Silence on Berk chapter 7

Leaving the tree

Sitting down, hearing the grumbled complains around the shack, I inwardly chuckle at my brothers while chewing on a piece of root. Looking at my supply of roots, it seems that they'll only last as long as the fish supply, a few weeks tops. The morning sun filters into the shack as I look at the sulking and pouting faces of a wolf pup and Terrible Terror youngling greeting me this morning, supplies for drying and gutting fish and said fish lining their mouth, claws, and back, their heads down as if trotting towards their doom.

"Phhbt," I laugh at their expressions, "Come on, it's not that bad." I tell them, taking the fish and the drying equipment from their bodies, preparing to get to work as they continue to sulk.

"That's easy for you to say. That stuff tastes like charred fish bones when you're done with them." Sharptongue grumble out.

"Yeah, and not the good kind either," Eclipse whimpers out looking at me while laying his head on his paws.

Shrugging my shoulders, I start to ignore them in favor of the slimy fish pile on my side. I grab the metal wire tying them all together and drag it across my lap, the top fish sitting on me as I pull it off from the rest of the group. I reach out and grab a knife and three buckets before starting. I pinch the fish under the jaw and keep the pressure as I push my fingers down the belly. The unfinished and already digested food starts to string out as I continue squeezing the fish over one of the buckets. I reach out for my de-scaling knife and start to run it along the fish's body from the tail fin to the head repeatedly, pulling of scales and fish slime in the process, but leaving the skin. I fling all of the goop and scales with the rest of the eaten innards inside the smallest of the three buckets and keep doing so until all that is left is the skin, fins, tail, and head. I run the blade from its lower opening up to its jaw, slicing the belly clean, but not deep enough to puncture the innards and organs.

I reach my hand towards its head after putting on an old leather glove that only had two fingers and a thumb put on it. I open its jaw and place my gloved thumb in its opening before grasping the rest of the fish in my other hand. In one motion, I pull hard with my right hand inside the fish and the guts come out, attached to the jaw and the gills, leaving only the inner bones, pink meat, fins, head, and skin. The guts are all together, attached to each other with a thin membrane holding things together. I used to scoop the guts out with my hands raw, until I discovered this way seeing how everything inside the fish was connected to the jaw and gills.

Pleased, I place the fish off to the side and put the guts in a different bucket, the second largest, away from the innards that I had squeezed out of the fish earlier. These organs could either feed a dragon as a snack or to be used in hunting. The first time I had gut a fish, I didn't even get a choice in the matter, Sharptongue reaching out immediately with his jaws open to eat the taste morsel from my fingers before I could even ask what to do with it. I place the clean and gutted fish in the largest bucket to be dried later. The whole process of cleaning that one fish was about five minutes long.

Looking over and seeing the large pile of fish still attached to the metal wire I sigh. This was going to be a long morning.

(Line Break)

Hours passed before I finished cleaning all the fish and all the buckets were full. I even went as far as asking one of my brothers to bring me some of my salts and I rubbed them in the middle before putting them into their final bucket. The hot sun was directly overhead now, warming if not burning my lap and hair as I sat in the shack. Yawning, I stretch my arms over my head, hearing a popping sound come from my shoulders and a groan of pleasure escapes my lips. I turn left and right, eliciting that noise once again as I pop my upper and lower back, sore and stiff from being in the same position for so long. I even go so far as to stretch my feet, popping that too as a sigh escapes from me. My gaze wanders over to the large bucket full of semi-fresh but newly cleaned fish and my stomach begins to rumble, realizing that I hadn't had any breakfast that morning. Actually, I don't think that any of us had breakfast, me or my brothers. Have they eaten yet?

"Hey, are you guys out there?" I warble out loud, waiting for a response. At not getting one, but hearing a faint rustle of the underbrush and grass, I try a different tactic. After all, they were probably still sulking at the thought of drying fish. "I've cleaned all the fish and the guts are all here in a bucket. But I guess if you don't want any I could just use them all for hunting. Better yet, I'll give them to the other animals and dragons if you guys don't want any." I reply to the wind, seeing what they'll do at the prospect of their favorite part, or at least for Sharptongue, of the fish going to another animal.

