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The Suneater was tended to first as the flyers all moved him to somewhere safe, sitting him up in the shade and nursing his wounds. Oddclaw helped despite his reluctance as he used his fleshy sling to prop the broken bone and stabilise it against his damaged wing. Whilst the membrane would heal it seemed likely that the bone would never recover, possibly grounding the great beast for the rest of his life. But at the very least he could soothe his pain as what followed after was a night of happiness amongst the tribe of flying beasts. Moonclaw had her opportunity to rest, the flyers' leader was recuperating from her sickness more with each hour and Oddclaw was slowly approprating himself to the skyflesh and their ways. He even cleaned up all the spent shotgun shells lying around the mountain from his previous fight, pocketing them into his now-empty pouch where the water bottle had been.

The sky clan nested largely on the cliffs or in high altitudes but for the most part they ate fish, scouting the seas for the freshest meats as their strongest-winged hunters flew back and forth to gather food for their families. The raptors were given some of the fish they caught that day as gratitude for their efforts with Oddclaw sitting rather awkwardly next to the Suneater, his towering presence casting a shadow over him still. Moonclaw sat with the elder and her guards opposite of him, the grand caldera of the mountain peak now brimming with dozens upon dozens of squawking shrieking clamouring bodies in various vivid patterns on their backs and wings. The sun cast its rays of glowing crimson across the Skylands, turning the mountains into warm amber like fire frozen in time. It was a beautiful image for them to see as they gnawed on fish stripping them clean with great care not to eat the small bones inside.

"Can you feed me that fish please?" asked the Suneater.

"Oh, yes."

Oddclaw took one of the larger fish and held it up towards the Quetzalcoatlus, catching it in his beak to pull his food in with a sudden gulp. The sight of the thick bulge distending down his long slender throat gave the raptor a disturbing thought at how close he had been to becoming that.

"MMmGLK...GLLLK...mmmm...thank you."

"I...I am sorry about your wing."

"Hah, it is fine, you are a good hunter, I did not expect you to survive against me!"

"You were quite the beast! You almost swallowed me!"

"Hahaha, you would not be the first hunter I ate, but certainly the first to escape!"

"Well, hah, I am happy to have that honour."

"Your firestick is impressive too. Without that you would surely have died against me."

"Oh no, no, it is thanks to Moonclaw I survived."

"UM WULL YUU KNU UT!" she cried with mouth full of fish. "GLLK! P-aaaaah...your fire can only get you so far Oddclaw."

"I never said it could! I told you it had its limits!"

"If you stopped losing your grasp of it then yes."

"She is right," said Suneater, "you need to find a way to never lose your grip of it."

"Hmmm," murmured Odd, "you are right...perhaps I should skin another egg thief and make some sort of...catch to it."

"There is a good idea! It helps me certainly."

Suneater demonstrated with a slight creak of his shattered wing, decrepit but no longer hanging off him like severed flesh as Starstone felt her voice return back to her.

"I must admit, I have never seen any beast wield fire such as you."

"It is a gift of the hairless warmbloods. Do you know of them?"

"Ohhhh yes, the ones in the shining mountain. They always look up at us whenever we fly past, such curious things."

"Do you know how long they have been here?"

"Mmmmm fifteen-and-one cycles I believe, though I do not know what that would be to you hunter."

"I do not know either. Thank you for the fish, it is delicious."

"Haha, I can tell you are uncomfortable."

"I am...sorry I know I have no reason to-"

"Why do you hate us?"

A young flyer came forwards with his own small fish, gulping it down whilst flapping his soft blue and yellow wings as he asked this question, much to the elder's dismay.

"Stonesea, please."

"I want to ask him grandmother."

"I do not think it is right to force him."

"I can ask him, I do not have to make him."

"They are guests here, please."

"If they are guests then why does he hate us?! I can smell his fear, he is not happy even with all this food and our kindness, I want to know why!"

"Stonesea, you must understand-"

"Do you want to know?"

Oddclaw said this feeling a sense of guilt, rubbing his claws for a confession.

"I will tell you, if you wish."

"I want to know. Because I do not know why you would say those awful things about us, even if you healed my grandmother, you...you wanted to kill us! You tore Suneater's wing!"

"I do not need your defence," said the giant flyer, "every battle I face I must accept the loss of some part of me."

"But I want to ask him! Hunter, why do you hate us? Why did you say those things to us?"

The raptor sighed deeply knowing he was put on the spot, the gaze of a dozen skyflesh surrounding him like a jury.

"...when I was a hatchling...twelve cycles after I was born, I was hunting with my older brothers, Sunscreech and Fishclaw along the lake. We travelled far, beyond our home and it became an adventure for us. My brothers were teaching me to hunt and Fishclaw knew how to hunt for, well, fish."

"Really? I did not think your tribe hunted fish."

"We do not prefer it, but Fishclaw had incredible skill, catching the fish in the lake and trying to teach us. We were not good at it, Sunscreech does not like fish and I...my claws kept slipping and I always fell into the water, they laugh but we have fun. But then there came shadows across the land. The skyflesh came...three-and-two of them. They grabbed me and t-took me up in-...into the sky."

The fear came back in his scent, radiating strongly as Moonclaw realised along with the rest of the flyer group.

"I-i-i was...far above the world I was...it was f-frightening...I was so frightened...they would drop me, make me think I was about to die and fall to the earth but just grab me and throw me between them...l-like I w-was...l-like a plaything. I h-hated it, I screamed for mother, I begged my brothers to help and...Sunscreech was next, they tried to lift him but he was heavy, he fought back and Fishclaw too, but they could not reach me. I was taken to a nest, somewhere...west of us. I was so f-frightened..."

He covered his head and gently rocked himself, hearing the wind rush inside his ears.

