The Ties that Bind
High up on the little island of Berk summer was just beginning. The vikings and dragons wasted no time in gathering food for the following winter. Their chief, Hiccup, was overlooking all the activity alongside his alpha dragon Toothless. The air around Berk was filled with the sound of flapping wings and the roars of many dragons. Among the dragons were three dragons from the dragons' homeland, Draconia.
Re, the Dragon King, was a handsome emerald green with kelly green underside and ocean blue eyes. He was as tall as a draft horse and ten times stronger. He was the more traditional looking European dragon. He had a long muscular neck, a narrow head with a pair of sharp horns protruding out the back. He had a narrow snout that looked very lizard like. He had the body and long legs of a wolf, only bigger and more muscular. His front paws had posable thumbs which were quite useful when grabbing prey. He had a pair of enormous green wings that extended to a 50 ft. wingspan. His tail was very long and flexible. The last third of it had no bones, just solid muscle and topped with barbs that were smaller than a human eyelash and sharper than fish hooks. Re was able to use it as an extra hand and could use it as a whip. For this reason his breed was known as the Whippertail.
Re's mate was Queen Aurora. She too was a Whippertail. She was sapphire blue with tropical blue under scales. She had silver eyes and horns. She was the only begotten daughter of the Dragon God, Lord Draco. She was one of the very few dragons with the gift of magic. She only used it to make her kind thrive, and for the occasional prank, but never as a weapon. She could see the future, read and control minds, shape shift, turn invisible, pull objects out of thin air, make objects move, disappear and reappear, she also had healing abilities, she could control the weather and many other things. She and Re had been together since they were eggs.
Tenor was the rarest dragon in the world. Half of him was a Blackfang; he had a long thick neck, short narrow snout and square forehead. In his mouth were teeth so poisonous that they were solid black. He was slightly smaller than Re and Aurora, as tall as an Arabian stallion. He had the legs of a panther. The other half of him was Night Fury. He had the body, wings, fins, tail, eyes, sonar flaps, fire power, and glossy black scales of a Night Fury. No other dragon in the world looked like him.
He spent a good chunk of his childhood being bullied by the other dragons. A majority of Draconia had never heard of a Night Fury, so to them Tenor was half Blackfang and half unknown. No one knew where he came from or why he was abandoned as an egg. Because of all the ridicule, Tenor rarely left the castle by himself in the daytime. He spent the days in his room alone, and only came out at night to hunt and fish. Finding a mate was near impossible for him, and he thought he would have to spend the rest of his life alone. That is until he met Windwalker. She was a female Night Fury with honey golden eyes, and a few scars on her flank. She was the alpha of a squadron of dragons currently living on Mt. Vulcan, one of Draconia's volcanic islands. She was one of the few dragons who didn't see Tenor as a freak.
Windwalker and Tenor had a lot in common. They loved fighting bad guys, they both had a lot of adrenaline, they both hunted at night, and they both had riders. Tenor's rider was a beautiful dragon healer named Serenity. She was human in form and dragon in blood, making her stay the same age forever. She had a beautiful round face, emerald green eyes, and light golden brown hair. She wore a green shirt, blue leather jacket and trousers, dark brown boots, black leather fingerless gloves, and a cowboy hat that was covered in black dragon scales. She was one of the two humans in the world who could speak to dragons in their own tongue.
The other human was Windwalker's rider, Re and Aurora's adopted human son, and Serenity's husband Chris. He was a young man who had been abandoned as a baby, much like Tenor was. He was slightly taller than Serenity with tan skin, large ears, short black hair, and brown eyes. He wore a dark blue shirt, black pants and boots, and black leather trench coat that had seal fur on the sleeve cuffs. On his waist was his twin swords, which were his signature weapons. As well as being a skilled swordsman and dragon rider, he was also good at martial arts. For ten years of his life he had been separated from his family by the sea. During that time he met Windwalker and her friends and helped them fight the Song Dynasty. Eventually he was reunited with his family and life for the Draconians couldn't have been better.
