Confusion
Shadowwing watched from his special perch among the audience where he could oversee the contests in the main arena. The first ever Hidden World Dragon Games were well underway, at least for the main human contests since the dragon-specific events would begin later. Thus far, the archery, log-lifting, boulder-carrying, and races were finished, leaving only the two most important of all: the wrestling matches and the wife- and husband-carrying contests.
Seated on stone seats ringing the arena below, the crowd murmured among themselves and pointed at the competitors locked in battle. The two men struggled, throwing punches and aiming kicks while circling each other. They bore nothing except their trousers and cloth wrapped around their fists to slightly cushion blows. Hookfang perched above on the edge of the Great Hall, watching the battle with interest as Thorvald, his friend and rider, was one of the participants.
"Come on, knock him out!" "I got ten coin on you!" "Take him down, hun!"
Thorvald swung wildly, missing his strike but forcing his opponent to dodge.
While the bout continued, Gobber lumbered up beside him and knocked him on the shoulder, "Think he's gotta chance?"
"Perrhapss. Lout winnnninng would be sspecial."
"Never thought he'd have a real chance of becomin' the champion. Guess he's been practicin' a lot. Family honor and the such."
"What happenned with yourr fight?"
Gobber waved his stump, "Technical problem. Havin' yer fist fall off midfight doesn' help. If only I had an apprentice who could make reliable equipment."
"Who iss the ssmith againn?"
"Eh, I'm not as young as I was. Gustav is fine, but he doesn' have the special skill someone else had."
"Therre'ss nnot much I cann do otherr thann lennd firre orr-"
The crowd roared as Thorvald landed a blow to the temple and knocked out his opponent who fell spread-eagle. Thorvald raised his arms, flexed his muscles, and pointed at Ruff and their children, all of whom were cheering. Even Hookfang roared above in triumph.
"That's right! Who's the best! Strong as an ox! Unbeaten since- now! For my lady's honor I will bring glory to the family and-"
Shadowwing huffed and shook his head, amused that Thorvald, despite everything else he had done and learned from, still had some of his youthful brashness, albeit more properly channeled and tempered.
"Good forr him. Therre sshould be thrree morre rrounndss to crrownn the championn."
Gobber stroked his mustache, "Wonderful. Are ya sure none of you Furies will take part in the dragon contests?"
"It wouldnn't be fairr to the otherr drragonnss. We might do the rracess forr funn onn ourr ownn, but nnot forr anny rrewarrdss."
"Fair enough. Well, since I'm out, I'm gonna go help prepare the feast. Got several barrels of berry wine and even one o' the last barrels o' mead. Want some?"
He gently shoved Gobber's shoulder, "You knnow happennss to me."
"So, I should give Luna some too so ya both can go off together and-"
"Gobberrrr!"
"Fine. Fine. See ya later."
Gobber hopped down from the ledge and departed to the clearing where the feast was being prepared. Massive bowls of soup, racks of fish and meats, and tables were already prepared, though several guards had to keep the scavenging Terrors away from the food. The domesticated Terrors usually behaved themselves, but the wilder ones lived up their name.
The arena began to empty for a few minutes until the next round began. Villagers traded coin, made bets, or departed.
He hopped down from his perch and was immediately approached by Valka.
"Shadowwing."
"Drragonnhearrt."
"Can we speak on our own?"
"Ssurre."
Curious what she wanted, he followed her away from everyone else until they could speak freely on the village outskirts. High above on a prominent ledge, several of the Night Furies, Light Furies, and most of his own children were gathered to watch the contests together.
"How are the fights?" she asked.
"Brrutal, like everryonne wanntss. Wherre werre you?"
"I was talking to Rain-Eater earlier, and he had a suggestion. The tribe is more self-sufficient now with a third of us on the isle above and with cattle grazing up there too, but we still can't make everything ourselves. Having new poultry every few years would help keep new blood in the flocks, and there are tools we cannot make on our own."
He grumbled, knowing what she was going to suggest but not entirely liking it. The last mission to the above hadn't worked out well, though not because of those who were tasked with going there. But she had a valid point that New Haven couldn't make everything the people needed.
"Did he ssuggesst morre missssionns to the issless orr mainnlannd?"
