I had been running for a long time. I was a stow away on many ships, going to many different places. I had run away when I was about fifteen years old. When I turned seventeen, I found myself on an island that was occupied by dragon riders. It was called Berk and I never really went up to the civilization. I felt out of place with them because everyone had dragons and I felt as though I would be alone. I had decided to live on the other side of the island.
I was about eighteen when I had my first encounter with a different kind of dragon than all the others I had seen. I remember them calling it a changewing and it was quite scary. It was red and attacked me from behind. I had no weapons and I fell back and stared up at the red face looming above me. I drew back as far into the earth as I could. It reeled back and I could see that it was getting ready to shoot it's acid at me. I heard a roar and there was a flash of blue and the changewing was knocked off of me.
I sat up and saw that the flash of blue I had seen was another changewing. I watched as it scared the red one off and turned to look at me. I backed up to a tree as I saw it coming towards me. I realized that I wasn't going to get anywhere so I awaited my death. I felt a hot, short breath on my face and I opened my eyes. The changewing had backed away from me and was curled up on the other side of the clearing. I checked myself over to make sure I was still in one piece. I walked over to a stream near the clearing and I bathed myself. That night had been one of the longest nights of my life.
The next morning, the changewing was gone but for some reason I felt as though there were eyes watching me throughout the entire day. Once nighttime came again, I saw movement to the right of the clearing. I looked up from the small fire I had created and saw the changewing again. I watched it approach me slowly and it finally stopped about five feet from where I was sitting. I stared at it in the eyes for a few minutes before it looked like it was almost choking. It spit out a fish from its mouth and laid it at my feet. I had pulled my legs up onto the log I had been sitting on but I placed them back on the ground on either side of the fish. I took the stick I usually had by my side and stuck the fish on it. I cooked it over the fire and the changewing watched in fascination.
I looked over at it when it seemed to be choking again. Another fish came out of it's mouth and the changewing stuck it on the end of it's tail. It hovered the fish over the fire like I was doing and then looked at me. It seemed to give me a wide grin and I smiled at it. I took my fish away from the fire as I noticed it was fully cooked and took a bite. The changewing looked at me curiously before looking at its own fish. It swallowed the fish whole and then licked its lips. I laughed slightly at that and finished my fish. I placed the bones on the side of the fire and the changewing watched me. I didn't go over to a tree and sleep at the base like I did before. For some reason, I felt at peace with the dragon beside me. I laid down on the log and the changewing left. It came back with a huge tree in its jaws. I watched as it laid the tree down and then laid down on it, much like I was doing. I smiled and fell asleep.
I woke up the next morning to a hot breath on my cheek. I opened my eyes and saw that the changewing was sniffing at me. It seemed to want me to get up. He started to jump around and back and fourth. It wanted me to play with it. I looked at the changewing before I grabbed a large, thick stick from somewhere and waved it around. The changewing's eyes followed it every move. I threw it into the woods and the chagnewing went after. It came back to me with the stick clenched between its jaws. I laughed and motioned for it to drop the stick.
"Okay, now, I think it's time I figured out what you are. Don't you think?" I said to the changewing. It looked at me curiously. I held out my hand to it like I had seen many of the people in Berk do. The changewing backed away and got in a defensive position and I snatched my hand back.
I put my hand out again but turned away. I walked forward to where I knew the changewing was and I held my hand out. I waited for it to lean and touch my hand with it's snout. I felt hot breath and then I felt it lean into my hand. I looked at it and it had closed it's eyes. I started to move up to where I was scratching under it's chin.
"Now, I wonder. Are you... a girl?" I asked. It opened it's eyes quickly and growled at me. "Okay, boy then. Yeesh! Sorry," I told him. He closed his eyes and started rubbing against my side. I laughed. "I guess I should name you now, huh?" He started jumping around excitedly. I smiled. "Hmmm. Well, you're a very handsome blue so maybe something with blue. How about... Sapphire? No, that's too girly. How about... Teal?" He snorted at that and pulled himself up. He seemed to be trying to look regal. "You're right, that doesn't suit such a manly dragon like you." He glared at me from where his head was way above me. I laughed at his expense but he seemed to realize I was only teasing. "Hmmmm. Okay, okay. I've got it. What do you think of Cobalt?" I guess that was the one because he started jumping around again and knocked me down and started licking my face. "Ohh, come on Cobalt. Was that really necessary?"