"WAIT…" a shriek pierces my ears, making my spine shudder, "Those are MINE!" Sharptongue sounds out, flying into the shack only to be held back by his tail at the entrance by a flying ball of fur.

"YOURS?! HAH, those are MINE!" The ball of fur responds to the Terrible Terror, tossing him around before the two of them start rolling in a mass of scales and fur, fighting for the fish guts. Sigh, some times those two were so immature. My growling stomach sounds out through the room, only noticed by me as it twists my insides in a harsh clamp. I hear the growls of hunger resonating from two other sources and decide that enough is enough.

"Stop it you two or I'll throw them in the river." I threaten them, making them pause it an awkward position, each biting the others tail and their limbs kicking each others bellies. They quickly break apart, spiting dead scale skin and fur out of their respective mouths sending each other dirty looks for having their food threatened. I sigh as I motion for the two to come closer to me before flicking each of them on their snouts.

"Yelp/Yelp, what was that for." They ask, finishing each others sentences. I swear if I didn't know them before hand and they hadn't been from different species, I would have assumed them to be twins or even one person in two bodies. That's creepy.

I shake my head from the thought and give them a stern look in the eyes. "I'm not going to give away the fish guts." I tell them, seeing relief flow into their faces, "However…" they still at this add on, "If you two are going to fight for it, then no one gets any." I break it to them, only to hear their sputtering of how the fish guts were rightfully theirs. The other problem they seemed to have with the sharing was that one of them would get more than the other, calling each other cheats when it came to food and how I would always give the other one more food.

I ignore that since I always give them a fair amount and wave my hand up, silencing them, but keeping in mind how protective they were of food. "How about this, I will put the fish guts down and one of you will divide it into two piles. The other one gets to chose which pile to eat. That way, if you make one pile bigger, the other will chose it and you don't get as much food?" I ask them. They seem to ponder it a bit before looking back at me. Eclipse's tail is wagging at the idea of more food, but Sharptongue seems to still be thinking.

"But then who would divide and who would get to choose?" Sharptongue ask me. I ponder that for a bit. It was a valid question. There was also the issue of one of them eating pieces while dividing and that wouldn't be tolerable. I gaze at their faces and shrug my shoulders.

"Beats me. How about you two decide on this one. After all, you two are the ones eating that, not me." My response seems to make some sort of sense to them as they immediately look into each other's faces before nodding once. Curious, I continue to watch as they both start to back up, but not before putting down a stick by the shack's entrance. By now, they were both as far away from the stick as possible before they made eye contact with each other.

"Ready to lose again Eclipse." Sharptongue goads at the young pup.

"Hey, you only won that one time because the mud got in my fur."He whines back at the Terror.

"Yeah, and I guess my other wins were just luck, huh loser." He continues to pester the now tense Eclipse.

"Not this time dragon." He growls out, lowering his body to the ground.

"Ready?" Sharptongue asks, lowering himself to the ground also.

"Ready." Eclipse replies.

"Then START/START" They both scream out before moving as fast as they could towards the entrance of the shack. It seemed that Eclipse was going to win, his starting leap was certainly larger, but his body was still a bit awkward for a growing pup and Terrors were known for their skills in short sprints. It's what kept them alive for so long, that is if they were paying attention to the dangers around them. So watching I got to see how Eclipse had the terrifying leap, but Sharptongue over took him within a single wing beat, lowering his wings after gaining speed to dive in fast. Right before Eclipse could get a hold of the stick; it was taken from the sky to land in the claws of the falling Terror, who then continued to fall right out of the shack, landing with a thump and a whimper. Just great, now we probably another person injured; though that thought quickly died as a scaly red and yellow Sharptongue trots in through the window, the stick held in his tail and a triumphant look to his face as he gazes back at Eclipse from the center of the shack.

"And what do you call that? Because I don't think it's called luck my poor friend. It's called skill." He taunted the poor pup who had just barely gripped the floor before also falling off the edge. Eclipse looked towards the gloating Terror before releasing a howl.

"CHEATER! No flying." The complaint rings out as he scrambles to get himself back up. Only to immediately fling himself towards the Terror who escapes by climbing up the walls towards the top of the shack.