She nodded, "There are more trading ports we could visit. I've been to most of them before. Everything would have been fine last time if we hadn't been followed."
"Who would you go with nnext time? Onne of uss, orr Cloudjumperr?"
"He could carry back more supplies, but he's also more conspicuous than any of you. A flight of four or five Furies would be best. I wouldn't want to take him away from Pondpouncer. She probably wouldn't approve."
"Trrue. Sshe alsso wouldnn't unnderrsstannd why he wass gonne."
"We don't need to leave any time soon, but we should plan for it. Maybe we can make such a mission regularly for new supplies and news of what's happening up there. I can take others with me, maybe Alvor, Safiya, or some other friend of the Furies, so they can learn. I won't always be around to go on these missions."
"I cann assk the otherrss if annyonne would be innterressted."
Valka paused and nodded up toward another ledge where the tribe's new guest, Skadi, was barely visible overlooking all the activities on her own.
"Anything new from Skadi?" she asked.
"Nnot ssinnce sshe flew up therre to watch the gamess. Sshe doessnn't wannt to accept ourr food. Maybe sshe'ss beinng ssusspiciouss, but I cann't blame herr. Oh, sshe told uss sshe'ss frrom ann Ice-Waterr-Pack. Rrememberr annythinng parrticularr about them?"
"I remember the name, but we didn't actually meet them. We only heard about it. You should ask Aurora and Rain-Eater."
Surrounded by many of her kin, Aurora watched with interest as the sky-kin, at the moment spine-tails, below were saddled and mounted by their ground-kin. Alvor and Safiya sat on the edge of the ledge with her and Rain-Eater to watch the sky-kin contests. Moon-Dancer, Hidden-Hope, and Mist-Wings also rested nearby.
The sky-kin below shuffled in place at the starting line of a course marked by burning torches in the distance out above waterfalls, between the stalks of mushroom-trees, around light-rocks, over ledges, and back into the shared-nest. Ground-kin lined the start of the path, even standing on their home-dens throughout the nest to get a view.
"I guess Stormfly and Eret will win," Rain-Eater offered.
"Probably. Maybe Blueback, her mate, could give a close chase. This should be much more interesting than the rock-belly race," she answered.
Rain-Eater chuckled, "I doubt anything could race slower. There only being three rock-bellies also made the race not as intense."
"I thought there would be four competing. Maybe one got sick or-"
Out at the starting line, Shadowwing flamed into the sky with a shot which exploded in a bright flash. The spine-tails jumped and took off along the course while the ground-kin roared in approval.
Flies-Bravely, having arrived with Rain-Eater after the others, gently shoved her shoulder, "So the sky-kin are competing for extra food and better dens?"
"Yes. Nothing else. The ground-kin competed for honor and the satisfaction of being best. Your old pack competed for egg-making rights?" she asked.
"It did. That was probably an excuse for the Alpha's kin or favored to get that right almost every time," Flies-Bravely mused.
As though the ability to fly fast or win in wrestling fights automatically made one a good sire-father or dam-mother, which it certainly did not. More likely those contests were decided before they even began, for the reason Flies-Bravely gave.
"That would not surprise me at all."
The spine-tails eventually returned, laboring as they flew as fast as they could toward the finish line. Unsurprisingly, Stormfly and Blueback were close at the head of the flight, so close she could not tell who won after they were done. The spine-tails landed on the ground, heaving as they caught their breath, though they also nuzzled once their ground-kin got off. Ground-kin around the finish line roared and cheered at the end of the race.
While she and her kin had regularly practiced fighting and kept their claws sharp, they might have avoided exercising as much as they should have. Why exercise and get tired or sore when instead one could have a nap or relaxing swim?
"Want to race that path after the other sky-kin are done? Not for any awards or anything. Just for fun and exercise," she suggested.
Flies-Bravely nodded, "Good idea. Everyone else want to?"
Mist-Wings, Flies-Bravely, Moon-Dancer, and Hidden-Hope agreed to participate.
"Will your older brother want to join us?" Flies-Bravely asked.
Where was Dawn-Singer anyway? He said he would come here to watch the games but never showed. Oh well. His loss.
"He must be up to something else. The fire-scales are next in the races."