"I did not know if they wanted to eat me or just p-play with me but my brothers came to save me. Sunscreech fought them, killed them, twisted their necks whilst Fishclaw carried me on his back."

"Tha-...that is awful," mewled Stonesea. "I...I cannot think any of us who would do such a horrible thing!"

"I...F-fishclaw kept me safe, he was a good brother. Sunscreech came back covered in blood, and he told me...he......he was the one that told me all skyflesh are like this. It happened to him when he was a hatchling, that they are all vile horrid beasts that care only to make others suffer...I had no reason to think he lied to me and he told me that 'the only way to survive in this world is to be strong. To kill and dominate...to tear apart your enemies and prove that you shall not be their plaything, nor their victim."

He fell silent, feeling a great shame start to overcome him upon realising who had infected him with such hatred. His words felt hollow, empty on realising they were not his own until he felt Stonesea's beak nuzzle against his hand.

"I am sorry for what happened to you. Whoever did this to you, they were bad flyers and I-i know we may not seem different to you but...we do not want to hate you. We only want to live in peace, like you do."

"Tha-......tha-tha, th-th-thank you. Stonesea was it?"

"Yes."

"...you...do not speak like a hatchling."

"Heehee, mother says that I am wise like grandmother but, I do not think I am."

"I was not wise when I was young as you, so I think your mother is right. Thank you, again."

The young flyer smiled happily, reassuring the raptor who now felt his demons had been more firmly exorcised as they continued to eat. Moonclaw and him were invited to sleep at the matriarch's home sheltered from the wind to which they gladly accepted. The real reason for this was for Starstone to speak more formal to the two raptors.

"You are travelling home?"

"Yes," replied Moonclaw. "Rather I am taking him back to his tribe."

"And what of you my dear?"

"I...hah, I have no family, I will find my place in this world."

"You hail from the Death Nest I see."

"Yes," the raptor female blinked with startlement, "h-how...did you know?"

"I know the smell of your tribe, fire and ash, not a pleasant mix. I am sorry for what happened to your family."

"It is fine. I am glad you are recovering."

"That old fool Seagazer cannot keep away. I told him I was not interested, can you imagine a flyer and a longneck breeding, it would be absurd!"

"Well, he loves you. Why not be with him?"

"I am old!" cried the matriarch with wings spread aghast. "I can barely fly as it is!"

"You could get one of your flyers to send messages back and forth!"

"PAH! Whoever heard of sending messages across the sky, what would be the point if they do not hear it from your own beak?!"

"The hairless do that," said Oddclaw raising a claw to his mouth, "they have these stones they put to their ear and talk to, sending their message along to someone else."

"What?! HHhahahaha, ohohoho dear I think you are still dazed from the battle with Suneater, whoever heard of a stone that can send messages?!"

He decided not to argue, the guards saying nothing with stoic impression either side of them at the cave entrance, stiff yet resplendent with blood-red wings like gargoyles of sin.

"Thank you for letting us stay," added Moonclaw.

"Do not fear hunter, we may have started badly, but tomorrow you shall leave as friends. For your great kindness in healing me, I pardon you both and welcome you back anytime to our humble nest."

"I...thank you, we are most grateful for your feeding and letting us sleep amongst you."

"Now, Moonclaw was it? I am curious to ask, when you have no family to return to, what will become of you?"

"Well, as I said, I will find my own place."

"Why not stay with him?"

Both hunters looked at each other with a nervous grin.

"I-i did not want to impose," said Oddclaw.

"Oh you pitiful hatchlings, do not be swayed by formality, if you two wish to be with each other do so!"

"I...I-i-i it is not that I do not WANT to, but I want to see my family first."

"Of course."

"And I must ask for their consent," added Moonclaw.

"Indeed."

"I had no intention of imposing myself on his family."

"Then why travel with him?" said the matriarch gesturing her wing between them.

"I...did not want to see him wandering alone."

"Well...that explains it, you must care for him."

"Yes, I do!"

"Enough that you crossed the entire world from the Shining Mountain to our very Skylands all for one beast?! I think you are past the point that it is but simple kindness."

Her struggle to defend herself vocally was stifled by embarrassment as she caught a look from Oddclaw who smiled at her gently.

"I am grateful to her," replied the male, "she did not have to come with me but she did, and her kindness I will never forget. Wherever she may roam after I am home, I wish her all the best."

The humility seemed to set him at ease, despite the elder rolling her eyes at this attempt.

"Ohhhh surely you are not THAT blind are you? ...but, no matter, it is not my business. I must sleep, goodnight to both of you."

"Goodnight, leader Starstone."

With bow of respect, they soon retired to their resting place as Oddclaw felt surprisingly comfortable amongst the horde of flyers now roosting beneath the twilight hour. Their eyes closed in peace, the squawking of the nesting colony now muted ever further into the night as Oddclaw could feel this ache of excitement burning up in him. It was the taste of home, the softest breeze that he was almost certain was that of his family, calling him back. The next morning they awoke to a fresh new start bursting with energy, the young flyer from last night greeting them as his clan hovered across the piercing altitudes.

"Good morning hunters!"

"Oh, good morning Stonesea."

"Did you sleep well?"

"We did thank you!"

"Would you like some fish before you leave?"

"We would love that thank you!"

He called to one of the guards still posted at his family lair, who brought back two sumptuous carps for the raptors to snack on. They were soon stripped of all their skin until the barest of ragged bones remained behind as Stonesea asked:

"Where are you headed?"

"The Hunter's Nest," replied Oddclaw, "south of the skylands, it is where the trees are, there is also a mountain-"

"OH, I know that place!"

Once they were done eating, the young sire flapped over towards the southern ridge as they followed. They climbed with struggle to see the entire world open up before them. Oddclaw almost wept at the sight of his homeland truly, the sounds and smells all hitting him at once even from the skies above. He could see the lake near his family home, the forest itself teeming with life as a great verdant canvas as well as the Jaws of the Earth most prominent in the west, a vast canyon where fools dared to tread.

