck him at least as hard before now, and he just kept going. He was used to roughhousing…
But Silva was not, and that was what Pearl was trying to work on today with Blur's innocent assistance. That, and just getting her socializing with males.
"He hit hard," Silva insisted.
"Does it hurt now?" If Silva was still in pain, it might be serious-
"No," Silva admitted.
"Then you should go back and wrestle him again," Pearl advised. "Don't give up."
"Or…" Silva prompted with wide eyes.
"Or what?" Pearl laughed, sweeping her tiny sister onto her back. "Want me to help you win? Just this once?"
"Yes!" Silva cheered, lunging forward and straddling Pearl's neck in her desire to watch.
"Blur," Pearl growled, "you and me, now!"
Blur looked up at her and snarled in a voice far too high-pitched to be threatening, his little body quaking with exertion. "I will win!" he proclaimed, utterly confident even in the face of an adult.
Pearl saw a lot of how she wanted Silva to act in Blur, as brashly overconfident as he was. She stepped forward, mindful of Silva on her neck, and proceeded to assault him with her paws, stamping carefully to either side of him while giving the impression she was giving it her all.
Both fledglings certainly believed she was trying; the shrieks from between her ears were almost disorienting, and Blur snarled and swatted at her legs.
"So much noise," Diora complained in the background. Pearl responded by randomly barking as she pressed forward and overwhelmed Blur, adding to the noise with glee. Silva shrieked triumphantly as Pearl collapsed, dragging her paws in to corral Blur and hold him to her chest. He pummeled her, but the same kick that had surprised Silva was nothing against Pearl.
"We win," Pearl declared, flipping Blur onto his back and resting her head on top of him for good measure.
"No!" Blur complained.
"Yes," she retorted. "You cannot win every time." Blur wasn't even related to her, but she felt confident that teaching him some humility would not get her in trouble with his parents. They had offered to let her chaperone the playtime and flown off, after all. They could not complain if she took that authority and ran with it. Really, if she was not so invested in making sure it went well and Diora stayed out of it, she might have been annoyed with them.
"Are you almost done?" Diora asked with a growl.
"Hmm…" Pearl made a show of thinking it over, and looked up at the sky. It was almost exactly noon. She didn't need to stall for much longer. "Yes, just about."
"No!" Blur and Silva both exclaimed in unison.
"Playtime can't last all day," Pearl said. "Besides, aren't you both hungry?" She would bet they were; they hadn't eaten since she got them in the morning.
Blur rumbled something unintelligible, and Silva bit down on one of Pearl's ears, thankfully without her teeth.
"You are teaching her so many bad habits," Diora complained.
"Yup," Pearl responded. It was the only thing she could say with fledglings within hearing range, and it helped solidify her appearance as the fun older sister. Technically, it was responding to Diora, but she wasn't holding herself to that rule so harshly anymore. She had plenty of other ways to bother her that only worked if she spoke.
A light wing descended from above, landing in the space between rocks. "It is noon," Ivy announced.
"Get lost," Diora hissed.
"Yes it is!" Pearl agreed, ignoring the pointless bile coming from Diora's direction. "Silva, time to go with your Sire. Ivy, Silva is in the middle of playtime with this little guy, so if you would take him too, that would be great."
"I went fishing before coming, and I brought back plenty," Ivy agreed. "What of his parents?"
"They'll find you sooner or later," Pearl grumbled. They hadn't given her a time to expect them back, either, so she felt it was fair to let someone else take over.
"Okay. We will be at my rock." Ivy flicked his tail at Silva and Blur. "Come with me if you want to eat."
Silva slid off of Pearl's neck, and the moment her weight was clear Pearl let Blur go free. Both fledglings happily ran over to him. Silva seemed to have forgotten being kicked, and Blur was not overly affected by losing for once.
"Disgusting, miserable worm," Diora snarled, watching Ivy lead the fledglings away.
"Language," Pearl quipped, hopping up onto an unoccupied rock to wait. Ember had said he would come meet her here at about noon, so she expected she would be leaving soon. He hadn't said what they would be doing, but he would have something in mind.
"I will say whatever I want about that disloyal, disgusting traitor," Diora retorted.
"Sure, but not within earshot of a fledgling." Pearl shot her a meaningful look.
Diora shut her mouth with a scowl, though the fledglings were well out of earshot by then. She knew the consequences of putting a paw out of line when it came to Silva, or her former mate's time with her, or really anything related to fledglings. Ember had laid down the law very firmly, and the consequences were enough to hold Diora's tongue.
Pearl wished Diora would say something vile enough to get her in trouble; she would be happy to see Ivy get full custody of Silva, now that he was well away from Diora and taking mandatory lessons from several different Dams on how to properly raise a daughter. But that could only happen if Diora firmly crossed a line, and she was smart enough to know not to do that.
"Is Ember coming to get you?" Diora asked, suddenly polite, possibly even hopeful.
"Yes," Pearl said shortly. She knew Diora had another motivation for wanting to stay off of Ember's bad side. She didn't particularly mind it, either, because she knew Ember would never fall for Diora's tricks, and in longing after him personally, Diora wasn't bothering to send Silva to try and seduce him. She was happy to bear a little discomfort if it kept Silva from being a pawn.
