Powerful wind howled as a massive dragon struggled to stay in the air. He tried to get above the storm but it seemed to have a mind of its own. The dragon wasn't just fighting for his life but for the life of his young rider Zyon who sat hunkered down between the dragon's massive shoulder blades. The dragon glanced back at his rider.
"I'm Ok Hailstorm." Zyon assured.
Suddenly a bolt of lightning struck the dragon's wing causing him to cry out in pain and jerk sending his rider plummeting towards the ocean below. "Hailstorm!" Zyon cried out and the dragon dove after him.
Lightning illuminated the ground below to reveal that they were not heading for the ocean but towards an island. Hailstorm managed to catch his rider in the tips of his claws but couldn't slow down fast enough to keep from crashing on the island. The force of the impact caused Hailstorm to roll violently and throw his rider. Zyon was thrown to a different part of the island where he crashed into some coconut trees and landed in some bushes. Neither Zyon nor Hailstorm moved.
Moana walked out of her fale and glanced at the clear blue sky. It was hard to believe there had been such a massive storm the night before until she looked at the damage it had caused. Many of the fales were damaged, the community fale worst of all, and several trees had been ripped up by the roots, not to mention the debris everywhere. She couldn't even imagine the shape the canoes were in. It was going to be a long day. She and several other villagers began righting and replanting the salvageable trees when Moana heard what sounded like someone groaning in pain. At first Moana thought she had imagined it but then she heard it again. Someone was hurt. Moana hurried to where she had heard the sound only to find a boy who looked to be her age but he wasn't anyone from her village. In fact, he didn't look like anyone she had ever seen before. He had very short, very curly hair and his skin was a rich dark brown much like a coconut shell. Beyond that he was wearing furs of animals she had never seen before. Not something one would expect an islander to wear.
"Hey I need a healer over here!" Moana called.
Some villagers carried the stranger to the healer's hut. They removed most of his clothes to survey the damage to his body.
"How is he?" Moana asked.
"Hard to say." The healer admitted. "His dark skin conceals most of the bruising but nothing appears to be broken."
"Will you tell me when he wakes up?" Moana requested.
"You will be the second person to know after your father. Now shoo so I can work." The healer dismissed.
Moana reluctantly left the hut. The healer continued to dab the boys forehead with cold water trying to cool him down. She didn't know how someone could wear such clothes.
"Hail?" Zyon whispered.
The healer looked down to see the boy was awake. Zyon vision focused to see the stranger over him.
"Where am I?" he asked the healer.
"Motunui" the healer answered.
"I need to go find Hail." Zyon said trying to get up but the healer pushed him back down.
"No you need to rest." She insisted.
"You don't understand. Hail is extremely protective of me."
"Don't worry I will send some of the villagers to find your friend." The healer assured turning to get some fresh water for the boy.
Zyon took the opportunity to run.
"Hey! Come back!" The healer called as he ran through the tapas.
Moana heard the healers cry and saw Zyon run into the forest. She ran after him.
"Wait!" Moana called but he either didn't hear her or was ignoring her.
"Hail!" Zyon called.
He was fast and Moana soon lost sight of him. Zyon reached his mind out and found his very upset dragon. He ran to the dragon who gave a happy purr at the site of his rider.
I thought I lost you Hailstorm admitted as he lightly bumped his snout to his rider's forehead.
"I've had never been to this part of the island." Moana though to herself as she broke through the underbrush to see the hundred-foot dragon. It had massive claws and teeth along with large horns and light blue scales that looked like ice. The thing that caught Moana's attention where the glowing blue eyes. Moana was so scared that she couldn't even scream. Hailstorm glanced up and growled baring his large fangs. Zyon turned noticing the girl.
"No Hail its Ok. She's not going to hurt me." Zyon assured. "Right um…"
Moana glanced between Zyon and Hailstorm before she realized he had asked for her name.
"Mo… Moana." She stuttered.
"Moana this is Hailstorm." Zyon introduced slowly moving closer to the terrified girl and taking her hand. "He's not going to hurt you. Let me show you."
He led the terrified girl closer to the dragon. Moana's heart was beating so hard she was sure it was going to jump out of her chest. Zyon placed her on the dragon's snout and Moana was forced to look into his glowing eyes. Hailstorm took in her scent as he looked the girl over. Moana's fear turned to wonder as the dragon's eyes softened and closed. Moana began to stroke the dragon's smooth scales. Hailstorm dozed off from the soft stroking.
Zyon climbed up to the saddle to check the pack and that his war hammer was still attached.
"You know you never mentioned your name." Moana commented as she continued to stroke the dragon.
"It's Zyon." He said looking up from checking his dragon's wings.
"Zyon? I've never heard a name like that before." Moana smiled.
Zyon hadn't realized it until now but she was really pretty, way prettier than any of the girls back home and Hailstorm seemed to like her too.
"What?" Moana asked noticing him staring.
"Nothing, Hailstorm just thinks your nice." Zyon told her.
"Oh right the dragon talks." Moana laughed.
"No he can't, I can hear his thoughts." He clarified.
"You can hear his thoughts?" Moana questioned not believing him.
"Yeah I can yours too." Zyon said catching her attention.
"Alright what am I thinking?" Moana challenged.
"You're thinking that I'm a liar and are looking forward to telling your grandma Tala about Hailstorm." Zyon stated.
Moana's eyes widened with disbelief.
"Whoa!" she gasped "So where are you from Zyon?"
"I'm from a village called Igaliko." Zyon informed her.
"Where's that?" Moana asked.