"Is that your home?"

"Y-y-y...yes...h-hohhh yes, yes that is my home! TH-THAT IS MY HOME I AM SO NEAR!"

"How will we get down?!" asked Moonclaw.

"I...actually I had not thought of that. Oh...this...this will be difficult."

"It was difficult enough to CLIMB without dying, this will surely kill us!"

"I-i can help!" chirruped Stonesea. "I know how you can get back home before the sun even sets!"

"You do?! How?!"

"We fly you down!"

"WHAT!?"

Both raptors screeched this with shock as the youngster put his wings up in defence.

"I know, you are not used to the sky-"

"I DO NOT WANT TO FLY!" screeched Oddclaw stomping his feet. "DO YOU NOT REMEMBER WHAT I TOLD YOU?!"

"I KNOW, I remember but THIS is our chance to prove our trust to you! I want to help you get home Oddclaw, and I want you to be home today but...I need your trust, I can call our great flyers to take you down to your nest, we will be careful!"

"I......I-i-i do not know, Stonesea I...I cannot go through that again."

"I know you are frightened. But I want you to fight it, think, if my tribe wanted you dead, why would we waste our fish on you?!"

"He has a point," muttered Moonclaw, "they would not have wasted their time feeding us. They could have killed us in our sleep to save the trouble."

"Right! But we did not, we...I want to show you that you can trust us flyers. I want you to believe in us Oddclaw, you were attacked horribly by us as a hatchling and I want to break that fear from you. Please. ...I will not stop you if you want to try climbing."

They looked over into the abyss, the clouds partly obscuring their view as the air whooshed with a searing gale force that almost knocked them back. He hated being trapped on the edge like this, knowing he had only one true choice in the matter as they made preparations half an hour later.

"READY HUNTER?!"

"NO, I WILL NEVER BE!"

"YOU JUST HAVE TO TRUST US!"

"I KNOW, BUT I AM FRIGHTENED!"

"ODDCLAW!"

He turned towards Moonclaw, the sound of flapping wings thickly above their heads as claws wrapped round her back.

"We will be fine. They are friends, and I am your friend too. Do you trust me?"

"...yes. I-i do."

"Then trust my words. We will...be fine."

"We...w-w-will...alright. Alright I...I am ready."

"CLEAR THE SKY!"

The flyers squawked to each other as the second-largest beasts of the colony gripped onto Oddclaw's shoulders and Barren's back before lifting them carefully upwards. The sheer downforce of their wings made them feel as if their skin was being shredded by gusts as they finally took off. The moment Oddclaw felt his feet leave the hard earth he started trembling with fright. He grabbed onto the flyer's legs to make certain he would not fall as the world became a pure vista. Whole and serene. There was a strange peacefulness that flowed through Oddclaw, gasping with wonder at the open skies, the freezing cold air sending a shot of blood throughout his body that made him startle with awakening, the fear slipping from his beating heart with every passing second. It also may have been due to the fact that being so high the oxygen deprivation helped stifle his thoughts and muddy his sense of awareness. Moonclaw felt it too, almost delirious with a fiendish cackling of joy that only children would understand.

The sun glinted off the flyers' backs, wings flapping calmly to catch the softest breeze as they made their spiral downwards. Not wanting to frighten their travelling guests, the skyflesh made a gentle loop round the Skylands to give them a sense of space, perspective rotating round the giant peaks that overlooked the world around them. The longnecks could be seen as small grey smears in the wide inland sea between two oceans. The far west showed nothing but an endless blue, whilst the east had proven that the island they were on was simply shaped like a crescent moon. The Shining Mountain at its northernmost tip next to the dreaded Death Nest, circling all around towards their vantage point and ending with the Roaring Caves to the very southeast. The raptors never knew the shape of their world, or even the fact that it was so strangely isolated.

But it wasn't. There laid an island in the middle of this, between the Skylands and the Death Nest that Oddclaw had never known before, and beyond the Jaws of the Earth was a vast land bridge that reached what must have been an entire continent far and away from his own people's knowledge. None of them had ever gone past the canyon, so the very notion of something beyond it was impossible, almost alien. The sheer majesty of seeing his entire livelihood now reduced to but a few dots of rememberance, on an island that seemed so very small in the midst of a grand infinite sea, made him feel vulnerable. Helpless. But then he remembered how far he had travelled, seeing the mountain of the north and all the distance he had covered just to make it to the ridged harsh peaks.

"YOU FEEL ALRIGHT?!" cried his flyer.

"Y-...y-y-YES! YES THIS...THIS FEELS WONDERFUL! BUT I AM STILL VERY FRIGHTENED!"

"IT IS, RIGHT?! FREEDOM OF THE SKY, THE WIND CARESSING YOUR BODY, YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING AND BEYOND WITH EACH DAY!"

"You...THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!"

"AREN'T YOU HAPPY YOU SAID YES!?"

"I AM! OHHH I...I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL I TELL MOTHER ABOUT ALL OF THIS!"

"HAH, I WILL TAKE THAT AS A COMPLIMENT HUNTER!"

He felt pride in his heart, a rare moment to give himself gratitude and praise for having survived this journey before he looked towards Moonclaw. Blissful in her adoration of the earth below as his heart began to swell. The sun captured her scales with such perfection to almost resemble a silvercast idol rather than her ashen skin. She caught his gaze and smiled at him with a wistful gleam, causing him to blush and look away as she cackled breathless. The flyers swooped down lower, soon joined by Stonesea as he flapped with enthusiasm beside Oddclaw showing solidarity. He smiled back as they circled lower, reaching the ground in but a space of minutes. Soon they could see the grass and even the individual blades welcoming them with open arms before landing successfully. The winged beasts took care not to burden their weight on the raptors' backs, disengaging their claws to fly up in release. He could not believe he had arrived back where he was born, the great sweeping plains of purest grass and the shores of his lake now came flooding back with the scents he knew so well.

