Reluctance


Shadowwing flew alongside Luna, Green-Wings, Was-Grounded, and Skadi. The wide cavern expanded as they left the darker reaches and arrived at the pools fed by waterfalls and streams. Glowing crystals became more numerous, shedding brighter light throughout. The wild forest of strange trees, massive mushrooms, glowing flowers, and weaving vines, all interspersed with crystals and streams, stretched out as far as the eye could see.

He spotted a Gronkle and Nadder down below on their own. Both of the dragons were still saddled. While nothing was necessarily wrong with that, their riders were somewhat irresponsible to not remove the saddles when there was no need for them. He had to go remind those two people to be more considerate.

They arrived at the bend beyond which all of New Haven proper would be visible in the distance. He slowed and dove to land on an outcropping just before the bend. Everyone else followed him down and landed.

He strolled to Skadi, "Those were the wilder parts of our range. None of the ground-kin live out there. They are a little deeper."

"How many parts of your territory are there?" she asked.

"What do mean, parts?"

"Places in your territory that you use for specific purposes. Are there hunting ranges, water-ranges, forest-ranges, and others?"

"Not separate ranges inside this one. We can catch some fish in waters here, but we also hunt in other ranges outside which have no packs. The ground-kin have fields where they grow plants for food. They also keep prey-animals in other fields."

Was-Grounded spoke up, "Our young go in the shared-nest as they wish, but we live more on our own."

Luna chuckled, "Except for Shadowwing. He often sits on a perch among the ground-kin to listen to them or have pack-meetings."

"Why do you do that?" Skadi asked.

"Because I am their Alpha too. They wanted to have a sky-kin lead them in this world."

Skadi had to be surprised that he officially led everyone down here, including the humans. To be fair, her surprise was justified. Even though she clearly knew nothing about humans, just how many human tribes had a dragon for an official chief, even with Thorvald having delegated authority?

"Twisted of them," she muttered.

"Ready to continue?" he asked.

"Yes."

Green-Wings yawned and stretched, "I am going to our young. Want me to watch Flower-Eater for you while you are busy with her?"

Luna hummed, "Please do."

"I am going with my life-mate. Are the ground-kin still preparing for their first ever sky-kin-games?" Was-Grounded asked.

He nodded, "They are. The plan is for those to start next waking-cycle."

They resumed flight with Green-Wings and Was-Grounded headed off to occupy the youngest children while Luna and Skadi followed him toward New Haven proper.


Skadi followed beside Shadowwing and Luna while keeping a close watch on the surroundings. So far, the ranges did not appear that different from those of her own pack or other ranges beyond.

Why had the two-legs here asked that Shadowwing be their Alpha? Why would they, other than the need to have a kin speak for them? The reason had to be pretending of some type, maybe by using a kin to appear to be the real Alpha while a two-leg actually had the control.

Perhaps this was similar to how the two-leg Alpha, Cunning, she had let live in the above had used its stinging-tail hunter-kin to keep the other kin obedient. Maybe they were using Shadowwing and the other dark wings, light wings, dark-lights, and other kin for protection.

She had already seen two kin with carrying-things on their backs, further confirmation that other kin here were required to carry two-legs and be used, though for what purpose was unclear. There had to be traps ahead in the nest where the kin were usually kept.

They passed around a large bend in the range, revealing what what had been hidden from view.

She held in the growl and alarm at the sight of the two-leg nest.

Stretches of trees and forest had been felled to make tree-dens arranged in rows on two different levels. Vine-paths stretched between the levels. Long stretches of dirt outside the nest had lines of plants being tended by two-legs. A pawful of kin were visible being made to work in the fields to help the two-legs. Prey-animals were trapped in large, bounded fields. A large rock-den stood against the distant chamber-wall, had kin perching atop it, and appeared to be a gathering place, as there were two-legs entering and exiting. Other rock-dens stood before the largest.

No different from what was in the above: two-legs changing the ranges they went into and shaping the world to their own wants. Not to mention they were thralling and tricking kin into obeying and working for them.

Shadowwing drifted closer, "Do you want to go down into the nest itself?"

An island above with tight traps inside cave-dens. Two-legs leading kin around with guiding-vines around their heads and mouth-closing things around their jaws. Hunger pains and a parched mouth. Defiance.

