686Chapter 36: Departures
Departures
"Snowfall, I have a question," Hiccup said.
She padded over to him and then sat down with a soft purr and lifted ears.
"Ask."
"Have you or any other dark wings in the pack been around... gold?"
She blinked and tilted her head slightly.
"Gold? What is that?"
"Shiny rocks that are very precious to some dragons. The rocks can... twist the dragon's thinking into bad thinking."
She warbled softly and looked only more confused.
"No. I do not think any of us know anything about... shiny rocks that twist thinking. My mate knows about the light-making rocks in a different world, but I never saw that hidden place. Why do you ask?"
He wasn't sure how to describe wealth and money, the Furies having no apparent equivalent concepts. They understood the importance of doing their duty for the good of the pack and ensuring that all their needs were met, but they didn't use anything physical as a stand-in for value.
"Because humans use the gold for different purposes, and they think that dragons want to claim gold and other precious things. Toothless and I saw a dragon that was doing that in this world. It was... keeping a lot of gold to itself."
"You saw another dragon near here? One not in our pack?" she barked in surprise.
He warily grinned. He hadn't specifically told her or Flame-In-The-Night about the encounter in the Grey Mountains.
"Yeah, we saw one. His name was Vorunturth. He was a really big dragon, not a dark wing or a light wing, with ice-breath instead of fire. And he was not nice at all..."
"What was he doing?"
"Nothing at first. He was just sleeping on a pile of gold in his cave, protecting his... hoard. Then he realized that we were there, and he... tried to do bad things to both of us..."
She growled softly.
"That male was sitting on a pile of shiny rocks in a cave? Why?"
He shrugged.
"He thought that gold was precious and that he needed to sit on it and try to kill anyone else around him..."
Then he frowned, wondering about that ice-dragon and about what he knew of Smaug. Both seemingly slept much of their life on their hoards, so it was possible that Vorunturth did not even leave his cave much. But that dragon had apparently seen at least one of the Furies from a distance.
"Have you Furies seen any other dragons?"
"No. None with ice-breath. We found some old bones in far away, warmer ranges, but there were no other living dragons. We like that we are alone."
It sounded odd that they had never seen any others and that they liked being alone as a pack. But it was also true that he had not seen any other types of dragons in all his time with the pack. There was no sign of any of the other, normal dragons he knew of back on Berk.
"Why not?"
"Our cubs are very small and weak until they get their fire as older fledglings. Other dragons might try to hunt them or us."
He winced, not wanting to imagine such a thing happening.
"Is that... something that dragons do... to other dragons?"
She snarled and slid her teeth into place.
"Some do. There are dragons with spinning teeth. They can dig through the ground under nests to eat other dragons' eggs. Worst are the big, red, tusked dragons with stinger-tails."
That description sounded familiar.
"The ones that hurt Moonbeam and Mystery?"
"Yes, those ones are hunters and killers of other dragons. The largest dragons, the Alphas and Monsters, can also be eaters of dragons."
Hiccup stared off into the distance as he thought about it. That reality, that dragons were capable of hunting each other, was something none of the Vikings seemed to appreciate, probably because they never saw dragons attacking each other. It was always a very clear 'us or them' conflict where they were a united enemy.
We already knew that dragons are extremely dangerous. I guess they are not perfectly innocent themselves, not even back in Berk's world. There would be some of them that are best at hunting other dragons.
"Do not twist your tail, Burning-Star. We will hunt for you," Far-Flight growled softly.
"Yes, you stay with Hiccup and Breath-Of-Sky and bond with them," Sky-Dancer purred and nudged his neck.
Toothless grunted in reluctant agreement, and then he watched as his sire and dam flew off toward the horizon along with several other packmates.
Then he collapsed on his belly and let out a weak sigh.
The pack was going on one more hunt to catch as much as they could for all to feed on before the flight. Almost all those of hunting age except for the younger fledglings had flown off in all different directions to hunt and provide for the pack.
He did not. He... could not.
It so twisted his tail to be eating catches that others brought back to him. To just be sitting on his rear while others provide for him was bad! It was like being a mere cub again!
At least I can watch the cubs for them.
He reluctantly got to his paws and bounded through the trees toward where the cubs and smaller fledglings lay in a pile. They were resting after having played much.
Eyes-That-Shimmer and Lightning were resting nearby the cubs. Those dams had the youngest cubs, one with only three winters and the other one unborn. All the other adults of the pack had flown to the hunts.
His thoughts drifted to one of them.
How does Moonbeam hunt? Fire, claws, or teeth?