Weary from helping extinguish wild flames which the fire-scales lost control of in their contest, racing with her kin, and from helping to retrieve the extinguished torches once the sky-kin races were done, Aurora relaxed inside the shared-nest with Alvor and Mist-Wings. The ground-kin were having their after-contests ceremony to acknowledge the winners, bond, and eat a lot. The winning sky-kin had already been shown to the most spacious stable-dens, and most of those sky-kin were already sleeping in them. Everything important was basically done for the waking-cycle.
Alvor tapped her on the shoulder, "Hey, your brother wants your attention."
She groaned, got to her paws, and faced Dawn-Singer as he strolled toward her, "You missed everything."
"Not everything. I was busy. You all need to come with me," Dawn-Singer purred.
"Why?"
"A surprise."
"What surprise?"
"You will see if you come with me."
She huffed, "Fine. Be like that. Alvor too?"
"Sure. He can come. Up to my cave-den."
He and Mist-Wings flew off together. A wingbeat after they were gone, a possible explanation flew to mind. There was a special event which they anticipated would happen soon.
"What's going on?" Alvor asked.
"Climb onn. They might have theirr nnew hatchlinng."
He got on her bare back and held her neck as she gently flew higher and out away from the shared-nest. After a brief flight toward the wild part of the range and up above a sheltered ledge from which the shared-nest was not visible, she landed outside a cave. She let Alvor down to speak with Erevan, Rain-Eater, and Flies-Bravely outside the cave-den. A pair of tails stuck out from the cave's mouth, and voices came from within. The number of her kin who were present all but confirmed her guess the egg must have hatched.
She slipped inside the cave-den and settled beside her sire-father, Mist-Wings, and Hope-In-His-Liver. At the rear of the shallow cave, Flies-With-Sun was curled up in a straw- and leaf-nest with a normal looking Dawn Fury hatchling wrapped in her tail, shards of the egg discarded nearby. Moon-Pinner crouched close by her new nestmate-sister, staring at her without blinking.
Dawn-Singer softly rumbled, "She hatched quickly. We had no time to get anyone before she was out."
Aurora laughed, "She? You have two daughters? Perfect! What is her name?"
"Hides-In-Clouds," he answered.
"What? Why that name?" she asked, confused.
Dawn-Singer chuckled and shared a glance with Flies-With-Sun, "Because we played hide and hunt up in the clouds above and-"
"Okay, enough, yeah, I get it. Do not explain any more. Thank you for that thought-picture."
Flies-With-Sun added, "She also has cloudlike-spots on her back."
"See, you could have just said that," she huffed.
Dawn-Singer replied, "True, but we had to tease you too."
Her sire-father backed out of the cave-den, "I will tell Shadowwing. He is still busy with the ground-kin ceremony, but he will surely come up here when he can."
After he flew off, she patiently- impatiently waited her turn to approach after Alvor, Rain-Eater, and Flies-Bravely had their chance. She slowly approached, bent down, and nuzzled Flies-With-Sun's forehead, not wanting to disturb the sleeping and surely tired hatchling.
"Congratulations, both of you. I am willing to sit with her whenever if you both need a break."
Flies-With-Sun purred, "Thank you. We might just use that offer."
She faced Moon-Pinner, who still appeared completely taken by her new nestmate, "Moon-Pinner, what do you think about her?"
"I have a little nestmate-sister. This is so amazing."
She considered teasing Moon-Pinner about how her little sister would foul the cave and make a lot of noise like crying for food, but decided against it. There was no reason to ruin the warm moment.
"Yes, it is. It is not the same as being friends with Night-Light or Rock-Climber, but you will figure out being a sister."
She retreated from them, knocked into Dawn-Singer's shoulder on her way out, and left the cave-den, leaving only the warm family and Hope-In-His-Liver within.
Seeing little Hides-In-Clouds curled up in Flies-With-Sun's tail sparked to life old wants. There was a great warmth from a devoted pair growing their nest and raising their young well. Where before there had been jealousy and bitterness that her life-flight was not so easy or warm as those of her brothers, now there was more clarity.