They had a healthy alliance with the vikings and dragons of Berk. And they had the next generation. Re and Aurora's new dragonets were Prince Apollo and Princess Avalon. They were still quite young, and quite small. Avalon was teal green with purple horns, spines, and talons and she had lavender eyes. Apollo was blood red with golden horns, spines, eyes, and talons. The youngest member of the family was Serenity's and Chris's daughter, Edelweiss. She was still a tiny baby, small enough to fit in the baby sling Serenity made. She looked like the perfect combination of both her parents. She had a round face, tan skin, black hair, green eyes, and large ears.
At the moment Chris, Serenity, the children, and Windwalker were all gathered at Serenity's dragon hospital. Windwalker was not feeling well, she felt tired. She mostly spent her time under Serenity's Golden Apple Tree, in the soft Dragonnip. The other three dragons were helping the village of Berk prepare for winter. Serenity had just recently told Windwalker that she was growing an egg. Both Tenor and Windwalker didn't know what to make of this news. They were excited, and nervous all at once. The two of them slept in the large house that sat across the lawn from the apple tree. The house was plenty big enough for both dragons and both their riders.
Windwalker was sitting in the golden shade of the apple tree, one day. She felt exhausted, but wasn't too thrilled about sitting around doing nothing. The rest of the Draconians, except Serenity and Edelweiss, were all down at the arena taking turns in the sparing circle. Serenity was sitting in her chair making clothes for when Edelweiss got older. She looked over at Windwalker and saw that she was chomping at the bit.
"I know you want to be down there," she said. "But you don't have the strength right now. And you run the risk of smashing your egg."
"Yes, I know," Windwalker said. "It's a huge change for me is all."
"It's a big change for Tenor too I'm sure," Serenity said. "Several years ago he had lost all hope in starting his own family."
"To be honest, so did I," Windwalker admitted. "Well I'm going for a walk, I refuse to die of boredom." She slowly got to her feet and stretched.
"Ok, please be careful," Serenity said. For some reason this annoyed Windwalker. Serenity was a kind person for sure, but she was always so cautious. And her version of being careful was not fighting or doing much else. Serenity was a good person, but not very fun.
Windwalker went down to the arena to watch the sparing matches. Re was planning on turning Dragon Island into a summer home, and adding their own sparing arena so the Draconians weren't always borrowing Berk's. Windwalker spotted Aurora in the spectators area. She joined her.
"Hello Aurora," Windwalker said. "Are you not sparing?"
"I will," Aurora said. "As soon as this match is over. But it's been going on for almost five minuets now."
"You know, I've never seen you spar," Windwalker said.
"I'm usually the one who keeps Serenity company, and keeps her from going mad with worry," Aurora said.
"That girl worries a little too much," Windwalker said. "Is it really necessary?" Aurora looked sideways at Windwalker.
"She just cares so much about us and doesn't want to loose anyone that she loves," the Queen explained. "You can sympathize with that right?"
"Yes, I suppose," Windwalker said. She sat on her haunches and turned back to the matches.
Chris was taking on Re and Tenor at the same time. There were many obstacles throughout the arena; walls, tables, a sharpening stone, and large boulders. So far no one had won because both Chris and the dragons were fast learners. Re and Tenor decided to play fair and not use their titan wing. Eventually they called a draw, before the wore themselves out. Aurora got to her feet and went down into the arena.
"That was a fine show," she said, amused.
"You think you can give a better one?" Re challenged. Aurora pawed the ground in anxiety. Tenor and Chris left the arena, giving them space. She promised to not use her magic as a cheat. The two of them circled each other, gnashing their teeth. Then Re rushed at Aurora, his head low. The Queen only stopped where she was and stood there quietly. She spotted a low wall behind her. When Re was close enough, Aurora quickly jumped into the air. Re was running so fast he didn't stop fast enough to avoid hitting the wall. He ran right into it, and it stunned him. Aurora landed on top of him, pinning him to the ground. Each of the royal dragons had different talents that worked well in their favor when sparing: Re was the most powerful, Tenor was the most clever, Windwalker was the most aggressive, and Aurora was the most patient. Chris had interpreted all four talents. Re went limp, indicting surrender. Aurora nuzzled him, then got off. Re got to his feet and they left the arena. They joined the other three.
