No Story Stands Alone

by VigoGrimborne

This is a collection of one-shots, short stories, and alternate perspectives all based in the universe created by the story Innocent Hopes, Twisted Realities, and its various sequels. So, in case it's not clear, new readers won't want to start with this one. No set genre or main characters, as it focuses on whatever genre and character I want to write about.

53. Runaway: Leaving (AU)

CAUTION: Spoils aspects of Innocent Hopes, Twisted Realities, When Nothing Remains, and Usurpation of the Darkness.

Seriously, major spoilers here.

Assuming you wish to continue, read on…

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The plan for fixing what could be fixed crawled along, day by day.

"Cressa has already spoken for herself, and her statements will be recounted here for brevity. As she has refused to be silent, she will not be present for this hearing until the judgment. Copper will speak for her, Mist against, and Galen will ensure neither construe hearsay as truth, or otherwise twist what was said."

Lily herself was spending less and less time in the valley as the things she could help with wrapped up, and the things she was an active delaying factor in became all that remained. Part of the plan was to not have her acting as an alpha, and that meant she shouldn't be breaking up fights, solving petty disputes or otherwise throwing her theoretical authority around. Everyone else she had brought had to do that. There shouldn't be any source of authority beyond their temporary presence and her distant threat of force.

"Cressa has acted only in her capacity as Claw's mate, following his orders. As we all did at one time or another. That is all."

"Copper, you were there for everything Cressa said. She spoke at length about every topic we brought up, and several we did not know about. You heard everything. It is your duty to speak on her behalf."

"I heard nothing to defend or justify her actions beyond what I have just said. As such, I have finished speaking for her. This is the best I can do, the best anyone can do, to justify her actions."

"Very well."

Spending less time in the valley seemed on the surface counterproductive to Lily's desire to finish and fix things so she could stop dwelling on them once she left, and perhaps she was falling into the same trap once again, but she truly did think she had resolved almost everything she was going to be able to resolve. Claw? Dead. Crystal? Found, and Lily was in no danger of running out of time to reconnect with her. Pyre? Belatedly sent to rest and mourned. Her reputation with the Twisted Corridor pack? Thoroughly defended, with her story proven in spades to even the most skeptical of light wings, namely Calci.

"On the topic of assaulting Lily, Cressa admitted to trying to ground her in preparation for Claw taking her against her will. On the topic of the murder of Blaze, then known as Pyre, in the mountains, Cressa confessed to leading Claw to him with the intent to see him harmed while searching for Lily. On the topic of Ice's execution, Cressa claimed she goaded Claw into acting more harshly than he originally intended. On the topic of Flare and Roots' execution, Cressa claimed to have lied about overhearing them plotting so as to give Claw an excuse to kill them, and then to have helped ambush Root."

The repetitive litany of horrors was distracting in the worst possible way, bringing Lily back down to the present moment that she had been trying to ignore, even though she went to some effort to be able to observe without being camouflaged or seen by any of the valley light wings. Navigating to the back of the valley crowd without being noticed was tricky, and here she was regretting that she had bothered going to the effort.

Cressa had been very cooperative when questioned a second time in front of Mist, Clay, and Galen, even without Lily's presence to goad her. Cressa must have assumed that since she had already said it all once, there was no harm in gloating to anyone who would listen. Mist repeatedly insisted that Cressa claimed things because she was the only living light wing to know the full truth of her own involvement, and some of these deeds might have been embellishments to feed her twisted sense of grandeur. That was how eager Cressa was to spew bile.

"On the topic of Whirl's murder, Cressa claims to have been the one to kill her while she tried to kill Claw. On the topic of eight different assaults conducted over the course of the cold-season, Cressa admitted to planning and keeping lookout, and to threatening the victims into silence afterward. On the topic of Danda and Liona's disappearance, Cressa admitted to helping Claw ambush them. Those bodies were lost to the tide, mostly, but she did point us toward proof. Old bloodstains on trees by the shore."

Mist didn't even have to try. The list's length and severity was itself damning ten times over. As Cressa well knew when she gave it.

"On the topic of retaliating for Claw's death, Cressa admitted to actively planning the murder of everyone involved." Mist concluded with a wry hum. "Have I spoken any lies or said anything beyond summarizing her own confessions, Galen?"

"You left out her behavior prior to the events around Lily's disappearance," Galen noted, unusually somber.

"Being aggressively callous and spiteful are not offenses, they are personal failings," Mist said succinctly. "Being party to and in some cases instigator of more than a dozen assaults and seven murders was more relevant."

This trial was a foregone conclusion, and everyone involved knew it, but the simple act of holding it was important. It wasn't the first trial, but it was the largest, and it showed that everyone should get their fair chance, even if that chance was almost certainly a waste of time. Giving all accused of wrongdoing their moment to have their side heard was vital. No arbitrary punishment. No random execution at the whims of a tyrant.

Lily hoped these lessons were sinking in, because there wouldn't be many more trials. The other two major Claw supporters had already been given their trials, as well as a few light wings who continually popped up in unrelated accounts as being instigators or cozying up to Claw. There were two more of the latter kind of trial after Cressa's, and that would be all.

"Do any of the judging group have questions for us before making their decision?" Galen asked.

"Did she say why she… did those things?" a petit female asked, looking rather ill. There were five light wings sitting in judgements, and only one of them was from the Twisted Corridor pack. Their word would be absolute unless they decided on something incredibly uncalled-for, because the position of alpha to pass down judgment had been omitted from this version of a trial.

"Because Claw wanted her to, and because he appreciated her for taking initiative," Copper said blandly.

"Because he 'made her howl as a reward' for finding vulnerable females," Mist snarled. "Her words, not mine."

There were no more questions. Lily saw a few Dams covering their fledglings' ears, but she also saw that most were letting their children listen, even as they themselves muttered and cringed at every other word.

"We will make a decision now," one of the other light wings in the judging group announced. The five retreated to the back of Claw's plateau to deliberate.

"Bring Cressa out to hear the verdict," Stal called. Crystal growled from her position behind Lily. She was always around now, never out of earshot, and Lily could only consider that a good thing for the time being. Driven by loss and fear of future loss, perhaps, but the truth was Lily did feel safer with Crystal always nearby, and if it was going to be a problem it would only become one after they left the valley for good.

Besides which, Crystal sticking to her side made it easier for Lily to keep a watchful eye on her in turn. She had as little to do in the valley as Lily did, and as few meaningful connections now. Lily rather doubted that Crystal had anything more fulfilling to do with her time, but she could certainly mope for days on end if she chose to.

Crystal hadn't gone to see her Dam yet. Her Dam hadn't come to see her, either. Not great, but at least Crystal's Dam wasn't being escorted up to the plateau under the watchful eyes and teeth of four light wings, like Cressa was now.

Lily saw Cressa searching the crowd as she ascended the plateau, her eyes darting from place to place with an unnerving intensity. There would be no prize for guessing who she was looking for. She wanted to see the one she blamed for all that had happened. Maybe she wanted to make one last cutting remark, to dig a little deeper before her death. An ill-advised guilt trip, or a scornful mockery.

She didn't see Lily, at the very back of the crowd, and Lily intended to keep it that way. There was nothing between them but hate now, just like with Claw before he died. Hate, and a distant, theoretical regret. They both could have been different. Not by the time Lily recognized them for what they were, but they couldn't have hatched evil.

Crystal, on the other paw? "She thinks you are dead," Lily whispered. "You could show her she is wrong…"

"What is the point of that?" Crystal asked.

"Satisfaction." Nothing more.

"Let her die ignorant," Crystal hissed. "That is satisfying enough for me."

"You should all die," Cressa declared as they waited for the judgment to be decided upon. She wasn't addressing those who would shortly condemn her to death, but rather the crowd itself. "Claw was the only one to give you purpose, and he is dead, so you should die too. Each and every one of you."

She knew what was coming. Only a delusional idiot wouldn't see the end to this path.

Lily turned her back on the plateau. "Let's go."

"It is not over," Crystal said.

