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Their wings were like jewels in the sky, flashing azure and crimson, vermillion and amethyst, they were every color that could be imagined, that would be imagined, that had been imagined as they overlapped one another and twisted through the sky. They did not pump their wings with true ease, they certainly weren't graceful or easy as they fought the currents, but that would come with time. They were young still and their youth gave them a sort of beauty as the adults roared their approval from below, the sounds swelling on the air as if they would take the fledglings aloft if they faltered and failed. None roared so loudly as Alaine as he reared up onto his haunches and stretched his neck out as far as it would go, not daring to close his eyes as he watched one dashing little blue and green dragonet struggling to get his wings righted.

His sibling was already higher up, the lighter female able to conquer her wings more easily and she was already struggling to get her wings working to circle, her sister beside her with the rest of the females. Only his son was struggling to get aloft, but most of the drakes were, their heavy bodies made flight rough for them as they pumped steadily higher towards those that had taken to the sky as a precaution. Alaine roared out again as young Asherekkan surged higher in the air, reflecting the blue of the sky in a startling pattern. He was doing well, his muscles built up from the last few months of working them on the ground and doing controlled glides, but now the sky itself was opening up to him. His daughters flitted higher up, his eyes shifted to watch them, the smallest one struggling to keep abreast of her larger sister.

"They're flying well." Rowan's voice made him nod his head, just a touch before dropping down to his haunches, his tail tip lashing hard enough that he heard a few people shifting behind him. "Be easy, Amber is ready to help them if they falter."

The doe's light hand touched his foreleg as he swayed his head back and forth. It was easy to realize that his mate would snatch up the little ones if they lost their battle with the sky, but it was another to see them rising higher and higher. Around him wings were starting to spread open, he could feel the breeze tickling along his forelegs and curling beneath his belly as a few of the adults took to the sky to follow up the former hatchlings. Alaine's own wings twitched in sympathy, but he kept them in place, half thanks to the leather that bound them there, well out of the way from being bumped or rattled about.

"He is still small." Alaine rumbled and swung his head down to his friend, worry tainting his words. "So very small."

"Not as small as some." Rowan pointed out with a slight smile. "He's doing well, don't worry so much. You're as bad as Oake."

The name made the drake turn his eyes towards the figure perched high near the cliff, not quite near them, but he wouldn't come down while his mother was here. Oake had grown, far more rapidly than his own clutch and he was now a young satyr with a body that was more adult than lanky youngster. The fur along the edge of his jaws had started to grow heavier, his horns curling backwards, though they had yet to reach the heft of a true adult. His ears were twitched up high in the air, his head cast back and watched the sky greedily, only his wagging tail displaying his excitement. If he could have been, he would have been aloft with Amber, but she had gone up unencumbered in case she had to catch a wayward hatchling. Alaine felt a twinge, he wanted to have the youngster here beside him, a need to keep the young buck safe, but he had buried it for Rowan's sake.

Oake was staying well away from Rowan as of late, though it wasn't for lack of affection, he was growing up and that meant he was getting to an age where he would have to strike out on his own. Adult satyrs were extremely independent, he had seen that much when it came to Rowan's mate, but seeing it in the little fawn made him feel for his friend. Rowan could hide the hurt from most, but he could see the way that she watched her son, yearning for him even as she maintained the distance desired. Had she mated again and had another fawn, she might have been more relaxed, but she had confided in him that she had never gone into season. Nine years and she had yet to have another fawn, and none of the healers knew why exactly.

Alaine shifted, his tail curling lightly around the doe before turning his head back to the flying youngsters and watched as one by one they found the thermals high above to spread their wings over and rest. As Ashe found his own thermal, Alaine breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. His young drake was flying well, sweeping his wings down a few times before stretching them out to glide in a smooth circle.

"There, you see?" Rowan stroked his foreleg lightly. "He's fine, they're all fine. A good start to the summer, isn't it?"

"Yes, a good start. And next year will be better." He inclined his head part of the way and gave her a light push with his muzzle.

"I have a feast to prepare for you gluttons." The doe stood and stretched a bit. "Half the archipelago has come to see this, we'll be lucky to have enough food for everyone."