"Will you be alright here?" asked Stonesea.

"Yes...that is...that is perfect."

"Are we too far from your home?"

"No, no it...it is fine, I want...I want to feel the grass I was born in."

"Alright, we have to return home, my family will worry. You should go home too, do not keep your family waiting."

"I will not. Thank you Stonesea. I...I am glad that I trusted you."

"I am glad you trusted me. I hope one day we meet again and we are still friends."

"I hope so too. Goodbye, flyers."

"May your lives be free as the sky, Oddclaw and Moonclaw. Goodbye, be safe!"

The flyers swooped into the air with a crescendo of wings all following after the other like ships in the night, hovering spirals along the currents unseen as Moonclaw gave a soft lick across the raptor's face.

"It seems I was right to take you on this journey."

"Wha-huh?"

"I thought you would have killed Suneater, and condemned their leader to a slow death. But you did not."

"I...I hated them but...not enough to kill out of pure hate, though I was going to kill Suneater."

"Really?"

"It was a battle. Of survival, not hate. Even if hate was in my heart during that."

"But you did not succumb to it."

"No...because now I realise it was not my hate. Come. It is time for you to meet my family."

"Oh? Are you introducing me as your mate?"

"That is up to you. I...I would be honoured if you..i-if you want, would-"

"Shhhhhh."

She brought her lips to his in a cautious murmur before lapping across his teeth.

"Let us reunite you with your family first, then we can decide the future."

"Yes...y-you are right, let...let us go."

The forest had barely changed since he last traipsed through its paths, the scents of his tribe all around him as the distant lapping of waters from the lake sent him to a nostalgic revelrie. The cooling shade seemed to welcome him as he tread with caution, keeping his eyes and ears sharp for any potential encounters. Were they even still here? He smelt them still, quite fresh even, but he could not be certain. He braced himself for any disappointment as the sunlight dappled across his skin whilst Moonclaw kept up with him. He felt he could recognise every fern and branch that he passed by with such familiarity whilst his friend was understandably nervous.

"Do you hear or smell them yet?" she asked.

"I smell them," he muttered hunching his back, "but not hear."

"I hope they have not moved."

"They would not...not unless some greatbeast came but there is nothing like that here."

"When we meet your family, how will you introduce me?"

"The friend who guided me back home, of course."

"Ah, that is good," she nodded sagely. "Just wanted to be sure."

"Did you think I would say something else?" he inquired raising an eyebrow at her.

"There are two choices Oddclaw, I just wondered which one you picked."

"It is your choice, in the end-A-AAAGHK!"

"Be STILL intruder!"

The sudden slam of a thick scaled body against him was matched by the jaws wrapped round his throat. Moonclaw was faster and had dodged the attack as she readied herself to counter as the stranger snarled at her.

"You do not belong here stranger."

"And I suppose YOU do?" retorted Moon.

"This is our home, now submit or else suffer my claws!"

"WAIT!"

Another female called out from the wilds.

"Lakefang, let me see the one you caught!"

The raptor who held Oddclaw pulled his head upwards, the raptor lifting his arm in a feeble wave as a show of surrender. A raptor came slowly from the ferns with maroon-tinted back and pale blue eyes, but what he noticed first and foremost was the large bucktoothed fang at the front of her snout. Her eyes trembled at the sight of him.

"L-let him go! LET HIM GO, NOW!"

Lakefang released him as he stood up with a nervous smile at his long-lost sister. She walked closer to sniff him, quivering in her voice with soft chitters of gasping shock and overwhelming relief.

".....o-...O-o-odd...Oddclaw, is...is it...is that you?"

"Is there any other hunter you know that looks THIS odd, sister?"

Eggfang almost burst into tears, rushing him to rub her head against his to smother him with hot licks, dragging her tongue across his tender pebbled skin until he hugged her. She tried to do the same with her weak feral arms but he only squeezed tighter as she started whimpering.

"OH...h-h-h-hoh my...my little brother, I-i-i-i thought, we thought...y-y-you are not d-de-...h-h-hhhhhhh...I missed the way you hold me like this."

"I missed your scent...your warmth...your breath on my skin. My...big sister."

Even with just one family member he felt his reunion was complete, but he knew he had business to attend to. The two embraced as long as they could without making the other raptors feel awkward, releasing after a few minutes as she swerved her head to peer at Moonclaw.

"Who is she?"

"That is Moonclaw, she is my friend she...she helped me back home when I was lost and far away."

"Ah! I see, well I...thank you. Thank you for bringing my brother back to us."

"I am glad we arrived safe," she replied smiling with submission, "I am the One Who Claws at the Moon."

"I am the Fang Who Births from the Egg. Come, we must take you to mother, OH she will be so happy, and our brothers and sisters too!"

They walked further into the forest as Oddclaw strode out in front with Eggfang and Moonclaw. Cries of jubilation started to rise the closer they came to the nest as the news spread from Eggfang's call, beckoning them to welcome back their long lost hunter. Despite many of them he did not know personally, they were all overjoyed to see Oddclaw return after such a long dreaded absence. The sight of the large nesting grounds and the leader's rocky steppe in the midst of a trampled clearing gave him such peace. But then he remembered how he left in the first place and kept his eyes watchful for Sunscreech.

"ODDIIIIIIIIIIIE!"

Two voices almost screeched with hyper-voiced piercing tone as they barrelled into him and slobbered his face, lapping at his cheeks and nuzzling with excitement amidst playful bites between green and hazel eyes.

"YOU'RE BACK, YOU'RE BACK!"

"LITTLE BROTHER'S BACK!"

