Story: The Mandible in the Sky

Author: Stitch 54

Timeline: Thousand years after 'How to Train Your Dragon', and somewhere in fifth season of Bones before 'Witch in the Wardrobe'.

Disclaimer: I own neither Bones or 'How to Train Your Dragon'

My name is Bart. I'm not yellow and have spiky hair and shout 'Aye Curumba' every so often. I'm not even American, never been to the country for a matter of fact. I'm sixteen years old, and my dad thinks I have an attitude problem. Well, that just about describes every teenager on this planet. I have short spiky ginger hair, the best shade in the world, and the other guys say that the girls think my blue eyes are dreamy. Unlike most boys my age that you might find around the world, I'm not interested in girls. There are some girls yes that I do, you know, like, but at this point in my life, there are other things that have peaked my interest.

I live in the most remote place on the Earth, Berk, an island out somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, with a population of about five hundred continually on the island. We have the few former inhabitants visit once in a while, but the island just cannot cope with any more. The thing about Berk, aside from the crap weather we get, is our pets. Other places have dogs, cats, hamsters, you know, like normal people. In Berk however, we have dragons: real living dragons that fly around in the sky and breathe fire.

Some may call them a myth, but here, they are as real as the ground beneath your feet. They are not just pets though, they are our friends. And at the age of sixteen, you are finally allowed to ride them. Living on Berk, you are most likely to build up a bond with a particular dragon, and this is the dragon you learn how to ride. My dragon is called Fredo, because he loves to eat these little chocolate figures called 'Fredos'. And the cool thing about Fredo, is that he is a Night Fury, the rarest of all dragons. There are only ever two riders to a continent, the chief and his apprentice, but the wild Night Furies live all over the place and there only two living on the island at the moment, one of them being Fredo; the other, his sibling who doesn't have a name or confirmed rider. Fredo is a dark purple sort of colour with soothing yellow eyes, and even though he is smaller than all the other dragons, he still takes up over half the space in my bedroom. And one of the reasons Fredo chose me to be the next chief is that I'm a descendant of Hiccup, the man who ended the dragon war over a thousand years ago. And that I am the son of the chief, but I think that is less impressive.

His sibling, who no one has been able to get close to in years, is a darker colour, black even, and its scales glisten in the sun, when we have it. It also has sea blue eyes that always seem to be searching. Apparently, some woman came here when I was about five, after her boat sank, and it took some interest in her. But it being modern times, she had to phone her team that she was fine and we had to take her to the mainland a week later. The dragon hasn't been the same since; even Fredo can't convince it to leave the spot the woman had left it at ten years ago.

Every day I look out of my bedroom window to see it, still sitting there. The village elders are starting to lose hope. I don't know what they are going to do, but something will have to be done soon because it hasn't flown in over six months, even though the only flights it has been on is to check the island. Today was no different; it was still sitting there, looking out to sea.

Fredo came over to me, and nudged me in the ribs. He was hungry, like normal. He would have to settle for fish though today, as all the 'Fredos' have made him a bit on the chubby side. He looked at me playfully before jumping upwards and clinging to the wooden roof of my room. All of the houses here are typical of Viking design, long wooden cabins, with two rooms added to the roof space. Toilets are a new addition compared to some other things in this town, and we have only recently had internet put in, and the mobile phone coverage boosted to cover the whole island space.

As I opened the door to my house, the warm summer sun covered me from head to toe. It was nice when the sun actually came out, and we all made the most of the good weather, flying our dragons as much as possible. I look down onto Berk, various species of dragons perched on the roofs of the houses, like parrots on a pirate's shoulder. Fredo burst past me, flying straight up into the air for a quick stretch before I would be riding him.

I smiled as I walked down to the main square at the bottom of the hill that day, to discover that a crowd had gathered. The village elders were in the centre, addressing the crowd as I approached. When they eventually saw me, the whole crowd parted. Being one of the Night Fury riders on the continent meant I had many privileges, including that the elders consulted me before they went ahead with anything. Including whatever was going on today.

"What's so important that you have called a village meeting?", I asked the elders as I joined them.

"We have decided what to do about the lone Night Fury", one of the women told me.