"Not half." Alaine protested, moving his tail and looking around. "Just some representatives from every group, but not half."

"When you've worked the kitchens, you can speak to me of the true numbers!" Rowan called back to him as she took to the rocks lightly, her tail flicking ever so often. "I've been cutting, baking and cooking for days now."

Alaine only rumbled back with amusement towards her before returning his gaze to the sky. His offspring, his children, and they were soaring in a sky that was safe for them, guarded and protected. There were no monsters in the night to snatch their parents away. The thought brought a shadow over his thoughts and he turned to look at Oake with a pang before heaving himself up onto all fours. The young buck was growing more restless, eager to prove himself, wanting to get out in the wide world and chafing under the small territory that made up the interior island that they lived on. To a dragon, the territory was quite pleasant and large enough for them to thrive, but most dragons flew to nearby islands to hunt or to stretch their wings. Alaine couldn't, but he was content here, he had all he needed and more in this place, a home, a life, a mate, a family.

Every youngster has to fly sometime. _ A voice murmured into his thoughts, his nagging conscience tugging at him as he heaved himself up onto all fours and gave a short shake of his tail. _But I don't have to let them fly without something to catch them, at least... not at first.

_ _

This was a new land, a combination of so many islands and peoples that were thrown together. The euphoria and newness still remained, people still hunted for their families, they still scrambled to rebuild their home and trade routes. Alaine didn't understand a fourth of what needed done, though he was consulted as a matter of course, he was only grateful that he had advisers that could give him the answers that needed to be handed out. Eventually the newness would fade and the clashes would begin in truth. Ruoro had spoken about it, Rowan had, even Amber had told him that when things were finally settled and at peace, there would be issues and he would have no answers. There would have to be new leaders, young leaders, raised with an understanding of the various peoples and the cultures.

Amber had suggested Oake, or rather, his mate had nearly smacked him in the nose when he had refused to see the obvious. The young fawn had been raised in the midst of dragons, he had seen humans and elves and otters, dryads and even some of the illusive creatures of the sea. He was fearless in the air or on the ground, though his fearlessness could be spoken of as a flaw. If he was allowed to drift as he had been, he would likely run away from the chafing of being in one place, but if it could be redirected. Alaine's eyes flickered towards his fledglings, his stomach churning as they made a clumsy attempt to get to the earth again. One day they would lead, if they were canny and strong, he would have to teach them about the outside world eventually.

_It was so easy when Oake was simply a tiny fawn, or when they were still too small to even walk a dozen paces without falling asleep. _ He sighed softly to himself and gave his head a shake. The world was changing, he had to be ready to answer that change.

_ _

~ ~ * ~ ~

"Try again! H'You can do better!" The taunting call made Oake flip his ears flat back against his head and he settled his haunches back, tensing his muscle as he watched the leaping flames.

The wine was coursing through him, not as strong as what others drank, but enough to give him a heady sensation of flying as he launched himself forward, his hooves scuffed against the dirt before he gave a great leap upwards. The laughter and bugles of the young dragons beside the fires urged him on as he took the bonfire, feeling the heat singing along the edges of his hooves as he cleared the lapping tops and threw his weight forward. He didn't give into the urge to land neatly, that wasn't the game, he had to go the furthest without running. The young buck tucked his head down until his muzzle was nearly on his stomach and dipped forward as he landed, his shoulders going tense just as he hit the ground with a resounding crack that rattled his head hard enough he saw sparks dancing in front of his eyes. One roll, two, three and he came to a stop, his ears ringing as he kicked up dust and heard laughter and applause surrounding him.

"Not fair! Not fair!!!" One of the human's protested, a younger fellow that was half a head shorter than he was. "He used his horns! That's just like the dragons using their wings."

"H'it h'is not!" Oake stood up with a shake, grateful for said horns as he saw the impact they'd made on the ground. He'd meant to roll on them, not crash head first into the ground. "H'I didn't need horns to roll, H'I just landed badly."

"It still shouldn't count! I couldn't do that or I'd get a broken neck." The human glared a little, before one of the dragonets smacked out with a wing and laughed.