Later on, I went to the stream and washed what I could out of my clothes. I smiled when I saw Cobalt swimming in the stream about fifty feet from where I was. He looked back at me and splashed around like he wanted me to jump in with him. "Ohhh, no way. You better not even-" i was cut off as he pulled me into the stream, clothes and all, by his tail. I came back up and spluttered water at him. "Alright, maybe a little playing wouldn't be so bad." We started a water war and he ended up winning as he was bigger and used the advantage of his tail. Once everything was out of the stream and we were heading back to camp, I pushed on his shoulder lovingly.
"Okay, now that was totally unfair. You can't just use your tail and win. I don't have a tail," I told him. He looked behind me and then pranced around, showing his tail off. I laughed at his antics. "Yeah, yeah. Keep making me jealous. I'll get you back," I told him.
I fell asleep with Cobalt curled around me and I was extremely warm. I knew I would be okay and I would always have someone who cared about me. The next few weeks we got to know each other. One day, I was speaking to him about what my life had been like back home.
"Ever since I was about nine, my whole tribe treated me badly. I guess they were mad that a small girl like me was supposed to lead them. You see, my father was the chief and I was the first born. I had a younger brother and he was the only one who didn't treat me badly. But, everyone seemed to place him on a pedestal and I was the lowest of the low. And then, when I turned thirteen, my father and brother died. They had been out on a ship searching for something. I don't remember what it was but the tribe, they treated me terribly. The chief position went to my uncle until I was old enough to assume the position. To say things got worse after that is an understatement. My uncle encouraged the bashing from the others because he wanted me to never assume the position of chief. The night of my fifteenth birthday, something happened. Something that should never happen to any girl, viking or not. A man... well, had his way with me." Cobalt growled as he could tell that it was something that bothered me still. He could tell that it still hurt me, mentally. "The next day, I was on the next ship out of the tribe and that was the last time I had seen my tribe. I found this island when I was about seventeen. And then I found you. So, you see, I wouldn't change anything that happened to me because then, I wouldn't have found you," I said and Cobalt snuggled into my side.
I smiled and I laid on my back, looking at the stars. Cobalt followed my lead and he listened as I pointed out different shapes in the night stars. I put a story to every single one. I turned on my side and looked at Cobalt. He did the same and looked at me with a questioning look.
"What brought you to me, Cobalt? I wonder..." I trailed off as Cobalt started drawing in the dirt by the fire. He looked down at the drawing. It seemed like he was trying to tell me his story. I looked at the pictures. "You're a lot like me, huh? Everyone didn't want you." I could tell from the pictures. "But why?" He pointed at himself but more specifically, his color. "You looked different than them?" He sadly nodded his head. I walked up to him and placed my hand on his snout. "Well, they just didn't realize how amazing you are. You're more beautiful than all of them combined. They're jealous of you and it doesn't matter what they think. You have me," I said and smiled at him. He smiled his dragon smile and he curled around me. I laid down and we fell asleep just like that.
It was my twenty-first birthday. Cobalt had already given me so many fish, it was hard to keep track of how many. He had figured out that this day was special and he did everything to make it great. I laughed as I watched Cobalt dancing around our clearing. We had accumulated many things throughout the years. I had a few different sets of clothes now made out our kills over the years. My hair color was once a bright orange but had now dulled down a little bit to a muted red. It looked brown in the dark but once the sun hit it, it looked almost like a fire red. Cobalt was still his amazing blue color, although as he grew, the tips of his wings were a red color like the other changewings.
I looked up as Cobalt came bounding into the clearing. He looked a little scared and that was when I heard it. The loud crashing through the trees and the sound of other vikings. I pulled out my sword, the only thing I had from my old tribe and I climbed onto Cobalt's back. I had made a saddle but it wasn't the best quality. It was all I could do with what we had and it was good enough. I watched the sky, waiting to see if there were any other dragons. I didn't get very much time to look before some dragons and their riders and came crashing into our clearing. Cobalt reared up when they all had their swords, axes, and various other things raised at, not just him but me. All the other dragons started growling at him but I got down from Cobalt's back when I saw the rider of the night fury get off of it.
"Guys, back up. You're making him tense." The boy who had dismounted sounded like he was in charge and the others followed his lead and calmed their dragons. Although, all of them were still on high alert but Cobalt was no different. When the leader got closer to me, Cobalt growled and wrapped his tail protectively around me. I patted Cobalt on his tail and he unfurled it but it was still to the side of me, ready to grab me if he needed to.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"I could ask you the same thing. My name is Hiccup," the boy introduced himself. I shook his offered hand.
"I'm Skyler," I said.