He had no idea, having never gone on a true hunt with her alone. The one to catch the seals and walrus did not really help him get to know her at all. Everyone had a preferred style.
Maybe he could go hunting with her on the long flight to the south. They could fly long through the sky, spinning down mountains and around trees, up beyond the clouds, and then...
Then he wilted, remembering how impossible it would be and how twisted his own thoughts were.
What am I thinking? I told myself that I would not chase her!
"What is my problem?"
He covered his head with his tailfins and took a short nap.
"Toothless!" Hiccup called to him later.
"Yes?"
"Everyone else flew off?"
He nodded as Hiccup came to stand beside him.
"Yes, they did."
"Alright, I'm all packed and ready to go too."
"So am I."
"Bud, you don't have to pack anything."
"Exactly."
Hiccup snorted at that.
"Maybe you are becoming a dragon," Toothless grinned at Hiccup's reaction.
Hiccup twisted one of his ears, so he pounced on Hiccup and pinned him underpaw.
"Not fair!"
"Very fair. I will not lick you, because you would get cold."
"Very considerate, bud. Thanks a lot, useless dragon..."
Hiccup shuffled on his feet as he considered her. She was resting as she frequently did on the warm rocks.
"Um, excuse me, Lightning..."
Lightning stirred and opened her bright orange eyes. She blinked away her sleepiness and lifted her head.
"Hiccup?"
"I wanted to ask you about flying and... how easy it will be... for you," he awkwardly asked.
"Because of my cub?"
"Yes, you are... carrying more weight than everyone else..."
She chuffed and curled her tail to her side.
"I can fly well enough. Getting up into the sky is harder than gliding on the wind once I am up there."
Then she warbled softly to him.
"Tell me about where we are flying."
He sat down crosslegged before her.
"What to say about that world? It really depends on where we go. It is much warmer than here. The land is green instead of brown and grey. The mountains are very tall, the plains are filled with grass, and the forests are thick with trees. The humans have a lot of livestock, uh, those are prey animals. They would be willing to share with all of you, I'm sure."
She closed her eyes and hummed softly.
"That sounds good. I want my cub to know a good, warm world of much life."
"So do I..."
Then she looked thoughtful and also wary of something.
"Hiccup, you said before that humans have ones who know how to birth cubs safely, true?"
"Yes, midwives."
She nodded, apparently having picked up that gesture from him.
"Will you do that for me?"
He blinked and barely kept his jaw from falling open at the thought of helping her with that.
"I know you and would trust you to help with it," she added.
"Well, I, uh, don't know how to help... with that, but I guess I could... learn with some help..."
She wrinkled her nose and chuffed at him.
"Why are you being tail-twisted?"
"I don't have a tail, but," he sighed, "it's just that helping with that, I will help if you want me to, is awkward..."
"Awkward? What?"
"Because I would have to be... back there where the cub... comes out..."
"So?"
He shrugged and sighed very deeply, not knowing how to explain it to her. How could he explain the ideas of modesty, propriety, shame, and...
"Touch my belly," she huffed at him.
"What?"
She rolled onto her side and exposed her belly while softly purring. He did not want to refuse her deliberate request, so he reluctantly stepped over to her side and very gently put a hand on her belly as she watched. Her hide there was much softer and more like actual skin than was the thick back that was so like scales.
"Listen with your ears..."
Amazed at what she was asking him to do, he put an ear to her belly and tried to listen, easily ignoring all other sounds around him because there were few distractions.
Then he froze when he heard a very faint thumping within.
"Do you hear the life?" she whispered.
He stared back at her wide orange eyes.
"Yes," he gasped in awe.
She purred and then yawned.
"Do not be twisted by what is good."
Then she curled her tail around to her side and lay her head down to return to rest.
It was such a strange, beautiful, and awe-inspiring experience that his head was still in the clouds as he wandered through the trees later.
To hear the heartbeat of her unborn cub...
To know that any number of Fury cubs and moms might die of complications...
That was unacceptable.
I will not let that happen. We will find women who know that stuff, and I will learn if I must!
He still rolled his eyes at one realization.
Farmers and people who tend livestock might be best to ask for help in learning about... that. Gods, what a thought...
Men did not help with childbirth in Viking culture. But he was not a Viking, and this was not a Viking culture.
The rest of the pack gradually returned throughout the day, bringing in their catches as they flew home. Moonbeam was one of the first who returned.
Hiccup approached her as soon as she touched down and dropped a mouthful of fish in the communal pile. He wanted to know why she had spoken in his favor in the pack's meeting. Her having done so was very odd. She was the last person in the pack whom he thought would have spoken on his behalf.