"Will he be staying to chat?"
"No." She saw an orange silhouette in the sky, and quickly rose to her paws. "See you in a few days. I have arranged several more playtimes with other fledglings, I hope you mind." She launched into the air, flying up to meet Ember to forestall Diora even beginning to try and seduce him.
"Have a good time?" Ember asked, greeting her with a purr.
"Very," she said truthfully. "Diora was an ineffective whiner, which is doing her no favors in Silva's eyes, I got to be the fun older sister, the male fledgling played nice enough, and Ivy is doing much better at actually engaging her." She didn't have a single important complaint about the state of things, except that she wished she could cut Diora out of it entirely in a way that would keep her out.
"I knew those lessons for him were a good idea," Ember purred. "Three days a week, half a day each time. Think I should cut him some slack?"
"No way," Pearl growled. "He might be cooperating now, but I want him under constant watch for a long time to come." Ivy had been nothing but a background disappointment in her life, and she did not trust him to be assertive and kind and a good Sire without strict guidance. The Dams who had volunteered to provide such were effective, but she wanted him under their watch so long that when it stopped, he wouldn't remember how to go back to doing nothing at all. Preferably until Silva was an adult, really.
"I might start rotating out his teachers, though," Ember suggested. "Maybe mix in a few with no mate and fledglings of their own, so he gets more practice."
"And a steady stream of carefully selected options to maybe tempt him into opening up his heart..." Pearl snorted. "I think you like playing matchmaker."
"It makes my life easier if everyone is happy," Ember said. "Even if getting there requires a lot of work and a lot of temporary unhappiness."
"Was what you did with Storm this morning making her happy?" Pearl asked. "Or temporarily making her mad? I don't know if it was such a good suggestion, even if I agreed with you."
"Can't hurt," Ember mused. "Unless she gets mad and bites me in retaliation… but I think they will hit it off."
O-O-O-O-O
Storm intended to stomp on Ember's tail the next time she caught him unaware.
"Seriously?" she hissed, glaring at the male in front of her.
"I fail to see why it bothers you," the male said timidly, trying and failing to sound unaffected by her display of anger. "We are not mates now. I got out of it, with the alpha's approval."
"It is not that," she hissed. He had the gall to come across all cool and confident when he was anything but, and Ember had the gall to suggest she take him out for a morning meal and get to know him… Even Pearl had nodded approvingly at the idea. Did none of them know her? Or him, for that matter?
"Then what is it? I was not the one at fault-"
"I am not looking for a limp fish!" she exclaimed. "That was the first thing I said! You said you were no such thing, and neglected to mention that you let your mate treat you like dirt for dozens of season-cycles without even trying to fight back!"
"That was then-"
"And now you are shying away from me!" she burst out. "I would walk all over you and we both know it."
"Then this was a mistake," he said, backing away from her.
"Yes. It was." She growled and shook her wings out. "Go find someone calm and kind and able to build you up, because I am a storm, not some mellow breeze!" She roared full-force at him to make her point.
The male abandoned his hollow, cracked dignity and fled, beating at the air with haste.
Storm slammed her paws down on the stone, then did it again just to vent some angry energy. Why had Ember even bothered, he was the one who had split the male and his abusive mate in the first place, he had to know it was a bad match. Maybe that was what he meant by calling it a 'date', that certainly hadn't made any sense at the time-
"Hey!" Crystal dropped out of the sky in front of her, landing on the ledge she had driven the male away from. "What was that?"
"My brother having a laugh at me, I think," Storm snarled, making some small effort to rein in her temper. She couldn't call Crystal a friend, not really, but she was certainly a friendly acquaintance, and those were too rare to drive away with her attitude when it wasn't even aimed at them.
"Copper was not laughing," Crystal said with a growl. "He does not deserve to be driven away."
"He also does not deserve to try and court me without knowing what he is courting, and he cracked at the first sign of thunder," Storm huffed. "There is no way Ember thought that was a good potential pairing. Who would put a loud, abrasive, confident female with a timid, soft-spoken male?"
"Someone who saw more than that in both of them?" Crystal shrugged her wings. "Maybe it was a joke, you know our alpha better than me. But Copper is about your age, and available, and a male. There are not many fitting all three of those qualities. Maybe Ember was just pointing out your options."
"My options," Storm growled, slowly calming from outright anger to bitterness. "You say that like there are so many. Him, a few other equally fragile males from other splits, and a few young males who are not even old enough to know why they would want a female at all. Those are my options."
"There is a middle ground," Crystal argued.
"Show me it, then," Storm challenged, glaring at her. "I have no patience for nice, empty words. Not today."
"You know what? Fine." Crystal turned and left the ledge. "Follow me!"
There was no way Storm could resist such a response, and she followed without a second thought. They flew down into the valley, over to a specific rock, one just like the dozens all around it. Two females and a male were there, the male lazing on top of the rock, and the females talking to one of their neighbors.
"Rain, I need a favor," Crystal called out.