"All's fair in love and war my dear friend, and in this case competition for food!" He warbles out, dangling the stick just high enough that the pup wouldn't be able to reach it. Watching the wolf pup continue to jump in vain, streaming howls of complaints and insults to Sharptongue who just continues to reply insult for insult I start laughing. That is until Eclipse uses me for a spring board, jumping off of my head to get high enough to reach the stick and also the Terror attached to said stick.

They both land with a yelp as Eclipse pulls them both down to the ground which slowly turns to a howl of victory from Eclipse and a chirping laugh from Sharptongue.

"See that? Whose got the stick now?!" Eclipse keeps howling, trotting around the shack holding the stick in his mouth like a prized kill.

"Yeah, yeah, you got the stick, but I got it first." Sharptongue says preening himself and cleaning off from the scuffle.

"So what?" Eclipse asks, a confused look on his face as he gazes back to the Terror who finishes up cleaning himself to gaze into his eyes, mirth playing in them.

"So I get to choose who divides and who picks the food." After hearing it come out of Sharptongue's jaws, Eclipse whines and puts his face towards the ground.

"Let me guess, you forgot why we were trying to get the stick in the first place." Sharptongue deadpans at him.

"…maybe…" he deadpans back.

"Sigh, I thought so." Sharptongue warbles out, shaking his head in the process. Realization dawns on me and why they even held this competition.

"So that's how you guys decide things, with a race?" I question, tilting my head to the side. It would make sense for all the times I'd seen them fighting over a stick and when I offer another one to them, they just laugh, shaking their heads.

"Yeah, the faster predator gets the meal is the idea." Eclipse explains to me, puffing out his chest. Only for it to deflate at Sharptongue's follow up words.

"Yes, though it was ME who told you first and came up with this solution to our fighting." Sharptongue says, his chest inflating as much as Eclipse's deflates.

"Alright then, you're both smart," I start, getting them both to smile and Eclipse to lighten up before talking more. "So Sharptongue, who gets to divide and who gets to pick?" I ask, reminding them of the original goal.

"I'll divide, you both can watch so you know I don't eat any of the fish, and then Eclipse can choose his pile." Sharptongue exclaims, a sense of pride in his plan.

"That's fine with me." I start, about to say more until Eclipse says his agreement too.

"No problems here. Just remember I WILL pick the bigger pile." He teases, knowing though that both piles will probably be the same. Sharptongue may have said all is fair in competitions for food, but he would never cheat a friend or brother out of their share.

"Again, no problems with me but," I cut them off before they can grab for the guts, "I get to set some aside for hunting. Not a lot, but consider it my share." I tell them. Both of them nod at my request and I'm glad that they do. I'm also glad that they didn't make me run for the stick to solve this problem. There's no way I could win.

I reach for the bucket of guts and then for my bag. I look into it, but what I want isn't in there.

"Hey Sharptongue, could you get me my leather pouch? It's not in the bag." I ask, but before Sharptongue can even reply, Eclipse is on it, rushing out to the other area of the shack. The words of "I'll get it!" hitting the walls throughout the shack before reaching our ears. We both sigh at his antics before looking towards each other.

"Eclipse sure is energetic isn't he?" I sigh, shaking my head lovingly with a smile on my lips.

"Sigh, yeah. You should try playing tag with him. It's a nightmare. I may be faster, but he's better at hiding in the forest. And when he gets a bite of you, he NEVER lets go." Sharptongue replies, curling up beside me with warmth in his gaze looking where Eclipse had just left.

"Oh yeah, then you should try to keep him still for a week. That's even worse." I laugh as Sharptongue shudders at the thought of trying to keep that energetic ball of fluff still for so long. But pretty soon, the shudders die out at he gazes at me worriedly.

"What's wrong?" I ask him; worry coursing through my veins at his expression.

"I'm sorry…" he mumbles off. He gazes at my face for a moment longer, before nuzzling his face into my side.

"Sorry for what?" I ask, confusion taking over my mind. What in the world could he be sorry for.

"For putting you up here in the first place…sigh. If it wasn't for me and my brothers hanging off of you all the time, that Night Fury wouldn't have attacked you and you'd still be okay. You wouldn't be stuck up here in this tree…just like a grounded dragon." Sharptongue mumbles some more into my side, his throat vibrating and tickling me. A shudder runs through us at the 'grounded dragon' part, a fate worse than death for the flight loving creatures, but his words bring up a question in me.