Part of the appeal of being a dam-mother was precisely the young would naturally want their dam-mother. Being useful to them as part of their life-flight would let her flame their livers hotter and teach them far more than just how to hunt and survive. Being a dam-mother would bring warmth which could not truly be had any other way. But maybe a different but similar warmth could.
A dam-mother was wanted and important to her young, and that desire and importance would also be true with a warm life-mate. Not that just any Light Fury, Night Fury, or maybe Dawn Fury could be deserving of her. Every previous attempt to find someone had not resulted in anything; however, her prior flights to the beyond had always been for other primary reasons, such as the lengthy exploration with her kin to other ranges.
Assuming she had to go find someone who could fly his life-flight with her, there were few options of places to go. The other Night Furies at Shadow-Spark-Pack were an option, aside from them being suspicious of both Light Furies and the ground-kin. A male with either of those thought-rots would be unacceptable. The ranges of packless Light Furies could have others like Light-Hunter. Was he an option if he came back and did not win Mist-Wings's interest? Perhaps, but that would probably cause twistedness between herself and Mist-Wings, so absolutely not even if he became available.
She and a flight of her kin could go to the packless Light Furies, Shadow-Spark-Pack, and the ranges she and her kin found on the exploratory flight.
"So I said, no, Aurora is not completely-" Rain-Eater began.
"Not what? Tell me. Who was talking about me?" she demanded.
Rain-Eater chuckled, "No one was. You were not listening at all until I teased you."
"Sorry. I was- lost in thought," she mumbled.
"Obviously. Should I ask what about?"
She paused before answering, not sure she wanted to share the truth of where her thoughts had flown.
"I was considering the pack's numbers. Has anything changed since we made and agreed to that two-young rule? You would know if anyone does," she asked.
He hummed in thought, "Having as many of the ground-kin living above as we do, the food-numbers balance for the shared-nest is much better but not as good as it could be. The ground-kin are also doing better at growing more of their food-plants. Why do you ask?"
She huffed, "Maybe I was curious when you and Flies-Bravely are going to- start."
Flies-Bravely chuckled while Rain-Eater looked down at his paws. Despite Rain-Eater knowing much about numbers and generally having clear thinking, he could still be awkward about some topics, which made it easy to twist his tail.
Flies-Bravely spoke up, "We have no problem with wanting each other, but as for an egg, we are waiting. We agreed to fly different winds of life together before starting our own nest."
"Look at you both being so responsible."
She relaxed with her kin, while Alvor helped Flies-Bravely to practice certain simple spoken ground-kin words. Safiya normally did that as Rain-Eater's friend, but she was not available.
Dam-mother and Wind-Dancer eventually arrived with Luna and the Dawn Furies close behind. Dam-mother dashed into the cave while Wind-Dancer lingered outside, so she got up and went to her littlest nestmate-sister. The fledgling was likely too young to be interested by a new hatchling, and she would enjoy play far more than anything else, or maybe Wind-Dancer would like a warm back to sleep on. Yes, that would be best for everyone.
Completely alone on a high ledge above the shared-nest, Skadi softly growled to herself as she watched the two-legs use the kin in their games. The kin carried the two-legs in fast flight around the visible range, on a path marked by fires and finally leading back to the nest where the pack was waiting.
Why would any self-respecting kin willingly carry such tricking, abusing, and cunning creatures? Perhaps only if the kin was weak, wounded, or hungry with no other option but to rely on a two-leg to bring it food.
What had Shadowwing said about these games? The winning kin get better false-dens and more grooming?
The fire-scales finished their race while flaming at each other to try to be in the lead at the end. The two-legs on the fire-scales were wearing kin-scale hides which blocked the flame. The wild flames even fell on some of the nearest two-leg dens which immediately caught fire. Other kin, probably forcefully trained to do so, picked up holding-things filled with water to kill the flames. Even the other dark wings, light wings, and dark-lights began helping to kill the fires.
Most twisted was that the kin, from all she could see, enjoyed being used for these games. They liked carrying their two-leg, flying as fast as possible, bonding after the race, and even being shown to the reward-dens. The times she had so far thought-spoken with or touched memories of specific kin had only revealed warm thoughts and memories- but that was no guarantee. Thought itself could be twisted and shaped. Had to be. Yes, they were not thinking well.