"Not if you rolled right, you wouldn't. Oake just has a hard head." Darshen rumbled and winked brightly. "Next! Oake, you fell short the record, but you're still in the lead."

Oake grinned and winked as he moved back into the crowd and tried not to rub his head. There were other young bucks in the crowd, he wasn't going to let them see how badly his head was pounding, especially not in front of the does. He grinned at one in particular, noticing that she was watching him as he flopped down with Asherekkan and his sisters, Jalia and Orobus. The young drake made room with a grin, his eyes so large that they looked ready to pop out as one of the older drakes began to make ready to make the bonfire jump. It would be several years before Ashe was ready to join in the games to impress the females, he was growing, but he was still small and slight of frame. It made Oake feel protective of the young male, though Ashe was easily the size of one of the humans' horse. He had seen the drake and his sisters hatch, though, he had grown up with them and been their big brother. He had no intention of letting anyone pick on them.

"Where are the otters at?" Ashe's voice was soft as he went tense, the drake running was a glossy black with wings that were fringed in silver. "Papa said that they'd be here tonight."

"H'I don't know. Perhaps they were delayed, h'you know how the currents h'are." Oake grinned back with a wag of his tail. "H'Ask Rowan, she keeps track."

"You should call her Mama." Ashe frowned slightly and let his tone convey a hint of disapproval. "She's still your mother."

A few of the does grinned over at him, their eyes large and amused while Oake flushed down along the bare parts of his chest and didn't try to argue the point with his friend. The disapproval from the clutch of dragonets had been growing ever since he'd started getting uncomfortable around his mother. It wasn't that he didn't care for her, he truly did, but there was a time and place for such care and he was nearing the age where he could have territory of his own, claim does of his own if he managed to be strong enough, he couldn't stay with her forever. Even Alaine had begun to be disapproving, hinting strongly that he had been raised better than to ignore his mother even if he was growing up. And, if he were being truly honest with himself, there was a touch of guilt attached in knowing that she really only had the Otterkin now that he was gone. And Alaine.

It wouldn't have been so bad if he had a chance to strike out on his own, if he had enough room to actually get away from her and the rest for a few days. The few times that they visited Canth he yearned for those open places and rolling hills. He would have visited her more often if he only had that space, but here.... Today was a grand event a feast and festival all rolled into one, but when everyone left he would be stuck here with only a handful of older does that claimed this place as home and the rest of the land taken by the dragons. Alaine had offered to share his territory, but even that chafed at him as Rowan was often with the drake. He wanted a chance to be himself, and that wasn't happening here.

His thoughts were cut off by the nagging sense that there was something not right. He normally reacted with more speed, but he had been brooding instead of paying attention. There was a sense of movement behind him, something was shifting and he jerked up, but not in time to save himself as chaos erupted behind and beside him.

"PAPA!" The trilling noise and the sudden smack of a wing made Oake yelp out and duck, his head going down low as one of the girls lunged up onto all fours and leaped forward.

The gathering went quieter and the human who had been about to jump the fire stopped his run and scrambled back guiltily. Alaine came down along the rocks eerily silent for something such heavy scales and large talons, but the drake had learned to be quiet when it called for it. The only reason any of them even realized he was approaching was the fact he had made it a game stalking them as they grew up. As far back as Oake could recall, the red drake had been hunting him down in the brush and caves, teaching him to listen, to never fully relax, to always be ready. His children were much the same, and the girls bubbled up around him, flaring their wings excitedly as Alaine picked his way through the group.

Oake felt the familiar stirrings of emotions that had become stronger as he grew older. Pride in his friend, his father-figure, his brother, Alaine was all those things tossed into one. His mother had raised him, but Alaine had shaped him. He had grown up tending eggs in the nest, of fighting Amber in dark corners and pretending to be fierce, Alaine had taught him how to swim in the water and how to always be prepared to defend himself. Rowan had taught him how to be a satyr, but Alaine had taught him more about who he was. But, beside the pride there was embarrassment as the golden eyes turned to him and warmed with affection, love, and tenderness, emotions that he still enjoyed, but also made him want to squirm out from under the honest emotion in those eyes.