"Now?" the male roared back. He hadn't even looked up to see who he was talking to. Storm felt yet another spark of indignation. Was Crystal about to set her up with yet another spineless, lazy male? If the other female hadn't seemed so sure this would prove her wrong, Storm would have flown away then and there.
The male flew up to meet them. "How big of a favor?" he asked as he reached their elevation. "And for who?"
"The opposite of what Lily asked you to do with Grass last moon-cycle," Crystal said cryptically. "With Storm, this time. Spare no effort."
"That is a small favor," Rain said smoothly, flying a little higher. He slid into place over them, looking down at them both. "Now?"
"Now," Crystal said firmly. "Put all that skill you claim to have to the test."
"Stop talking like I am not here," Storm snarled. She glared up at Rain and snarled at him for good measure.
"So, what has got her in a twist?" Rain asked Crystal, provoking another snarl from Storm. She would have done more, but Crystal and Rain were both flying downward now, and she had to concentrate on not running into either of them as they got in her way.
"Our alpha is not a good match maker," Crystal explained. "She roared away Copper for being too fragile."
"And he was," Storm added.
"Physically?" Rain asked with a snort. They all landed on the shore by the valley. There was nobody else around.
Storm took the opportunity to glare at both Crystal and Rain to their faces, alternating between them. She would stay long enough to prove herself right… though she couldn't remember exactly what she had said, or what Crystal was trying to disprove. Something about none of the males around being at all suitable.
"Emotionally," Storm corrected. "I say what I think, and he would never be able to take that. I do not know what Crystal means to prove."
"I have an idea," Rain snorted. "Let me be sure I have this right, you roared away a potential mate because he was too weak to put up with you?"
"Yes, and I will do it again," she threatened.
"Oh, I am not interested in you at all," Rain laughed.
"Because you have a mate." She had already guessed that, he was too casual and-
"Nope, totally free," he said with a smirk. Crystal had backed away, putting herself out of the conversation, though not out of hearing range.
"Why?" Storm asked, momentarily perplexed. There were almost no free males in this pack, in fact there was a surplus of available females snapping up any male that came around. Half the males Ember had broken free of their previous mates already had new ones, and it had only been a few moon-cycles.
"I choose to be," he said with a smug purr. He moved to the top of a sand dune, looking down at her with confident, devious eyes. "Most are way too needy and desperate, and a lot of them were my Sire's mates, making them the Dams of my half-siblings."
"Disgusting," Storm snarled.
"Thus why they are not options," he agreed. "I like being unattached, and I definitely like the attention. You, on the other paw, have high standards and no redeeming qualities."
"Sounds like we are exactly alike, then," she spat. "You have none either." He was physically plain, white with a blue glint and blue eyes, and his demeanor roared 'lazy' at the top of its nonexistent lungs.
"I am easy going, amiable, and experienced in driving females wild," he snorted. "I even have two Dams, meaning twice the helpful advice if I want it, and none of the corrupt influence of my disgusting Sire, because neither Dam liked him. I am this pack's most eligible male, or I will be the moment our alpha makes it official with Pearl."
Storm glared at him, a thousand possible insults fighting for her attention. There were so many things she could say to that…
"Well?" he flicked his tail condescendingly. "This is where you brag right back at me."
"I would only do that if I was attracted to you," she said, settling on a good retort. "I prefer a male with a spine, not one that rolls over and calls himself easy-going."
"I noticed that you avoided bragging about yourself," he said. "Do not think you got away with it. I have a theory as to why you are driving away your few prospects."
"It is wrong, whatever it is," she growled.
"You like females," he guessed.
Storm choked, tried to build up a blast, and choked on that too. "Idiot," she spluttered.
"What?" He stepped forward and coasted down the dune with no effort. "I like them too. Trust me, you do not have to build up an excuse for checking out Crystal or whoever else has your heart thumping. Nobody here cares."
"You are stupid because that is not it," Storm growled. "I know what I want." She told others no lies and hid nothing, and the same went for herself… most of the time. This was not one of the rare exceptions.
"But you are driving it away with every breath," Rain snorted, coming closer. "Emotionally weak? That is your excuse?"
"It is a good one, I have hurt people before," she growled."You have to weather the storm to stay within it." She still wanted to fire at him, or better yet rake her claws through his smug face, but she held back. That felt like something Third would have done, and she was done acting like him.
"Is that all?" He shook his head. "No, probably not. But the pick around here is slim to none, aside from yours truly. Is it really so bad out there?"
"Yes." That, she could admit. She had spent long enough complaining about it. Finding that this pack had few good options was frustrating, even more so than the absolute lack of options elsewhere, because she could see plenty of good males already taken, all around her.
"You would settle for any male, so long as he can stand you and will not break under your scorn?" Rain asked, coming closer still. "Not possible. You are far too passionate for anyone to hold strong against it."
His words struck at her, and she felt her heart fall. She knew he was right, of course he was, the only strong males she knew were all related to her in one way or another, and even then, she had hurt one, almost let another die, violently, fervently hated the third, and could barely stand Second.
"But, you know, some things are fine in a storm, no matter how bad," he hummed. He was very close now, having closed the distance while she was reeling from his words, and began circling around her. "How about a male who bends with the blows, is not hurt by them, knows you are all bluster and no bite? A suave one, one available right now, right next to you…"
He was whispering in her ear now, right next to her but somehow not touching, his body heat palpable. "Rain goes paw in paw with a storm, and you cannot say the storm hurts it. The storm brings it to life."