"What do you mean it's your fault that the dragon attacked? Wasn't it because I was in dragon territory? Wasn't he just being protective of his land?" That's what I assumed. After all, the bigger dragons probably wouldn't like it if a human was found wandering their areas.

"Well, that's part of the reason, but not much. The bigger dragons don't live on the human islands. They live on Dragon Island…to protect us…" he goes off, his voice getting smaller and tremors invading both the words warbled and the body resting by my side. I open to say something, to ask another question, but of course that's when Eclipse comes back, dashing in like the reaper is at his heels.

"I got the pouch, now LET'S EAT!" he roars, dropping the leather in my lap and nudging Sharptongue with his snout towards the bucket with guts. The prospect of food instantly gets Sharptongue's attention and pretty soon they're both jumping around the shack towards the guts.

"HEY, wait just a second there; I still need some for hunting!" I screech out to the two slowly bringing their bounding towards the food. They pause in their steps and look towards me. "Now could the two of you bring that over here real quick so I can get some in my pouch for later?"

"Fine/Yeah," they exclaim, dragging the bucket over to me, each one on a different side, being careful to not spill any over the edges of the container. Looking towards Sharptongue, it's as if we never talked, he looked as carefree as ever. Then what were his shuddering about and his mentioning of a 'Dragon Island'?

Reaching into the bucket and moving some into my pouch, I break the news to them. "I know you guys want to eat them right now, but there is no way that I'm letting you spill these all over the shack. I don't exactly enjoy sleeping with the smell of fish innards lining my home." Their expressions slip from shock, to horror, to some sort of understanding. Eclipse surprises me by responding first for the two.

"That's understandable. No hunter would want to live in a home that smells of their kill, that just alerts other predators."

"Agreed, just imagine if there was a dragon tree that smelled of fish. It would be raided repeatedly and searched for fish from the other Terrors. That's like inviting trouble into your home. We'll do this outside." Sharptongue agrees. The both of them start to drag the bucket towards the shack entrance before I stop them.

"You two weren't thinking of dividing that bucket without me there, were you?" I smile sweetly to them. They stop in their tracks, confusion on their faces, obviously asking for an explanation. "There's no way that you two aren't going to fight one way or another about this unless I'm there. Now first you are going to help me get a few branches to use for crutches and THEN you're going to wait while I make said crutches. After that…well, I'll figure it out somehow. I'm pretty sure that I can climb down with my hands and meet you at the bottom with my crutches, alright?"

I look towards them, a little nervous of their answer. After all, I'm the one stuck 'grounded' and they can easily just take the food and run off with it. They could actually leave me here too, but I doubt that they'd do that. I WAS the hunter of this family for now, even if I'm injured.

"Don't worry; we'll get those branches for you." Eclipse tells me, crawling forward and licking my face. Sharptongue comes up to my other side and repeats the action.

"We wouldn't leave you here and we already agreed that you'd help 'supervise' our eating. Just tell us what kind of branches."

They both back off of me and look up expectantly. I don't think that I could have asked for better brothers. "W-well, I need it to be two long, thick pieces that are as long as I from my feet up to my armpits-HEY what are you doing? That tickles!" Eclipse rushed his head up to my left arm, sticking his nuzzle underneath it and tickling me senseless. I squirmed and giggled as he continued to attack my sensitive spots.

"Stay STILL, we can't measure you if you keep moving you know." Eclipse grumbles out, his breath just making me laugh even harder.

"Hey, Eclipse, extend your tail would you?" Sharptongue snaps out. I look down to see through my tears and squinted eyes one wolf pup lying as close to my body as possible and one Terrible Terror snapping at his tail. "YEOWCH, calm your scales man. Geez," Eclipse grumbles, extending the tail out by my thigh. Sharptongue places one claw on my leg before nipping Eclipse's hind leg. "Yeah, yeah, I'm moving." He sighs out before placing the tip of his muzzle by Sharptongue's claw and extending his tail again. Sharptongue nods at this and goes over, seeing where the heel of my foot is in comparison to Eclipse's body.

"All right, we've got the measurement for the two long pieces. Is that all?" Sharptongue asks, looking at me, and I remember that they cut me off early in my need of supplies.