"I MISSED YOU ODDIE!"

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

"I DIDN'T!"

"You totally did!"

"NO I DID NOT Oddie I never thought you were dead, I swear!"

"Hahahahahaha," he cackled up at the twins, "ohohoho I missed your stupid babble."

"STUPID?!" shrieked Sand.

"THAT'S how you greet us after being gone for cycles?!" ranted Leaf.

"You're gonna wish you were dead now!"

They mauled him playfully with excitable teeth, gnawing and pretending to tug at his throat and chest as he called out to his older sis.

"A-AAAAH STOP, STOP, S-S-S-STOPPIT! E-EGGFFFANG, c-can you...f-find Barkclaw for me and tell him I am here-OW A-A-AAAH LEAF YOU-th-that was sore!"

"I will find him, do not fear. Fishclaw is bringing mother back from a hunt."

"Wh-what about NNNGH S-sunscreech?!"

"He is with another group hunting, he will come when he hears."

That was what worried him. Moonclaw looked on with a smirk as the sisters noticed her and ran right up to her face with curious sniffs.

"Who is THAT?!"

"Smells like fire, is she fire?!"

"Hahahaha no," said the newcomer, "I am from far away, I am Oddclaw's friend, Moonclaw."

"A feeeeeeemale frieeeeeend?"

"Yes."

"OOOOOOH!" squealed Leafrunner. "Oddie's got a feeeemaaaale, Oddie's got a feeemaaaale!"

"You stuff her vent yet Oddie!?" cried Sandrunner.

"B-B-BE QUIET!" he shouted embarrassed.

"OOOOOOH YOU TOTALLY DIIIID!"

"I DID NOT, SHE IS MY FRIEND!"

"FEEEEMAAAALE FRIIIIEEE-END KHAHAHA, wait until mother hears about THIS!"

"Do you not have stonefish to stuff up YOUR vents?!"

"No," cried Leaf. "why would we?!"

"We stopped doing that," added Sand, "it's not as fun without you brother!"

"That and, well it...really, the other, hunters can't get them out like you can."

"I feel so honoured," replied Oddclaw sarcastically with hands up, "to think the only reason you stop playing your silly games is because I am the only one to fix your mistakes, perhaps I should just let pinchy stay inside you next time!"

"Ohhhh you wouldn't do thaaaaat!"

"Yeah," shouted Leaf, "you love us too much to let us keep hurting ourselves."

Oddclaw shook his head and cupped his cheeks within his hands.

"Damn you two hhhhhahahahahaha, hahahahahaa!"

He cackled with the twins but soon he felt the presence of another approaching. There, standing alongside his elder brother Fishclaw was a sand-coloured raptor female who stared with a blank expression. Words would fail to comprehend the emotions of her mind, twisting between disbelief and purest happiness. A part of her was afraid to acknowledge it, that perhaps it was all a dream become vivid from her grief. But he walked towards her first and the smell of her son hit her fast. His arms placed upon her shoulders as he pulled her into a hug before she realised this was reality. She was awake. Her son had come home as she started to cry.

The mother howled with anguish, screeching with a sobbing rapture as she flooded him with sorrow and hope. His arms wrapped close as she wept an endless stream, burning her frustrations out by forcing them from her heart, leaving only but a space for her mother's love to return. He said nothing, knowing she needed this as the family nest sang with awe and delight as soon she settled down and pulled herself back to give a long slow lick across his head before nuzzling his cheek.

"I knew you would not leave."

"You did?"

"I...no. I merely hoped, wishing that you did not leave like your father had."

"I did not leave. Not of my own will."

"What...happened to you? You seem like...like you are not a hatchling, at least not the one I knew."

"I have been on a great journey. I have travelled far, and I want to tell you everything. First, this is my friend Moonclaw. She was the one to take me back home."

"I-i-i...oh. I did not notice you, forgive me."

She did not move herself away from Oddclaw but she did raise her head past him to where Moonclaw was standing patient.

"Did you bring my son back?"

"Yes," said the grey female bowing. "We have journeyed far as he said."

"Thank you. I do not know who you are but...thank you. From my heart I thank you for bringing back my son."

"I am honoured to be your guest."

Fishclaw swaggered over towards Oddclaw with a cheerful chirrup of confidence, nipping at his head as if trying to noogie him with his teeth.

"Hahahaaaa I knew you were tough!"

"A-a-a-aaah, brother please!"

"I knew you would not die so easily, what happened to you?!"

"I want to tell everyone first."

"Oho I can see why, Sunscreech is going to be surprised!"

"Yes...yes he will be."

He looked around curious with a growing level of suspicion as the elder sibling rubbed against his smaller brother.

"Well, all of us hoped you would find your way back but he had given up on you! Said we had to move on and accept just like we did with our fathers."

"I am not surprised he would say that."

"......what?"

"Fishclaw, where is Sunscreech right now?"

"He is still hunting."

"I will wait until Barkclaw is here, then I will tell you all."

"You alright? You seem...upset."

"I will tell you, when we are all here."

The older brother noted a seething air fume from the anthro as they were soon approached by the leader himself. Alpha stood resplendent despite his growing age, growling with respect and warmth at his lost devotee.

"It is rare I welcome back a son or a daughter of our tribe after having disappeared many cycles."

"How many cycles was I gone, alpha?"

"You do not know?!"

"I...was trapped in a cave where I could not see the sun nor moon."

"Ah. You were gone for four cycles."

"Only? It felt much worse."

"Regardless, I am proud to welcome you back to our tribe, Son of Oddscar. I myself am curious to hear where you have gone all these cycles."

"I will gladly tell you but I wish for my family to come together first."

"Of course."

"Oddclaw."

He heard Eggfang traipsing back with a worried look on her face.

"Barkclaw is gone. I cannot find him."

"Wh-what?! WHAT!?"