"Maybe another time. Show me around the nest from above?"

Shadowwing led her and Luna over the nest onto the largest ledge above the biggest rock-den where they landed together.

Shadowwing faced Luna, "My love, do you want to take this one and point out the ground-kin we know best?"

Luna hummed, "Gladly."

She joined Luna on the edge of the ledge.

Luna pointed with a paw in various directions, "Everything on these two levels is the main shared-nest. Down there is where everyone grows plants and keeps prey-animals. Do you see the blue-green spine-tail?"

She looked toward the fields and saw such a spine-tail carefully prancing about with a two-leg nearby.

"Yes."

"That spine-tail is named Stormfly, and her ground-kin is named Eret. He was a twisted two-leg once."

"How so?" she asked.

Luna and Shadowwing spared a glance before Luna answered, "We met him in the above. Back then, he did not know we were both types of kin. He thought we were simple-thinking life to trap and use, like prey-animals. He learned his lesson and is now a ground-kin like the others. Stormfly is his bond-kin."

"What does bond-kin mean? Is it like what Aurora said about her Alvor?"

"Almost the same. Stormfly and Eret are friends, even if they cannot talk with each other like our young can with their ground-kin friends. They share flight, work, play, and grooming. Stormfly even lets Eret play with her fledgling."

They were starting early, convincing the fledglings that two-legs were warm-livered when the fledglings could not know better. Twisted, but clever. The young were far easier to trick and convince of twisted falseness than were adults who were more suspicious and had more life-experience.

"Are there other important ground-kin?" she asked.

Luna nodded at a two-leg den which had a stream of smoke floating up from within. There was what appeared to be a large pile of bones outside the den. Did that explain what the two-legs did with the dead kin: take their hides and scales to make false-hides from? Likely.

Luna continued, "See that den? That is the forge where the ground-kin named Gobber works with fire to make things for ground-kin and sky-kin. Shadowwing often helps him there. Sometimes I wonder if Shadowwing thinks he is a ground-kin!"

Shadowwing huffed and nudged Luna's shoulder, "Funny. How did you learn my secret? Anyway, our daughter, Hidden-Hope, also helps Gobber in the forge. That was a punishment at first, but now she likes giving him flame to use."

Luna chuckled and continued, "Gobber's bond-kin is a bone-grabber named Jingles. You can see Jingles down there."

What? The pile of bones was actually a kin? Now that she looked more closely, there were wings and a head among the bones. She had never seen such a twisted kin before.

"I see it. Why does the bone-grabber want to be bonded to the Gobber?" she asked.

Luna answered, "Gobber said he once had a special bone which Jingles had been looking for. He gave Jingles the bone, and Jingles learned how to roar again. I do not know how much of the story is true, but that is what he told us."

"Twisted," she muttered.

Luna indicated a pawful more of the two-legs and kin which were specially known to them.

As she watched, she noticed when kin landed and freely walked into trap-dens which closed on them. How twisted were they to want that self-trapping?

Another couple kin, a spine-tail and a fire-scale, arrived from the far reaches of the range, or perhaps from beyond New-Haven-Pack's territory, landed on the dirt before a stone-den, opened their mouths, and-

Dropped two mouthfuls of fish in a large holding-thing. Two-legs came out from the stone-den, splashed water on the kin, and started grooming them everywhere.

"What is happening there?" she asked and pointed with a paw.

Luna answered, "The sky-kin bring fish or other prey, give the food to the ground-kin, and the ground-kin give grooming, remove any scale-burrowing bugs, and do any needed cleaning like for old scales."

Shadowwing huffed, "There were problems with some sky-kin smelling foul, or trying to scratch at itches and accidentally knocking down dens. Now everyone is better off. Sky-kin can be more comfortable, and ground-kin get more food to live on."

Even though the two-legs were taking advantage of the kin, at least the kin got something out of that trade. Grooming and cleaning were always pleasant. The two-leg paws were probably more useful at such than were normal claws and paws.

"It looks like the ground-kin and sky-kin enjoy being around each other," she said.

Luna answered, "Most of the time. Some still fight or growl, but we find a way to make together-life happen."

None of those empty, warm words clarified what the kin were to the two-legs. Even some of the two-legs on the thralling island had been willing to give grooming or keep their thrall-kin clean.