Storm shuddered, conflicted and suddenly very, very aware that there was a male next to her, just as he had said.
But just as she was trying to figure out how she actually felt about him, he pulled away. "Okay, admittedly, that last line was really, really bad," he said with a purr. "Did the job though, did it not?"
"What?" she whined.
"That, my naive friend, was manipulation," Rain revealed. "I poked at your weak spots, figured out what they were, and presented myself as the answer."
"What?" she repeated. She didn't have it in her to be angry, because even knowing it was some sort of trick, she was still confused.
"I would be a total creep to actually try to get your affection that way," he continued. "Shake it off, it will go away sooner or later."
"You are a creep," Storm accused without really believing it. She was still in shock, and contrary to what he had said, the confusion he had awakened within her wasn't going away. She was still seeing him as a very, very appealing male able to work with her worst traits instead of bearing them and suffering all the while.
"No, I will never court anyone that way," he said, his tone growing serious. "If I court someone, it will be with romantic flights and heartfelt talks and all of the things that would only really work if they actually liked me. But like I said, it would take a very special female to improve on my current situation."
Storm shook her head and launched into the air. Maybe if she got away from him for a little while, it would go away.
Though she wasn't sure if she wanted to go back to seeing him as just another light wing.
O-O-O-O-O
Ember lounged behind a bush, his ears perked up and his side warm. Pearl was leaning against him, camouflaged and thus able to stand in what would be plain sight, while he was reduced to hiding if he wanted to eavesdrop on the confrontation that had landed right in front of them.
"I feel cruel," Crystal admitted to Rain, watching as Storm departed. "But she needed to be disproven, she was acting terrible and full of herself. I owe you one."
"She was disappointed and certain she would never find anyone," Rain said softly. "And, you know, acting horrible because of it. I see a lot of that nowadays. At least she is upfront about it."
"Still." Crystal shook herself out and took to the air. "Come get me when you need that favor returned!"
Rain sighed and stretched out on the sand, draping himself across a dune. "No," he murmured to himself. "I think I owe you one, Crystal."
Pearl stuck her head against Ember's and dramatically wiggled her ears, using touch to get across what he wouldn't be able to see. He got the message, and had picked up the same thing himself. Copper might have been a poor choice, but it looked like there might be something developing between Storm and Rain… Which would be poetic if true, for their names alone.
Rain lingered on the shore for a few more heartbeats, but he was not long in standing and shaking the sand off himself. "It would take a very special female… Maybe it will go away." He chuckled to himself and took off, abandoning the shore.
"He is so going to fall for her," Pearl predicted the moment Rain was out of earshot.
"It does seem likely," Ember agreed. "He did sound sincere when he spoke of not having to weather her storm."
"Totally," Pearl purred. "Anyway, that happened. Do you still want to talk to Crystal today?"
"Yes, but I should not be seen flying up from here…" Ember nodded. "You go get her. I'll be up above the valley."
"Fly fast," Pearl warned him, taking off so hard the backdraft from her wings ruffled his frills. He took her warning to heart and only jogged a short distance down the shoreline before rising into the air.
It was a chilly day, and he flew low, avoiding the high altitudes and the additional cold they offered. He had felt cold far too often in his life, and in some of his worst moments. He much preferred the heat nowadays, even if it was only the heat of another person next to him.
Flying low meant encountering other dragons, light wings headed to and from the ocean, or across the valley, or just flying in circles. Several called out to him, and he responded with an upbeat roar. A duo made to fly with him, but he shook his head and discouraged them, and they continued with whatever it was they had meant to do before.
A small group rose from the valley below, all headed in the same direction. Ember watched as they made for the ocean. Judging by the size, he would guess they were the day's fishing detachment. The Dams with no Sire to help out, and in one case the Sire with no helping Dam, would soon be receiving fish for their children.
"Alpha!" Crystal called out from behind him. He startled, not yet used to what seemed to be a quirk of light wings. They were so used to sneaking around and being snuck up on that they were somewhat desensitized to it. He was not, not yet.
"Crystal," he greeted, falling back to fly beside her. If he didn't, she would trail him, and that was not the tone he wanted to set. He noticed a blur flying up and to the side, and assumed that Pearl had returned with her quarry.
"You needed me?" Crystal asked. "I was about to go help with the noon fishing, so if it will be quick-"
"It won't be quick, but there were plenty of them when I saw them heading out," Ember rumbled. "Look down at the valley. Tell me what you see." He had a route in mind for this conversation, and way to bring Crystal around to what he intended before he asked her. He was not like Stoick, to pressure and take no for an answer… but he did not want to hear a no.
"Happy, peaceful people with a benevolent alpha," Crystal offered.
"I meant what is going on down there," he rumbled. "As in, right now."
It took Crystal much longer to answer this one, and when she did she spoke hesitantly. "I might be missing something, but it all looks normal."
"It is normal," he sighed. Apparently, he wasn't very good at leading people toward what he wanted to talk about. "The groups carrying out tasks. Like those fishing dragons you were going to join."