However, she saw him coming, left behind her catch, and dashed away into the sky to circle above the pack.
Hey... I just want to talk...
Toothless saw him staring up at the sky, and bounded over next to him. They watched the white speck rolling through the sky high above.
"She is a strong flier," Toothless hummed.
"Yeah, she is. She is still suspicious of me even after what she said. I don't get it. What do you think?"
Toothless opened his mouth to answer, but he froze, not knowing what he was feeling.
"Nothing..." he grumbled.
"So, the usual, eh bud?"
"You!"
Hiccup was tackled to the ground.
"Not again..."
"You deserve it!"
"Come on, let me up."
Toothless stepped back and let him get up.
"We should go find Breath-Of-Sky. I was playing hide and hunt with him."
Hiccup nodded and brushed off all the snow from his coat.
"Alright, seeing more of this place one more time would be good. Believe it or not, I will miss this place once we're gone."
"Why? This is too cold for you," Toothless pointed out.
Hiccup looked up the bare slope of the mountain north of the forest.
"Yeah, but it reminds me of Berk... or the good parts of Berk. There was just something about the sea stacks, the crashing waters, the mountain and forests..."
"When we were not almost crashing into them. Thank you for that..." Toothless huffed and slapped his shoulder with a wingtip.
"You're never going to forget that, are you?"
"It is hard to forget the time you almost killed us."
Hiccup facepalmed.
The entire pack had returned by mid-afternoon. The catches were eaten, and last-minute naps were had.
Flame-In-The-Night then gave a piercing roar that echoed off the mountains and woke all the sleepers from their rest. A chorus of roars and calls answered as wings rose into the sky to answer the summons. They all touched down in the clearing where the pack slept together by the base of the mountain. All the pairs, the children, Moonbeam, Mystery, and Jumps-At-Fire were all present.
Once again, Hiccup was stuck with awe at the sight of the full pack. All these Furies were going to fly in a pack from this, their home far in Northern Waste, down into the lands of humans, Elves, Dwarves, and everyone else. All because he and Toothless argued for them to do so for their own protection and for the good of the war against Sauron.
What they were going to do would surely change the world forever.
"Look at that, bud..."
Toothless purred softly as Hiccup strapped himself into the saddle after quickly checking on the tailfin and other gear.
"Pack!" Flame-In-The-Night flared his wings and stood on his hind legs, "We are flying from this range as one flight! We will try to live... in peace with the humans and help their fights because we must! Burning-Star, will you lead the flight?"
Toothless blinked in surprise and then stepped forward. The entire pack turned their eyes on him. It was slightly twisting having them all look to him to lead the flight.
Then he felt his soul-fire flare with warmth. He was here among his kin, about to lead them back into safety and hopefully peace with humans, and his kin trusted him to lead them well.
"I will!" he roared.
He jumped with a spin, ascending out of the shadow of the mountains the pack had until now lived in. The usual cold in the wind did not matter now, and he barely felt it.
Many different sets of wings took to the sky behind him as roars and calls echoed on the wind. He especially noticed how Wings-Of-Ice carried little Nightfall on his back because the cub could not fly well for any great length of time. The other cubs were quickly flying beside their sires and dams, probably trying to show off how big and strong they were.
Lightning also understandably labored to get up as quickly as the rest of the pack, but the flight became much easier for her once she got sufficient height and could start gliding more. Far off on the other side of the flight he could see Jumps-At-Fire also.
Everyone was aloft.
Then he turned for the south, frequently glancing back over his tail to ensure that the flight was keeping up. The cubs were very eager to show off their endurance to their sires and dams, and were flying circles around their kin.
They will sleep much later when we stop.
His sire, dam, and younger brother flew up around him with happy roars and wing-touches.
He never stopped purring as he flew. But he glanced back over his tail one last time at the now-distant mountains far away over the expanse of ice and snow.
That range was the place where so much had happened to him. He found his own kind, found his parents, and made a big relationship mistake in which he let his... simplest desires control him. Never again in that way.
The place where the pack settled down was a mix of good and bad, cold everywhere and hot near the water, and protected by the mountains but still unwelcoming everywhere beyond. And that was all not even thinking about the living-fire-thing sleeping deep in the cave.
There was no reason to go back to that range ever again.
So he looked ahead toward the horizon, let his thoughts fall away, and just flew, never once looking back except to check on the flight.
It was a strange feeling, being the flight-leader. He was almost acting like an Alpha for the pack, though he had no interest in being a leader for the pack.