The whisper reminded that kin could be thralls and not even know it. Yes. Ignorance and blindness. Nothing else could explain.

"So you dark wings, light wings, and dark-lights lead the other sky-kin in keeping the ground-kin safe?"

Luna nodded, "We do."

"What about if other sky-kin ever threaten you? You said you were attacked by light wings. Were they packless or acting for a pack?"

"They were part of a nameless, twisted pack that had wronged us before that attack."

Wait, the nameless pack had wronged the dark wings before the two Fighters struck? What had happened before?

She considered what she knew of the tensions between the packs. The only possible indication was a rumor that the former Alpha whom she killed and replaced had struck one of the dark wing young, which would certainly have been provocation enough.

"That was foul of them. How do you keep the ground-kin safe in an attack? They are so small and weaker than us," she asked.

"The ground-kin take shelter in the great-hall-den, that is the biggest stone-den below, whenever there is an attack. We made it strong enough that sky-kin cannot break in. The ground-kin can hide in there for waking-cycles if they must."

She glanced at the so-called great-hall-den. Being made of stone made it a more difficult target if there had to be an attack. Maybe the stone-den had weaknesses she did not yet know about.

"You and your ground-kin lived in the above, yes?"

"We did. Do you know the above?"

"No, I have not been in the above. Maybe you can tell me about it later. Why did you bring the ground-kin down here into our ranges? They had to have come from up there."

Luna sighed and glanced at Shadowwing before answering her, "We lived in peace in the above, sky-kin and ground-kin together. Two-legs came to attack us and destroy our shared-nest up there. We all fled together into these ranges."

"But why bring the ground-kin with you?"

"Why not? Why give up on together-life just because it is difficult?" Luna asked.

Shadowwing softly rumbled, "Some of us did give up."

Luna nuzzled Shadowwing's muzzle, "But they listened to their liver in the end."

What was this obsession with having different groups live in peace? Peace between such different kinds was a trick. Different groups necessarily opposed each other and ought to think of themselves as separate. For one group to gain means another must lose.

"Are you not worried that any of the ground-kin could be false at liver?"

Shadowwing answered, "There is always danger, but everyone here has proven themselves to us. Even if one of them becomes rotted, the others would stop anyone who was rotted. Ground-kin are not so dangerous in this world anyway. They cannot go anywhere without our help."

Not dangerous? What was really happening here? So much was similar to what she saw and experienced in the above, though perhaps a little different, maybe more subtle. There was no doubt that the kin were being used for work and flight at the least. How could these two-legs be different from those above, and what if they were, unlikely though that was?

Perhaps this pack could be contained forever, with kin preventing the two-legs from leaving. If the two-legs stayed in here and died out, the kin-ranges would stay safe. If the two-legs never died out but never left for other ranges, the result would be the same.

She faced them, "I suppose they are not. They are small and cannot get around without using us. Do you mind if I wander in your ranges? I will not cause any problems or go into the shared-nest without a guide with me."

Luna nodded and purred, "Of course you may. You are welcome with us."

"Let us know if you are hungry and want to accept some of our fish or other food. Most of what we have to share is in the shared-nest itself," Shadowwing added.

She slightly bent her head to them and took flight, gliding out above the shared-nest while Shadowwing and Luna flew off elsewhere.

Somewhere within this range, there had to be proof this supposed shared-nest was a trick and a lie, hiding foul intentions. Hunt for that truth, learn all she could about the pack, and decide on what had to be done.

Shadowwing was nothing at all like any of the male Alphas she had ever met. Something was subtly twisted or different about Shadowwing. However, it was undeniable that Shadowwing was warm to his Luna and saw his life-mate as an equal, having her be a speaker in meeting with new kin. Despite all the other possible twistedness about him, that at least was respectable.

In addition to finding the truth of the two-legs here, she also had to learn what made him feel wrong, different, or not what she expected from an Alpha dark wing. What flame burned in his liver to make him so different from other male Alphas?


Mist-Wings darted and dashed as her fledgling sister, Wind-Dancer, chased after her tail. She had to run slowly so Wind-Dancer could more easily keep up with her. She reached the edge of a ledge, appeared to hesitate on the drop, and jumped, gliding down alongside the waterfall. Down at the bottom, she backwinged and gently splashed in the deep, clear pool.