"No, I guess not. I also need two pieces to go under my arms, about your wingspan long actually." Eclipse chortles a bit, seeing that he's not the measuring tool for this one. "And also four smaller pieces, but also thick… maybe one wing size each? But please don't take the branches off of a tree. If they're fresh or wet, then they won't work very well." I tell them. They give me their nods before they head out and I just sigh. Seriously, how AM I going to get out of the tree without major pain? And what in the world is 'Dragon Island'?

(Line Break)

Ok, seriously, how am I going to do this?

The two of them had come back in a record of ten minutes. Compared to other times when I asked them to get me things from the woods, this is diffidently a shorter time frame. Then again, I wasn't stuck in a tree, bored out of my mind then and they knew it. Being left alone for a long period of time then meant that I could get other things done and they weren't getting an ear full of whistled communication with me. But being left alone with only your thoughts is both nice (In terms of the quietness compared to their loud energy) but also scary (worrying about them, thinking too hard on things, and looking back…too far back in life to the point that worrying about things in the now is better. Like how am I going to get out of this tree?)At the same time.

I didn't need my knife much; they had found pieces of wood the perfect sizes. I guess measuring things out before hand really did help them. The pieces they brought back were oak tree, so close to home and sturdy, but also dry, perfect since it won't bend or warp under my weight. Though really I don't weigh much to begin with. It's really my clothing and equipment that makes up most of the weight… and the random dragon or two that would perch on my shoulders.

So here I am, not another fifteen minutes after the creation of my crutches, looking down the side of my shack at the ground. The very hard ground I must say. I gulp before moving closer to the trunk of the tree in the middle of the shack and the room that's left between the planks of floor and the actual tree, just enough room for me to fit through.

"Are you sure about this?" Eclipse whines, noticing my hesitation.

"Yeah, I'm sure." I tell him, a smile pulling at my lips no matter my nerves.

"Are you really sure that you're sure? I could ask the other Terrors to fly you down you know." Sharptongue chirps at me. And though the offer does sound tempting to be honest, if they were to help me the first time, then I would need there help for every time that I wanted to get up and down. That wouldn't really work. I needed to at least be able to do this on my own. If not, I would never be able to do anything without help, and what about when I wanted to go hunting? That would cause more problems than help, to be smelling of dragon drool.

"We went through this before you two. I said 'no'. I need to be able to get up and down without dragon assistance. Besides, claws and a muzzle full of teeth and tongue aren't exactly dry you know. I don't think it fun to always be covered in dragon drool. It scares off the game you know." I grin down at him, putting my hand of the trunk and shifting both crutches to one hand. I'm glad I took a bite of root while I was making the crutches. It's diffidently working right now. I can only feel a dull throb from my leg.

I do a little balancing act, hopping on one foot while I hand the crutches over to Sharptongue and Eclipse. From there, I reach over to my bag and pull my claws out of it, placing the leather bag back between my shoulder blades comfortably before donning my claws. I shove one hand into the tree, seeing the well used divots from my previous climbing adventures. I grin before looking to my two brothers.

"Well, wish me luck. I'll see you two down there, alright? OH, and please don't forget the crutches. I'd suck to have to climb back up for them." I tease, placing my other hand into the other divot before turning my attention back to the tree, barely hearing their noises of exception. This is the moment of truth.

My claws in their respective divots, I put my weight in them and my arms and lift myself slightly off the ground. I brace for impact with my good leg to hit the tree as my body is lifted off the ground and I swing slightly towards the trunk. The hit isn't that bad and I lock my body in place with my arms. I slowly remove my right hand from the tree and immediately feel the strain in my left arm from holding my weight. I place my right hand lower into the divot next and get ready to lower my body again.

I go down a few more times this way and the sweat is already pooling on my back and under my arms. A bead of sweat runs between my brows and into my eye, stinging it. I blink it rapidly, but no matter how hard I blink, the sting is still there. I sigh, resigned to having it until I get out of the tree. I look down and see my brothers already there. That's good. Just a few more feet and I'll be done with the climb down.

I reach the bottom, my good foot touching the ground and I reach with shaking limbs for my crutches. Normally I could use my legs to help climb, but with one of them out of commission, this wasn't the easiest climb of my life.