"Yes it is." She'd killed Claw, and she would have killed Cressa if need be, but she didn't feel the need to watch Cressa die. The important part to witness, for her, was the trial itself. Not the inevitable ending.

O-O-O-O-O

There were few things left for Lily to do herself, but one task in particular required her personal attention. It was not complicated or difficult, in fact it was rather repetitive for her, but it was absolutely vital to the plan.

"I need you and a few others to do something for me."

The words were boring and rote to Lily, something she had said half a dozen times already, but they were incredibly important to the young female in front of her. Lily had never spoken to this particular light wing, not since her return to the valley, and in that time she had become an incredibly intimidating figure who could and would kill a light wing if she felt it necessary. The upside of avoiding most of the valley light wings and doing all her assessing through intermediaries was that Lily had a very good idea of how this female thought, but this female knew next to nothing about her beyond whatever she might know from before Lily's flight from the valley. That version of Lily was not here now, and would be no help.

If this were to be a negotiation, it would be grossly unfair. Instead, it was a request, perhaps a demand if this female felt threatened enough to interpret it that way.

"Alpha–" the female began.

"That title is burnt and buried here," Lily said softly.

"Sorry. What did you need?" The female ducked her head, but only briefly. There was a reason Lily was speaking to her, and that reason was named Emera. She had singled this female out as being promising. One of Claw's mates, yes, but one whose intended male challenged and died six season-cycles ago. No eggs, no great love for Claw, and no reluctance in asserting herself with light wings she didn't greatly fear like she did Lily.

This female had shown no obvious inclination to seek or abuse power, either. That was important, perhaps more important than any of her other qualities.

"I need you, and six other light wings I will name, to go on a short journey for me." Lily forged ahead over whatever half-vocalized objections the female tried to raise. "Five days of flight in one direction. Keep the sun to your back on your way out in the mornings, and you can follow it right back afterward. Once you get five days out, land and find somewhere my group of light wings could comfortably nest. Assume we can do anything you could do to make the place more appealing. Be sure to figure out how far away the ocean is, and seek out fresh water if there is any around. Stay a few days to ensure you do not miss anything. Once you have the place firmly fixed in your mind, come back and report to me."

"Me and a few others?" the female asked.

"Yes. You will be in charge." Lily tilted her head. "Is there anyone you would want to come with you?"

"There is not, not really," the female admitted. "But why me? And why do you want to put me in charge?"

"Because I do." Lily waved a wing, and she noticed Crystal behind her mimicking the motion for emphasis. As she gave the female the other six names, she rolled one obvious absence around in her mind, one she couldn't voice until the female left, burdened with purpose and nearly shaking with nervous energy.

Once she and Crystal were alone, Lily voiced her thought. "I don't remember her name. Emera just told us."

"Does it matter?" Crystal asked.

"Not really, no. I remembered the others." Because she had to. Crystal was right, it didn't really matter. This was one of two times she and that female would ever speak. The same went for the dozen others she and Crystal would be putting in the same position over the next few days. So long as they knew who had been assigned to fly with them, they would be fine.

Different directions. Different durations. Five days, ten, fifteen depending on the group. All with the exact same mission, and none with an explanation for why. Only assumptions, carefully directed by what Lily chose not to say.

They thought these places would be for her and her people. She wondered if any of them would realize the truth while they were sleeping in places where light wings could comfortably live, away from the valley.

Probably not. If she sent them all at once, perhaps. A few might grasp onto the obvious implications. But they would miss the last, vital step of the journey, the one that gave meaning to the rest.

O-O-O-O-O

Lily was not a hypocrite, or at least was trying very hard not to be. She could not coerce Crystal into going to see her Dam without acknowledging that there were two light wings still living in the valley that she had yet to see, but really should speak to before she left.

Pina and Grass were not truly her Dams, either of them. Grass never wanted or claimed the title, and had acted accordingly, so Lily doubted she would be bothered by hearing the feeling was mutual. Pina was murkier, having done the biggest share of actually raising Lily prior to Pyre… But in the end she was Claw's mate, and Lily did not remember her doing anything beyond offering a kind purr or a few sympathetic words laced with acceptance for the way things were.

She needed to speak to both of them before she went, and on one foggy morning she finally managed to convince Crystal to go see her own Dam, so it was only reasonable that she ought to do the same. She knew where Pina and Grass lived, courtesy of Emera and Galen asking around. In the aftermath of driving everyone out of Claw's caves, Pina and Grass had taken up some of the smaller rocks near the dark side of the valley. At first they claimed one together, but after a few days Grass had left to claim another rather uneven rock for herself. Both tended to sleep late in the morning.

She went to Grass first, on the assumption that this would be the shorter of two conversations no matter how it went. Grass woke within moments of Lily setting down near her, and immediately rolled onto her stomach to hunker down, protecting herself before she was even properly awake. She looked no different from how Lily remembered her, the same rather callous and irritated older female she had always been. Smaller, but that was only a change in Lily's perspective, not in Grass herself.

"What a way to wake up," Grass muttered as she looked at Lily. Her defensive posture did not change. "Well, get on with it. I know how much you hate me."

"I don't hate you." She didn't feel anything all that strongly for Grass. Her name never came up when investigating Claw's crimes, and that meant more to Lily than her bad attitude in the season-cycles prior. "We are not friends, you are rude and disagreeable, but that is as far as my opinion on you goes. What did you expect me to do?"

"Something painful for me," Grass grumbled. "If you are not here to hurt me, then go away."

What had she expected from this? Nothing more than what she was getting now. "I will not be here forever. If there is anything you want to say to me–"

"You did what needed to be done."

Grass shrugged her wings as she reluctantly stood, silently watching Lily's reaction to her blunt and rather unexpected assessment. "I liked him a lot when he was with me. That does not excuse the rest of his actions. So… It needed to be done. You did it. Good." She flicked out one wing to shake it open, then folded it back in. "Are we done here?"

Yes. Yes they were. Lily didn't think it was possible to part with Grass at a better time than now. It would all be downhill from here, no matter what she said. She and Grass both took to the sky, immediately turning to fly in different directions. Maybe Grass wanted to end on that high note, too. It was better than either of them had expected.

Lily flew to Pina's rock with a renewed enthusiasm. Her day was getting off to a good start, and she had much higher hopes for Pina. Despite her misgivings, they had always been on good terms. In fact, Lily was thinking of offering to take her back to the Twisted Corridor pack, if she wanted to go.

This wasn't a decision Lily made lightly. She had forbidden all talk of the Twisted Corridor pack when it came to the valley light wings. Quartz might have wanted to relocate the entire pack, but Lily was taking the exact opposite approach because she knew this valley, these people. Bring too many of them into the Twisted Corridor pack and they would group together, hold to their opinions and beliefs. They would feel like outsiders, and in turn would actively resist changing to match their new pack. At worst, they might even try to change the Twisted Corridor pack to better fit them and their ways. She didn't know what shape such changes would take, but one did not have to see the bottom of a dark pit to know that one would rather not fall into it to begin with.

Someone like Diora could wheedle and beg all she wanted. She could ask Andes, she could ask Calci, she could ask Shell – any of the Twisted Corridor light wings. They all knew not to tell her anything about where they were from in more than the vaguest generalities. No matter what, she would not be directed to the Twisted Corridor pack, and in the absence of their cooperation she stood no chance of finding it on her own.

Lily was willing to take some light wings, though. Crystal, for one; that was not in question and never had been. Pina could be another. There could be more, she needed to widen the scope of her search, but that would have to be done by proxy. For now, Pina, who Lily spotted flying up from her rock, angling toward the lake and the fish pile the Twisted Corridor light wings provided every morning.

Everyone in the valley was so small, so willowy and thin. They had not changed, it was Lily who had changed, but she was struck by the difference every time she saw someone she had known before she left. Pina in particular was slim in all the wrong places, and her wings were straining to keep her own weight up even on a short flight across the valley. She wouldn't have trouble flying for longer distances, she was not so unfit that she was in danger of her wings failing under normal conditions, but if she forced herself to fly all day her wings would be useless the day after. She lacked the muscle to easily hold herself aloft, and as such the increased strain would tire her even faster.