"Oh!" Crystal nodded her head eagerly. "I see them. The rock-smoothing group is over near the edge of the valley, for one."
"Why do they do what they do?" he asked.
"To make the rocks nobody wants more attractive," she said without hesitation. "Future adults looking for places will not have to deal with dangerous sharp edges."
"Yes, exactly." The light wings were already in the habit of taking smaller stones and filing off their own rocks if needed, and some of the least desirable boulders were downright dangerous… or had been, before he had seen the need. It wasn't a fun job, requiring a lot of strength and usually resulting in a sore neck or paw, but it was a good improvement to make.
"I also see the scouts coming in," Crystal said, looking up from the valley. "And another group going out. We send them to make sure nothing big is coming our way without us knowing."
"Correct." Whether it was one big dragon, a roaming pack of dragons, or anything to do with humans, they would have some advance warning.
"The fishing group, obviously. They help everyone who would otherwise struggle to find the time to fish and care for their children." Crystal purred. "Thank you for that, by the way. I could find the time, but it does make life easier."
"It does," Ember agreed. "How are they?"
"Burble and Strike are great, and they get along well with every fledgling they meet," Crystal said proudly. "They are with the play group today, which is another of the groups you created, so that single Dams can have some time to themselves on occasion."
"Yes." He was, as always, both flattered and a little bothered that she had named her younger hatchling 'Strike' in honor of his sudden attack on Claw. It didn't feel right to name a hatchling after the event that had broken and probably doomed said hatchling's Sire… But nothing about Crystal's lot in life felt fair or right, so he let it slide. At least she was happy with it. "Other groups?"
"Well…" Crystal spent some time staring down at the valley they were now circling from above. "I do not see the guard, but I assume they are around somewhere."
"It is their off day," he corrected.
"Oh, right," she murmured. "Why was I not invited, again?"
"I only picked people who have the least to lose and a need to feel like they are important," he said quietly. That mostly meant those of Claw's mates who had never produced an egg, meaning the guard was almost entirely female. Crystal, having two children solely dependent on her, definitely did not fit that description.
"I suppose that makes sense…" Crystal shook herself, shaking off whatever she was thinking. "The guard are those learning to fight, and in an emergency the ones that are expected to drop whatever they are doing and respond. Storm and Pearl lead them… together?"
"We don't really have a leader," Pearl volunteered from the shimmering air off to the side. "Storm teaches them to be decisive, and I teach them to be kind and empathetic while also ready to be stern if needed, and Ember teaches them to fight. They are supposed to be independent in case there is nobody to give orders when a crisis happens."
"Oh, I did not know that," Crystal admitted.
"But you did well enough anyway," Ember said with a purr. She hadn't mentioned a few of the smaller, more niche groups he had created, but she got the majority of them right.
"I did… but why test me?" Crystal asked. "Maybe I have spent too much time with Lily, but I feel like I am being led to something and checked to ensure I can do it."
"Pretty much," Ember admitted. It did feel like something Lily would do, though he didn't know her well enough to be sure. She was quiet, withdrawn, and spent a lot of time out in the forest. If he didn't have someone he trusted out there watching out for her, he might worry for her safety.
"So?" Crystal asked. "I would rather you just tell me."
"I am not going to be alpha forever," Ember said bluntly, giving her what she wanted. "And this pack has a problem I don't think I can fix, by virtue of who I am and how I got here." He had noticed it time and time again, and all his efforts toward solving it were worthless, coming from him. Everyone bowed, meekly agreed, and then continued to act and think as they had before he had spoken, because being ordered to think for oneself by the alpha just didn't work.
"Is that problem how easily they obey you?" Crystal asked, startling him with her insight. "Because if you are not thinking of that, you have two problems, not one."
"Yes," he admitted. "I came in and took over by force, and they all obey me without questioning it. I know it was the same with Claw, and I worry that if I ever did something terrible, they might watch and approve of it because I am alpha." He did not and would never fully trust himself or his abilities, and leading a pack who blindly approved of him was terrible in that respect.
"Lily and I were working to fix that, but…" Crystal trailed off for a moment, before looking over at him. "I guess I should just say it without worrying about how you will take it. You took that away from us. We were going to teach the whole pack to rebel and overthrow him, and then they would know not to obliviously approve of their next alpha, because they had taken action once and could again. Then you showed up, smacked Claw right out of our lives, and made it so that they could obey with a clear conscience. Nothing has changed except that the loyalty and blind approval go to a good alpha for now."
Ember nodded, feeling cold. "I did," he admitted. "That is why I cannot fix it, and I cannot be the monster they would need to learn better." Not only would acting that part push him way too far toward being like Vithvarandi, he doubted Pearl would let him even pretend to be a cold, dark person. She pushed him toward the warmth and life and future with every word, and he couldn't bear to set himself against her. Even now, he could tell she had shifted in the air to fly directly above him, as if ready to pounce and knock some sense into him as they fell.
"I cannot either," Crystal warned.