The sun vanished over the empty horizon, letting the stars appear in the heavens. The land in all directions was nothing but short grass, dirt, snow, and the smallest of bushes. No trees, lakes, or mountains were visible. A frigid wind swept down from the flat northern plain.
All the Furies returned from relieving themselves before settling down to rest. Then the cubs bounded into a massive, tangled pile. The adults and fledglings crowded closely around them and covered them in wings.
It was a pile of warm, purring, and snoring Furies.
Hiccup crept back under Toothless's wing while Sky-Dancer, Far-Flight, and Breath-Of-Sky rested around them.
Everything was peaceful.
He was also pleased to see that Jumps-At-Fire was resting among the pack. Toothless told him before that she had trust problems that kept her unnecessarily outside the pack. Being here in strange ranges probably helped push her closer to her kin, more so even than she had been the last few weeks. She also volunteered to stay awake as the guard dragon, watching for any signs of motion. That was good for her and for everyone.
Not that there was any other life to find anywhere on this desolate plain.
Well, there were those massive wolves with the glowing eyes, but they would probably live closer to forests or somewhere they could find shelter. The empty wild here could not support much life, if any.
The flight was slow and boring as the lengths passed underwing. Then it stopped being boring.
"Play!" Breath-Of-Sky bellowed with a nip at Toothless's tail.
"What was that for!" Toothless roared.
"Playing!" Breath-Of-Sky stuck out his tongue.
"Bud, let's show them what you've got!" Hiccup cried.
Toothless roared aloud in eagerness and turned on his brother. They chased each other through the other sets of wings in the flock, spinning and diving freely, much to the amusement of the other Furies. There had not yet been much playing on this long flight.
Mystery darted in from the side and slapped Breath-Of-Sky with her tailfins. That strike let Toothless catch up to him and close his jaws on his brother's tail, sending them both plummeting with joy while Hiccup laughed aloud.
Then he let his little brother go, and they turned back for the flight above. Mystery, grinning widely, flew close to both of them. She had learned the toothless smile which so many in the pack now knew.
But Toothless felt like he was being watched.
So he looked around and noticed that Moonbeam was gliding close above them and carefully watching the play. She saw him staring up at her, and she looked away before flying on ahead.
On the one paw, she had been closely watching his flying and showing her little sister warmth. On the other paw, Moonbeam did not join in the play or do anything that might suggest bonding.
He thought he knew why. She did not approve of him or Hiccup. That was her problem.
Sky-Dancer flew over and brushed his wing, breaking his annoyance.
"Burning-Star, why do you not split your backfins?"
He blinked and warbled while Hiccup also looked confused.
"What?" "What?"
She tilted her head and flicked an ear in surprise of her own.
"You do not know that? No! No one ever showed you!"
"No? Show me what?"
"Follow!" she cried and dove for the ground.
He followed her, and they landed on the grassy and snowy plain in the middle of desolation. There was nothing but brown grass, cold mud, snow, and rock in all directions.
"Watch this," she cried.
She hopped up next to him and then wiggled her shoulders and back. Then her backfins split in half from her neck all the way down her tail.
"What! How did you do that?" Hiccup exclaimed.
Toothless bounded closer to her and stared with his jaws hanging open in shock.
Sky-Dancer toothlessly grinned and flicked her split fins several times.
"You never had one of your kin to show you, but you can split your backfins! Doing that helps you to fly better, turn faster, and do more!"
"How do I do that?" he eagerly barked and danced around her.
She hopped over to him, put a paw at the base of his neck by his shoulders, and pressed hard. It felt like a terrible sore spot melted at the touch of her paw. A warmth burned inside as muscles he had never known he had suddenly existed all along his back and tail.
"Burning-Star, look at that!" Hiccup shouted and hopped off his back.
All his fins had split in two, though the ones under the saddle were trapped and not very useful.
He stared at the split fins and wiggled them, still trying to accept what he saw.
I had no idea... but this will help me fly better!
Then the warmth flared within his soul-fire, and he pranced around Hiccup while laughing.
"Look at this!"
He clapped his backfins as well as he could.
Hiccup chuckled with a paw over his mouth.
"What!"
"That just looks so... strange," Hiccup laughed.
"Strange? I have to look at you!"
"Fair enough. One fish to you."
Sky-Dancer stifled her laughter.
"You are both twisted..." she said.
"I get it from him," Hiccup objected.
"Me? No, it is his fault..." Toothless objected.
She rolled her eyes and took to the sky.
"Toothless, you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Get on!" Toothless crouched.
And they jumped into the sky to catch up with the rest of the pack. Sky-Dancer had hung back, hovering in place to wait for them.