A season-cycle ago Lily might have considered this a minor problem not worth addressing, because what worth was there in the sky beyond short flights to get to wherever in the valley she was going? That was a viewpoint shaped by naivety at best, or short-sighted stupidity at worst. Even under the ground, flight was an essential part of life and staying alive; out in the open air, the sky was a light wing's first and last resort if danger struck.

Pina needed to work on her situational awareness, too. Lily flew in close above her, silently gliding down, closer and closer until she could almost reach down with a paw and touch her back. Even a perfectly fit light wing would have a hard time dodging an attack from above when they had no idea it was coming.

Lily followed her cavern-Dam all the way to the fish pile and soared over it to land on the other side, before circling around. There were a few other valley light wings present, but when they saw her they took their fish and flew away. Stal was nearby, watching to make sure there was no trouble. He flicked his head, silently asking for her to come over. She lifted a wing and nodded toward Pina. She'd come see what he wanted once she was done with Pina, so long as it was not urgent.

Stal shrugged his wings, so she figured she was clear. "I do wish we did not have to do this," she said to Pina.

"Lily?" Pina looked at the fish pile, then at Lily as she remembered all that had changed since the last time they spoke, and then back at the fish pile again as she considered what she had been told. "Why do you say that?"

"Because Claw made others bring fish for his mates, and I would like to burn any possible connection between him and I as thoroughly as I can," Lily continued. She was rather proud of how she had started this conversation. "You and I however… I hold no ill will toward you. How have you been?"

"Miserable," Pina said without hesitation. She looked toward Lily, but her gaze was fixed on the ground in front of Lily, not Lily herself. "This has been a terrible cold-season, with a violent end and an uncertain warm-season to come."

"It is good to see you, though," Lily offered.

"Is it?" Pina asked. "No, really," she continued, tentatively looking up at Lily, "is it good to see me? You came back with such violence, and much of what is happening here makes me worry. Is this all your doing, or are you stuck flying with… others…" She flicked a very careful look in Stal's direction.

"They answer to me," Lily assured her, though she could tell that Pina did not find that reassuring at all. "Most of them."

"Then you came back with them, and this was your idea?" Pina asked.

"Yes." Claw's death was hers. The plan, the execution, the act itself. She would never deflect any portion of her responsibility for that. To do so would be to take away some of the moment's sincerity. Those actions were hers, and she did not regret them. "He needed to die, and I needed to do it myself."

Pina inhaled sharply, and turned away from Lily. "I tried," she said quietly. "I did try. But I could not go through with it. That you could – I did not think I knew anyone who could kill like that."

"The assassination attempt?" Lily rumbled.

"I could not go through with it," Pina repeated. "You did not have to kill him, Lily."

"Yes I did." This was a gulf in opinion that was as wide as it was unexpected. Especially as it was not simply a distant, unsympathetic judgment; Pina had tried, and found that she couldn't. Fear, squeamishness, self-doubt, a lack of conviction – something stopped her, and she chose to believe that her inability was moral, that it was right. So she thought badly of anyone who was not stopped as she was.

"Exile," Pina suggested.

"Not a punishment when it comes to this pack, and exile means nothing if there are no light wings willing to kill to enforce it." Lily spoke softly, because anger or frustration would not help make her point, but she was feeling both. "He did not deserve that mercy, anyway."

"Imprisonment, like with Cressa–" Pina ducked down to take a fish. "I could not have his blood on my claws."

"I could. He was not even the first." That crawler had as much as a claim to her first kill as Claw. She had Rose's blood on her claws too, though he lived through her attack. Both of those fights weighed more heavily on her than her fight with Claw, or his execution shortly afterward.

"Nor was he the last," Pina whined. "I cannot stomach that. He was my mate, for good or for ill. I lived with Cressa. Is Grass next? What will you do to us, if your thirst for revenge is not slated by their blood?"

"Nothing." Lily stepped back, away from the fish pile. "I do not harm indiscriminately, or at a whim. I am not Claw." Pina was shying away from her even though she hadn't done anything! This was the same attitude she was trying to cultivate and maintain in the valley as a whole, they needed someone to fear, but seeing it in Pina hurt. Just a little. Not as much as it maybe should have.

Pina could not stomach Claw's death. That was her choice, and if it drove her away from Lily then so be it. Lily could not harden her stomach for her. Still, she had not expected this. "Grass approves of my actions, and she was closer to Claw than you."

"Grass and I do not see eye to eye on anything these days," Pina said.

"I guess not." Lily leaned in and snagged a fish off the top of the pile, though she was not hungry at all. It gave her something to do while she pondered her next words. The fish slid down her throat and sat heavily in her stomach. "I hope you have a good life, Pina," she said sincerely.

"You too, Lily," Pina murmured.

Lily walked away, first toward the pond and then toward Stal when she remembered his unspoken request. "What do you need?" she asked brusquely, slipping into a little bit of a growl without intending to.

"To ask you about something that I have noticed, and that I am sure Calci and others will also notice sooner rather than later," Stal said dryly, "but if you are going to growl at me like that I might forget and let you deal with the issue on your own time."

"Sorry," Lily apologized, though she didn't do so very gracefully. She circled around to stand beside him, so that he could say what he had to say without her glaring at him.

"It has come up, repeatedly, that you are not in fact Blaze's daughter," Stal said bluntly. "Rather, you are Claw and Cressa's daughter."

Oh. That. She… hadn't really thought about that, what with everything else going on. It was a small thing. Such a small, vital thing that she had knowingly lied about back in the Twisted Corridor pack. Of course, someone was going to notice the obvious discrepancy once they were here. If not Stal, then Calci or Andes or even Shell when he got around to her roots on Peat's behalf.

She had not planned for this. She had forgotten it, and now it had come back around to bite her. There would be recriminations – from Calci and by extension Sulfa, probably – and her true roots would cast her into Claw's shadow in the Twisted Corridor pack. Maybe. Probably. She didn't know.

"That…" What was she meant to say? She couldn't very well tell him that the entire valley was wrong. That would require a very well-planned lie that she had not thought to come up with prior to now. She could feign anger, drive him away from the question with verbal aggression, but he wouldn't forget and he wasn't the only one…

Several different impulses ran through her, but in the end what came out of her was not planned at all. She was so tired of this. The secret was out, and she could see no way to bury it again. "That means as little to me as it meant to Claw and Cressa," she sighed. "Cressa was Blaze's daughter, not I, but he raised me and I consider that to mean more than blood… But others will not see it that way."

"It might have been less of a surprise if you had not claimed otherwise, back home," Stal remarked.

"I don't care. I wouldn't do it then, and I won't do it when we return." It would be a petty, irrelevant defiance, and she doubted it would make a difference, but still. "Blaze was my Sire in all but blood, and seeing as I have shed that blood since my return to the valley I do not see how it can still have a hold on me."

"I cannot say I disagree… Just that it will get out, whether or not I mention it when we return." Stal shook his head.

"I was always going to miss something… It just happened to be this." Claw was dead. Cressa was dead. She was prying away their hooks, one by one, destroying the lingering influence they held over the valley and over herself. Distressing, uncomfortable work might make for a better tomorrow, but today it dragged at her. Like her talk with Pina.

"I doubt this will cause you any real problems," Stal offered.

Maybe not, but right now it was one more weight dragging her down. She could only hope that tomorrow would be better.

O-O-O-O-O

Lily floated on a warm air current above the shore, as close to the valley as one could get while following the coast. The shore there was sandy and flat, beaten down by many, many light wing paws pounding it into submission as they ran.

"Get those wings up!" Galen shrieked, his voice carrying on the wind. He was in fine form, sprinting back and forth on the inside of a long, lopsided oval of panting light wings running about. "Lift those legs! No dragging tails! First one I see lagging behind gets twenty extra laps after everyone else has gone home! My sons could outpace you all before they cracked their shells! They rolled faster than you stumble around!"

Crystal snorted, that sound too carried on the breeze allowing them to float along above the spectacle. "He is ridiculous," she said.