Floating in the shallow water, she lifted her head high and shouted, "Yes, I escaped the hunter and-"

Wind-Dancer crashed on her back with a squeak, "Got you!"

"No! Not again!"

Her sister leaped on her neck and clamped toothless jaws on her neck, winning the fight and squealing in triumph. With her little sister on her neck, she swam to the shore, climbed out of the water, and gently let her down.

"Not another win for you. What an amazing sister!"

Wind-Dancer hummed and spun in place with young-fledgling energy. Another set of wings approached, and Moon-Dancer touched down beside them.

He rumbled in amusement, "Let me guess. Wind-Dancer won?"

She chuckled, "She did. Just when I thought I escaped."

Wind-Dancer stopped spinning, widely yawned, bounded to her chest, and snuggled against her.

"Yes, I win! Sleepy now!" Wind-Dancer hummed.

"Me too. Go ahead and take a nap."

She lay down and curled her tail around to cover her little sister. Moon-Dancer rested before her, his head on his paws. Soon after, Wind-Dancer was asleep between her paws.

"That was fast," Moon-Dancer whispered.

"She was getting tired. I am not surprised she is done."

"Your dam-mother will have to tire her later after her nap."

"Probably, but that is not my problem. She asked me to watch after Wind-Dancer so she and sire-father could have time to themselves."

"What do you think about Skadi? I had no idea there are other strong-thinking kin out there."

"Same. Half Light Fury and whatever else she is. She looks strange, but she seems curious about us and the ground-kin."

"What if there are more of her kind out there? An entire pack of her mixed-kin or whatever the other sky-kin kind is?" Moon-Dancer asked.

"Maybe we will find it if there is such a pack. Did your sire-father tell you anything about her?"

"I did not ask. She should be staying with us for several waking-cycles, so I could go ask her."

She sighed and relaxed in silence with him and her dozing sister. The relative silence was nice enough, relaxing, and-

"Mist, are you well?" he asked.

"What? Yes. Why would I not be?"

"You are being quieter than usual."

"She is sleeping."

"No, even without having her here or needing to watch out for her. You are staying more on your own, away from me and everyone else. Is anything wrong?"

Was anything wrong? Nothing immediately came to mind, but he seemed to have a good idea when she was upset. She had been volunteering to be the watcher on guard below when no one else was doing that. Someone had to always be on duty and available to warn of any approaching threat. There was also always a chance she might spot-

She shrugged, "Everyone has been busier recently. And maybe I miss Light-Hunter a little."

Moon-Dancer softly chuckled, "Oh, you miss him?"

"He is nice and warm to all of us."

Moon-Dancer was silent for several wingbeats.

"Between us, what do you really think about him?" he finally whispered.

Light-Hunter was pleasant enough to look at, strong and healthy. He was entirely respectful to her and her kin, and he made no secret of what he wanted and hoped for with her. Maybe he was quick to decide she was who he wanted to be with, but for all she knew life out there forced others to make faster decisions. He was entirely honest about his desire, and he had respected her wishes while he was here.

"I have not decided. He is pleasant and a friend, but I do not want him as my mate, not yet anyway. Maybe after I get to know him better. Will he come back here? What if sire-father scared him away?"

He softly hummed, "Not a problem. Light-Hunter will be back. He would have to be twisted to not be interested by you. What about the bad dreams? Are those still bothering you?"

"Not in many waking-cycles. None of the dreams are bad, none I can remember anyway."

The last twisted-dream she could recall was one in which she fought the foul Alpha Light Fury to an even fight, neither of them having won by the time she woke up.

"Good. Let me know if you want any fighting practice later."

She purred, "Okay, good plan. What about you? Do you want to go find someone to be with?"

"Not as much as I did in the past. I do not want to be alone forever, but I am not eagerly looking for anyone. At least my dam-mother is not so interested in me finding someone."

She groaned, amused and annoyed by how her dam-mother wanted her to settle for Light-Hunter. Dam-mother had helped to nudge Rain-Eater and Flies-Bravely together, though those two clearly got along well together without much help. Sire-father was, if anything, the reverse, being so protective of her that he almost scared Light-Hunter away. If only both of them could just stay out of this part of her life-flight.