"Are you okay/ Are you okay?" They both ask at the same time, seeing my worn out expression. Looking up, I notice that it's only noon.

"Yeah, I'm fine. So, did either of you remember to bring the guts down with you?" I ask, smiling the whole time at them, teasing them so they knew I really was okay.

"Gasp, I FORGOT" Sharptongue screeches out, before disappearing into the tree.

"Shouldn't you go with so we know he's not sneaking a bite?" I whisper to Eclipse, teasing him and his food protectiveness.

"YEAH…but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't eat any without me." Eclipse vibrated out to me. I have to agree with him there. Sharptongue may say all is fair in love, war, and food, but as brothers now, we share EVERYTHING equally…kind of.

"Still, maybe you should help him bring the bucket down?" I inquire to him. He gets a thoughtful look for a second and then agrees with me.

"Yeah, you're right. This way I'll know about the food AND he won't drop any on the ground…though I'll eat that too." He whispers that last part to himself, and I chuckle as I send him off into the tree with a small hand wave. Once he's out of sight, I sigh and put more weight on my arms, stretching my back a little. Dang that really was hard. One thing's for sure, I'm going to be ripped once my leg is all better.

I bring myself on my crutches to the side of the tree and take a rest against the bark, putting my claws back into my bag. I look inside my bag to see if I have most of my stuff. Wire, leather bag of guts, knife, some gauze and med stuff, including a small bundle of roots in another part of the bag, some dried or semi dried fish, a satchel of water, and finally, an extra compact fishing rod. Seems that's good enough for this trip.

I hear them coming down with the bucket between their teeth at they attempt to maneuver themselves down the ladder without having anything fall out of the bucket. I wait patiently for them to come down before addressing them.

"Now, let the dividing of the food commence." I screech out, full of theatrics. I motion for Eclipse to come to my side as we watch Sharptongue divide the fish guts, muzzle closed during the whole process.

"Now that Sharptongue has divided the food, it is your choice Eclipse of which pile you shall take." I wave my arm to him as he steps forward, inspecting the piles.

"I'll take this one. Though it doesn't really make a difference does it? You split them pretty darn evenly…" Eclipse grumbles out, probably put out that he couldn't get a pile with more fish in it due to Sharptongue's fairness.

"In that case then…MINES!" screeches out Sharptongue, diving into the other pile, shoveling down the food in front of him into his mouth. My nose wrinkles as I see Eclipse do the same. They better take a bath before entering the shack later, otherwise why in the world did we even have them eating outside of the shack if they themselves were going to smell of food?

I wave one arm into the air, trying to get their attention. I even call their names, but they don't move from their positions of eating to pay any attention, all their focus on the food rapidly disappearing in front of them. I sigh, 'time to go back to the old ways' I think as I bring my hand up and give a sharp whistle. They both flip out and roll around on the ground, their respective claws/paws over their ears.

"WHY/WHY" they screech, looking at me in accusation. I wave my hand and give them a sheepish grin.

"Well, all the other ways weren't working." I tell them honestly.

"SO/SO!?" They screech.

"I need your attention if I'm going to tell you something, don't I?" I ask, obvious to both of them that I'm right, so I continue on. "Besides, I thought that I could catch a few fresh fish for you two for dinner since you told me you don't like dried fish. We can use what I'm drying right now for emergencies and till then, eat fresh food on other days."

My suggestion is highly praised as they tell me immediately to go and fish while they finish their food. I say my goodbyes as they continue to eat while I start my long trek towards the river. I fished a bit down stream last time, so I think that I'll try up stream today.

My arms burn from the constant use of the crutches, but I ignore it, knowing that once I get to my fishing spot, I may be able to fish from sitting on a stump. It may not get me a lot of fish, but it was an easy and less straining way to fish for one on crutches.

Taking a few breaks to chew on small doses of root, I see my spot in the distance and sigh. A fallen log, conveniently located next to the river, was my destination.

I ease myself down, placing my straight leg in front of me while I place my crutches on the side and my bag in my lap. I take out the rod, wire, and leather bag of bait and place the bag on the side with the crutches. Stringing the pole up and placing the bait on, I cast it out into the river. Not long after, I get a bite.