"He only gets more ridiculous once you get to know him." Once she made an effort. Crystal stuck close to Lily, but she had no such attachment to the Twisted Corridor light wings, and tended to make herself scarce whenever they were around. Galen had seen her, he knew her name and they had exchanged pleasantries once or twice, but that was as far as their interactions had ever gone before Crystal found a reason to leave.

This was, of course, not a good sign, but Lily was willing to hold off on addressing it or even bringing it up until they had left the valley for good. This place… It did not bother her so much now, not on a moment to moment basis, but she firmly believed Crystal would be far too entrenched in her past sorrows to take correction well so long as they were still here. To heal, she first needed to leave. Like Lily had. Hopefully they would not be leaving behind any unresolved issues this time.

"How was your Dam?" Lily asked as she watched a fifth of the pack stumbling and kicking sand in the faces of those behind them. It was amusingly malicious of Galen to hold this mandatory exercise on the shore. Sure, the area was open and there were no trees to dodge around, and the valley light wings probably appreciated the chance to get out of the valley for a little while, but the sinking, ever-changing footholds provided by the sand would tire the unfit light wings out twice as quickly, and he had not assigned them half as many laps to make up for that.

"She was better," Crystal said quietly, her whispered words carried unerringly to Lily like every other sound from behind or below. "She apologized. Said she was scared. I forgave her."

It did not sound like Crystal had forgiven her. "Fear is no excuse. Not even if everyone is afraid. An explanation, but not an excuse."

"I told her that I admired Whirl. She told me that she did, too."

Fix what could be fixed. "She could come with us," Lily offered.

"She is being looked after," Crystal said. "Some of her friends, a mated pair and one of Claw's former mates. They keep her moving, keep her from dwelling too much. They will be good for her. I will come visit her someday. Maybe with time…"

Did it count as leaving no untended loose ends if the plan was for Crystal to return one day? Maybe. Lily wouldn't want to go with her, but Crystal was an adult light wing who could go on a journey like this one if she so pleased. Whether she would be able to find Moss out here once all was said and done… She could try, at least.

"Is Pina coming?" Crystal asked.

Lily sighed. "She would not want to live somewhere as violent as where we are going." Faced with the chance to act, to kill, Pina had found that she didn't have it in her. Lily would not take her to a pack actively at war, when the alternative was a peaceful life up here in the open air. That would be doing Pina a disservice, if she could even be convinced to go in the first place.

"I am sorry," Crystal offered.

"So am I. But they will do well. They don't have to come with us to find happiness. If that were true, I would be bringing more light wings back." Few deserved to suffer any more than they already had, so long as they tried to do better in the future.

Down below, a trio of light wings collapsed on the sand in a single, coordinated move. Whether they were exhausted and looking to gain a break by showing solidarity, or troublemakers fully aware of what was about to happen, the result was the same. Tired light wings plowed into them with no time to veer away, other light wings stumbled into them, and so the pileup grew from three to six to all of those running, save a few who had quick reflexes and enough energy to act on them.

"No, no, no!" Galen shrieked at the pile. "I see you three down there! No sneaking naps by tripping up others!"

"They are very unfit," Crystal remarked. She wasn't much better, but perhaps she didn't fully realize it yet.

"Wait until he gets his claws on us," Lily said. "It will be terrible to begin with, but his methods do work. You'll have much more energy and strength with which to run away from him after a few moon-cycles."

The majority of the valley would not have that much time, but even a little bit of conditioning would be helpful with what was coming next.

O-O-O-O-O

None of the valley light wings knew it, but Lily's plans were nearing an end. The only essential thing left, after Claw's execution and the trials, was the end of the many little expeditions into the forest. The groups she sent out on vaguely-motivated flights left one after another, scattered at different times so their departures wouldn't be too noticeable. Lily had spread out the various expeditions so that the valley was never more than a fifth empty, to avoid inciting panic. People noticed – of course they did – but between the careful arrangement of groups and the slow trickle of light wings both in and out, nothing of note happened. Any individual worries or fears that valley light wings held did not expand beyond fearful muttering or sleepless nights.

Each returning group dutifully reported to Lily, and while she heard many little stories, the gist was the same every time. They'd flown out as told, descended into featureless forest, and wandered for a bit before finding somewhere convenient with some small advantage that stuck out to them. A pond nearby, a clearing with appealing grass – whatever that meant – or just a nice set of hollows at the base of a few trees. They set to work making the place liveable, stayed there for a little bit, and then returned to the valley.

She told each and every one of them that they had done well, that they should remember how to get to that place in the days to come, and then dismissed them. None asked why she had sent them, or why she had seen fit to send every single adult light wing in the valley on at least one such flight.

They didn't know the significance of what she had done. Of what she was going to do. She expected it would be much clearer in hindsight.

A day after the last group returned, she roused the entire valley with a piercing roar at daybreak. She had taken to the plateau for the first time since the day of Claw's execution. Everyone who had come with her was there, packing the suddenly too-small stone. Galen, Emera, Agate, Shell, Andes, Calci, Stal and the rest. Crystal was not there, though she had wanted to be.

This needed to be a clean break. Solid dividing lines. Others had roles to play, but they were not to be seen doing so.

Light wings swiftly gathered, a small sea of worried faces and unsettled grumbles. No one came from Claw's cavern; she had never let anyone back inside once the prisoners were given trials, and Stal himself had pronounced it empty only moments ago. That was where Crystal was. Guarding the entrance. Not to stop light wings from getting out, as there were none inside.

Rather, Crystal was there to keep anyone from sneaking in.

"Everyone must hear this," Lily proclaimed to the crowd. "Listen well. You will not have a second chance to understand, and I will not take questions. Is that understood?"

A few light wings barked an affirmation, but the majority were fearfully silent. Even more so than usual, as some of their loudest voices were missing from the crowd.

"What is this?" One loud voice remained. Diora stepped on a nearby male's back to raise herself up a little higher as she indignantly addressed Lily. "We do not answer to you."

"Not after today," Lily said, her voice sharp with bridled threat, a low growl underpinning every stark syllable. "Listen. Your life depends on it. Time grows short."

"But–"

"Very, very short," Lily promised.

Diora stood down.

"This valley hosted a parasite for many season-cycles," Lily said gravely, addressing the crowd. "You obeyed it, and it grew fat on your blood. You looked away as it fed, you lied to yourselves, you avoided the truth. When you saw the truth, you did not act. The parasite has been torn off and burned, but you did not remove it yourselves. Others, many who could have been standing among you now, suffered for your failings."

She hoped that her every word was like a rock falling on them, heavy and unmistakably devastating.

"This pack has no name, but it could be called the valley pack," she continued. "This valley has seen more atrocities than any patch of ground anywhere along the shore as far as a light wing can fly in a lifetime." She hoped so. If that were not true, if somewhere was worse, she never wanted to learn of such a place. "This place is tainted, as the position of alpha has been by his actions. If any of you are to escape its sickness, you must all leave. Today."

Lily reared back and fired a quick bolt into the air, where it detonated high above them all. She continued with her speech, now more of a fiery rant, without more than a moment's pause. Every eye in the valley was fixed on her, every ear turned her way, and she took full advantage. "Half the valley holds the murdered and the abused, a pawful of bones around every corner, under every ledge! Claw murdered in his caves, he assaulted you on your rocks, on the ledges, by the pond, anywhere he could get you alone! You averted your eyes where you now stand, you suffered in silence where you sleep, you watched others suffer anywhere I could name within a day's flight of this place, at some point over the season-cycles!"

How many of them knew exactly what she meant? How many were barely following at all? It really, truly, did not matter. This was coming whether or not they agreed. She was leaving them no choice in the matter.

She had fixed all that could be fixed, and now she was going to burn the rest.

"Some wounds need to be burned to close them. This valley is an open sore, and I will not suffer any of you to remain here. Each and every one of you knows of at least one safe place you can go, far from here, but in truth I do not care where you go." She inhaled, deeply. "So long as you do not stay here."

A rumble began to grow in the mountains, and a single light wing flew overhead, fleeing the sound. Crystal was out. Lily took to the air too, flapping hard to gain some height without flying away from the disturbed crowd. She looked down at them as she continued her rant, watching their growing fear.