"You should all be enjoying the feast, Ruoro and his kin are here, they are bringing in the boats and preparing to sing." Alaine rumbled, settling onto his haunches with his head tilted slightly to one side to regard them all.

"But we're enjoying it here, Papa." Ashe settled onto his haunches, mimicking his father perfectly as he curled his tail about his front paws. "We can listen from up on the heights."

"Perhaps, they can do so, but this is in honor of you three and all the ones that flew." Alaine lowered his nose to push against his son's shoulder lightly. "Your mother is looking for you, besides."

The normal protests came from the dragonets and Oake grinned a bit. Sometimes they seemed so adult like given their size, but they were still quite young and one by one they managed to leave with their tails dragging behind them. He could see some of the younger young male's eying Alaine, especially the drakes. With each passing year, his story became more of a legend, sometimes Oake wondered if they ever really saw the dragon behind his story.

"You too, Oake." Alaine tilted his head down and gave the buck a look that made him instinctively bristle. "I have to talk to you this evening."

"H'I can talk later." He asserted himself, as much as he loved Alaine he sometimes felt as if the older dragon looked at him as if he were some sort of pet instead of a thinking adult. "H'I'm winning this round h'already."

"Perhaps, but I have some things to discuss that you might be interested in. Unless you'd prefer to stay here when the ships launch tomorrow." Alaine pushed himself to all fours, the cracking his bones heard as joints popped, though he gave no sign of being in any discomfort.

"H'I'm going with them?" His ears snapped up as Alaine gave a lazy grin and turned around, he knew he didn't have to say anything else to get Oake's attention. Any attempt at retaining his dignity was lost with the knowledge that he might, just might, be able to strike out on his own after all.

~ ~ * ~ ~

Alaine tried to hide how upset he was as he padded along the path that led towards the beach, his ears catching the sound of Oake following. Instinct screamed at him to keep the little satyr close to him, he wanted to keep the boy locked in a cave if only it would keep him safe, but the lad was too young to keep safe here any longer. He could see it in the way that Oake had begun to grow more withdrawn, more melancholy, and it would only get worse as time went on. How could it not? He was ready to set out in the world, but Alaine had no intention of letting the lad set off unprotected and without a mentor to keep him in line.

The drake tried to subdue the feelings of unease and outright fear that came with letting Oake off their home island. Out in the large world there were enemies, there were soldiers that would quite gleefully try to kill or enslave the young buck. The elves still warred outside of the barrier, though they were forbidden to return here and had adhered to that, there was always the chance that they would break the treaty and try to move the war from their own lands back to a place they had little to lose if it were ravaged by blood and magic. He had absolutely no illusions about what they would do if they found his little fawn, they would use him as a bargaining chip or worse. Alaine struggled with the need to protect the satyr and the knowledge he was doing him no kindness if he did.

In the past years, he had struggled through his own prejudices and fears. Elves still lived here, though not exclusively. Riders that had stayed with their dragons had grown here, some young, some older, but he had been forced to live with them no matter how he felt. Some, in the first year or two, had fled with their dragons or been ousted as they had spent time trying to usurp his authority and worked to recruit younger dragons to join the war efforts. Those that remained, Alaine grudgingly agreed they had earned the right to. They had worked alongside many species, and struggled to clean up their island, they struggled to fit in, even when their own society had not prepared them for this life. He still regarded them with suspicion, but every year it faded as they made no attempt to take up arms or dominate the other species'.

"When did they bring in THAT?!" Oake's voice was high pitched and excited as Alaine led him to a cropping of rough rocks just off the shore.

He couldn't stop a smile from curling his muzzle as he looked out over the rocky shores of his homeland, and the ship that was harbored out in the bay. There was no way it could come closer to shore, the sheer size of it made it impossible. When the dust of the last battle had settled and their homeland was taken, Alaine had found himself possessed of a certain amount of wealth taken from the elves. It was strange for him to have something that could be spent on luxuries, certainly Rowan and Ruoro had spent several days trying to explain what it meant. Eventually he had grasped it, but he hadn't needed much for himself. His reputation had grown, and he hadn't even had to fight to claim a lair of his own, a nesting spot that was secluded and low to the ground, but still defensible. He had entrusted the coin to the otterkin instead and commissioned a one of a kind ship, something Rowan had blanched at when the price had been settled.

