I had an inspiration to write another story today. It will start off with me remaking the overall "How to Train Your Dragon" story. It will soon become a massive crossover with multiple movie characters appearing. This is The Legend of the Black Fury.
This is the story of my life. If you wish to embark on this journey with me, do not stop reading. This tale will be full of twists, turns, speed, and fire. If things like bloodshed or sacrifice make you fearful enough to not press on, stop reading now.
A ball flew over Ian's head as he ran by a group of kids playing, the spherical object bouncing across the dirt road. Ian, lightly running towards the town hall meeting, stooped quickly to scoop it up in one hand, tossed it back to them, and continued on his way.
The main place where people would meet was the town's school building, which also functioned as a church and town hall for the town. This night, they were going to discuss a matter that the entire town was worried about.
As he approached the building, he already heard the sound of a large group of people conferring inside. The heavy, wooden doors were fashioned from oak, and quietly creaked when he opened them. Not that anyone could hear the sound over their own loud conversations. Standing quietly in the back of the room, Ian could see clearly to the front of the room, where a raised desk was located, with Mayor Johnson preparing his papers in front of him. As soon as he finished, the mayor picked up the wooden gavel, and tapped the wooden plate on the desk.
"Order, Order!"
The room quieted quickly.
"This town meeting has come to order. We are here to discuss a string of recent attacks that I'm sure everyone is aware about," Mayor Johnson said as he lifted one of the papers in front of him. "To review: On March 13th, 1830, Mister Jones' cattle were attacked, and he lost a newborn calf. All that remained was the bell that was around its neck and a pool of blood. March 30th, the Jacobs family found a young doe hanging in a tree, scratch marks along its flanks and partially eaten. April 4th, Mister Smith and his sons were hunting, and came upon the skeleton of what is assumed to be Mister Jones' calf, the bones disarticulated. Things were quiet until just a few days ago, when the east wall of Mister Smith's chicken coop was smashed open, and seven hens and two roosters were missing. What these attacks have in common is that they all occurred at night.
"We have assembled here today to talk about a plan of action. If any of you here have even the slightest inkling of a possible solution, please speak now."
"I am considering moving away from this place, as it is unsafe for me to raise my family," Mr. Jones said. "I feel that this is the best course of action for me, and I urge you all to consider this as a viable option."
"I say we all set off and kill the beast!" Mr. Smith exclaimed. "It's clearly a vicious and powerful animal. I saw what it could do with my own eyes on two separate occasions!"
The crowd made a few murmurs in agreement.
"What happens when it decides it is not satisfied with animals and comes after us?!" Smith continued. "Our wives! Our children! They could all end up as finely shredded meat before we know it!"
The crowd became a loud, large mass of sound that caused Ian to wince. He could make out some words in the yelling, such as "Find it, kill it!", "Demon!", "Monster!"
Mayor Johnson banged his gavel on the table to regain order. "There will be no more outbursts in this meeting."
"What if we make it like a contest?" a small voice said. Everyone looked over to see Mary Johnson, the mayor's wife, standing.
"She's a woman!" cried Smith. "She shouldn't even be here!"
"Everyone here has the right to speak their mind in this room, provided they remain reasonably calm," Mayor Johnson said calmly. "Especially in a time like this." He turned to his wife. "What do you have in mind?"
"Well, if we make it like a contest," Mrs. Johnson said "People would be more interested in finding it. The more people that search, the higher our chances are of finding this animal."
People murmured calmly, nodding their heads slowly.
"This is what I propose," Mrs. Johnson continued. "If we offer up a reward to whoever captures, kills, or otherwise secures this animal."
Her husband was the first to speak.
"My only question is how much would we offer to the winner of this 'contest'?"
"I feel that we should let everyone come to some sort of an agreement on an amount," Mrs. Johnson said, gesturing to the crowd assembled in the room.
"Twenty dollars!" someone called out.
"Twenty-five!" shouted another.
"I propose thirty dollars," Mr. Smith called out, rising from his seat. "And not a penny less."
Nobody challenged Smith's offer. Thirty dollars was a huge amount of money, more than the average yearly wage. It would help any family financially.
"Then it's settled," Mayor Johnson said. "The person who captures or kills this animal will receive a reward of thirty dollars. This meeting is adjourned!" He banged the gavel on the table, and the crowd left. Ian walked to his house, at the bottom of the large hill where the building the Mayor's family took up residence.