"You stayed here because it was all you knew," she called out. "It is not all you know now. You stayed because the caves made the cold-seasons easy."

The unsettling, deep sound of rock breaking against rock was growing louder, coming from the mountainside above Claw's cavern. Boulders were beginning to tumble down, and even as she looked a truly horrendous scraping noise heralded a much larger chunk of the mountainside itself ponderously breaking loose from the mountain.

Light wings screeched in fear. A few took to the air then and there, fleeing the catastrophic landslide tumbling down the mountain, though they were far enough away that it would not reach them.

"This place is poison, and I am burning it out!" She had to roar to be heard over the panic and the rumble of the landslide, now joined by another, smaller slide elsewhere on the mountainside, though smaller was a relative term. Rocks crashed against each other and the ground as scores of boulders of varying sizes smashed down squarely over the entrance to Claw's cavern system and the surrounding mountainside. Elsewhere, huge stones splashed into the pond, sending up plumes of water into the air.

"Go where you will, spread or split or gather as you will, but this valley will never again host light wings!" she cried out. "There will be no shelter here," as the stone around the entrance to the cave system shattered and broke, "there will be no pond brimming with fresh water here," though the landslide in that part of the valley would need to do a lot more work than it actually had in filling up the pond, "and there will be no light wings. Not if they wish to live." Through the harsh cold-season without a convenient cave shelter… Or through some theoretical retribution she might bring upon anyone she found here in the future. Those who were still listening definitely heard the threat inherent in her declaration.

"Go! Now!" She took great care to fire well above the crowd, to the point where anyone watching would have seen immediately that she wasn't aiming for any of them, but panicking was not conducive to intelligent observation. In moments, no one was on the ground. There were other things she had planned in case some insisted on staying, but those efforts wouldn't be needed. She sent another brilliant bolt of explosive fire at the rocky scree that covered Claw's cave, for no reason except that she could and she felt like it.

Destroy their shelter. Destroy their source of fresh water. Destroy the waste pit, though that was actually an accident, a few boulders bouncing far from their intended target. Destroy their sense of safety with a threat to their lives. Just like her light wings had triggered somewhat controlled landslides, if one cut away all the supports but left a path of least resistance, the fall could be precipitated and guided. But it would only really work if there was already weakness there to exploit.

"That is that," Emera grumbled from behind Lily. "They will come back anyway, you know that?"

"Once they have had enough time to convince themselves that it is safe," Galen agreed.

"They might return, but without the caves the cold-season will drive them to seek other shelters." That was the biggest deterrent. Crystal had barely made it through the cold-season in Pyre's cave, and none of those who had fled even knew about that option. No more than ten light wings could possibly fit in there if they packed as tightly as Twisted Corridor light wings would be willing to go, and there were many more than that in the valley pack.

There had been many more than that in the valley. Now, as light wings flew in all directions, ascending to cross over the mountains, the valley itself was quiet and empty. The landslides were over, and nothing moved among the sloping, treacherous mounds of rocky scree that covered a good part of the mountain around where Claw's cave was buried.

This was always her plan, though she didn't fully know it until that evening of planning before killing Claw. The valley held too many bad memories, for her and for everyone else who lived there. So long as light wings remained, they would fall back into the same habits. They had to be driven out, split up, and not allowed to return.

She had done as Sola told her, fulfilling the spirit of her friend's instructions. Fix what could be fixed, and burn the rest. Those words were her mantra throughout this entire journey, and never had they felt more appropriate than now… But there was more to what Sola had told her to do, one more step to take.

She looked out over the empty, forever disfigured valley. The only thing left was to accept all that had happened, and to accept that it was over with. This was the place she'd hatched, the place she grew up, met Pyre, learned from him, played with Granite and Crystal, made mistakes and eventually was corralled into a nightmare. This was where her brother died. Where her Sire died. Where Claw and Cressa were executed. Countless light wings had been put to rest here, too many. Everything she feared, everything she hated… It did not all come from here. But all of the things that gnawed at her insides when she could not stop herself from pondering, in the dark of night? Those all lived here, in this valley.

No longer. No more than the valley pack could live here. They too would be dispersed, fading from view Her problems might remain, individual quirks and fears, but they were no longer bound together under a single name, a single place. That was in the past, just as the valley pack was the past. Most of the individuals remained, but the worst had been slain and the rest scattered to the winds.

What would become of those remnants? Hopefully something better. Only time would tell. For her own issues, she would eventually know. For the light wings themselves…

"I will never return to this place," Lily said softly.

"Never say never," Stal murmured.

"Never." She thought it the last time she left, but now she knew it, deep down. There was nothing left here, and her wings would never carry her back over this valley. This part of her life was finally over. She had something better to return to now.

O-O-O-O-O

Fat, puffy white clouds followed along behind Lily and the others as they journeyed down the coast, white mountains of mist high above or occasionally below, depending on how high Lily chose to fly. The hot-season had come around, nipping at their tails with every passing night, but it was a dry heat that brought no rain as of yet. Far below, fish swam in plentiful shoals in the ocean, with the occasional larger creature breaching the waves well away from the shore. Birds sang, though they were extremely wary of uncamouflaged light wings and fled long before anyone could get a close look without exerting far more effort than necessary in the midst of a day-long flight.

Lily felt light, in every sense of the word. Light, like the warm air was lifting her wings. Like she had grown accustomed to long flights and no longer lacked the strength to carry herself from sunrise to sunset. Like she was glowing, the sun bright on her scales. Like she no longer carried a weight, a piece of herself absent. Excised, perhaps, or used up. It was not an altogether positive medley of feelings, but it was good on the whole.

Crystal, always nearby, must have felt some of the same lightness. She flew with a restrained joy even now, days after the initial rush of traveling had worn off for everyone. She had lost much, but she had escaped. She was free. Lily was taking her somewhere better.

Lily hoped that the Twisted Corridor pack was everything Crystal expected, that it did not disappoint her in the slightest. It was not perfect, but compared to where they had come from it very well could exceed Crystal's every hope. A grounded light wing could not know how high it was possible to fly.

Crystal wasn't the only light wing from the valley that had been asked, and agreed in turn, to come join the Twisted Corridor pack. There were not many of them, six in total counting Crystal, but six was a larger number than Lily would have predicted before returning to the valley. It was certainly a larger number than she expected when she asked all of the Twisted Corridor light wings if they knew any valley light wings they would want to take with them.

Choosing someone to come join the Twisted Corridor pack was a tricky thing. They needed to be a good person with the courage to stand up for what they believed was right – already a rare quality among the valley light wings – who had no strong connections to other unsuitable valley light wings. They also had to be willing to come, which was where Pina and Moss had fallen short. Not everyone would jump at the chance to join a pack that lived under the ground and was constantly at war with another pack over space.

Lily made a point of speaking at least once per night to each and every one of the valley light wings. Crystal, of course, received a lot more of her attention than that, but she wanted to make everyone feel welcome as a bare minimum. She was still in charge on this long flight back, and that meant it was her responsibility to think of these things.

On this particular night she started with Mist. A young female on the cusp of adulthood, Mist was always willing to raise her voice to speak her opinion so long as the consequences for doing so did not include death or worse. As soon as she understood that Lily would not be killing anyone who spoke out of turn, she began to distinguish herself as opinionated and more moral than most. She asked enough questions of the light wings guarding the prisoners that she was in turn asked to participate in one of the trials, eventually speaking in front of the entire valley against Cressa.

"How are your wings holding up?" Lily asked as she drifted down to fly next to Mist.

"I am still in the sky, and that is all I can ask," Mist groaned. "They ache less as of late, but they still ache."

"You are not alone in your discomfort, at least," Lily assured her. "I still grow weary before Stal or Galen, sometimes." Often. Most of the time, in fact. They were not flying hard tonight, so Lily would only be a little sore by the time the sun rose, but if she pushed herself and they did the same they would still be flying by the time she collapsed. Season-cycles of strengthening beat moon-cycles of catchup.