Skadi perched upon the ledge above the shared-nest, watching as kin came and went, some with two-legs on their backs. She waited until a particular dark-light arrived, went to a tree-den, and retrieved a mouthful of fish for himself. Once he took flight, she followed after him and got his attention, beckoning him down to a ledge outside the shared-nest.

Moon-Dancer landed before her and settled down, "Welcome, Skadi. How may I help you?"

She sat before him, considering the dark-light up close again. He was just as dark as a normal dark wing, but his shape was clearly different, not as bulky as a true dark wing. Unlike Flickering-Flare, the dark-light Alpha for Deep-Pass-Pack, Moon-Dancer had no white spots at all.

"Warm flights, Moon-Dancer. I have questions about the pack and shared-nest. Do you have time for me?"

He sat upright and nodded. From the little she had seen of the two-legs, that head-bobbing was an agreement. Why did he, and his sire-father and dam-mother too, do the same motions as the two-legs? That must be twisted habit.

"Good. What do you think about two-legs, about ground-kin? Sorry if you find the question twisted, but I still have problems believing they are much like us."

He hummed, "It must be strange to see them for the first time. They are part of the pack with us. Even without wings, tails, flame, or claws, our life-fires are much like each other."

If that was true, why had her attempt to thought-speak with one of them above failed and only hurt the two-leg? What prevented her from sharing thought-speak with them if their life-fires were similar?

"I suppose so. Where is your life-bond ground-kin?" she asked.

He shrugged, "I have none."

"Have you not been made to take one yet?"

"No. No one is forced to have a life-bond friend. It just happens between sky-kin and ground-kin who are like each other, similar at life-fire, or enjoy being around each other as friends. I have not found anyone like that."

Surprising. No forced-bonding? Bonding was not a choice on the island above. How could a kin and two-leg even be friends without any talking or thought-sharing? They could not know the other's life-fire at all. There could only be usefulness, surely the two-leg using the kin for its flight, strength, and flame.

"Do you feel like you are missing what you should have? Do you wish you had a life-bond ground-kin?" she asked.

"My sire-father would like me to find a ground-kin friend, but having one is not important to me. My sire-father accepts that. Maybe I will find such a friend."

"Are the ground-kin part of your group?"

He paused and grumbled, perhaps confused, "I do not know what you mean. They are part of the pack with us."

How could he be confused? Everyone had their own group. The kinds had to be separate, opposing groups which struggled. Yes, that was how life was instead of this trick and deception, even if he believed it.

She could touch his life-fire and thoughts to see and feel what he knew, but doing that would be too risky. Using any of her powers on him might alert Shadowwing and Was-Grounded, especially if Moon-Dancer knew what she had done.

"Skadi?" Moon-Dancer asked, sounding worried.

She groaned, "Sorry, my head hurt."

"Do you need hurt-helping plants? We can get some for you," he offered.

"No, I will be fine. Thank you for taking a wingbeat for me. Warm flights."

He purred and bent his head to her, "And to you, Skadi. We are glad to have a special guest with us."

He jumped from the ledge and took flight. While Moon-Dancer had not given her any satisfying answers, the other kin in New-Haven-Pack would likely be different. They could, willingly or unwillingly, help her learn what she needed to know about this pack.

More than only learning, she could nudge them to act and be free, just like the kin in the above. Share with them thoughts of freedom, help them want to be free, turn against their captor two-legs, kill the two-legs or drive them away, cause pain, and-

Why cause such pain when there was no problem here? No, there was a problem here. Or was there not?

She shook her head and took several deep breaths to steady herself. Why was thought itself becoming more confused and twisted recently? When had this started happening?

Unimportant.

She waited until there was an opportunity when the Stormfly spine-tail arrived on her own at a stream outside the shared-nest. None of the dark wings, light wings, or dark-lights were close. None of them knew about her thought-speech either, so they would have no idea.

She dove from the ledge, landed by the stream, and approached the spine-tail. While using any thought-speech or greater life-will-powers with the dark wings and their kin was too risky, this was surely a different matter as long as she did not try to control other kin.

'Spine-tail Stormfly.'

The spine-tail pulled her beak from the water, squawked in surprise, and spun to face her, 'What what new-kin warm warm new-kin!'