"He is not at his place, he...it happens sometimes, he will disappear on his own, he will be back tomorrow usually."

"How do you know?!"

"It always happens, he leaves for a day and then returns by the next, it tends to happen when he is in one of his moods, but the next day he is happy...or at least as happy as can be-"

"I know where he is."

"What?!"

"I will be back, I just have to find him."

"Wait, WAIT Oddclaw!"

His mother stopped him with a shriek of panic.

"Y-you are only back today and you-"

"I know but I must find my brother!"

"He will be back tomorrow!"

"NO, this is important I must find him now!"

"Then tell us where he is!"

"I cannot!"

"WHY?!"

"It...it is a secret to everybody! I will be back please, I brought him to the nest before did I not?!"

"Yes...yes you did-"

"Then I will return with him again, I promise! ...I promise on my father's life."

His tone dropped with such severity it almost frightened Barren. He had never taken that tone with her and it threw her off to such extent that she felt she could not bring herself to stand in his way. He hurried off towards Barkclaw's post, knowing exactly which way he had gone before he even smelt his trace.

The mountain of the forest stood full of pride amidst a flowing wealth of green as Oddclaw climbed inside towards the cave that lied square in the middle of the large stone foundation. He smelt his brother faintly, having covered his scent with stench-ridden plants and crushed insects to make certain no one would follow him But he knew he was on the right trail, seeing the stone that had been moved from its place many times back and forth. The lights of shimmering blue glinted from inside as he walked down along a widening tunnel in the rock as he saw the hidden grass. Their own little secret, a field of wondrous soft glinting stars that droned lazily across the stems. Twirling tender beauty, the creatures in this subterranean garden made him think of everything he loved about his brother. There he saw him, laying in the grass with soft laboured breathing as a brown-bodied shape resembling more of a log than anything.

"B-...b-barkclaw?"

There was no response. He knew he was breathing, but he was not certain if he acknowledged him.

"Barkclaw it...it is me. I am home Barkclaw. I...I am sorry about...no."

He stepped forwards through the grass.

"I want to tell you I am sorry, about breaking our promise that I would never leave you. But I cannot when it was not me that broke our promise. I was attacked. I was...I was thrown into the sea and I disappeared and for all these cycles I worried about you."

Oddclaw slowed his step, creeping almost through the grass which scattered more fireflies across his feet.

"I was upset and afraid that you would be alone without me. I would never have left you, please...you must believe me, I would never have left, the one thing that hurt me was not the claws in my back or falling into the sea, or the agonising journey across the world, but it was you Barkclaw. You...it was the very thought of you being...alone...that hurt me."

The raptor stood up with a dull expression in his mottled brown scales and dull-tinted eyes. His scent was burning with frustration and a girevous upset, but through the haze of this he knew there was a hope to believe in his brother. The one member of his tribe who understood him, nurtured him to the best of his ability. He did not look at him, staring towards his left showing one side of his face.

"...who...who hurt you?" he asked blankly.

"It...it was Sunscreech."

"......I believe you."

"You do?!"

"Yes."

"Oh......h-hohhh thank you, thank you Barkclaw I...I-i-i am so sorry-"

"I knew it was Sunscreech."

"You...y-you do?"

"I knew...because he hurt..."

He turned his face.

"Me."

The right side of Barkclaw's face revealed itself as Oddclaw felt a horror choke his heart. Torn strips of skin, sometimes close to the eye, sometimes around his throat, had been made with vicious precision with no scar ever overlapping the other in order to create a monstrous asymmetrical face. Red bloodied welts formed a jagged port-wine stain that never went away. Clenching his fists until they formed to whitened knuckles, he was about to ask his brother where Sunscreech was but then he noticed something in his look. Fear.

"So THIS is where you hide from me."

He knew the voice that came from behind him. The only thing that stopped Oddclaw from the deepest pit of uncontrolled fury was his brother's fear as he snarled:

" What...did you do to him."

"It must be something to do with your father. Both of you always roaming where you never belong."

Turning slowly, the one he had searched for now appeared before them. Maroon back and glinting hazel eyes was a face that haunted Oddclaw's dreams as the one who had destroyed his life, or very nearly came close to it. But that was nothing compared to what he just discovered.

" What. Did you DO TO MY BROTHER?!"

"It was his fault surely. He could not leave it alone, all he had to do was just accept that you had died and we would all be a happy family. I would not have to do any of THAT to him, but he insisted. He knew, I do not know how but the freak KNEW something."

"Wh-WHAT?!"

"He followed your scent. Somehow, despite all my efforts to cover it up, he went all the way to the Roaring Caves on his own and smelt your blood. And mine. That was the first and last mistake your breeding bitch made."

"How...h-h-h-how could you DO THIS!?! HE DID NOTHING TO YOU! HE NEVER EVEN SPOKE ABOUT YOUR FATHER, HE IS YOUR FAMILY!"

"No, he is YOURS, not mine! I did not want to do this Oddclaw. I do not want to weaken our family with these...futile attempts when you and him try to include yourselves with us. But killing him would raise suspicions so instead I made certain that your brother would be a good hatchling and learn not to speak. See those marks? Barkclaw, tell him how many there are."

"T-twenty-one and, two," whimpered Barkclaw.

"He always likes to count, so I made sure that he will REMEMBER how many times he tried to speak about you, or me, or anything between. Mother thinks that he is just trying to learn how to hunt and every time I take him hunting...well, clearly he is not as good a hunter as me. He makes the same mistake...every time. If he had just not tried to find you, this would never have happened to him. He only has himself to blame whereas I am trying to make this family great again."

Never in his life had he been more consumed with hatred. He reflected briefly on how infantile his hate against the skyflesh had been. Through this diatribe from his brother he found himself overcoming any past transgressions he had on the very fact that the worst beast he had ever known was that of his own kind. He reached for his holster with a desperate desire to calm himself as Sunscreech walked forwards, snapping at the starwings that tried to come close.