Once it appeared the last of the games was finished and the accidental fires killed, she took flight to circle above the shared-nest. There was one kin in particular she had to find. She eventually noticed the biggest kin in New-Haven-Pack, a four-wing flame-swirler, fly off to a nearby level with a lone two-leg den on it. Cloudhopper- Skyjumper, something like those names.
More important than its name was this kin's two-leg was the supposed Kin-liver she had met. Of all the two-legs in this nest, the Kin-liver was supposedly special, which would mean that its kin could be especially revealing.
She followed the four-wing flame-swirler, eventually landing on the same level well away from him, his already sleeping mate, and the Kin-liver's den. The four-wing flame-swirler roused himself and faced her as she approached, staring at her with an intensity or interest most other kin lacked.
'Four-wing flame-swirler.'
'Cloudjumper.'
She started in surprise that the kin had a name for himself.
'You thought-talk? You name what?' Cloudjumper asked.
'I am Skadi. You have a two-leg. Tell me about your two-leg.'
Cloudjumper huffed, 'Kin-liver she us life flame like. She help much fight free save kin. She listen Alpha us help nest protect.'
'She helped you protect a nest?'
'Nest ice many kin there lived. Alpha to she bow all kin bow. Her kin yes.'
Why was this kin more structured in thought-speak than others? That could not be because of his kin-kind.
So many memories going back season-cycles in the above. Breaking into a two-leg den to answer a great-tusk-Alpha's command. Claiming a two-leg and bringing it to a kin-nest to meet great-tusk-Alpha. Helping two-leg become a kin-liver as one of the nest, even bearing hides of shed scales. Protecting, providing, flying-with his two-leg. Kin-liver fighting against two-legs and helping free kin from traps. Season-cycles flying past together. Enemy trappers and floating dens flamed. Dark wings which arrived at the ice nest.
After seeing those memories, she left Cloudjumper and turned her for cave-den.
Perhaps the Kin-liver was truly warm to kin. Had Kin-liver once lived her life to protect kin, serving a great-tusk which was Alpha of an entire kin-nest? There was no reason to doubt Cloudjumper's memories. Perhaps the presence of that great-tusk explained why Cloudjumper was somewhat different from other wilder kin. All that time Cloudjumper had been around the great-tusk had to have shaped his life-fire, perhaps making his thoughts clearer, less disorderly. Perhaps being around the great-tusk or the other kin in that nest had also shaped the Kin-liver to be warmer to kin, genuinely instead of as a trick. If one two-leg could be truly warm, what about the other ones? What if the entire pack was truly different from the trapping, tricking, thralling-
She winced and shook her head at the flare of pain and discomfort and disapproval. This two-leg pack being different from all others was so improbable. Far more likely these two-legs were just pretending to be warm so they could use the kin for their own purposes, for work, protection, and flight.
On the other paw, there were more two-legs than just the Kin-liver. Some of the dark wings she had met from this pack had their own two-leg friends which they could even speak with. How could all those friendship bonds be false?
Doubt.
Perhaps specific two-legs could be different, but those warmer ones could not change the kind. A pawful of exceptions did not change the past or make up for what had happened. They had destroyed her nest and killed her mate and forced her to fight and- wait- no- none of that happened.
They- the ones above had tricked, trapped, and tried to thrall her. These were- not those ones.
After the festivities started dying down, leaving people asleep on the ground or stumbling about in drunken stupor, Shadowwing was finally able to depart. Having met with Dawn-Singer, Flies-With-Sun, and their newest daughter, he left everyone else, relieved his brother atop the Great Hall, and was joined by Luna, who settled beside him.
"Finally. Everything is done," he sighed.
"Did the ground-kin have contests like these ones long ago, back when it was only two-legs in their pack?" she asked.
"Sort of. They had contests among themselves to test strength or resolve disputes. They also had contests where to be named adults the young had to learn how to fight and kill sky-kin while the entire pack watched."
She softly hummed, "What a twisted ceremony, but the pack had to be able to defend itself. Has Skadi yet shared any thoughts about our pack?"
"Not really. She just stays out of the way and observes without bothering anyone. The last time I asked her she said she had not made up her mind."
"What is there to decide about?" Luna objected.