"What would that be then, 'cause it ain't budging and no one can make it", I told them, laughing slightly, if they were planning on moving it, one of them would have their head bitten off.

The six or so of them looked about each other, and a letter was handed forward to me from one of the men. It was addressed to some doctor in Washington DC in some place called the Jeffersonian. As I quickly glanced over the typed letter, which I was surprised that any of them had enough knowledge of computers to be able to type out, I caught the main point. It was inviting this doctor up here. I smiled; they thought that some doctor, who had no experience whatsoever, could just come down here and fix our dragon. "What is so special about this doctor?", I asked them.

"She is the only one that the Night Fury has ever taken an interest in", the woman who spoke before said, "When she came here ten years ago, she left an address and name if we needed to contact her. It is our last hope".

I looked up at the Night Fury. It was depressing to see a dragon in this way. Nobody has ever come to the island and left without a dragon. Yes the dragons do stay here, but their riders come back when they can. This woman, the Night Fury had obviously chosen all those years ago, and she was our last hope. "Well I hope this Dr. Temperance Brennan comes, otherwise we have a dead dragon on our hands", I said before handing the letter back to them, and jumping onto Fredo who had swooped down to pick me up.

"Sweetie, you got mail", Angela squealed through the door of the bone room, holding a letter in her hand.

Tempe looked up, not moving her head. She was nearly finished with a skeleton, and was just about to finish up. Couldn't Angela of waited a few more minutes and left her in peace. It was never going to happen in this lifetime. She placed the skull down onto the table and removed the plastic gloves.

"Isn't it a bit late for mail", she told her best friend, it was nearing one in the afternoon and the rest of the mail had been delivered earlier that morning.

"Well, this just came by special delivery. Look at all those stamps. It has come a long way just for you", the artist said handing over the envelope, "And I'm not leaving you just in case it is a creepy stalker thing".

All the times Bren's stalkers have sent something to the lab, this was the first letter. Angela, on one hand was eager to find out what the letter contained, but was however feeling nervous just in case there was something disturbing contained within. She watched as her best friend opened up the said letter, unfolding the sheet of paper contained within, and a plane ticket fell out.

Tempe was happy that Angela had stayed, too many times these moments were ruled by stalkers, and she might need her best friend there. Well not really, it was just so Angela didn't feel guilty if something bad happened. She looked down at the page. At the top, it was addressed to her, and was dated to last week. The letter was set out properly, and the place it was sent from surprised Brennan, is not confused her. Not letting that stop her, she continued on, only to be more baffled. The ticket was dated to today, a flight leaving tonight. Something she had left ten years ago had come to bite her on the butt.

"Sweetie is everything okay", Angela said cautiously, placing one hand on her friend's shoulder, "If it is another stalker, I'm here for you".

"It's not a stalker Ange", Brennan told her as she read over the letter again.

"Are you sure beca...".

"It is not a stalker. It is an invitation".

"What to a party?", Angela said, now smiling a bit, "Can you trust it?".

"Yes, well, it is more like summons".

"From who?", Angela asked, curious even more so now to the contents of the letter.

"No one that you need to know about", Brennan said as she stormed out of the room, "Sorry Ange. This is something that not anyone here knows about".

Angela was left just standing there; with only a skeleton as company. Thankfully for her, moments later, Booth walked by, taking a step backwards when he saw Angela standing in the middle of the bone room like her brain had just been eaten. He walked in, waving his hand in front of Angela, trying to snap her out of the trance that she had been left in. "Angela, are you okay", he asked finally.

"I feel, sort of, rejected", she told him still looking out of the room, as if he was not there.

"By who?", he asked as he perched himself on the edge of the table slightly.

"By Bren", she told him, finally meeting his gaze upon her.

"Nah, you must be hallucinating, she always leaves us unexpectantly", Booth said as he helped push the artist out through the door.

"I know, but this time, it left a feeling", she said, turning around, not wanted to be ordered around by Booth.

"Let me talk to her, they may be something up", Booth said as he walked backwards, leaving Angela alone in the middle of a rather quiet lab.