Walking through the wooded area, of the path, Ian couldn't help but feel as if something was watching him. He felt something wet drip onto his shoulder. Reaching up to touch the liquid, it was sticky in his fingers. He smelled it. Blood. Looking up for the source of the substance, he saw a dark mass sitting in a tree. Squinting, he saw two velvet-covered antlers sticking out from the narrower side of the object.
A deer. The animal had killed a buck, and was storing its kill in a tree.
Glancing around frantically, Ian started a light jog away from the kill, sensing alien, predatory eyes watching his every move until he was safely inside his house.
Ian woke up to a loud knocking on his front door. Groaning as he got out of bed, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. Yawning, he stumbled over to the door in a sleepy haze.
"Good morning, Ian," said a cheery voice.
"Hey, Gabi, come on in," Ian said rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he invited her inside his home. Gabi was the eldest daughter of Mayor Johnson, and was soon to be married. "How's Jacob?"
"Oh, he's fine," Gabi said, her thick, British accent saturation her speech as she smiled at the thought of her fiancé.
"So, how long is it until the wedding?" Ian asked.
"One and a half weeks," she said, smiling as she set a basket of food on the table. "It's your usual, Ian: two eggs, a small loaf of bread, and a small jar of strawberry jelly."
"Thanks," Ian said, smiling as he gave a grateful nod. Gabi normally brought him breakfast every day.
Ian was an orphan, and one who Mayor Johnson took in. He was given his own small house near the mayor's estate, did not have to do anything regarding taxes until he turned nineteen, which is when most people got married, and was pretty well off as far as food went. Though he was sixteen years of age, Ian wasn't particularly interested in anyone right then, so he just went about his usual business, working in the forge.
Gabi left once Ian started the fire inside the wood stove. He set a frying pan on top, and cracked the pair of eggs into the heated cookware. He went to his small bedroom and changed into a nice, green tunic and a pair of brown trousers and fixed his messy hair, which looked like a bird tried to make a nest in it, but gave up halfway through construction.
When he came back out of his room, he flipped his eggs, which had browned slightly in the time he used to get himself relatively presentable. While the eggs cooked on the opposite side, he got out a plate, and set about applying jelly to the bread Gabi brought.
His eggs were done shortly thereafter, and he ate quickly so he could get down to the smithy.
On the way to his workplace, Ian looked about at all the things that usually went on in his town. The children were playing outside around the schoolhouse before their lessoned commenced. Some of the townsmen were repairing the fences around their sheep pens. He saw Gabi, off a ways, chatting away with her so-called "lady-friends" beneath a tree. Ian offered a wave, to which she returned with a friendly nod.
As Ian entered the smith's shop, he donned an apron and set to work, pumping the bellows to heat up the coals to a workable temperature. His boss, Mr. Daniel Janton, was off getting his cart fixed in Philadelphia, and since he would be gone for two weeks, he Ian was left in charge to "Hold down the fort" as Mr. Janton said.
Once the embers were heated up, he started the fire in the main fireplace to keep a ready supply of hot coals that he could add to the forge as he needed them.
He opened up the heavy shutters to the service window, and set to work, making a horseshoe that Mr. Jones ordered.
A half of an hour after Ian opened the shop, Jacob Stewart, Gabi's fiancé, entered the building.
"Welcome, Jacob," Ian said merrily as he worked on another addition to the healthy stock of nails. Metalworking always raised his spirits. "What can I do for you?"
"Well," Jacob said as he rubbed the back of his head. "I need something made for the wedding."
"Lay it on me, Romeo," Ian said, setting the nail in a bucket of water to cool.
"I need you to make the rings," Jacob said. "I don't have much money right now, barely enough for a bride price and to cover the ceremony. I don't need anything spectacular, just something that will work and looks nice. Please, Ian, I'm desperate. The wedding is almost here and…"
Ian held up his hand, stopping Jacob mid-rant.
"First, answer me this: Do you love Gabi?"
"Yes, with all my heart."
"Would you do anything for her?"
"I would move mountains for her."
"Will you treat her correctly, and not undermine her status as a dignified woman?"
"I will, and I won't," Jacob answered the questions in the order they were asked.
"Good," Ian said, satisfied. "Now, for the rings, would you want Gabi's to have some sort of pattern on it?"
"Yes, if you could, I think she would like it to have some sort of twisting pattern, like a vine, or her favorite braid that she wears."
"Okay," Ian said, nodding as he resumed making another nail. "I can do something like that. Now, it's tradition for the bride's ring to have some sort of gemstone, preferably diamonds."
"I thought of that, but I can't cover it," Jacob said with a defeated air.