'Do you have a two-leg?'

Stormfly chirped and started preening a wing, 'Two-leg-kin mine Alpha-say mine warm nuzzle nuzzle good good young-mine-with!'

'What? Where is your two-leg?'

'Young-mine-with blue-back-mate Alpha-say play play stick get fun play!'

Too confusing. Spine-tail thought-speaking was too different to be easily understood. There was a much faster way to learn. Greater touching of life-fire, memories, and recent experiences.

Spine-tail worked in the fields with big two-leg-kin, helped retrieve lost prey-animals-not-for-eating, scolded her-young blue-back for relieving himself in not-waste-place, played with big two-leg-kin, answered the Alphas' call and flamed at threatening-bad-other-kin, and-

She blinked and retreated from Stormfly's life-fire while the spine-tail shook her head and chirped in confusion. That life-fire-seeing had not revealed anything important about the kin's life, only showing what she already knew happened. However, there was an important detail which was clearer. Unlike wild kin, Stormfly, and probably the other kin in this pack, lived under the control or influence of the Alpha dark wings. That deference to Shadowwing and Was-Grounded certainly meant that the kin were beyond her ability to fully control without causing a disturbance which the Alphas would feel, or maybe even at all. Testing that would be too dangerous.

'What confusion what?' Stormfly chirped.

She purred in reassurance, 'Nothing. Relax.'

After Stormfly relaxed and went back to drinking, she took flight and could see a pawful of other kin which Shadowwing and Luna had indicated before, most prominently the bone-grabber, Jingles. Ignoring how twisted that name was, perhaps the bone-grabber could help reveal what was happening here.

She flew down toward the mixed-nest, specifically toward where the bone-grabber was resting beside what Luna had called a forge-den. How could a kin help two-legs make things? Did it have to do with giving flame or flight?

After assuring herself none of the two-legs were close, she landed beside what looked like a pile of various bones in the shape of a curled-up kin near the forge-den. What a strange life-way, to collect bones on the hide and scales.

'Bone-grabber!'

The bone-grabber stirred, raising its head to face her. The bones it bore on its hide shook and clicked as it moved. Did the kin lack scales, and was that why it covered itself in bones for protection? Perhaps. She had never seen such a kin before.

'New kin you spine-bones yes no not new kin yes here!'

She did not bother with normal thought-speak with the bone-grabber. Direct feeling of memories would be more useful than complicated speech. What was this kin's two-leg?

Resting by the fire- and making-den to give fire to protector two-leg. Different ranges and flights with other kin and two-legs. Protector two-leg, with only one leg, who gave bones, such good bones, crunchy and strong bones to gnaw on and sleep on and collect. Protector two-leg who found and gave the good bone, the last bone, the needed bone! Safe in bones again, roar found again! Good two-leg, loud two-leg, protector two-leg.

She retreated, confused again by how favorably the kin thought of its two-leg. If the kin's memories were true, the two-leg had given it bones which were somehow important or made it feel stronger or warmer at liver, for whatever reason. Probably another type of subtle tricking and influence or control.

Without thought-speaking anything else to the bone-grabber, she left it and retreated to a rocky ledge high above the shared-nest. The spine-tail and bone-grabber had not given any clear answers to what was happening, but there was plenty of time to find the truth in secret.


Shadowwing landed alone on the ledge outside Skadi's cave. The first ever Dragon Games were about to start, which meant almost everything else was going to stop during the festivities. He and several of the older children had volunteered to oversee the dragon parts of the Games to make sure nothing went wrong, like burning down part of the village by accident. Just like in Haven up above, safety procedures were already planned for that risk as large buckets of water would be available to douse any accidental flames.

He announced himself and waited until Skadi emerged from the cave, yawned, and sat down before him.

"Warm waking-cycle, Skadi."

"And to you, Shadowwing."

"Did you see anything interesting in the shared-nest before you came here to rest?"

"Nothing I could understand well. I saw many ground-kin running around and starting to gather, but I came here to rest without speaking to you or anyone else. I am sorry if I should have gone to you first."

"No problem. You did nothing wrong. I asked at the shared-nest, and no one saw you get anything to eat. Are you hungry?"

She answered, "I plan to fly beyond your ranges to get some fish on my own."