All the way back to her office, Brennan kept reading the letter over and over. Ten years ago was the only time something in the real world, even Booth would think is irrational, she actually believed in. Her boat had smashed into a rock, and she was thrown overboard. She had apparently been out for two days and that the islanders had seen her floating on some the wreckage on their morning flight. When she woke up, she found herself in a warm wooden cabin, covered in what seemed to be reindeer fur.

As she remembered the moment she woke up, she could smell the wood smoke mixed in with meat cooking, and the warmness of the fur. She hurried into her room, and sat down at her desk, still engrossed in the letter. She couldn't decide on what to do next, so she closed her eyes, and began to remember the moments after she woke up...

She woke up to a bright light, and voices all around her. The smell of wood smoke and fish, and the hint of sea air made her nose sting. Her hair felt like it needed a good wash, and her skin felt all salty like it did after being swimming in the sea. A face appeared in her line of sight, a youngish woman, probably about twenty, just a bit younger than she was. She had long blonde hair done up into two loose plats on either side of her head. She was smiling as she dabbed a warm cloth on Temperance's head. "Welcome back to the land of the living", she said, a deep Scottish accent was very apparent.

"I don't know what that means", she answered back, feeling that her throat was dry and sore.

"You've been out for two days miss", she said as she helped Brennan to sit up.

Temperance looked around the room, wooden structures everywhere. Wooden artwork, wooden supporting beams even wooden kitchen cabinets lined the walls. She could hear a crowd outside, like they were listening in. At a window, she could see faces peering in, smiling right at her. Someone had changed her clothes, and she was now wearing a cotton vest top, and a pair of leather trouser type things. "Where the hell am I?", she questioned the girl who had now gone over to the door, putting on a pair of shoes as she went.

"You're in Berk miss", she said as she pushed down on the door handle, "I'm just going to get the chief, and he can explain everything to ya".

As the door slammed shut, Temperance heard even more shuffling about outside. She swung her legs around and placed them on the ground. Her feet were bear and the coldness of the stone floor went right through her as they made contact. She could feel some bruising on her forehead, as she rubbed her head, trying to remember what happened. There was a loud crash on the roof, and then whatever happened, made a loud noise that made the hairs on her arms stand.

"Bones", Booth shouted, bringing her out of the dream.

He was standing in the doorway of her office, looking rather confused. They had just finished the last case yesterday, and it wouldn't be long until they had another. If they were lucky, they might have two days to themselves. Enough time for her disappear and come home in a week. She would have to get rid of him first though.

"Uh hey Booth", she said as he walked over.

She stood to meet him halfway. He glanced over her shoulder to see the letter and plane ticket sitting on her desk. Maybe that was what she had run away from Angela with. If it is another stalker..., Booth began to think, the fury building inside. "So, uh Bones. Angela said that there might be something up. Something to do with that letter maybe?", Booth asked, he never missed anything.

"Uh, yeah. It is all to do with that letter. I'm going to have to go away for a week", she started telling him, trying to formulate an excuse in her head, "Glasgow University need me to identify some rather fragile remains that cannot be shipped by air or sea. They are of the utmost priority".

"Well, I'll come with you. Don't see why they didn't send it by email though, would have been much quicker", he said as he turned on his heels, heading for the door.

"No Booth, there is no need for you to come with me", she told him as she helped to push him out of the door.

"Well, at least let me drive you to the airport", he said, with big puppy dog eyes.

"Fine. My flight is tonight. Can you pick me up at about six?", she said, standing in the doorway as he backed through the lab.

"Tonight? Well okay. Don't forget to tell Cam, and oh... go and apologise to Angela, you left her in quite a state", he said as he got just far enough before he would have to start shouting.

Ten Years Ago

The chief walked in through the door of the cabin in which the mystery woman was being kept. He examined the room before entering, to find she was nowhere to be found. As he stepped in, he somehow tripped, and rolled over to find the woman standing above him holding a ladle ready to strike. The chief was a large man, over six foot easily, and he couldn't see how she could have done this to him. She examined him, before extending her hand to help him rise.

His long greying beard of brown flowed down as gravity took over, and his grey eyes looked over this stranger. She had been out for the past two days, after the Night Fury picked her up on the morning flight. They didn't know how long before that she was unconscious. To add to all of this, they had no idea who she was or where she came from. "You must be the chief", she said with an American accent.