"I will be happier when we get there. Travel does not suit me." Mist twitched her tail, bobbing up and down in the air as she flew. "It is lonely out here." She meant the empty wilderness around them, in comparison to a bustling pack, but there was a second, deeper interpretation.

Mist was not close with her parents and had no real friends among the light wings her age. Danda, Liona, and Root would have been in that group. She got along well with Agate, treated Shell with a bemused sort of tolerance, and ignored the other valley light wings who had come along. Whatever she was looking for in a friend, none of those flying with her now had it.

There were many young light wings in the Twisted Corridor pack, and she was sure to find peers there. That knowledge was a big part of why she had agreed to come in the first place. "Every night of sore wings is less soreness you will have to tolerate in the future", Lily said as she pulled away, moving within the spread-out flying formation to catch up with another young light wing.

Cedar was in Mist's age group, but the two were not friends, or even friendly. They might have been closer, once. Lily didn't know them from before, and she wasn't going to pry now, lest her digging unearth a conflict buried in a shallow grave. They were cold toward each other, but that was as far as their animosity went.

"How has your night been?" she asked Cedar as she flew up to him.

"Okay," Cedar said simply. "Could be worse, could be better. The wind is nice, it is going the same way we are. I think I am finally used to sleeping during the day. How about you?"

"Much the same," Lily said agreeably. "Let me know if you fly into any problems." Cedar himself was not remarkable in any way, and he had not done anything to prove his courage or moral fortitude, but neither had he done anything at all to support Claw or his travesties. Fledglings were as innocent as valley light wings could be. Cedar's youth and his generally calm nature meant Lily was not averse to him being invited along. He was about the right age to start flying his own path.

Mist and Cedar were still fledglings, and as such had to do little to prove that they would not be bringing the valley's rotted thinking along with them, but the other three former valley light wings were much older. Adults who had lived under Claw for longer, and stomached more of his atrocities over the season-cycles. Lily was less certain that the remaining three were good fits for the Twisted Corridor pack, but she trusted the judgment of those who actually knew them among the Twisted Corridor light wings.

The next light wing Lily intended to talk to was up at the front of the flock. Dew, who was deep in a quiet conversation with Stal at the moment, was one of Claw's former mates. This was not inherently a strike against her. Lily wasn't entirely privy to Dew's history, that was a privilege reserved for Emera, who had hit it off with her while interviewing Claw's former mates for the trials, but she knew enough to know that there was more to it than simple acceptance of the default choice of mates. Dew was quiet, with a reserved air to her that made her seem unapproachable.

The hatchling on her back was also quiet. Lily did not count him as one of the valley light wings. If Cedar and Mist were mostly innocent, then that little one was wholly so. She could not fault his parentage, either. Neither he nor Dew had a choice in the matter, no more than Lily herself had.

Short of interrupting a conversation Lily couldn't speak to Dew, so she would save that for later. Instead she angled herself up. The final two valley light wings flew above and behind Dew, and both spent more of their time looking at her hatchling than at the horizon.

Clay was another odd case, him and his mate together. Lily did know them, mainly by association. They were Gold's parents, and though she hadn't seen it for herself she was assured that they did real work in turning sentiment against Claw throughout the valley pack, after her takeover. Theirs were the arguments of a thoroughly embittered pair who were certain Claw had secretly murdered their son, though not even Cressa could confirm or deny the truth of that.

They were a somber pair, and while Lily flew up alongside them, she did not speak. Not at first. Clay addressed her, instead. "This Twisted Corridor pack. What stops the alpha from changing the customs to suit him?"

"His advisors, public sentiment, and the customs themselves in some places." Every night, without fail, he had a question for her.

"Hmm." Clay grumbled.

"I hope you are having a good night," Lily offered.

"Not really," Clay's mate responded.

"Then I hope it improves." She considered that a good interaction, and retreated while she was ahead.

Lily felt no belated fondness for Gold. His parents did not start agitating in his name until after Claw was dead. They were not particularly brave or moral. In fact, they were standoffish and occasionally rude for no reason. And yet, Stal himself had recommended they be invited to come along. "They will be bitter for the rest of their lives if left here," he had said when defending his suggestion. "They might not be so bitter elsewhere."

Lily had her doubts about the pair. They were the most likely to cause problems, to not fit in or resent their new pack when they arrived. But they hated Claw, so they were not likely to be trouble in the same way that someone like Diora certainly would. Lily wanted Claw and all the valley's twisted customs to stay dead. Clay and his mate also wanted this. Their attitudes and unhappiness were not disqualifiers.

Her rounds done for now, Lily returned to Crystal. "I wonder if Shell would appreciate some company up there," she said aloud as she noticed Crystal craning her neck to look up at the highest light wing in the flight.

"Probably not," Crystal demurred.

"I do not think he minds who flies with him, so long as he can fly to begin with," Lily told her.

"It will be cold up there, and I would rather be warm right now." Crystal shrugged her wing shoulders and fell in beside Lily.

O-O-O-O-O

For all that Lily was thoroughly satisfied with how she had handled the valley and its occupants, she knew there were downsides to her choices. Chief among them, in that it was the only downside of real relevance, was that Quartz would not be happy with her. She could already guess at his first round of complaints. Mist and Cedar were no different from the barely-adult light wings he already had access to, Dew would not be willing to fight for season-cycles, and while Clay and his mate might join the fight they were unfit and untrained. He had given her and a pawful of his more trusted light wings up for a long time, in exchange for almost nothing. Less than nothing if any of her new light wings caused problems within the pack.

Quartz's concerns were still far away, though coming nearer with every flight. Lily had plenty of time to think as she flew. Everyone did. Days, nights, storms and still skies, the heat of the hot-season baking them whether they flew under the sun or slept while it shone… The journey back was a restless return, for a number of reasons.

Some just wanted to be home already. Stal's fighting light wings all fit into this category. They'd done what they'd been sent to do, and now the only thing between them and the comforts of home was an extremely large distance that could definitely be covered quicker if they weren't stuck matching the pace of a group of indolent valley light wings who could not fly nearly as fast, or for nearly as long, as they could.

The valley light wings, as a group, were both impatient and nervous. Their lives had been upended twice over; first with the death of Claw, and then by their own choice to join the Twisted Corridor pack deep beneath the ground under foreign shores. They would be meeting other light wings, acclimating to new and strange customs… or old forgotten customs, as was actually the case. They wouldn't be coming in as totally tide-swept shores, either. Everyone would know that they had first lived under Claw, and only broken from him when he was dead.

In a way, the valley light wings would have it harder than Lily herself had upon first arriving. They would be known, and what was known would not be positive.

Lily herself was not particularly worried. She had a place there, one that she liked on the whole. Friends, family, a place in the pack that kept her close to the things that would otherwise worry her. Enough control that she would not feel helpless. One extremely grumpy older light wing who believed in her.

Her biggest concern was how she would be seen by the rest of the pack once her story was confirmed, upon their return, and that was a long-term problem best dealt with by not caring about it. Sympathy, speculation, mockery… any such reaction would fade with time and a lack of response from her. That would be an annoyance, not a real problem. The real problems were much bigger and beyond her immediate reach, such as the war.

Though she did have plenty of time to put toward thinking about that particular situation, and how it might be changed…

It was still early in the night when the landscape below changed. The endless coastline continued along a set of untidy cliffs, but inland the forest shifted from huge, bedecked trees to spindly ashen spires covered in creeping vines. What had been burnt down was now teeming with new plants and new life. Lily had seen this changing landscape on the way out to the valley, and immediately dismissed it from her mind as unimportant. But on her first journey, this was where she had encountered an entirely invisible stranger. One that was kind to her, and had mentioned living somewhere near this place. An acid-spitter, though she knew this from his perfect camouflage, not because he had ever spit any acid in front of her.

"We should stop here for the night," she announced. "Or, not here precisely, a little further along." She had an idea, spurious and unlikely to bear fruit as it was, and there was little danger in seeing it through. Also, Mist and probably all the other valley light wings would appreciate a rest night.

"We could fly much further tonight," Stal said neutrally, giving voice to the understated confusion everyone else was probably feeling. "Why stop now?"