He immediately noticed that the flight felt different. The wind flowing over him was tighter and the drag was lesser. He tucked his wings and spun tightly around his dam, far faster and closer than he had been able to before. Split fins definitely helped him fly better!
He roared aloud his joy, and Hiccup joined in, much to Sky-Dancer's amusement.
Hiccup wrapped his cloak around himself, squared his shoulders, and stepped away from the other dozing Furies. Everyone except the Fury on guard for the pack had settled down to rest near the end of another day.
The one on guard duty just so happened to be Moonbeam. She was standing on a barren hill a short flight from the massive pile of Furies out in the open.
Perfect!
There were things he wanted to talk to her about but had not been able to yet. She had definitely been avoiding him on the flight so far.
"Moonbeam!"
She watched as he approached. Thankfully, she did not fly off or otherwise flee from him this time.
"Moonbeam, I want to talk."
She curled up, sitting down with her tailfins under her chin.
"What about?"
He sat down on a small boulder and faced her.
"Why did you speak up for me before the pack?"
"Why does it matter?" she mumbled.
"Because with how bad a human was to you before... I didn't think you would give me a chance or believe me."
She grumbled.
"I thought that humans only live to hurt and kill dragons. The first human I saw up close is the one that killed my sire and dam. You are the second one. Flame-In-The-Night and Snowfall are good Alphas, and they know how to smell rot in soul-fires. They told me to watch you in secret."
"They did?" he blinked, stunned that he had not known that.
She growled softly, though seemingly without malice.
"And I did. I watched you when you played with the cubs and the fledglings; I listened to the words you spoke to others; and I smelled your scent when you were talking to the pack. You did not smell of a lie or a trick. But..."
"But what?"
The chill wind swept across the plain.
"I do wonder if you are wrong about the other humans. What if they do not trust us? What if we stay with them and become trapped?"
"Trapped? How could they trap you?" he nervously laughed.
"Did you see anything twisted about the cubs?"
"Twisted? I don't think so."
She snorted.
"They trust others. We dark wings and light wings are pack dragons. We bond closely in the pack, and we trust much even between pairs of mates. The cubs do not truly know that humans are bad, because we have not told them all the terrible stories yet. They have not seen fighting and death as we have. They only know you, and you are not all humans. Even if the humans do not want to hurt us, I fear they will want to use us as things to ride and fly on. The cubs will trust and will not know what is happening to them as their soul-fires dim into being thralls."
"Why do you think humans would do that?"
"The Monster human did that to the hunters that attacked me. Those hunter dragons were thralls that lived only to obey the human and do its... hunting for it."
She went silent and stared off toward the pack.
"And Burning-Star, your Toothless as you call him, is trapped to you."
"I don't keep him trapped," he objected.
"Maybe not intentionally. Yes, you help him fly now with your together-flying not-tailfin. That is still a trap. He cannot hunt well, fly beyond the clouds, or... do other things he might want on his own."
He knew that it was the first time she had even hinted at possibly having any interest in Toothless as something more than just a fellow member of the pack. Under the circumstances, there being no other unattached males of her age, it was obvious why.
But there was another aspect of her possible interest that was worrying to him. It was the same feeling he had worried about when Toothless and Jumps-At-Fire had been talking.
"I wish things had been different also. Sometimes I regret what happened to him, but I would not have known him if..."
"You regret what happened? Why? What?" she interrupted.
He winced, realizing that he had just screwed up and was basically caught. She was clever and naturally suspicious anyway, and she had to know that something was being hidden from her. Keeping this knowledge from her now felt like a bad idea.
"Can you keep a secret?" he whispered.
"Yes," she huffed.
"He was shot down in fighting on the island I was from. His fall into a tree is what made him lose the tailfin. You all know that. What you don't know is that... I... I'm the one who shot him down."
Her eyes narrowed as she got to her paws and glared at him.
"You grounded him?"
"I didn't mean for that to happen. It was in fighting, and I wanted to prove myself like everyone else in my old... pack. But I couldn't... wouldn't kill him."
"Do any others in the pack know?" she hissed.
"Other than him, no. He said it isn't important now."
She closed her eyes and turned away toward the wild. Her calm silence was worrying. Even her tail was stilled.
He did not dare speak.
"Him knowing nothing of the pack's ceremonies, I understand. He did not have his sire and dam with him when he was a cub and fledgling. You are why he is not free now and why he cannot... live all of life."
He wilted slightly at her accusatory words. She couldn't or wouldn't understand or appreciate what had really happened.
"He is my family. I couldn't hurt him now. What do you want me to say? I'm sorry for what happened to him. I've told him so many times already..."