"Yes, Chief McCullough", he replied as he subconsciously reached behind him for the chair up against the wall, "We though don't know who you are or where you are from".

"Temperance Brennan, I live in America, Washington DC at the present moment, and I was out studying the Viking culture for my Forensic Anthropology degree when I think my boat capsized", she said as her right hand rubbed her head, "Can you please explain to me where exactly I am?".

"You are on Berk Miss Brennan. In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, a good half a day boat ride from anywhere".

She nodded to the new information. She didn't seem a bit bothered that she was in the middle of nowhere; or the fact that she had been travelling in the cold seas for an unknown amount of time or the fact that the crew of her ship might be looking for her. She tensed up as there was scratching on the roof, and raised the ladle ready to strike. "What is that?", she asked, looking around at the area above her.

"Ah, it's only Fredo wee lass. He won't bite ya, just a bit curious as to whom you are. See, we don't get too many visitors here, and it is sort of a new experience for him", Chief McCullough told her as he stood, and headed to the door.

"And Fredo would be a bird then", she said as he gestured for her to follow.

The Chief laughed. "Ah, Miss Brennan, you have a lot to learn", he told her, she was hesitant about coming with him, "He won't bite, and, if you are afraid of the rest of us, we won't bite ya either".

She followed him outside, after he handed her a pair of leather boots to wear. Outside, it was a lovely calm summer's day. A cool breeze blew, making the sunshine pleasant and welcoming. As if the event had been dramatized, there was a gathering of about thirty odd people waiting in a semi circle outside the door. More stretched around the sides of the building. All of them were eager to get a glimpse of her. Men, women and children, all dressed in a similar way to her; woollen, weaved, knitted and leather clothing. They all had smiles on their faces as she looked around, and the Chief raised his arms for silence. "People of Berk, this is Temperance Brennan from Washington DC in America. She is our honoured guest until we can find a way to get her back to the mainland", he smiled at her, "So, let's give her a good old Berk welcome eh?".

Everyone around him began to laugh, and make their ways off, to do something the Chief had obviously told them in the subtext of that speech. He looked at her, as she gazed around at the village on the cliff top. It had been there over a thousand years, and not even a war would make these settlers budge. "Do you want to meet our Fredo now?", he asked, as he called over a small boy.

This boy resembled this man greatly, so Temperance assumed that he was the Chief's son. He could also be no more than five years old. He looked up at her, ginger red hair burning like fire in the sun, and blue eyes like hers, full of happiness of the youth. "This is my son, Bart. Fredo is his pet", McCullough said as he patted the boy on his shoulder, "Bart, this is Miss Brennan, and she would like to meet Fredo".

The boy looked up and behind her. Temperance did not look as it seemed the boy was looking at her. He took two fingers to his mouth and whistled. There was a loud whoosh from somewhere behind her. Tempe turned to look, but there was nothing to explain the sound. She turned back to find two big yellow cat like eyes staring back at her. Normally, in these circumstances, she would have defended herself with a good kick to whomever or whatever this was, but this time she stood still as the eyes examined her thoroughly.

They jumped backwards to behind the man and boy, to reveal that the eyes belonged to a long dark purple winged creature. Bart stroked whatever it was' head as it nudged the boy slightly. McCullough scratched what looked like the creatures ears before it flipped onto its back like a dog playing. Tempe just stared at the irrationality of what the hidden child within her brain was telling her this creature was. Being thrown out of that boat must have knocked her head hard. "This is Fredo Miss Brennan", the chief said as the creature flipped back over.

"What...is...it?", she stammered out, on the verge of physically shaking with fear.

"He, Miss Brennan, is a dragon. The special thing about Berk, and the fact it is so secluded is that this is the only place on earth where dragons can live without fear of being hunted", the chief said as he walked over to her, as she was glued to the spot, "Do you want to come and say hello?".

She looked at him. Whatever she did next, was going to happen without her thinking about it. She nodded her head, and McCullough led her over to the creature lying down on its side. He gestured for her to kneel down beside it, so she did. Bart, who had shuffled around to be next to her, took her hand, and placed it on the dragon's skin. It was cold and scaly beneath, and she was reminded of her irrational fear of snakes. There was a roar from above her, and as she looked up, she saw that most of the village were high in the sky, flying all different types of dragons, some weren't even mounted and were just enjoying the company.