"I don't want you to be the monster," Ember assured her. "What I want is to step down in a few season-cycles and pass on the leadership to someone who is nothing like me. A female, for one, because the tradition of the alpha being a male needs to die." He thought of Astrid, who had killed that same pattern on Berk. Hopefully, she was doing well.
"And?" Crystal prompted.
"Female, and one of those who knows what has happened and what needs to be fixed," he listed. "One of Claw's mates, but an unwilling one, which really narrows it down."
"Lily could do it, maybe better than I could," Crystal offered in a shaky voice, her eyes wide. "We were going to make her alpha. I have hatchlings to look after."
"I know little of Lily," Ember retorted. "She has barely spoken to me, except to thank me once for what I did, and once to turn down an offer." Lily fit the requirements to be a guard, but she had refused immediately upon being asked, and gave no reason. He hadn't pushed her.
"She could do it," Crystal repeated.
"You could too, and I know you far better," Ember said firmly, looking her in the eye. "Pearl knows you. I know you, because you are so often around, with Pearl or just pitching in. You are not content to sit back, you get involved in things. Between you and Lily, I would pick you every time. You know the problem, and more importantly, as alpha you could teach them to question, to think for themselves. They would have no ingrained reason to obey you, except that you are alpha." He didn't have all the details, but he knew he couldn't do anything more effective than this, while she probably could.
"I have hatchlings… but you said not for a while yet…" Crystal fell silent.
"You don't have to accept it now," Ember assured her. "I will wait until your children are grown, and in the meantime I will show you everything I do and everything I know." This was a long-term plan, unlike the other thing he meant to do today.
"It is not going to be easy," Crystal whispered. "I think it would have been easier to leave us be and let us overthrow Claw in our own time… though people would have suffered and died for it, so I cannot say that it would have been better."
"Maybe. But I didn't come here for your pack." He had come for Pearl. Taking over and fixing things had been a secondary goal, if even an actual problem in his mind. It was possible his arrival and intervention had made things worse in the long run, as Crystal had said.
But for his own sake, he couldn't say he would do it differently, given the choice of listening to Pearl or casting himself off that sea stack.
"Teach me, and if I feel I am ready when the time comes, I will do it," Crystal decided. "Please?"
"Done," Ember agreed. "Thank you."
"Teach me well, because I do not understand how you even came up with half of the things you have done for us," Crystal said. She ducked down and dropped into a dive, leaving abruptly.
"That's because I was taught to lead a village by a big, burly Viking," Ember sighed. "This is the weirdest dragon pack anyone has ever seen." The division of labor certainly wasn't a dragon trait, let alone moderating Dams and Sires like he arranged for Diora and Ivy, or anything to do with manipulating the environment for long-term benefits, like with those he had set to diverting a stream Second had found deep in the forest… This might be a pack of dragons, but he was teaching it to function a lot more like a village of Vikings.
"Just to check," Pearl said from above him, "you want to step down and enjoy life, right?"
"Exactly. I'll be staying here." He wanted to stick around and see what he had wrought, after all, and the urge to go find an isolated corner and die had disappeared entirely, fading away without him ever really noticing.
"Alive. Happy. In love?" she asked.
"Very much so." He purred up at her. "Don't tell anyone."
"On the contrary, I'm going to roar it in Diora's face," Pearl quipped. "We have been acting like mates for a moon-cycle and she still acts like you are available if she shakes her tail hard enough."
"Maybe she does not believe it," Ember said. "So long as she keeps shaking her own tail, not Silva's, I'm fine with ignoring her." That was the reason he and Pearl had not seen fit to announce it to the valley. They were mates, but not everyone needed to know.
"My thoughts exactly," Pearl purred. "By the way, I'm going to bite you for not telling me about the plan to make Crystal alpha."
"I didn't tell you?" He was sure he had, and recently.
"No!" She dipped down and smacked her tail on his back, startling him. "I'm sure you did not!"
"I definitely did!" he objected. "Right before you told me Lily had talked to you and given you a plant!"
"Oh…" He couldn't see her, but he knew her well enough to know she was embarrassed. "Maybe you did. I wasn't paying attention. And what we did after probably helped me forget."
"Probably." He looked down, and noticed they were by the ledges. "So, you were going to bite me?"
Pearl laughed, a joyous sound that made him feel warm inside. "So long as your duties are done for the day, alpha, but I want some fish first. I haven't eaten since dawn."
"We'll fish fast," he promised, turning toward the ocean. The wind was cold, but he felt warm inside.
O-O-O-O-O
Lily walked awkwardly, a vine looped over her neck. It draped down past her paws, catching on things and tripping her up, but she was used to its presence and was learning to manage it without tripping too badly. She needed to learn if she wanted to go anywhere with it.
Of course, it was just a vine, and she could drop it and carry it some other way. That would mean coming back for it, as she already had plants everywhere she could think of. Efficiency was the name of this game, and she played against herself to make boring labor more interesting.
As she walked, slowly and with great care for balance, she went over what she was carrying. Obviously, there was the pain-killing vine across her neck and sometimes under her paws. It was strong and didn't keep very well, but she had found a massive supply strangling a tree and felt no remorse for taking so much.