She spun as fast as lightning, too fast for him to even rear back in alarm. Her heavy breaths fell on his nose from only inches away, and her eyes were mere slits.
"There is nothing you can say! Words change nothing. If he did not need you for flight and if you were not important to him..."
He gulped.
"What? What would you do? Hurt a packmate?"
Her only answer was to flash her teeth, step back from him, and turn her back on him. He recovered himself and looked away from her, feeling the guilt inside very sharply in that moment.
A long silence followed between them as he struggled to figure out what to say.
"My wrong was to him, and he... has forgiven me even if I... have not," he weakly whispered.
"Did he ever have a choice but to forgive you?" she hissed.
"He did not need to trust me, but he did even before I tried to help him fly. I would have protected him always even if he could never fly again."
"A dragon should not need a human for anything," she countered.
"How is that different from trusting a packmate? Those in a pack need each other to help the whole pack."
She faced him and looked thoughtful as she considered his words. Her ears were up instead of swept back in anger.
"I want you dragons and the humans to be like one pack. That doesn't make either weaker or less," he explained.
"Our kinds being together might only hurt us," she grumbled.
He wanted to pull his hair out.
"And I will do everything I can to not let that happen. My loyalty is to this pack. How do you not see that?" he seethed.
She said nothing, instead just looking away from him. Frustrated with her, he spun away to return to the rest of the pack. He could almost feel her gaze following him as he left.
She was being so resistant to any change. Their conversation felt almost like many others he had with his father. She was not really listening to him. She thought she knew best and simply didn't want to hear any other perspective. Was she so stubborn that...
Then there was a rush of wings as she jumped through the air and touched down before him, spinning in place to face him.
"What now?" he shrugged.
Her purple eyes were cast down as she stared at her paws and folded away her wings.
"Hiccup, I... I am... sorry for being so cold to you. Twisted though this is, you are my packmate now. I know that you are not bad, and you do want good for us..."
Wait, is she really apologizing?
"Well, I, uh, thanks for saying that."
She eventually looked back at him; her eyes were wider and softer than they had been before.
"You did a good thing by giving Burning-Star some flight again when you made his false-tail you help him with. I see his broken tail and I... wish it were not. But he has Jumps-At-Fire to be... with him. She would not care about his being grounded."
What she meant by that was very unclear. He also apparently knew more than she did.
"No, they aren't a pair."
She stared at him without blinking.
"No?"
"Nope. He told me he doesn't want her."
She sat down on her rear and looked very surprised.
"Why not?
"He said he wanted her as a life-mate, but she didn't want that."
She looked away from him and stared at the pack. He joined her in staring toward them as he felt the exhaustion from the day and heated conversation that had settled down in the end. Evening was nearing, and that meant most of the pack would be staying together for warmth.
"Does he know what he wants?" she warbled.
"Yes, not her. It's a real shame they didn't work out."
Oddly, she snorted at that.
"Good for him," she whispered.
He wasn't sure what she meant by that. She said nothing else about that.
"So, still think I am a foul captor and a bad human?"
She blinked.
"No, you are not."
He considered trying to touch her, since she was the last Fury he had not touched. Something simple like resting a hand on her neck would show that there was truly a new level of trust between them. Further, she was sitting right beside him, close enough to touch if he reached out.
But something held him back. The other reluctant Furies had taken the initiative and nudged him first or showed that they wanted such bonding. Allowing her to do the same and take the first step felt appropriate.
"What about other humans?"
She snorted.
"They are not you. I care nothing for them. Wherever the pack flies, I will find a place away from human dens and nests."
"Even if that means being away from the pack also?"
She warbled and looked away from him.
"I hope not. I hope the pack does not fly into snap of the humans' traps and teeth."
You are being so ridiculous...
"We won't. I will let the pack know if I see any danger. Like it or not, I know humans better than anyone else in the pack," he explained.
"Maybe you do, but you must understand that we are trusting you by doing this. Let me lay a question at your paws. What if you find out that living in peace is not possible? The humans cannot be trusted to be good to us. The only safe place for us is somewhere far away from the human ranges. What would you do? Would you accept that and leave with the pack to go somewhere safer?"
She calmly posed the question, but her eyes narrowed slightly, as if this was a test... which it definitely was.
Not going to happen. No one should think that way. But since you asked...
"I am very sure that will not need to happen, but if it did... yes, I would leave with the pack. I swore an oath, and I would not leave Burning-Star grounded. I already left my old human pack because I wanted him to be safe."
She purred in open approval, her eyes widening.
"I should probably go back to sleep," he then yawned.