"That, is my ship." Alaine's chest swelled slightly as he regarded the bobbing vessel in the darkness. It was large, far larger than any of the otterkin's vessels, but that was the point.

"That's more than h'a ship!" Oake's voice was breathless and Alaine could see his tail wagging in a tell tale mark of excitement along the curve of his haunches.

It was longer than it was broad, with a tapered at each end, but belled out in the middle to allow for a substantial deck. The deck had been designed dipped down right in the middle between the two main masts, large enough for a dragon to settle down without fear of tipping over the ship. There had been half a dozen changes made to the design of the thing so that it could allow him to ride on the waves instead of within them. There were support lines of woven fibers and metal that ran along one side of the ship, the iron rings driven through the wood so that the lines could be tied off to allow the ship to remain braced when he crawled over the edge. It was his one indulgence, but it was something that made him feel flushed with pride as he watched the ship bobbing on the waves.

He could swim in the oceans, after enough time he had become at home in the waters, but he had a limit on how far he could go. He had to flit from island to island, from perch to perch, he couldn't sleep well in the water, nor could he remain there indefinitely without water. The Chasson was his answer to that, a vessel that would give him the ability to travel beyond the realm of his home and allow others to accompany him. The Otterkin named it Chasson after a legend about a great sea serpent, and he was happy to have it remain that way. He rather enjoyed the image of a dragon designed for the water, powering beneath the waves like he should have done on the wing.

"We set sail tomorrow, and I would like you to come with us. You will see more of the world and it is time that you leave here." Alaine rumbled as he watched the distance figures running along the ship, otterkin and human, no one else would want to go on a long voyage. "We're leaving the archipelago entirely."

"The h'elves?" The satyr's voice was softer and the drake shifted slightly, his tail curling just a touch. All his life, Oake had been told of the dangers of the elves on the mainland. "H'Are they returning?"

"No, when they first came here, there was an exodus on our island and others, people were driven out and forced south by the war." Alaine settled down on his belly, lowering his head so that it was even with the buck's. "Most were dragons, not all, but most. It is time to bring them home."

"H'And h'I'm going with?" Oake's voice had a tremor of excitement. "Where? H'Are there h'islands?"

"Yes, you'll be coming with me." Alaine shifted his bound wings uncomfortably. "Ruoro is coming, a human named Balio, and one of the elves. Each will be a representative of their species, and we will not be going to any islands. From what the otterkin say, there's a rather large country to the south, one that is nearly always cold no matter what the season. It is vast, but I believe we can locate those we're looking for without much issue. It is time for them to know they can return home."

"H'Is Rowan coming?" A hesitancy was in the satyr's tone, even as the small male stepped forward and strained to see through the darkness to look at the ship.

"No, she will help Amber with the youngsters." Alaine shifted his gaze to the beach where the bouncing eager dragonets as the feast was in full swing. "It's time you learned about the larger world, as you've reminded and asked often. You're... young and still able to learn, you aren't tarnished by the past as many of us are. I want you to join us and learn, to understand our cultures and how they were before the war."

"H'It was different, H'I remember my lessons. H'All h'of the species' didn't h'intermix so much." Oake shrugged a little, though he was still eager looking as he dropped down to perch on a rock.

"It is more than that. Our cultures were separate, entirely. I have no reason to believe it has changed with those that escaped and it will take time to have them understand what we've built here. We bought it with blood and shared suffering, something they have not undergone with us." He rumbled, tipping his head back. "You will learn about them, listen to us as we talk with them and invite them to return home."

"That doesn't sound like h'it will be h'any different than here." Oake accused and hopped down the rocks with the surety of any satyr on rough terrain.

"It will be, little goatling. But you have spent your life with change, perhaps you will be able to bend more easily than I." The dragon began to follow him down the rocks, staring out at the rocking ship pensively.

_This is the right thing to do. It must be done. _ He assured himself, and like before, he wondered if he were only whistling in the dark to startle away the monsters. To come face to face with dragons older than he was, wiser, unscarred and hampered by war....