"This is amazing", she said, as she began stroking Fredo.

"Yes, but you have to promise to keep it a secret. You cannot tell anyone", McCullough told her, as she looked at him, "There is a phone in the village you can use to contact who you need to".

Booth knocked on her door at quarter to six. He liked to be early so he could go through her the things that she may have forgotten to pack. He hoped that someday she might do the same thing for him as the last time he went away, he didn't pack any underwear. "C'mon in Booth", he heard her shout from somewhere in the apartment.

She didn't need to shout that, Booth had already let himself in. On her sofa was a packed suitcase, ready to go, and she was most likely packing her on flight bag, full of paper and pencils ready to write down any story ideas. Booth normally packed when he went on holiday lots of puzzle books, and now in recent years a cushion as coach seemed to be getting more and more uncomfortable.

She came out from her room, hair tied up into a pony tail, something she only does now and again these days when she is in the lab, and wearing clothes that were not normally her choice these days. She wore items that reminded him of when he first met her. Jeans, a vest top, leather boots, and a jacket; all of these had a earthy colour theme to them. "Right Bones, do you have passport?", he asked her as she set down the other bag.

"Yes, and tickets", she replied as she pointed to the area in her bag.

"Enough clothes and spares?".

"Yes, also packed different shoes".

"What about toiletries?".

"Enough to sink a vessel".

"Boat Bones, not vessel. And finally, have you got your phone and charger so I can contact you?".

"Yes, and I have an adapter for the plugs out there".

"Good, then I deem you ready to fly. As long as there are no liquids in your hand luggage?".

"C'mon Booth, I'm going to miss my flight", she told him as he was pushed out the door.

Ten Years Ago

On her way down to the phone, Temperance Brennan felt as if she was being followed. She was excellent at noticing things like this, but when she looked, there wasn't even the hint of someone there. Great, she thought, I'm now also paranoid, another thing to add to the list of things wrong with me which doesn't help me in socialising. The phone was at the bottom of a hill; in what McCullough told her was the village square. On her way down, apart from the stalker feeling, she was greeted by everyone she saw, and there were also dragons everywhere. There were the large ones of many varieties that the adults were riding, and then there were a small species that seemed to act as small dogs or cats.

She reached a paved area surrounded by a collection of buildings, when she had the stalker feeling once more. In the middle of the square, was a red telephone box like you see in British films. Inside was a payphone with the payment section replaced by a large phone book. On closer inspection, it was made up of several. Tempe phoned into the trip organiser, telling them that she was okay. When she told him that she was on Berk, her Scottish guide laughed on the end. She couldn't tell if e was laughing at her, or that he was pleased where she was. "Tell McCullough that we are sending a boat out, say next Monday. The seas are supposed to get rather rough coming up over the weekend. Tell him that the message is from Mike. He will know what I mean", the guide said before they ended the phone call.

So, she had until next Monday to make full use of this island, and it was only Wednesday according to the guide. There were so many things to do, but the first things on her mind were to find out where the hell her clothes had gotten to and food. As she stepped out of the box, something landed with a thud in front of her. Getting used to dragons falling out of the sky was something she thought would always make her jump. The people around the square all looked on in amazement, something about this dragon was not right.

It looked to be the same species as Fredo, but this one was black, and it had eyes bluer than hers. It examined her hard, before shooting up into the air at incredible speed. Bart came running over from a group of kids to the baffled adult. He tugged on her arm as she watched it get smaller and smaller. "That was Fredo's brother or sister. It was the one that saved you", he told her.

Tempe looked down at the boy, and then looked back as she watched the dragon swoop around the mountain onto the other side. "It wanted you to say thank you", Bart told her before running back over to his friends.

"How could an animal understand me? They're animals", she said to herself, as she made her way back up to the chiefs log cabin where she was most definitely staying for the next few days.

AN: So, I hoped you like the first instalment. There is more coming your way don't you worry, but there could be some time before that as this took me a week to perfect. Please review because, I know this is something completely different.