"A distant hope worth chasing but not worth wasting more than a night over," Lily said. "Andes, Crystal, would you both come with me? Everyone else, fly on, beyond this part of the forest, and rest for the night on the shoreline." She would be able to find them there, once she was done here. A larger group would be little help with what she had in mind.

Stal shrugged his wings and dipped closer to the ground. "You are in charge." For now, that was, though he probably hadn't meant anything by the acknowledgement. He did not chafe under her command, not so long as she was giving competent orders. The fighting light wings followed his lead, the valley light wings followed them, and Shell was flying so high above the rest of them that he probably wouldn't notice three of their number had split off.

"What is this about?" Andes asked as he flew over to Lily and Crystal. "I will be a poor defense and an even poorer distraction if we get into trouble."

Andes was not unfit, not by Twisted Corridor pack standards, but Lily would definitely be the one protecting both him and Crystal if this went badly. "We are not going to fight anyone. I would not have asked you to come with me if I thought you would be willing to fight at all. This is something much more closely suited to your position as Obsidian's eventual successor." She considered that for a moment, as they spiraled down toward the sparsest, ashiest part of the formerly burnt-out forest. "If this goes well it will give you leverage over him, so long as you are wily enough to keep it."

"What are we doing?" Crystal asked.

"When I was last here, I met someone unlike us," Lily began as she touched down. The ground was springy, and even here in the ashiest spot legions of ferns and other hardy plants were beginning to reclaim the land. "They were very helpful, and guided me toward the Guardian's island where I otherwise would have missed it. I am hoping they live somewhere close by." Why else would they be wandering a desolate part of the forest like he was when she met him? There was nothing here.

"You want to thank them," Crystal surmised.

"Yes, at that, but I also want to speak to them for other reasons. Andes will, too," Lily added. "A friendly acid-spitter is a rarity, and they said they came from beneath the ground. That means they had to be one of those who had to secure passage through Noxious Fumes territory, and that means–"

"We can learn about the acid-spitters beyond the Noxious Fumes pack, and gain a better understanding of why and how they pass through our territory!" Andes kicked up a bit of sodden ash in his excitement, pawing hard at the ground. "Obsidian has never made contact with them. None of our pack have, they are too elusive and we have no way to go to them."

Lily would not call her encounter with the invisible acid-spitter deep below the ground contact, seeing as she had tried hard to give the impression she never knew anyone there, so Andes was entirely correct. She wasn't of their pack when she met the one above the ground. "I do not know how much they can or will tell us, if we even come across them, which is itself a very distant possibility," she warned.

"But this is most certainly worth a night's delay," Andes said enthusiastically. "We should search around here."

A faint breeze stirred around them, rustling through the plants and utterly failing to shift the ashy soil. After so long on the ground, in the rain and snow, it was not really ash anymore. Only the retention of its mostly-gray coloration distinguished it from very fine dirt, wet and suitable for plants to grow in if they could take root. Lily lifted her paw and held it out to the side to look at where she had been standing, firmly planted in the ash.

No pawprint remained. If the acid-spitter was camouflaged, he would not give himself away so easily as that.

"I can help look for this acid-spitter," Crystal volunteered. "What if they attack us?"

"Flee." Lily would not repay past kindness with violence, even if he started it. "They have more complete camouflage than we do, but their eyesight is no better than ours. Take to the air, camouflage, and go find the others."

With that, they split up, though the sparse, low cover of the burnt-out forest meant that they never lost sight of each other, even as they wandered in different directions. Lily honestly didn't think they would find any sign of the acid-spitter, not in a single night. If she had thought that a real possibility, she would have brought everyone to increase their chances. Still, she looked on the off chance that lightning would strike, and more pertinently she did hope that the acid-spitter might see them by chance, like they must have seen her not that long ago. If not… No real loss. Only time, and they had plenty of that.

Even if they did not find the acid-spitter tonight, she was not out of ideas. Where they were now was not far from the island, so she could always try asking the Guardian where she might find the acid-spitter. She could have done so on the way up to the surface, if she had thought to at the time.

She reached the edge of the burnt forest, coming to the side of the stark cliff that she remembered following on her original journey. Down below, water crashed against sharp rocks. To one side, the ocean. To the other, the burnt forest. Ahead and behind, endless coast.

She had been searching for a time, long enough that her paws were caked with mud, when she sensed – though she could not have said which of her senses was responsible – that she was not alone. Crystal and Andes were both pawing through the bushes further inland, absorbed in their own thoughts as they searched for small signs, but she could feel eyes on her nonetheless.

"I have come to thank you," she said aloud.

"Not to thank me." Lily jolted at the sound of an unfamiliar, decidedly feminine voice. "Though you should."

She knew, turning just enough to look behind herself, that she could see no one within earshot. "Your kin who lives somewhere nearby, I meant," she said carefully, her ears perked up to better divine where they might be from the sound of their voice. "I know what they did that I should thank them for. What do I owe you thanks for?"

"Not killing you when I had the chance, ten times over." Her voice was high and reedy, and Lily thought it might be coming from down the cliff's edge, toward where in the distance the other light wings would have set down for the night. "Your kind has fought mine."

"I have not fought your kind, and I sent away all of those who might have in the past." Andes was a safe bet, and Crystal was a sure thing. "This isn't about fighting anything or anyone."

"Not even the Noxious Fumes pack?" There were no tracks in the gritty wind-blasted dirt of the cliff's edge, not anywhere near where the voice was coming from. They must be standing still.

"Not really, no," Lily said, though that would be a lie if the conversation she hoped to have trended that way. She wouldn't pass up useful information on her enemies. "I want to learn more about your kind, and it is remarkably hard to speak to someone who can and will pass right in front of me without ever giving away that they were there." Those words sparked an idea, a connection that may well be nonexistent, but was coincidental enough that she had to pursue it. "Were you the one, at that pool of water?"

"How–" Grit skittered across the ground as invisible, narrow talons stalked forward. "I do not know what you are talking about."

"I appreciate you not killing me, for what it is worth," Lily said lightly. "Though I do not know why you would to begin with. That is part of what I wanted to ask the acid-spitter I knew. Last time we met, we spoke but I was not in a state of mind to ask questions, or to know what questions were worth asking. Do you know where I can find them?"

A red, lanky and tendril-bedecked head slipped out of thin air, followed quickly by a long, red body of like arrangement. This acid-spitter was small, perhaps two thirds of the size of the one Lily knew, and had to look up to meet Lily's gaze. "There is only one acid-spitter you could have met here in times past. His name is Mir, and I have been visiting him. I will not take you to him, but I will tell him you are here. Does your female companion have a name?"

"Yes, Crystal." Lily waved her wing vaguely in the direction fo the burnt-out forest. "The other is Andes, and I am Lily."

"I know you and Andes," the acid-spitter claimed, her too-narrow features scrunching in a way that Lily might have considered a sign of annoyance on a light wing.

"You do?" Lily asked.

The acid-spitter shrugged her crimson-red wings. "You all talk too much and see too little in your caves. I spent some time stalking your fishing cavern and other parts of your protected territory, and my memory is excellent."

Oh. A shiver worked its way down Lily's spine. "Is that so?"

"Yes. If Mir will speak to you, I might tell you more. If he will not, you will not see either of us this night. I do not consider light wings to be friends like he might, but I will defer to him." The acid-spitter crouched low to the ground. "I am Shim." Her body slipped out of existence in a wave of leached color, translucency in turn fading to empty air.

Yes, this conversation had to happen. Especially after that revelation. The future of the Twisted Corridor pack might rest on what Mir and Shim could tell her.

A future without an endless stalemate. Without an endless war.

O-O-O-O-O

Rose and Sola had both changed in the time that Lily was away, but their changes were not bad ones. As they and Lily's entourage stood at the bottom of the central cavern, watched from above by a good portion of the pack, Lily tried to focus on the moment but kept getting distracted by the little details.