Further down, cradled between her wings, was a whole branch of spindly green needles. It served no purpose except to make caves smell fresh and clean without permanently removing the underlying odor of whoever lived there, and she meant to take it up to her cave for exactly that.
Her tail, curled up awkwardly, was host to a whole selection of smaller flowers and weeds with various properties. Her fins lay doubled back, pressing the greenery to the base of her tail to hold it down.
Her paws and wings were mostly useless for carrying things while moving around, but today she had innovated and was balancing a chunk of bark on her head, holding it between her ears. It was good for making someone throw up everything in their stomach no matter what they had eaten, and unlike the vine would keep for a very long time. She meant to give it to Crystal, who often had to coax her children into coughing up things they should not have swallowed, and who had experienced a few scares with the normal gag reflex not working well enough.
Lily was confident that she had beaten her old record by a fair margin; the bark on her head was a solid addition to the pile she was going to create on the shore, when she got there.
She weaved around a large thicket of knobbly old trees, knowing from experience that they would slow her down and scrape off her carefully balanced plants, and stepped into the sunlight soon afterward. It was a cold day, but thankfully not windy at all, aside from a chilly breeze drifting in from the ocean.
Lily stopped at the top of a dune, almost stumbling on the last few steps as her vine tried to foil her perfect walk at the last moment, and unceremoniously dumped everything. The bark slid down the other side of the dune, creating its own little cascade of sand.
She snorted, fell to the side, and rolled onto her back, kicking her paws up and luxuriating in no longer needing to watch every movement. The walk was a challenge, but part of the fun was dropping it all at the end.
Besides, she needed to relax. She still needed to bring it all up to her cave, and that meant either a series of back and forth flights, or one long, painfully difficult walk. She had yet to even attempt walking the steep path to her cave with such a burden, and doubted that today would be the day. She could fly, and that was infinitely easier even if it did require many more trips.
A duo of shapes flew across the sun above her, and she squinted to make out who they were. One was a light wing and thus impossible to identify, but the other had a dark orange that did not disappear once they were no longer right in front of the sun. Ember.
She wondered where he was going with a single companion, then thought better of it. Hopefully, that was Pearl up there. She deserved to finally get what she was waiting for.
If it was Pearl, then hypothetically she could begin working against Ember again now. Second would no longer stand in the way.
Not that she wanted to. Ember had proven himself many times over, though his methods and ideas were strange and often felt cobbled together from things he had seen done elsewhere, not his own imagination. To her, anyway; nobody else noticed that sort of thing.
Taking from elsewhere or coming up with it himself, he knew right from wrong, and just as importantly, knew how to make his plans work once things inevitably went wrong. He was a good alpha, and she hoped he would either lead for a very long time, or come up with a way to select a worthy successor. She liked not having to worry about a corrupt, vile male having power over everyone else, and had no desire to go back to the likes of Claw someday.
"You are vulnerable."
Lily sighed loudly and refused to move. She even closed her eyes to make a point. "And I know the only fierce creature around is on my side. I'm allowed to be vulnerable."
"A ship could come up from the water and catch you by surprise," Second said gruffly from somewhere behind her head.
"Two dragons just flew overhead, they would not have been acting normally if a ship was in plain sight below," she countered.
"If you think that is sufficient," Second allowed. "More plants?"
"Don't eat any of them," Lily warned.
"This one smells like vomit," Second observed.
"And one of them makes you vomit, so that might be it." She reluctantly rolled to her paws, shook herself, and opened her eyes.
Second was pawing through her collection of greeney. As she watched, he opened his mouth, inhaled so strongly a flower stirred from the pile, and coughed.
"That'll teach you," she hummed. "What brings you here?"
"I found a pile of prey waste, scattered it to mark my presence, and then grew tired of the scent on my paws," Second recounted.
"So you came all the way over here?" she asked.
"I came to the shore, saw a light wing in the distance, and came closer for a better look… after washing my paws."
"One of these days, you're going to mistake someone else for me and scare the life out of them," Lily snorted.
"I would not do that," he hummed.
"Sure." She began collecting the various plants, pulling them all into a pile that just happened to be away from him. Her back was to him, but she felt no fear. Not now. Actions spoke louder than appearances, and Second had never been anything but courteous… to her.
Of course, she knew about his past now. All it had taken was a question posed to Storm. Surprisingly, Storm had not softened the story at all, so she knew the truth. Oddly, knowing he had a troubled past made it easier for her to feel comfortable around him. She knew people hiding and running from their pasts, and she knew how it felt to be around those people.
If she was being honest with herself, she missed Pyre, and Second, while very, very different, was like him in some ways. So, she never told anyone about him - another similarity, she had kept Pyre a secret too - and he did as he had said he would.
She did not see him often; he spent his days roaming far and wide through the forest. But when they did meet, she enjoyed his company, and he hers, in a way that did not make her uncomfortable at all.
"Have you done it yet?" he asked, pawing a wayward flower toward her.
"Told Ember? Not yet. I want a few successes to talk about first." The bark to Crystal would be one such success, and she had high hopes for gradually introducing the plant that prevented eggs, though that one would have to wait, as that seemed important enough to require the alpha's approval.