"How 'bout, if you'd like me to, I do it for free?"
"Would you really?"
"Absolutely," Ian said, smiling as he tapped the small hunk of metal on the anvil into shape. "Consider it an early wedding present. And on top of that, I'll knock down the price for the overall rings a few notches."
"Oh, thank you so much Ian," Jacob said. "I really owe you for this."
Ian just smiled as his customer left.
He will be good for Gabi, he thought. A real good, strong gentleman.
As the day wore on, Ian dealt with the usual things that went on in the shop. He did a few quick repairs when some of the townspeople brought him a damaged item. The day went by relatively quickly.
Soon, it was time to close up the shop. After twisting the key in the hole to lock the door, Ian turned around for the walk back to his house, wondering what he would make for dinner. An absurd thought most other men in the town would think. "Men don't cook, that's a woman's job," they would say. Maybe so, but when a man lived alone, and had little spare money to buy himself food at the town's café every night, he had to cook for himself sometimes. Ian considered himself quite good in the kitchen. About a mile away from his house, he heard someone walking up behind him. He felt to hand clasp onto his shoulders, stopping both him and his thoughts in their tracks.
"Hey, Gabi," he said to his friend, resuming his walk.
"Hi, Ian," she said, falling into step next to him. "How was your day?"
"Oh, uneventful thus far," he said with a shrug. "Yours?"
"Oh, the same I guess," she said. "Though I did pick out a dress for the wedding."
"When do I get to see it?" Ian asked. Though he didn't care much about clothing, he was mildly curious, and was happy for whom he viewed as the person who filled in the roles of both a mother and an older sister.
"Tonight, if you like," Gabi responded will a smile.
"Okay," Ian responded.
Soon, they arrived at Ian's house.
"Come on in," Ian said, opening the door and motioning her to go inside before him with his arm moving in an arch, stopping as it pointed into the house.
Ian went to the fireplace, and went about to start the flame. Within one minute, there was a merry blaze dancing in the hearth, lighting the room up with welcoming light in the approaching dusk, heating up some tea Ian had put on to boil.
The pair sat back in some soft chairs that Ian had placed near the fireplace a while back.
Suddenly, after about ten minutes of blissful, tea-filled silence, the loud sound of a gunshot came from outside, startling the two friends. Sounds of men yelling sounded throughout the streets. Ian rose from his chair, and trudged over to the window that overlooked the streets and the covered porch in front on the door. Pushing the curtains aside, he saw large group of men with weapons of many kinds: Guns, nets, whips, some even carried swords.
"What's going on?" Gabi asked from her chair, rising to take a look for herself.
"It looks like a hunting party," Ian said as he moved aside a little so Gabi could look.
"I'm pretty certain they're going after the beast," she said as she peered out the window. "Now
with more vigor than they usually would, as the creature now has a sizable bounty on its head. I hope those men stay safe. It's almost dark."
"Would you like me to walk you home?" Ian asked. It was customary for men to escort their female companions to their place of residence.
"I would yes," Gabi said. "Thank you."
"Not a problem at all."
On the way to the Mayor's residence, the pair passed by several groups of men carrying weapons and other trapping equipment. When they arrived, Ian turned towards Gabi.
"Take care," he said as his female friend entered her house. When the door shut, Ian turned and walked back to his house. It was dark out, and men were all heading into the forest with weapons.
Then, seeing all the male villagers hunting for potential fortune and fame, Ian got an idea. He quickly ran home, grabbed the key to the smithy that hung by the front door and a long, dark brown, hooded cloak, and dashed down to the shop.
Bursting into the room, he quickly located knife and a crossbow with its accompanying quiver of bolts. Clicking one bolt onto the line of the bow, but not cocking the limb, he ran out the door, shutting it as he went by, locking it, and stole off into the dark forest.
An hour went by, two hours. As Ian stepped into a stream, he looked up, and faintly saw a black mass moving around in front of the stars, well out of rage for his crossbow. Tracking it, he saw it glide down in what looked like a clearing, about two miles away. He quickly ran forward towards the treeless patch of land.
As he came close to the clearing, he heard the sounds of men yelling, combined with the fierce roar of what must have been the beast.
He'd missed his chance.
As he ran forward through the brush, he stopped just at the edge of the clearing. There was a large group of men, numbering about fifteen or so, surrounding a strange animal.