"It must be difficult for her to understand our pack. She just needs time. Did she ask you about your past?"
She snuggled against his shoulder, "I did not mind telling her. I also let her know how much of a rock-head you were by waiting so long to want me."
"Wonderful. Random sky-kin get to learn how twisted and blind I was to the love of my life. My reputation is fouled. Now no one will see me as a great Alpha."
"I do."
"I suppose that will have to be enough."
He yawned and covered her back with a wing for rest together. After the near constant noise during the contests, the sudden fire to put out in the village, and the arrival of a new member of the extended family, they could both do with restful sleep.
Shadowwing woke up to a familiar roar as his eldest son landed on the nearest perch and got his attention. He got to his paws, stretched, and blinked as he struggled to wake.
"Sire-father, dam-mother, we have new guests," Moon-Dancer exclaimed.
"Guests? Who?" he asked.
"Four Light Furies. Light-Hunter has returned with his kin: his parents and fledgling-sister. They are waiting for you. Was-Grounded, Green-Wings, and others are already with them."
Luna stretched her wings, "Where are they?"
"Out by the tallest mushroom-trees around the bend. Sire-father, you met these sky-kin before, right?"
He searched his memory of that flight with his brother and Flies-With-Sun, the same flight in which they met some of the packless Light Furies, learned about the fellow Night Furies at Shadow-Spark-Pack, and finally discovered Luna's parents. Light-Hunter had helped lead them for a portion of the flight after they met him and the rest of his family.
"We did. Crashes-Mushrooms, Singing-Glimmer, and Moss-Muncher if I recall correctly. Will you bring Kin-liver to meet them?"
Moon-Dancer nodded, "I will."
Moon-Dancer lost no time and flew off for Valka.
"Should we stop by your sire-father and the little ones?" he asked.
"No need. They should still be napping. We can relieve him after this," she answered.
They set out for the new arrivals well away from New Haven.
Light-Hunter had indeed returned. From what he had heard from his brother and Green-Wings, Mist-Wings had been confused by Light-Hunter's departure, both missing him as a friend and also unsure what she really felt about him. In all of Light-Hunter's time here before, he had been respectful, pleasant to sky-kin and ground-kin, and willing to work.
He glided closer to Luna, "A mixed-kin far-flier from a distant pack. Now Light-Hunter and family. It seems our range is the place to be. So many guests recently."
"We knew it would take time before other sky-kin would be comfortable flying to us," Luna pointed out.
"You can take care of introducing Kin-liver to them, but I doubt you will have problems. They were suspicious of ground-kin when we first met them, but Light-Hunter will probably have told his parents all about them already."
"Hopefully so."
Finally at the grove of the largest mushroom-trees, he spotted everyone down in a clearing around a stream. He and Luna dove, wove between the mushroom-trees, and landed beside Was-Grounded and Green-Wings. Light-Hunter had already gone over to Aurora, Rain-Eater, Mist-Wings, and Hidden-Hope, while his parents and sister waited before Was-Grounded and Green-Wings.
He paused in surprise when he noticed how big Moss-Muncher had gotten since they had met. She had been a flightless hatchling back then, but now she was about a third of her full size.
"Warm flights and welcome to the New-Haven-Range," he welcomed them.
Crashes-Mushrooms purred in greeting, "Warm flights, Shadowwing and Luna. Was-Grounded and Green-Wings were explaining some of your pack's customs while we were waiting for you."
Shadowwing got Moss-Muncher's attention, "Warm flights, Moss-Muncher. Are you going to attack us?"
Moss-Muncher looked down to her paws, "No, Alpha Shadowwing. Why would I attack you?"
He chuckled, "Just teasing you. You tried to attack us when we first met. You were only a hatchling, but you were so brave."
"Oh, I do not remember. I am sorry if I wronged you."
"No, you did not wrong us. I am glad to see you and your kin again."
He faced Singing-Glimmer, "Welcome to our range. Is there a reason for your visiting us?"
Singing-Glimmer answered, "We heard much about your pack from Light-Hunter. We wanted to see your mixed-pack ourselves. Light-Hunter can make his own choices and fly where he wants, but we still want to know about where he might want to settle down."