"You're stalling. You said the same last time I asked, and that was many days ago." Second looked to the sky. "It is closing in on the cold season now, and I asked when the leaves were beginning to fall."
"I'll tell him. You have a place to withstand the cold?" She worried for him, though she knew she shouldn't. From what she knew, it was more likely he would let himself suffer than actually fail to find sufficient shelter.
"I found a nook hidden at the base of the mountains near your path," he revealed. "I'll be there."
Lily purred loudly this time, knowing she had to make her approval clear. He had given her something to look for so she wouldn't worry, and she was grateful for that. Of course, he probably meant for her to know in case she was ever in danger and needed his protection. He harped on safety and protecting the pack far more than would be normal… for understandable reasons. He had been inundated in conflict and threats and danger from hatching onward.
"Should I let the alpha know?" she offered, knowing that Second chose not to go into the valley, or anywhere he would be sighted by the light wings he stood watch over.
"That would be convenient," he admitted. "I had meant to catch him and Pearl when they came back from wherever they are going, but they will not be in the mood to listen and remember what I say."
"So it was Pearl." She was happy for them.
"Yes. Pearl and Ember have found love." Second stared at her. "Have you yet?"
If Lily were less perceptive, she would have worried that Second was attracted to her. He was certainly tone-deaf enough to accidentally give that impression. Letting her know where he lived, talking to her whenever they ran into each other, even showing himself at all… Asking about whether she had found love.
But she was good at reading people and far too familiar with subtle, unwanted affection, and she knew Second didn't see her that way. To the best of her knowledge, that impulse had been thoroughly sullied by his upbringing and was either ignored or nonexistent now. He treated her like a student, or perhaps a friend. Warmly, but with a distance that they were both happy to maintain.
"Not yet," she answered, continuing with her work. The vines were the worst, she would have to carry those first before she could handle anything else. The flowers could come afterward, if she ever even got around to them. The vines were difficult at the best of times, and dealing with them left her too tired to care about the flowers a lot of the time.
Second huffed. "Any progress on a name?"
"I'm still thinking about it." She had a couple of different monikers in mind, and her plan was to not think about them for a while, so the forgettable ones would be forgotten and leave the better candidates behind. None of them really fit him yet, but he might do something to help her choose, or inspire one she had not yet thought of. It was a sign of respect and trust that he had asked her to give him a new name, not his alpha or Storm, and she wanted to do right by him.
"Will you work faster if I help you in return?" He withdrew his teeth and carefully picked up the slab of bark.
"Sure." She was glad to have his help, and his friendship. Precious few people in the valley cared enough about her to offer either, and she still hadn't shaken her disappointment in the majority of them. They hadn't changed or learned better, someone else had stepped in and removed the problem for them. She had the nagging feeling that if the next alpha was cruel, they would easily look the other way. Thankfully, Ember wouldn't let that happen, and she was done trying to fix people's minds. Their physical maladies were much easier to deal with.
She slung the vines around, digging her teeth into them to secure her grip. It was a delicate balance, biting gently enough to not poison herself with their effects, while still getting a good enough grip to take them with her. She hoped she was doing it right, but something told her she would be learning to carry them for a long, long time to come.
Author's Note: So… All that Remains as a whole. I intentionally chose that name to sound misleading to someone who didn't know what pathway this story took from the main branch. If you think about it, When Nothing Remains would be a much better title for the story where everyone really did die, and All that Remains for the one where they didn't. Or maybe not, depending on how you look at it. The ambiguity is semi-intentional on my part; I wanted it all to be misleading, just to sow confusion.
Also, I can't resist pointing something out about this chapter, because I'm really proud of it. That last scene with Lily and Second has a relevant, persistent metaphor built into it, one that gives a little more information about Lily's state of mind throughout. If you didn't see it, maybe go back and look for it.
Anyway, this was an interesting project. It's not perfect, not by a long shot, but that's as much a product of the premise as anything else. As I've said before, this option was discarded for canon partially because the other option worked better, and in following this path, I got a very good look at why I felt the other one was more doable. A lot of the story arcs don't have clear ends, there's even more time-skipping to strain Pearl's efforts being believable, a lot of stuff happens off-screen, threads are snipped simply because they don't fit anymore, Usurpation of the Darkness is massively interfered with and actually doesn't happen, making me feel obligated to give Lily, Crystal, Claw, and the pack satisfactory but not perfect ends… It's a lot to adjust to. Thus, the chapters having a more insular feel to some extent, and two in particular focusing entirely on non-essential characters (Valka and Viggo).
And of course, on top of all of that, we have the meta and stylistic flexibility offered by this not actually being the second half of When Nothing Remains. As my beta reader, Deadly-Bagel, noted, it's weird to have chapters devoted solely to bringing up and dismissing an idea from the canon story, but in this format I can do that. I didn't even really try to make this 'the second half', because if it was, I would not have written the first half the way I did. Instead, this is just a somewhat freeform look at some of the changes and the likely path the story could have taken. It continues from a plot perspective, but not really from a meta or thematic one.
Next week, something different comes. I've got a backlog of NSSA entries now, of all types, three months worth at the moment. Some are deleted scenes, some are canon, and there's another 10-chapter AU, this one with a very different theme...