"Are you sure? There can be twisted kin who might threaten you out there. We have enough food on our own in the shared-nest if you can accept it."

"I am sure you do, but this is important to me. I want to catch my own fish or other prey."

He nodded, "Fair enough. Great skies, I almost got in trouble once from eating fish I should not have."

"What trouble?" she asked.

He grimaced, "Actually, I did get in trouble once from eating a fouled fish, but that was above. You said you saw our ground-kin gathering. We will have our sky-kin games soon. You are welcome to come watch."

"What are these games?" she asked.

"Contests for both sky-kin and ground-kin, some together and others only with their own kinds. Races, wrestling, and other games."

"Why? What for?"

"Fun. Bonding. Winning. Teasing each other. Ground-kin care a lot about being the best and having others acknowledge them as best. The sky-kin who win will get more grooming and better dens to stay in."

"So this is not part of making pack-orders?"

What did she mean by pack-orders? Perhaps that was related to assignments other packs gave to specific members.

"Not really. The winners among the ground-kin will be pleased with themselves and will boast about being the best, but the games are mostly for enjoying. Does your pack do anything like that?" he asked.

"There are contests each life-making cycle, but the reason is to make the orders which give status and egg-making rights in each pack-role."

While it was not the first time he heard about such practices, it was still such a strange idea that only certain people within each pack were allowed to have children. That restriction was perhaps necessary given limited space and resources, but there was a difference between people voluntarily agreeing to control their own numbers and the authority imposing that rule on them. There had been no such problem on Berk, but that was a completely different situation than in the hidden world.

"Do you want to watch the games?"

"Perhaps. When are they?" she asked.

"They start later this waking-cycle. You cannot miss them, with all the flying, roaring, and noise."

She yawned, "Alright, I will come to see these games. Seeing what the ground-kin and sky-kin do together will be new to me."

He purred, pleased with her willingness to learn, "Good. What do you think about our pack and the shared-nest so far?"

"I have not decided anything yet."

How could she not have seen enough already? Was introducing her to Valka, Alvor, and Safiya, explaining how the tribe survived together, and taking her on tours of New Haven not sufficient? Some reluctance was understandable for a dragon who hadn't seen or met with humans before, but Light-Hunter and Flies-Bravely had no problems with them. They adjusted quickly enough. Although-

"This is still new to you. I will not push you to approve of them. I learned my mistake and not to do that to anyone."

"What do you mean by a mistake?" she asked.

"I- pushed Luna to accept the ground-kin before she was ready to trust them. That was before we were life-mates or even interested in each other."

"Why did she not want to trust them? She has no problem with them now. She actually seemed eager to show me around and explain how the shared-nest works."

He started and paused before answering, "You should ask her instead and see if she wants to tell you. All I can say is that she met two-legs above, and it was not good or warming for her."

Skadi hummed, clearly interested, "I will ask her."


Skadi glided on her own above the thick forest toward a clearing where she had seen several special kin fly. Two light wings, a couple dark wings, and the young flew together, probably for bonding away from the two-legs. She recognized the female light wing as Luna, and the other was probably Luna's sire-father.

She landed a distance away from the other kin while the young ones began playing with each other underneath the mushroom-trees. Luna, her sire-father, and Green-Wings settled down next to each other.

Before approaching them to get their attention, she considered all she knew about Luna, which was little. Luna was Shadowwing's life-mate, had a pawful of dark-light young with him, had no life-bond two-leg, and was eager to show her and any other guests around their pack's territory. From Shadowwing's reluctance to speak about her, there must be much only Luna could reveal about the past, and the truth had to be chilling. If Luna knew how dangerous two-legs were, why would she have no problem with allowing two-legs to stay here?

Luna eventually noticed her, got up and strolled to her.

"Skadi, warm waking-cycle," Luna purred.

"And to you, Luna. I see your youngest one is enjoying himself."

Luna settled beside her, facing the playing fledglings rolling head over tail, "One advantage of having his life-water-kin in the same pack, he will never lack a playmate."

She remained silent for several wingbeats. A fledgling having a playmate who was close to the liver or at least was just there- would have been- maybe young life would have been much warmer but it was not fair at all and-

"Skadi?" Luna rumbled.