"Yes, go sleep. I will watch us all."
He turned back for the pack, but he paused and glanced at her once more before departing.
"Thanks for the talk, Moonbeam."
"You are welcome, Hiccup."
They volunteered for the night watch while the rest of the pack piled together on the plain. The pack had been flying for five days. Progress had been slow because of a bad storm that forced everyone out of the sky, the cubs' lesser endurance, and the need to hunt away from reliable catches of fish or other food from the ocean.
Their being alone on the night watch was also a good opportunity to talk about things that it was better that no one else overhear. Talking was not so easy up in the sky and in the chill wind.
"How much longer do you think this flight will be?" Toothless asked while hiding Hiccup from the wind.
"Hard to say. We were so lost when we were up here before. I have no idea how many days it is to the Grey or Misty Mountains."
"Those skies will be warming to see instead of this empty and cold range."
Together, they looked to the cloudy sky which was hiding the moon and shrouding the entire world.
"Yeah, it will be. I've been thinking about where to go first. We should probably meet Elrond in Rivendell and show him the pack there. We can bring the pack down along the Misty Mountains. That will keep us away from the Dwarves and humans who might be afraid at first."
Toothless grunted in agreement.
"Good thinking. We should bring Flame-In-The-Night and Snowfall with us as the Alphas to meet Elrond. What is next after that?"
Hiccup shrugged.
"Haven't figured that out yet."
Toothless chuffed, so Hiccup stared defiantly at him. They glared at each other in silence.
"Great plan," Toothless muttered and rolled his eyes.
"Alright, mister sassy, do you have a better plan?"
"No, I said yours was a great plan..."
"Yeah, right..."
They both chuckled.
"So anyway, what we do after that... well, it depends what has happened while we've been away. There are those two big human kingdoms, Gondor and Rohan. We'll probably have to go to them to introduce you Furies and let everyone know that you are good and here to join the war."
"I agree. We get to make peace be."
"Yep, hopefully we don't need to do any actual fighting, but we'll... fly those skies when we get to them," Hiccup explained.
Toothless snorted and started to answer when he heard wings in the sky. He glanced over into the night as someone touched down and bounded up to them.
Jumps-At-Fire calmly strode up to them.
"Hello Hiccup, Burning-Star."
"Hi there Jumps-At-Fire. How are you?" Hiccup cheerfully answered her.
"I am well. This flight has been long so far, but I have flown further than this before," she warmly hummed as she sat down before them.
"Really? Did you ever fly to the mountains across this plain?"
"Once. I saw bones of dragons, so I never flew back there."
"Understandable."
"What are you both talking about?" she purred.
"What we are going to do as a pack and the new ranges we will fly to," Toothless answered.
"I understand. Flying to warmer ranges with more prey will be good. Do you truly think the humans and others will trust us?"
"They will. I wouldn't have suggested this otherwise," Hiccup pointed out.
"That is fair. I believe you."
Then she turned to Toothless.
"Burning-Star, can we talk now, you and me?"
Toothless glanced at Hiccup.
"Hiccup, can you watch the pack for me?" Toothless asked after a moment.
Hiccup got to his feet.
"Sure. I'll head back to the pack. Don't be gone too long though."
"Okay, I will not be gone long."
He glanced back over his shoulder at the two Furies. They were naturally hard to see in the dark.
Part of him was curious what they were going to talk about, but it was not truly his business. They had been talking about being mates, so maybe this was related to that... somehow.
Only time would tell. Toothless would surely tell him if there was anything important he needed to know.
Toothless hopped to his paws and followed Jumps-At-Fire out into the darkness further from the pack. His soul-fire was twisted, both warm and cool at the same time, as he walked with her. They had shared many warming talks that let him see into her life-flight. They had also given each other much... pleasure in ways that felt good at the time but which he would not do again if he knew then what he knew now. He was sure that this was the time to tell her the truth, since she was likely to offer herself again.
Not that being sure made this any easier to do.
"How are your wings, Jumps? Do they hurt from the long flight?"
"No. Remember that I fly long flights on my own. This is not bad."
He stopped and sat down on his rear.
"True. What did you want to talk about?"
She walked in front of him and similarly sat down with her tail curled around her front paws.
"You know what I want to tell you. I am past my cub-making time."
He looked down at his paws while wondering how to do this. It might not be possible to say what was needed without hurting her some. Then he took a deep breath and looked back up at her grey and silver eyes.
"Jumps, we need to truly talk about that."
"What is there to say?"
"I... see a problem with us."
"A problem?"
He stepped up to her and rested his nose against hers while purring softly. Then he stepped back from her.