"We do not have much space," Rose told the valley light wings as he gestured with his wings to the rest of the central cavern, "but we are not as cramped as we might have been so we are sure to be able to fit you in." He looked happier, even with a healing half-oval patch of partially bare skin where Lily had ripped a chunk of flesh off of him. His eyes darted back and forth as he spoke to the six – or seven, if one counted the hatchling – valley light wings Lily had brought with her. "So long as you learn our customs and behave, there will be a place for you here."

It was a very gracious acceptance of something he didn't know was coming until they landed in his territory. Lily sent Stal ahead to deliver his report, but she didn't dare linger on the outskirts of protected territory for too long, so he didn't have much of a head start. As far as Lily knew, there was still a war going on. None of Rose's advisors had arrived yet. The gawking crowds of light wings were just the ones who happened to be in the vertical cavern when she and her group arrived.

"I am Crystal." Crystal spoke first, perhaps because she was the least intimidated by a foreign alpha in a foreign pack. "I will fly by your rules so long as they, and you, are fair and kind."

"So be it," Rose agreed. "And the rest of your names?"

Sola had been standing beside Rose, but as he began walking down the ragged line of light wings she broke from his side to come over to Lily. "Did it go well?" she asked.

"Yes," Lily said, and then her confusion could wait no longer. "How have you gotten taller since I left?" she asked.

"Ha!" Sola chuffed. "It is an illusion, I am only standing on the front of my paws. Rose taught me, it is an old alpha's trick to seem more authoritative."

That sounded – and looked, as Lily glanced down to confirm what Sola had said – very uncomfortable. But for short periods of time? "I promise not to tell anyone as long as you teach me."

"Deal." Sola came up to her and Lily obligingly pressed her forehead against hers. "Stal told us everything and nothing. You killed Claw and found your best friend and destroyed their valley and none of that means a thing coming from him."

It would take a cycle to truly talk about everything that had happened, and Rose was already reaching Dew at the end of the line. "Later. I fixed what I could, and I burned the rest. This trip was good for me." As Sola had known it would be. Her, and one other.

The Guardian did not say much to Lily on her way back down into the underground, but at that, not much needed to be said. "Well done", could not be construed as any further cryptic instruction. Only that Lily had finally, by chance more than design, figured out what the Guardian had hinted at since their first encounter. She was still thankful Sola had said what she should do in plain, unambiguous terms.

"I am glad you were able to change things up above. The trial will not be a problem, seeing as you told the truth." Sola looked past Lily, at the Twisted Corridor light wings standing in wait. "You do not need to stand there, you have families to see and a long trip to recover from."

"The alpha–" one of the fighting light wings objected.

"Sola speaks for me," Rose called out.

"And I say you did well, thank you, go rest and relax," Sola concluded.

"You are still welcome in our cavern, Lily," Emera called out as she and the others took to the sky.

"And there you will have to stay until we figure out where all of the light wings you've brought with you will be sleeping," Sola agreed. "The war has left us with openings, but not so many that we can be lazy about thinking things through."

"How is that going?" This was all well and good, but there was one more thing Lily needed to do before she could get off her paws and rest. "Stal went to Quartz after Rose."

"Nothing big has changed," Sola growled. "Though we lost a few more light wings, and Quartz and Sulfa would be at each others' throats if I was not there to make them sit down and shut up. It really is becoming apparent how much you were helping Quartz manage the war. I do not like him, but he definitely needs you."

"He needs me right now, actually," Lily said seriously. "There are things I found out above the ground that he has to hear about." As to where those things would lead, well… She had some ideas.

"Lily." Rose had come up beside her while she was distracted, but even though his voice being so close was a surprise, Lily only jumped a little. "How are you?"

"How are you?" Lily retorted, turning to look at him. "Your wound looks better." Though not healed, not fully, and that was rather alarming given how long it had been since she gave it to him.

"The healers assure me it will be well in time, but they never do say exactly how much time I should expect it to take," Rose admitted. "It does not pain me. I asked about you. You are here, and Stal reported – horrible things." He grimaced sympathetically. "Things that you set to rights by taking control of the entire expedition," he continued.

Under his nose. As per Quartz's secret plans. "Yes, alpha," Lily said, bowing her head. "And I know my trial is not over, however long it has been. I did what I thought needed to be done out there." Down here, he was in charge. She might have her plans, she might plot and scheme, but Rose was the alpha and she didn't want to change that.

"It sounds like you did well." Rose sighed. "I really, really do not have it in me to wait for the trial, though we will still finish it with all haste. Welcome back, Lily. Please do not maul me again in the future."

"Thank you. For everything." She unsheathed her teeth and claws, just as Stal and the other fighting light wings had done when they reached the valley, and bowed her head. "You are my alpha, and I will fight for my home." Her point made, she withdrew her claws and teeth, lest someone get the wrong idea. "Now that you know I speak truthfully… I am deeply sorry for harming you."

"I did not ask for that," Rose rumbled.

"No, but you deserve it." He was not Claw. Did she believe that now, deep down? Only time would tell. She certainly did not feel nervous around him anymore. That could only be a good sign.

O-O-O-O-O

When Rose said that they would finish her trial with all due haste, he meant it. Lily stood on the floor of the vertical cavern, hundreds of eyes fixed on her, before that same cycle's end. Not much before, truth be told, it took time to gather the light wings involved in her judgment, but she was still impressed.

Impressed, and nervous. Especially as Stal gave his report to the entire cavern. Rose, his advisors, the light wings who sat in judgment, and most of the rest of the pack… They all heard what she did, what she suffered.

Calci could have spoken too, to throw a harsher light on Lily's actions. In fact, Lily had expected her to. But she went to Sulfa first, and even from the bottom of the vertical cavern Lily could see Sulfa leaning to the side to hear Calci's hissed report, and as such she also saw Sulfa snarl and whip her tail in an angry dismissal. When Stal finished, Sulfa did not call Calci up to refute his version of events.

Aside from her own anxiety, Lily was surprised to find she felt some pity for Calci. Sent all that way, in opposition to the rest of the group for most of the journey, and for what? An angry dismissal, the entire point of her presence reduced to an unwanted confirmation of truth that would not be used in any way.

But then Stal was done speaking, and Lily could only think about her own predicament as one of the light wings who sat in judgment immediately stepped forward. "Alpha, we have long since decided what our verdict would be in the case of truth."

"Have you also considered what happened along the way?" Rose asked.

"We," the speaker hesitated, looking to either side for support from the others and finding it, "have, yes. We do not consider it relevant. The truth was sought out, and the truth was found. The method of the finding and what happened after do not matter to this trial. Lily acted out of misplaced but well-supported fear. She did not lie. That is enough to make a sound decision."

"And?" Rose prompted.

"We recommend she be placed on guard duty outside your chambers for no fewer than thirty cycles, to do her part in ensuring you recover in safety," the light wing declared. "In addition to your usual guards, not replacing them."

"I object!" Quartz barked down. "Thirty cycles, yes, but make it every other cycle. I need her."

"Every other cycle for a total of thirty cycles of guarding, then," was the terse reply. "We also recommend, but do not require, that you injure her in kind if you feel it fair."

Rose shook his head. Immediately, without even thinking about what he had been offered. "No. I will not." Not that it was not fair, which it might be, or that it was without precedent. Simply that he would not do it.

"Then that is all we suggest," the light wing concluded. It was impossible to tell whether Rose's refusal was expected, a disappointment, or a pleasant surprise to them. To the Twisted Corridor pack as a whole. The distant murmurs Lily heard were all ambiguously mixed, with no dominant sentiment. No one cheered, and no one hissed.

Lily herself felt nothing but relief, on both fronts. Her punishment was light, and her pack did not think that it was too light. She could have suffered through a retaliatory injury, or a more severe punishment than doing a task some light wings did every day. She did not want to suffer through the pack as a whole thinking she had escaped proper judgment.

This was her home, after all. Her friends, new and old, lived here now. Her remaining family lived here. This was where she had fled seeking refuge, and refuge she was given. The customs here were acceptable, admirable despite being imperfect. She had fought for her life here, killed here, learned and grown here. Like Shell, she doubted she would be content to never fly the open sky again, but she did not intend to leave forever.

She would not run from this. There was nothing to run from. Only a life to live.