"We understand. How long will you be with us?" Green-Wings asked.
"Only a waking-cycle or two. We have a trusted kin watching our cave-den for us, but we do not want to be away too long. Light-Hunter wants to stay here after the rest of us have left," Singing-Glimmer explained.
Shadowwing nodded, "You are all welcome as long as you want. I remember the last time we met, you were not sure about ground-kin."
Crashes-Mushrooms huffed, "Our son has told us all about his time in your pack. Part of us coming here is to meet the ground-kin, as you call them."
Luna hummed, "Good. My first son, Moon-Dancer, will bring the most special ground-kin, Kin-liver. Kin-liver will want to meet you and welcome you to our pack. Did you already meet the rest of our kin here?"
Singing-Glimmer hummed, "We did. Our son introduced us to them. He especially wanted us to meet Mist-Wings. We had no idea that you have females be fighters in your pack."
Shadowwing glanced at Was-Grounded and Green-Wings, subtly sharing their confusion. Did Crashes-Mushrooms and Singing-Glimmer believe that Mist-Wings was a fighter, similar to how other packs had defined roles?
Was-Grounded huffed, "We do not actually have roles like that, Fighters, Hunters, and the others, but we made sure that all of our children learned to fight once they were grown enough."
Moon-Dancer arrived and touched down to let Valka dismount and approach.
Shadowwing retreated and let Luna take the lead in making the introduction, this being the first time Light-Hunter's parents had ever met a human. There was no one better to be the first to meet them though, and Valka left Moss-Muncher humming from a gentle scratch under the chin after first reassuring Crashes-Mushrooms and Singing-Glimmer. Done meeting them, Valka went over to Light-Hunter and everyone else gathered with him.
"You must be tired from your flight here. Do you want us to show you to a cave you can stay in?" Luna asked.
Crashes-Mushrooms yawned and stretched, "Please do. We already ate outside your territory, and we will not stay long, one or two waking-cycles at most as we said."
Luna chuckled and got Moss-Muncher's attention, "Young one, a pawful of our kin are about your age. Wind-Dancer and Flower-Eater would especially like someone new to play with."
Moss-Muncher eagerly spun on her parents, "Sire-father, dam-mother, can I?"
"After we rest at the cave-den. Then you can play all you want with them," Singing-Glimmer answered.
"Do you want to bring your son with to the cave?" Luna asked.
Crashes-Mushrooms called Light-Hunter over. Light-Hunter approached and settled before him and Luna with a slight bow to both of them.
"Warm flights, Shadowwing and Luna," Light-Hunter purred.
"Warm flights again, Light-Hunter. We are glad to have you back with us," Shadowwing greeted him.
Luna announced, "I will lead you to the cave-den. It is away from the ground-kin nest, so none of them will bother you."
Crashes-Mushrooms purred, "We appreciate that. Would you show us to that nest after we get our rest?"
"Gladly. Follow me."
Luna took flight with Green-Wings, Light-Hunter, and his family following after her. Aurora, Rain-Eater, Moon-Dancer, and Hidden-Hope flew off together with Valka.
Shadowwing hopped beside Was-Grounded and bumped his shoulder, "So he was not scared off after all. What are you going to do to him this time?"
Was-Grounded rolled his eyes, "Funny. I might have had my head up my waste-end. No need to remind me. I have no problem with him as long as he behaves himself."
"He certainly remembers your warning from last time."
Mist-Wings remained behind at the isolated cave-den after her parents, nestmates, Shadowwing, and Luna had departed. Light-Hunter and the rest of his family had just returned from a break before they got their rest.
Moss-Muncher bounded up to her outside the cave-den, the young Light Fury's eyes wide, "Mist-Wings? Will you play with me later?"
"Sure. What games do you like?"
"Chasing, hide and hunt, swimming is fun too!"
"We can do all of those. I know where the best pools are for swimming. Get your rest first."
Crashes-Mushrooms led Moss-Muncher into the cave, leaving her alone with Light-Hunter and Singing-Glimmer. Singing-Glimmer faced her and looked her over. While nothing was threatening or twisted about her doing that, being closely inspected was maybe a little strange. What was Singing-Glimmer looking for, if anything? Maybe it was as simple as she was not accustomed to being around Night Furies. Yes, that could easily explain everything. The Night Furies of Shadow-Spark-Pack, who were far closer to where Light-Hunter's family lived, were apparently solitary and wary of outsiders.