'I guess this won't be so hard after all.' I think, pulling the fish from the water and recasting in hopes of another bite.

(Line Break)

The sun is starting to set as I set off myself back to the shack, a small bundle of fish hanging off my hip. I wheeze from the effort slightly and can't wait to be back in the shack sleeping. I spot the clearing in the distance and tiredly make my way towards it.

Looking around, I see that my gluttonous brothers finished off all of their 'lunch' and are taking a nap by the entrance of the burrow. That doesn't surprise me, being tired after eating so much, especially for them being so little, but what does is the amount of other Terrors and animals by them. Foxes, other wolf pups, Terrors, and an owl watching over them all in a pile is the sight that I'm met with. That would explain the lack of food if these other animals had a hand in helping my brothers eat it all. 'Though I wonder how they shared it.' I can't help thinking since they made such a big fuss about it earlier.

I give a soft whistle, not knowing how the other animals would take to me being able to speak and understand them all so soon since I couldn't really do so just a few days prior. The owl sees me approach and gives off the message. "HEY, HUMAN HERE, HUMAN HERE!" he shrieks, scaring the other animals into awareness. They take one look at me and growl menacingly, not bothering to even smell the woods, fish, and animals that I probably smell like. To them, I'm just another human right now.

They speak as one as I stand there. "HUMAN GO HUMAN GO HUMAN GO! NO PLACE FOR HUMAN, NOT OF FOREST. LEAVE ECLIPSE'S HOME ALONE!" they cry out, shaking my brothers out of their shocked stupor. Eclipse looks outraged at his friends of the forest and his hackles start to rise. Sharptongue notices it just as I do and springs into action first.

"Brother Lantaker, where were you?" Sharptongue screeches, flying and latching himself onto my shoulder. I buckle slightly under the weight, but stand tall and give him a smile for stopping Eclipse from taking serious action and, coincidentally, making all of the animals pause in their actions. If these were his friends, he would certainly regret it if he were to do something…drastic…for such a minor thing. It's not like I hadn't known animals to call me human before. Right now, as part of the forest, it's just my species as there are Terrible Terrors and wolves. No need to break a friendship over this.

I look to Sharptongue and gesture my finger to my mouth and tilt my head to the side, silently asking if it's okay for me to speak. He nods and I nod back, looking to all of the animals as I answer Sharptongue's question.

"I was at the river, you know that. I also brought dinner back. Glad to see I caught enough…you should have told me to expect company brother." I tell him, gesturing to the fish at my side. Eclipse notices it too and gasps before rushing over.

"F-I-S-H! FRESH FISH! Oh my FOREST I love you brother!" he howls, bounding around, practically nipping at my heels for the food. I chuckle at his reaction, but wince when he accidentally swats my bad leg. He notices and apologizes. I wave him off and address the rest of the group more directly this time, noticing my confusion.

"I'm going to take a guess and say that none of you know me?" seeing them all nod their heads in a negative, still silent, I continue on. "Well, my name is Lantaker. This was a name given to me by the people of the forest and before you go off into a screeching fit, I am of the forest. Or at least that's what my brothers keep reassuring me. I mean you no harm and I even come with gifts. I stay here and am here to help anytime that you need anything from food to medical help. Though if we're low on food ourselves, then I can't really ensure that you'll get much, but I'll try." I smile at them, seeing some of the hesitation leave their faces at the prospect of food. Especially FREE food.

"Now why don't we all sit down calmly and eat. Then we can talk?" I ask. They nod and I smile as I slowly approach the group. I guess this will be the first change to happen in the forest, the first to know outside of my brothers to know that I can speak dragon.

As the sky starts to darken, so too does a moving shadow in the field of my vision, however, when I turn to look, nothing is moving.

"Lantaker, come on." Eclipse whimpers to me, a slight drool falling from his muzzle as he sees me stop.

"Are you alright Lantaker?" Sharptongue warbles to me quietly, worry in his voice.

"Yeah," I respond. "It must have been the wind or heat playing tricks on me." Smiling, I head back with them to the group, the first to know of both the human of the forest and the human, brother to a wolf pup and a Terrible Terror. All the while Sharptongue glances to the sides, unaware that I was watching him, curious to his strange actions when he shakes his head and looks forward with the rest of us.