Love's Soft Light

The way the leaves danced overhead, the shadows should be shifting on the ground. They didn’t just sway with the wind, they writhed. Curling, coiling, clawing. Grasping for Fable as she tried to get away. No matter how fast she ran, she couldn’t escape. She wasn’t getting any further from it. If anything, the shadow was getting closer.

Hot breath on her heels. Red eyes burning in the dark. The darkness chased after her. Hungry. The flash of teeth. Bull horns breaking through the shadows. Towering over her. Reaching towards the sky. Closer, closer-

“Fable?” Salmon’s voice was soft, but it was enough to rouse her from her unrestful slumber.

Fable’s eyes looked grey in the dark of night as she opened them to look towards her partner. Salmon looked concerned, her head tilted just so in that way that made Fable’s heart twinge. Though, her eyes… 

Not as violent a red as the monster that chased her through her nightmares. They were softer, kinder. The colour of her namesake’s flesh.

“Sorry, did I wake you up?” Fable mumbled. She brought a claw up to her face, scratching lightly at her brow. She stopped when Salmon gently nosed her with the tip of her muzzle.

“You did.” Salmon’s voice was still soft. Like she was worried about upsetting Fable. “You were making sounds in your sleep, and twitching.”

Fable was quiet, turning her head from Salmon. Guilt stabbed at her belly with sharp claws. The nightmare was still fresh on her mind, the ghost of the carnotaurus hanging over her in Salmon’s eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Fable said again, quiet.

Salmon gazed at her partner a moment, tilting her head a little more. It was hard to get Fable to talk sometimes. She imagined it was because of how Fable had started her life. Salmon had been lucky enough to have her siblings, her parents. Fable had been alone, depending on only herself until her father had discovered her. But she wasn’t alone now, they had each other.

“Was it the nightmare again?” Salmon prompted gently.

Fable was still beside her, watching their little ones in their peaceful slumber. She would be here for them. They would never know loneliness, or a hunger so strong that it felt as though their stomachs were hollow.

For a moment, the only sign that she had heard or even acknowledged Salmon’s words was a twitch of the tip of her tail, then a slow nod.

That was as much as Salmon imagined she was going to get from Fable, for now. She pressed her nose into Fable’s shoulder, and Fable relaxed a little more. “You’re stronger now than you were then,” Salmon murmured. “And faster. And you’re not alone. You have me, and the pack.”

There was a smile in her voice as she touched her snout to the bottom of Fable’s jaw. “You’re the most fearsome cryo that I know. Anyone would be a fool to try to face you like that again.”

Fable wasn’t sure that she believed that entirely - she could hardly face down an albertosaurus - but it did make her laugh quietly. Salmon put so much faith in her, and her words were so fond, so loving. It eased the tightness in her chest.

But the shadow of the nightmare wasn’t totally gone, Salmon could tell.

“Come hunt with me,” she murmured.

Fable glanced towards her partner, a little doubtful. “Now?”

“Yes, now,” Salmon replied. She brought the tip of her snout to Fable’s cheek, nibbling the air just above her cheekbone so she didn’t pinch the hide. “You’ll feel better after a run.”

Fable’s muzzle scrunched, amused and pleased by the demonstration of affection. She still protested quietly, but her protests were weak. She knew Salmon was right, and Salmon was… persuasive. Very quickly, Fable was putty in Salmon’s claws.

“The hatchlings…”

“Will be fine,” Salmon assured quietly, her voice a whisper. If they hadn’t woken up while they were talking, they weren’t going to wake up. They’d sleep soundly through the night. There was no risk of them wandering off. And even if they did… 

“The cove is safe, you know that. And the pack is here. Do you really think Nipsu would let anything happen to his little niece and nephew?”

Well, no. But Fable’s gaze shifted to the others that had joined them in the cove. She was still learning them, and these were their children. They were more precious than anything to her. Almost anything. Salmon was precious to her heart, too.

“They’ll be fine,” Salmon assured her, her voice hushed. There was a warm, mischievous glimmer in her eyes, Fable could see it now, and there was a note of teasing in her words. “I trust them. If only because they’d be scared of what you might do if they crossed you.”

“I wouldn’t do anything,” Fable snorted under her breath. She was relenting, and Salmon knew it. The smaller, green cryo’s teeth flashed in the night as she clacked her jaws together in quiet amusement.

After a moment, Fable sighed quietly. “...Fine”

Salmon beamed, her eyes bright, shining a silvery pink in the moonlight. Success.

As quietly and carefully as they could, so as to not disturb any of the others sleeping nearby, the two untangled and got to their feet. The soft sand of the cove was cool underfoot, and worked to muffle their footsteps as they headed away from the quiet, constant sound of the surf.

Though it was night, the forest was alive with the sounds of nocturnal creatures. The calls of birds that woke with the rise of the moon, frogs singing into the night, rodents and small mammals scurrying through the undergrowth, mysterious cracks and thumps as larger things roamed through the forest and climbed the trunks of tall trees and moss-covered boulders.

The cryo’s eyes shone in the dark, moonlight casting faint, dappled light on their hides, filtered through the canopy high above. Doting on each other as they were, they were still terrifying predators, and they were focused on the hunt.

A large ground bird would make an ideal late-night meal - and if they could find a nest, that was all the better. Fable knew how much Salmon enjoyed the runny yolks and delicate crunch of eggshell.

They prowled through the trees, footsteps increasingly careful as they grew nearer to their quarry. It had taken some time for Fable to get used to hunting with a partner, but now they excelled as a team.

Fable, with her lighter hide, wasn’t very good at hunting in the trees at night, but she could serve as an excellent distraction. She made herself a little more obvious, a little less careful, and relaxed her body language to be less predatory. A distraction.

The birds, a kind of fatty grouse, were wary of the presence of a cryo, but Fable was far enough off that they didn’t feel the need to fly off to escape. They whistled quietly amongst themselves as they walked over the leaf litter away from Fable - directly towards where Salmon was waiting, blending in perfectly. Wrapped in shadows, a similar green to the surrounding undergrowth. The birds had no idea they were in real danger before Salmon pounced from her hiding place, and the flock was suddenly one bird less.

The remainder of the flock startled and flew off, but the bird that Salmon had caught was enough of a snack for the two to share. The feathers that they plucked from their prey would make for nice bedding for their little ones, as well.

Fable rumbled a sound akin to a purr from deep in her chest, wordlessly praising Salmon’s skills as they rubbed their muzzles together. Salmon looked endlessly pleased by the gentle touches, and even more so that the nightmare seemed to have eased its grip on Fable and let her enjoy the hunt.

They shared sweet words of fondness, and Fable laughed quietly before touching her nose to the side of Salmon’s muzzle. They’d enjoy their kill, then find that nest of eggs for Salmon as well.