"That was fast," Windwalker said. "It seems Re doesn't stand a chance." Re snorted. They made their way back to the apple tree.
When they got there they found Serenity asleep in her chair, Edelweiss asleep on her lap, and the two dragonets asleep on the Dragonnip. The whole hospital was dead quiet. Chris sat in his chair and the dragons laid in the Dragonnip. Re lit the campfire. Windwalker was feeling exhausted again. She leaned on Tenor's shoulder and soon feel asleep as well.
"Aurora, can you see if the hatchling will be a boy or girl?" Tenor asked. Aurora stared straight ahead and her face went blank.
"I can foresee that it will be a girl, and that she will look like you Tenor," she said after a few minuets. "Part Blackfang, part Night Fury." Tenor perked his ears up at this. Aurora could see a few other things as well. She could foresee hurtful things being said, and a lesson being learned. She lowered her head over her two dragonets and nuzzled them.
"You make it look so easy," Windwalker said, watching her. Aurora smiled.
"Well, you only have one egg," she said. "I had two, at the same time."
"It was stressful I could tell," Windwalker said.
"Mmm, yes it was," Aurora said. "Not to mention painful. But it I was able to bare it." She looked over at her daughter-in-law, still asleep. Windwalker followed her gaze.
"She's been sitting in that chair all day," she said.
"Well, you've seen what a detected dragon healer she can be," Re said. "She's been known to go a whole week without sleep when she has a dragon in critical condition."
"That's true," Windwalker said. "That's pretty sad."
"Yes," Re agreed. "So I want her to be well rested before hand." Suddenly Aurora's face went blank again.
"I can foresee that this egg will be the least of your problems," she said. No sooner had she said this then Fishlegs and Meatlug came up the hill, Fishlegs looked beyond excited. Tenor jumped to his feet.
"Can we help you?" he said, swishing his tail back and forth threateningly.
"I was wondering if I could document the egg when it's laid," Fishlegs said. Both Windwalker and Tenor narrowed their eyes.
"Why?" Tenor asked.
"It will be an addition to the Night Fury section of the Book of Dragons," Fishlegs said. Tenor flared his nostrils.
"Maybe," he said. "It depends on how well you behave yourself around it. I still remember you kicking Aurora's eggs, what makes you think you're going to get close to this one?"
"I said I was sorry," Fishlegs said.
"Yes, you said you were sorry," Tenor said. "And then you knocked over Edelweiss's cradle."
"I swear on pain of death by your venom, that this new egg will be under no threat from me," Fishlegs said.
"You better," Tenor said. Fishlegs and Meatlug turned and left, and Tenor laid back down next to Windwalker.
"Nicely done little brother," Re said. Tenor gave a proud snort.
"Fishlegs is going to keep bothering about this," Aurora said. "I can foresee it."
"Then he'll have to put up with a pair of very annoyed dragons," Windwalker said. Tenor looked towards the west and saw that the sun was about to set. He got to his feet again.
"Well, the hour has come for the nightly dragons," he said. He stretched his wings.
"I want to go with you," Windwalker said.
"No," Tenor said firmly. "Serenity said the bigger this egg gets the more of your energy it will take up, and I don't want you crashing into the ocean." Windwalker glared at Serenity out of the corner of her eyes. Then she slumped down. Tenor nuzzled her. Then he spread his wings and took off.
"You're not used to staying home so much are you?" said Aurora.
"No," Windwalker said. "Not even when I was ever injured."
"Well, this is different," said Aurora. "You aren't injured."
"I know," Windwalker said, sounding frustrated. Aurora turned her attention to the three humans, all of whom were sound asleep. Rather than just wake them up, the Queen used her magic to put all three of them in their respective beds.
"They've had a long day," Re said. "Shame humans don't have the same stamina as dragons."
"Oh well," Aurora said. "Everyone's different." She snuggled close to Re, and covered Apollo and Avalon with her wing. They were all asleep in minuets. Windwalker decided to wait up for Tenor, since she didn't feel the least bit sleepy. She jumped onto one of the bigger, and stronger branches of the apple tree. She passed the time by munching apples.