"You...plan to kill me here?" asked Oddclaw.

"I do not know HOW you survived the sea but I will make certain I will end your life today."

"And how are you going to explain this to our family?"

"Simple. We are the only ones who know of this place, and if no one else knows of this place then you will just have disappeared again. And your brother is not going to tell anyone or else that makes twenty-four marks. This secret hole beneath the earth where your brother runs away to hide like a coward every time the world gets too mean for him will be your resting place. Your father truly tainted my mother's womb with such filth, as she births, a weak degenerate, a crippled freak and two sisters that are...heh, hatchlings that hatched too late."

"You...you are worse than the skyflesh."

"What?"

"At least the skyflesh never mutilated my brother, or tried to kill me. I have met them. They were kind, and generous and understood me but you are my brother and yet you...you are a disgusting weak-cocked excuse of a hunter."

"Hhhhhmhmhmhmhm...is that the best you can insult me with?"

"No. But I will kill you instead. I always planned to come back and kill you, but now you are making it easy for me."

"You could not even kill me before. What makes you think you can do it now?"

"This."

He pointed his gun glinting a cobalt steel in the light of the fireflies.

"If you want to die, then walk to me."

"Hahahaha...you threaten me with a small stick?"

"This small stick will end your life, and I will make certain the tribe will learn of your disgrace, and how PITIFUL that this small stick turned your head INTO A SMEAR OF SHIT ON THE WALL!"

"Are you insane?! Or just as stupid as your brother?!"

" WHICH BROTHER WOULD THAT BE SUNSCREECH?! The one who was clever enough to see through YOUR mistake, or the one that was STUPID enough to not even kill me properly?!"

"ENOUGH!"

"You call yourself the true hunter of our family, but you could not even kill your so-called-weak and younger brother and NOW look where we are!"

"WHERE WE ARE IS YOUR DEATH!"

BANG-BANG!

" A-AAAAAAAARGH!"

The scream that pierced through Oddclaw's hearing like a burning dagger through his mind was not from the raptor in front of him. Sunscreech had dodged the first shot with superhuman reflexes, barely evading the shrieking shellshot that exploded the ground near him. But the one who screamed was Barkclaw, suddenly screeching from the horrifying burst of noise that tore through his hypersensitive hearing. Oddclaw realised his mistake too late when Sunscreech charged at him, leaping strike with both claws ready to kick into his stomach as he rolled to the side. Before Sunscreech could attack, he felt the jaws of Barkclaw suddenly latch upon his shoulder with violent overload of fear and pain, incensed by the shrieking madness of his mind now blinded by the noise of the shotgun. He didn't even realise what he was doing, simply lashing out with demented frenzy as he overwhelmed Sunscreech with surprise and tore into him with blind vengeance.

The older raptor regained his composure after the frantic ripping tear against his flesh, shredded between Barkclaw's teeth as his sickle-claws raked with insanity against his torturer's belly. Sunscreech tried to kick him off, lashing out with his claws to rake the insides of his thighs but the young abused raptor had reached a state where he now completely shut off pain. He was only released from the counter-assault by Oddclaw grabbing Sunscreech's arm and pulling him away to slampunch him in the eye whilst shrieking with fury. Sunscreech grabbed his fist between his teeth and threatened to wrench it off with a horrid twist that nearly broke until Barkclaw returned with a leaping crunch on the older sibling's stomach, squeezing his lungs with a forceful gasp to release Oddclaw's hand. He holstered his shotgun for fear of upsetting Barkclaw any further, who was stomping and slamming his head into Sunscreech with a constant unending scream.

The stronger elder slammed both his feet up into Barkclaw's chest, punching the wind out of his ribs and sending him to a crumpling heap as he readied himself to leap and slash at his throat, until Oddclaw came barrelling from the side to slam him against the wall. Grass and fireflies scattered amidst the clashing brothers as Oddclaw grabbed Sunscreech by the throat to punch his thumbs into his larynx, desperate to throttle him amidst screeching vitriol between them. Despite the advantage of his upper arm strength, the anthro still had to contend with Sunscreech's larger body and thicker leg muscles that gave him the chance to pull down low and headbutt hard into his stomach, knocking him down to be open for attack.

With savage cry Sunscreech leapt on top of his brother to slash down his chest and upper arm, raking hot blood onto his claws as he lunged for his throat. Oddclaw shoved both his hands against Sunscreech's neck keeping him pushed back mere inches from his trachea.

"NNNNN-G-GRRRGH! BARKCLAW! B-BARKCLAW HELP MEEEE!"

Barkclaw soon came back onto his feet and heard his brother's cry for help. His rage had subsided somewhat, but seeing his beloved brother under attack made him frantic and uncoordinated, stumbling into a doublekick to try and gouge both his sickled claws into the abusive brother's side, but he mis-stepped to only end up kicking him down into the grass. The scar-faced brother leaned his head down to help Oddclaw up, the two standing together sensing each other's fury as they made a pact.

"Remember what the deathcrawlers do?!"

"Yes."

"I will be the deathcrawler, you grab him."

"I HATE him. I will KILL him."

"I hate him too, brother. We will kill him together."

Both brothers steadied themselves into a fighting stance as Sunscreech rolled back upright. He charged with hate-filled eyes as Oddclaw suddenly made a sliding tackle, planting himself between the elder's feet and slamming both his legs into his crotch. The surprising uplift combined with his own momentum sent him head over heels as Barkclaw grabbed his tail within his teeth before a mighty swing towards the wall. Sunscreech's head cracked hard agains the rock, shrieking with vexation as he staggered into a swift run.

"Barkclaw, be the sunwing on the leaf!"

"Yes, okay!"