"Being with you has changed my life in a good way. You gave me a warmth I did not have before, and even though I am grounded you did not turn your tail on me."
She purred at that.
"We need to stop mating," he added.
She blinked and tilted her head in obvious shock and surprise. She struggled to say anything for many wingbeats.
"What? Why?"
"Because I learned that we want different warmths in life. I think you know that in your soul-fire."
"You... do not want me?" she whined and leaned back from him.
"Jumps, it is not truly that. I... you are a very beautiful female, and I want you to be happy and warm in life."
"So let us stay as we are! Is it not warming and good? I want that with you!"
So she might have some small desire to remain with him as they had been before, but that did not change his decision. Doing more of the same would not be good for him or her.
"Jumps, I want a life-mate who will be mine only, and I will be hers only. I want cubs of my own. And I would not let having a cub be a trap for my life-mate any more than it would be for me. Do you not see the problem for us?"
"I..." she closed her eyes and looked away from him.
He waited patiently for something to happen: whether it be her trying to flame him, roar at him, strike him, plead with him, or accept his words. He could not control her reaction.
"Yes, I do..." she eventually whispered.
That was a good admission by her.
"Jumps, you have been hurt much by the past, and your thinking is twisted by that."
"You said you would not judge me..." she hissed.
He sighed. She was missing the point entirely.
"I am not judging you as bad or rotted. I want to tell you what I see because it might help you be warmer. Will you hear my words?"
She glanced back at him with narrowed eyes, but she did not do anything aggressive.
"Talk."
He nodded with a soft hum.
"My sire told me this about freedom. It is a choice not made yet. Having freedom is like being in flight to fly somewhere but the wind is so fast that you cannot fly into it. You are hovering in place, but you never go anywhere. But it also means that you have not made a wrong choice yet. I think you want the warmth of having a life-mate, but you are afraid to trust because you lost one before. Did you and he do much bonding?"
Her faint gasp was all he needed to hear.
"You did. That is why you feared bonding with me. You also regret the cub that... was not let live."
She spun away and stared into the darkness. He remained silent, preferring to let her speak next.
"Is that it? Rejected even by you?" she groaned.
"I cannot be with you because you will not give me what I want. Not now. Do you understand that I do want you to be happy?"
"You would stay with me if you wanted me happy."
"No, you would not be happy with that. Hiding from your problems does not make you happy. Our life-flights touched and then flew apart because we do not want the same warmth out of life. If I knew that we did, then... this would be different now."
He fell silent and waited for her to answer. She eventually looked back over at him with her eyes looking very heavy and tired.
"There are no other males in the pack who will have me. Without you I will always be alone..." she said.
"And you will be free."
"That is..." she snarled and winced, "what if that is not what I always want?"
"What do you mean?"
"What if... I do want a life-mate and... cub later?"
He respected that she was not claiming to have such wants right now. It would have been very hard to believe that she had truly changed so quickly. Her claiming to have changed would only have been a lie.
"If you truly want to join life-flights with me and have cubs with me, then I would have you after I see into your life-flight and know that you truly want that."
"And if you are already mated to another?"
"I would be hers only."
She deeply exhaled and hung her head without whining.
"Burning-Star, I... should... go," she eventually sighed.
"Jumps, you can hate me if you want."
She looked up at him with a faint shine in her eyes. He could not tell if she had been crying, or if that shine was just the faint moonlight.
"I do not hate you, Burning-Star. You were... honest. I am sorry if I hurt you."
"You did not. I hurt myself by not knowing what I wanted first."
She turned away and walked off, tail dragging behind her, toward the pack. He watched her go until she passed Hiccup, arrived at the outside of the pack, lay down, and hid her head under a wing.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
That could have gone worse.
He looked away from her and beheld the bright moon, now having flown out from behind the dark clouds.
There was no great feeling of lift and liberation now that he had broken their... false-pairing apart. No, he had broken nothing because there was nothing to break. There was nothing between them except a lie and a shadow of what should have been.
Doing this had been necessary and the best choice for himself and also for her, but that did not mean it hurt less to do. She was also right that he was her only option for attention or for a mate even if she ever wanted that. That was assuming that none of the other paired, committed males would be false to their mate by being with her also.
He started for the pack when he saw that Hiccup was still awake, standing alert on guard duty and certainly aware that she had just returned alone and unhappy. He had been keeping the truth from Hiccup, and it was likely that Hiccup would have questions which were difficult to answer.
He deserves to know the truth. Hopefully he does not hate me.
Resigned to whatever followed, he got to his paws and started for Hiccup.