"We heard so much about you. None of it was exaggeration, I see," Singing-Glimmer offered.
"What did you hear about me, if you do not mind saying?" she asked, curious what Light-Hunter had related about her.
"That you are strong and a great fighter."
She coughed to hide and stifle her laughter. Her a great fighter? That was so twisted that it was almost funny. She was in no way a fighter or interested in confrontation.
On the other paw, she was not nearly as weak and helpless as she once had been. Regular fighting practice with Luna and Moon-Dancer had helped, along with other practice to become stronger and faster. But even so, why did-
Wait, did Light-Hunter and his family think she was a fighter because of her hurt-marks? There was no reason to correct him.
"Sorry," she mumbled, closely inspecting her paws.
Singing-Glimmer continued, "No need to apologize for anything. We are eager to meet you and bond with you. Our son could not stop telling us about you and-"
"Was he? What else did he say?" she asked.
Light-Hunter huffed and covered his head with his tailfins without saying anything else. His discomfort was amusing.
Singing-Glimmer answered, "He told us about your many kin, your sire-father, other-nestmate Moon-Dancer, your liver-warming wing-colors, and more. He found your shared-nest and mixed-pack amazing."
"I remember hearing that dark wings and light wings out there have trust problems, not that I ever saw any of that myself. Have any of you been to, what is it called, Shadow-Spark-Pack?" she asked.
"We know where it is, but they stay on their own and do not let any light wings into their territory. Light-Hunter has always found you dark wings special. Luna said she will show us around the shared-nest after our rest. Will you entertain Moss-Muncher for us?" Singing-Glimmer asked her.
"Sure. Gladly. I can bring my younger kin to play with us."
Singing-Glimmer purred in thanks and followed Crashes-Mushrooms into the cave-den, leaving her alone with Light-Hunter.
"Sorry about them," he muttered.
"What? Why?"
"You feel upset. Was it something she said?"
"No, I just- nothing. The last few waking-cycles were long and busy. The ground-kin had contests and games which we had to help with. Much has happened here since you left us."
He softly purred, "I missed you while I was gone."
"So did I. Not that I was gone. I did not go anywhere. You- you know what I mean. What did your dam-mother mean about you finding my kind special?" she asked.
He shrugged, "I always admired how dark wings- Night Furies are generally bigger and stronger than us. That the others kept their distance and did not bond with any of us made me more curious about them."
A sneaking suspicious nibbled at her tail.
"Did you pursue any female Night Furies out there?" she asked.
"Yes, but none of them were interested."
Did that explain his intentions? Was he only here and interested by her because she was a Night Fury? Perhaps, not that anything was twisted about that interest on its own. Did that mean he was truly different now?
She stepped back and stretched, "See you after your rest?"
"Gladly."
He spun around and followed his kin to rest beside them. He sure was pleasant to observe, carrying himself well, being strong and lean, and-
She blinked and shook her head, confused by where her thoughts had flown. It was not polite or considerate to stare. She took flight, spun higher alongside a nearby ledge, and dove to land beside where Moon-Dancer was waiting for her.
"So?" Moon-Dancer asked.
"They are all resting, but they will come find us later. His parents want to be shown the shared-nest, and I offered to entertain Moss-Muncher."
He chuckled, "Good. What about Light-Hunter?"
"What about him?"
"You were missing him."
She huffed, "So what if I was? He is pleasant enough to have around. He likes being here and is warm to our families and the ground-kin."
"Is that all?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Really?"
"I- yes- maybe. What?"
Moon-Dancer chuckled, "No problem. You might come to want him more seriously. That will take some getting used to."
"For me too. Could you help me with him?"
"How?"
"He told me that he used to pursue females for fun when he was younger. I wonder if he just wants to pursue me only because I am not a Light Fury. If you hear anything like that from him, will you tell me?" she asked.
"Sure, but after what your sire-father said to him, I doubt you will have that problem with him. He does not sound to me like he is just chasing after your tail."
"I hope not. That would be disappointing."