"You know I don't really know. I don't even know where here is relative to there." He admitted.
"Well I can't help you there." Moana stated. "No one ever leaves the island so we don't know where anything is other than Motunui."
"Great I had to crash land on the one island where nobody can navigate." Zyon thought to himself.
"Moana!" someone called in the distance. Moana recognized it as her father.
Word had gotten around about the stranger and Tui being the over protective father he was had gathered his warriors to find his missing daughter. They burst through the brush to see Moana petting the dragon. They directed their spears towards the sleeping dragon.
"Dad wait!" Moana called as they advanced on the dragon.
Hailstorm opened his eyes to see the new threat. Zyon leapt from the back of his dragon with his great war hammer in the path of the warriors.
"You hurt my dragon I will hurt you." He threatened striking a warrior's stance stopping them in their tracks.
"Your dragon?" Tui questioned.
"Yes my dragon. I'm his rider." Zyon stated.
"That's impossible!" One of the warriors challenged. "No one can ride a dragon."
Should I eat them? Hailstorm asked earning him a look from Zyon as he mounted the saddle.
Hailstorm took his cue and flew around the island once and landed in front of the warriors.
"You were saying?" Zyon smirked.
"What are you doing on our island?" Tui demanded.
"We got caught in a storm and crashed here." Zyon informed him.
"Your dragon seems to be able to fly so I'm going to have to ask you to leave our island." Tui ordered.
"Fine by me but can I have my clothes back?" Zyon requested. "It's a lot colder where I'm going."
"Very well." Tui agreed.
Hailstorm followed behind the warriors ready to strike at any of them who threatened his rider. Zyon walked surrounded by the warriors. Tui was sure to keep himself between Moana and the stranger. Zyon had Hailstorm stay within the edge of the forest. There was no need to freak out the rest of the villagers. They walked to the healer's hut to retrieve his clothes when suddenly a ruckus could be heard from the beach. Everyone ran to the beach to see a giant thirty-foot tall eel. It began snatching canoes out of the water and throwing them in every direction. The warriors through spears at the eel but they only bounced off. Much to everyone's surprise the eel laughed.
"You humans are so pathetic without your precious demigod to protect you." He said.
"What demigod?" Zyon called catching the eels attention.
"Well you don't seem to be from around here." The eel sneered moving closer to the boy. "So let me explain. Maui the despicable demigod he is killed my ancestor so that you humans could have coconuts and since I can't find him I'm taking it out of you human's hide."
"I don't think so!" Zyon yelled swinging his war hammer as hard as he could.
The hard iron slammed into the eel's jaw and broke off one of his teeth. The eel growled angrily as he snapped at the small human. Zyon cried out as the sharp point of one of the eel's teeth scraped up his back. The cry and smell of his rider's blood was all it took for Hailstorm to leap from his hiding place into the water. The wave created by the dragon froze in ice before it could reach shore. Zyon landed hard on the ice. The eel gave a monstrous screech at the site of the dragon. Hailstorm slashed at him but the eel was quicker and attempted to bite the dragon's arm but couldn't penetrate the hard armor scales. Hailstorm threw the eel across the ice and fired his ice breath at the eel. The eel screamed in pain as he managed to slide off the ice and back into the water.
"This isn't over!" the eel hissed before disappearing beneath the waves.
Hailstorm growled as if to say that it was.
Hailstorm laid down pulling his unconscious rider closer to him and began licking him. Even from the shore Zyon's blood could be seen on the ice. The villagers couldn't believe what they had witnessed. Here was this monster who had protected them from a second monster possibly at the cost of his human. Moana was the first to move.
"Moana don't!" Tui protested.
"It's Ok dad." Moana assured.
She stepped out onto the ice and was shocked to feel how cold it was and that it was solid. No one on Motunui had ever seen ice.
"Hailstorm?" Moana called but the dragon ignored her and continued to clean off his rider. "Hailstorm he needs a healer or he will die."
She touched the dragon's paw and he stopped. The dragon studied her for what seemed like forever before opening his paws and letting Moana take his rider.
It took a couple weeks for Zyon to wake up. As it turns out the monster eel had a poisonous bite.
"Hail?" Zyon groaned as he opened his eyes to find himself back in the healer's hut.
"Hail is fine." Moana assured.
"Keep an eye on him while I go get some more water." The healer requested. "I don't want him running off again."
"How do I keep ending up here." Zyon sighed. Moana laughed.
"That was really brave what you did." She told him.
"Where is Hailstorm?" Zyon asked.
"He hasn't moved since the battle with the eel. Not even when whatever he did to the water wore off. It's almost like he's standing guard." Moana informed him.
"What do you mean?" Zyon asked.
"The water turned white and solid and it didn't move." Moana said.
"Oh that's just ice." Zyon explained. "Hailstorm is an ice dragon."
"What's ice?" Moana asked.
"It's what happens when water gets to cold." He explained and Moana's eyes lit up with wonder.
"You've never seen ice before?" She shook her head.
"Wow I've been a lot of places but nowhere that doesn't see ice." Zyon commented
"You've been to other parts of the world?" Moana gasped.
Zyon nodded.
"Moana go help your grandmother" Tui ordered entering the hut. "I need to speak with our guest."
Moana nodded as she departed.
"I understand that you are lost." Tui started.
"Yes sir." Zyon nodded.
"I have spoken with the council and in light of recent events we would like you to stay." Tui requested.
His offer shocked Zyon. "Thank you sir, I will need time to consider you offer." He requested.
"Of course." Tui nodded.