"These are my friends and their respective dragons. Toothless, the night fury, is mine. Astrid is the one with the nadder, whose name is Stormfly. Fishlegs is the one with the groncle, whose name is Meatlug. The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut are the ones with the zippleback, whose names are barf and belch. And Snotlout is the one with the monstrous nightmare, whose name is Hookfang." I looked over at Snotlout and noticed him checking me out. I felt a blush rise to my face but I fought it down.
I hummed. "Well, you all know that this here is a changewing, but he is a little different than all the others with his colors." Cobalt stood regally as he noticed that everyone seemed to be admiring him. "His name's Cobalt."
Fishlegs rushed foward. "Oh my, how did you train a changewing, it must have been so hard."
I laughed at him. "Actually, it happened quite the opposite way. He seemed to have trained me and not the other way around." Cobalt bent down and nuzzled my side. I smiled at him and scratched under his chin like I knew he liked.
"May I?" Fishlegs asked and he held out his hand.
I stared at him for a minute. "That depends on Cobalt here." Cobalt sniffed at Fishlegs' hand before slightly leaning into it. I saw Meatlug step up in a protective way but when she knew Fishlegs was in no danger she backed down. I noticed that the other dragons slowly approached Cobalt. Well, all except Hookfang. He bounded right up to Cobalt. "Oh no, Hookfang, I wouldn't-" I was cut off as Cobalt whipped around and I was suddenly in his saddle and he had Hookfang pinned underneath him.
"Hey!" Snotlout exclaimed. "Get that beast off Hookfang." All the other dragons began growling again.
I let a growl of my own and Cobalt automatically let go of Hookfang and he let me get down from his back. I stared up at him and he had enough sense to look sheepish. "Cobalt, what did I tell you about attacking other dragons?" He hung his head. "Don't give that. Go on, go where you're supposed to when your in trouble, mister." He hung his head walked slowly to a place that was sectioned off by rocks. It was his timeout place. I realized when he was younger that he was very impulsive so I had to figure out how to punish. I couldn't have him acting like that around non-threatening things. His first impulsive move had happened when he went after a wondering sheep. He had killed it but he knew I was mad at him for it. I found the spot and told him to go there. He was reluctant at first but he knew he was in trouble and I wasn't going to let him have anything he wanted unless he sat through his timeout. Since then, he had learned to behave himself, mostly.
All the others had their mouths open like they couldn't believe what I had just done. I saw Hookfang seemed defeated so I went over to him. "Come here, Hookfang. Let me see what he did," I said and he lifted his head slightly. I saw there was a small scratch from Cobalt's claw. "I have just the thing for that. Come over here." I brought over to some of the trees where there were a few hanging bags and pots. I grabbed a small pot from one of the higher branches and went to Hookfang. I told him to turn and lay on his back and I put the salve on his scratch. I heard Cobalt sigh from where he was. "Now, quiet you. I don't want to hear you complain," I said. "Okay, good as new." Hookfang stood up and started jumping around and then he licked me. "Ewww, come on. That doesn't come out," I complained. Everyone laughed.
"Wow. How do you..." Hiccup trailed off.
"Simple training really. When he knows I'm mad at him for something he did, he knows to go to timeout. Now that hard to understand really," I told him.
"Brilliant. Truly, brilliant," Fishlegs said.
"I love her. Can we keep her," Tuffnut said and he pulled me close to him.
"No, she's mine," Ruffnut said and pulled my other arm. I laughed at their antics.
"So, why have we never seen you?" Astrid asked.
"Well, I guess it's because you guys never came to this side of the island. You can't see something if you never come to where it lives," I said.
"Huh? I never thought about it that way," she said.
"Come on, I'll get a fire going and we can talk more," I said. I heard a whimper from where Cobalt was. "Okay, you can come out but only if you behave," I told Cobalt. He bounded out and ran over to me. He licked my face and then went over to Hookfang. He bowed his head in apology and Hookfang accepted his apology. I smiled.
"I hope they become good friends," Snotlout said from my right side. He smirked at me, trying to be flirty.
"Yeah. Why? So you get to spend more time with me, huh?" I asked.
"Ha, she has you all figured out, Snotlout," Ruffnut said.
"Shut up," Snotlout said. I laughed and Cobalt came up to me. I had gotten the fire going and I had logs set up around the fire. Snotlout chose to sit next to me and I sighed and turned to Cobalt. He had laid down next to the log. He looked at me and appeared to be laughing at my predicament. I stuck my tongue out at him. Hiccup and Astrid sat next to each other, the twins, obviously, sat by each other. And Fishlegs sat by himself with Meatlug practically laying in his lap. I smiled as I watched everyone talking with each other as they usually would. I could tell that Cobalt and I would fit right in with them.