"ENOUGH OF YOUR STUPID GAMES YOU DEGENERATES!"

Sunscreech hammered the grass with his feet, fireflies tracing frantically into the ceiling as he circled around them once, before he lunged at the closest chance. Barkclaw leapt above like a shrieking banshee, crushing his entire weight onto his abuser's back to trap him with a lung-punching slam. Oddclaw grabbed his tail and pulled it to between him and his brother where both chomped down with monstrous strength.

"GR-RRRAAAAAAGH! FILTHY VERMIN!"

With violent energy he bolstered Barkclaw off of him before turning fast and lunging at Oddclaw who barely dodged the razor sharp teeth at his throat. Instead they latched onto his shoulder, raking the flesh off his body as he screeched with shuddering anguish. He scooped dirt from the ground and punched it into Sunscreech's eyes, half-gouging him with such antagonising sharp pain he was forced to release.

"HHHH....nnnngh...B-barkclaw! Spotwing, BE A SPOTWING!"

"I AM SICK OF YOU TWO MAKING THIS FAMILY WEAK, NOW SHUT! UUUUP!"

With brazen hatred he lunged at Oddclaw once more who backed off sharply, constantly leading him away from the cave's exit as Barkclaw ran out of it.

"NOW!"

Sunscreech turned expecting a sudden attack, but upon realising Barkclaw had disappeared, he turned to see Oddclaw pull out his shotgun and crack a vicious punch across his face from pure warm steel. Stumbling from the blow, he rolled out of the way to avoid a ruthless burst that rocked the cave with an earth-shattering roar that almost deafened both of them.

"YOU...CANNOT EVEN FIGHT ME LIKE A HUNTER, YOU THINK SOME STUPID NOISY STICK IS GOING TO KILL ME?!"

"I have killed with and without these!"

Firing another shot, the older brother was surprisingly alert seeing Oddclaw's finger clench before the explosive fire.

"That...th-that was the wretched thing your father used! The hairless fire?!"

"I am my father's son. You were right about that. But you are wrong that our family is weak, the only thing that makes us WEAK, IS YOUUUU!"

With no time to reload Oddclaw lunged first, hoping to surprise his enemy with a brazen assault as he used his shotgun like a rock to beat him into submission. Wrestling him by the throat he pulled him down and slammed the gun across his face, shrieking with absolute biblical rage. His body shook without resistance, his hand on Sunscreech's throat and his other with the gun hammering into his brother's face with compulsive murder. His brother resisted the blows, steeling his nerves and gouging his claw into Oddclaw's waist to tear across his skin. Try as he might, the moment of hesitation he had in struggling to ignore the bleeding pain would be his price as Sunscreech grabbed the gun in his mouth and wrenched him hard to the ground, rolling until he was on top in a cloud of dust. Sunscreech stood on top of him with one clawed foot at his throat, softly crushing his windpipe whilst the other pushed against his skin-deep wound on his belly, both raptors panting with reddened lips and bristling ire. Oddclaw managed to catch a look towards the cave exit to see Barkclaw quietly sneak back.

"HHHHH...hhhhhHHHHHhhh...you...you had every chance...to not come back. Where you KNEW I would kill you."

"Gh-ghhk..GHHHRKK...y-you...t-t-torture my...brother...I was right...to come back."

"So you can see him be punished for not knowing his place?"

"Wh-why? You...could have killed...Barkclaw, the same place as me."

"I am not STUPID...like you. If I had...killed Barkclaw, the same place I try to kill you, the family would know something was up! My brother would know at least, the moron he is thinking you deserve any respect from us."

"E-e-eggfang would...know...sh-she knew when-H-HRRGGHKH...me and my brother were mating."

"But she knows her place. She would not go to the Roaring Caves on a whim, unlike your filthy womb SMEAR of a brother who had to ruin my plan!"

"Wh-what...was...your plan?"

"To make this family great again! By killing the weak vermin that infect it, such as YOU! Your brother makes a good guard, but if he cannot learn his place then I will MAKE him learn from the twenty-one marks I gave his FACE!"

"Twenty-one-and-two."

"Yes, whatever it was you filthy mudeater-......what?"

The voice he heard repeat the numbers back to him was not that of Barkclaw as he looked up towards the exit. The entire family now stood watching with horror at his confession, claws digging gently into his brother as a great silence befell them. Sandrunner and Leafrunner made quiet whimpers of shock, Fishclaw shook his head with a voiceless outrage along with his sister Eggfang. Barren stood next to Moonclaw, who was rather oblivious to the true idnignation of this inner drama as the mother walked forwards. No words were needed from the overwhelming scent of betrayal and collective fury from his attempted fratricide as she grabbed him by the throat in her jaws, before dragging him out of the cave.

He could not raise a claw against his mother, the eyes of his family all staring upon him with anger and unholy shame. Barkclaw hurried over to Oddclaw and helped him up, the raptor swiftly taking his gun before anyone would notice along with the shells he dropped. He kissed and licked his wounded sibling across his scarred face, chirring kindly to him as the family departed. Moonclaw approached which frightened Barkclaw but he assured him it was a friend as she asked:

"I...wh-what...what is happening?"

"We are going to punish him," said Oddclaw.

"What? But, why not here? Why not where all the family is?!"

"The tribe must know so he cannot come back. He will finally be punished for what he has done to my brother."

"And you."

"...yes. Come. We must tell alpha everything Barkclaw."

"Okay," murmured his quiet brother.

"This is Moonclaw. She is my friend who helped me back home."

"Oh. Thank you, Moonclaw."

She found his demeanour strange but considering his brother she wrote it off as just the entire family being odd in their own way as they left the cavern silently. The fireflies returned to roost in the sweet subterranean grass, the smell of fire and blood tainting the air of this quiet paradise. The sun would set with more blood to spill in the raptors' home.