"Sorry. I spoke to Shadowwing earlier, and he suggested I ask if you are willing to tell me about your past life-flight. He mentioned that he had wronged you before by pushing you to trust two-legs- or ground-kin before you were ready. Will you tell me if you have met two-legs long ago?"

Luna softly hummed without facing her, "Are you worried or afraid of them at all?"

"Should I be? Can they be monsters?"

"Two-legs and sky-kin both. I do not mind telling you about my past life-flights, but much of this is not warm. Also, do not repeat any of this. I do not want my young ones to hear the truth before they are ready."

"I am listening, and will not speak of this to anyone else."

Luna nodded toward the other present light wing, "My sire-father and dam-mother lived far from here in the hidden ranges. They wanted a range far from packs so they could avoid fouler, twisted customs, not need to fight for territory, and stay far from other threats. Once I was grown, I flew to the above to search for other light wings and a life-mate. Up there, I was trapped by a great-tusk which controlled my thoughts. That great-tusk was helping a foul two-leg Alpha which controlled an entire pack of two-legs. The great-tusk had many other kin it had thralled and used to fight along with the two-legs."

A great-tusk had allied with a two-leg Alpha? Such a large and powerful kin could take such a risk without fear.

"Do you know what the great-tusk wanted?"

Luna shrugged, "A bigger flock, more sky-kin to control. Probably nothing more than more power. It had no dark wings or other light wings, but the foul two-leg Alpha wanted to get eggs from me. Two-legs forced other kinds of kin on me, but they could not get any eggs. I do not-"

Luna had been force-mated by other kin-kinds, all at a two-leg's command. That explained the faint scratches barely visible on her sides. Just a thing to be used.

Those memories of being in her own attacker's power were still present, but a distance and dullness hung over the memories. There was not even a faint flare of fear, though anger sparked to life. Killing him had brought so much pleasure. Justice against him and his kin. They all benefited from having power, so they all deserved punishment.

"-patient. I needed season-cycles until I saw clearly and could trust them to be different from the two-legs which trapped me."

She grumbled, "Why do you not blame the two-legs for being so foul to you?"

Luna softly growled, "I do. I would gladly have torn apart that Alpha two-leg, but it was dead by the time Shadowwing and Was-Grounded found me. None of the ground-kin of our range ever hurt me, except for one who learned his lesson quickly and has proven he has a warm liver. And it is not as though sky-kin are without fault either."

"What do you mean?"

"The great-tusk was foul. It commanded all the sky-kin in its flock, including the ones which were brought to me. I do not know if those sky-kin knew what they were doing, but at least the great-tusk must have known since it was in control."

Putting the blame for all the foulness of the past on the backs of only the Alphas was far too simple and blind. Guilt flowed out beyond only those who gave commands. Actions were done by groups, so they also shared blame. Even those who did not participate themselves could benefit from what others did before, so they too carried blame with them. Yes. Yes-

"And none of the two-legs here have ever been foul to sky-kin?"

"The kinds fought and killed before, but they changed and started sharing life instead. That was even before Shadowwing and Was-Grounded helped the peace grow in their own ways."

Even the two-legs of the New-Haven-Range were once kin killers, but that behavior had changed to something far more subtle. Why? What could make them change life-ways so much?

She faced Luna and softly purred, "You are strong to have survived much. How did you and Shadowwing grow close, if I may ask?"

Luna snorted, "Not quickly. Season-cycles flew past. He learned to not push me to be closer to the ground-kin than I was ready for, helped me learn more about them, and wanted my life-flight to be warmer in other ways. I wanted him before he wanted me, but he was a rock-head and needed me to help him see that I was not only a friend. Though, I understand why he had problems seeing me as more. He too needed to warm from cold in his past before we could love."

She looked down to her paws. Love. Love? What did that even mean? Desiring each other for pleasure, or for egg-making and the shared duty of young-raising that can follow were understandable. What else was there? The only way to know for sure, touching Luna's life-fire and experiencing her memories, was far too risky.

She retreated from Luna, "Thank you. I know those questions must not be warming to answer."

"None of that bothers me anymore. It feels like the sky-kin I was when I was trapped is gone, like it ended long ago. Will you come watch the sky-kin games?" Luna asked.

"Sure, I will be there."