This animal was strangely proportioned. It had a large head, scaly black skin, scraggly teeth placed unevenly in its jaws, long claws on its hands, arms that could reach out and grab things. It was twenty feet long, and ten feet tall at the shoulders. On the back of the head and forearms were what appeared to be various sizes quill-like structures. The animal was bipedal, it's long hind legs supporting its body, which was covered in small, bony bumps. But what stood out
most at first glance were two light leathery wings, which would extend as a threat display occasionally.
This animal was a dragon. A freaking, honest-to-goodness DRAGON!
But this animal was different to Ian, out of proportion. The body seemed thinner than it should properly be, the eyes larger, the legs ganglier. This animal wasn't mature. It was a baby! Now looking at it from this new perspective, Ian saw how this animal wasn't attacking the men surrounding it, no, but the dragon was defending itself. The men used leather bullwhips to drive it into a net, where the dragon became entangled. The animal shrieked in terror, thrashing about fiercely.
Though this animal was most likely the one who has been raiding farms, it was just a kid, essentially, and based on its overall shape, it looked thin, as if it hadn't been eating enough. If this animal was malnourished, then its parents must not be around. Ian understood what it was like losing your parents, but he had people take him in. This animal was young, and it didn't have anyone to help it. Grounded in this philosophy, Ian ran forward, his hooded cloak fluttering behind him like a cape, as he yelled a vicious war cry.
"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
He dashed through the crowd of men, causing them all to turn and watch him as the boy placed himself between the group of townsmen and the dragon. These men saw a vicious demon in the dragon, born of hell's fire. Ian saw a helpless animal, unable to defend itself.
"Ge' away from there!" said one man. Glancing his way, Ian saw that the man in question was Mr. Smith, but no one could tell that Ian was, well, Ian, due to the hood that covered half his face.
Ian quickly produced his knife, and glanced down at the young dragon, its jaws tied shut, its limbs secured against its body, its body and tail lashed down with heavy ropes. The animal stared up at him with wide, terrified yellow eyes.
Aiming his crossbow at the men, Ian swiped down at one of the ropes holding the dragon's mouth shut.
"He's freeing it!" a man said. "Get him!"
One man advanced quickly, cracking his whip at Ian and the dragon, which earned him a crossbow bolt to the leg, courtesy of Ian, who turned and slashed the ropes holding the dragon's head and neck down. Ian felt a whip crack on his cheek, pain screaming through his face, causing him to cry out in pain. Tears forming in his eyes, he turned to the nearest man, who was the perfect distance away to land a blow on him with his whip. In exchanged for a red, burning welt on his face, Ian retaliated with bolt to the man's shoulder.
The dragon roared in fury, using its newly freed arms and head to rip through the rest of the ropes restraining it. Ian reloaded his crossbow, during which the crowd of men rushed forward, their fortune now stretching its wings, shrieking in defiance at the men. A few of the men in the group faltered for a moment, but they were soon rushing the boy and the dragon before them.
Suddenly, Ian felt something large go between his legs from behind and his feet left the ground.
The dragon lifted its head, picking Ian up, and sliding the boy back to the base of its neck as its legs tensed and its wings extended and rose.
The men were pushed back by a heavy gust of wind as the dragon took off, soaring nearly straight up, only a slight angle in its accent.
"Oh my GOD!" Ian said as he rode the dragon upwards against his will, clinging tightly as he could to the scaly hide of the animal. "I'm gonna die!" Soon, once the dragon deemed they were high enough, and the flight leveled out.
Sensing the change in speed and direction, Ian sat up a little and thought about his current situation. The dragon apparently wasn't interested in eating him. If it was, it would have used its jaws to pick him up. The dragon had also placed Ian in the safest place it could; on its back. It was clearly very, very intelligent. Feeling as though the beast wasn't going to eat him, Ian spoke to the dragon.
"You need to take me home. I need to get back." The dragon looked back at its passenger, who was clinging fearfully to its back, and grunted as it angled its wings and body to turn. Apparently, the dragon could understand him.
"Right there," Ian said as he pointed towards the town. "Just drop me off in the woods nearby. If the villagers see you they'll panic and attack you." The dragon glided downwards gently, its black scales giving excellent cover in the night, before gracefully landing on the ground and crouching so Ian could climb off.
"Thank you," he said, dismounting from the dragon's back. The dragon growled lightly, yet Ian wasn't scared. It seemed more like a goodbye.
As the dragon took off, Ian watched in awe at what had occurred.
He had found a dragon.
He had defended a dragon.
A dragon had defended him.
He had befriended a dragon, and the dragon seemed to have befriended him.
One thing was for sure. Ian's life would never be the same again.